You could see Stephan El Shaarawy cursing as he came off the field. Not to anyone in particular, certainly not to Pippo Inzaghi, the AC Milan coach. El Shaarawy left the field feeling he could have done better, even though he set up Keisuke Honda for the second of three goals in a win against Hellas Verona.
Desperate to prove a point in only his third start of the early season, ElShaarawy left angry. The frustration seeped through earlier in the week, when the 21-year-old said he was a little annoyed to be missing so much playing time. Because now he's finally healthy, and he has goals in mind—the national team, the 2016 Euro, maybe more importantly a first Serie A goal since February of last year.
After all, this is supposed to be his comeback season after a year spent recovering from a stubborn foot injury. He wants to be a key figure for Milan again. But this campaign has started slowly too, and the past week is an indication of the fire burning inside El Shaarawy.
The week was not spent just complaining. He has trained hard and found his way back into the lineup. Inzaghi is a man of integrity, and he will only reward players that show the best attitude.
It is something El Shaarawy has worked on. Early in his Milan career, the temptations were tough. After scoring his first goal for the club, he broke past his teammates, stretched out his arms to the fans and pointed to the name on the back of his jersey. The name appeared to mean more to him. He was 18.
But back then teammates like Gennaro Gattuso were just beginning to show him the Milan way.
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In an interview in September 2012 (h/t Football Italia), ElShaarawy admitted that he would trim his eyebrows.Gattuso hated that. He even was asked to cut the mohawk on his head.
"You only must think to play, you understand?” El Shaarawyrecalled Gattuso saying.
He could hardly resist the attention. As a teenager, El Shaarawy said he felt “pumped up” when fans flocked for his autograph. The girls liked him, the spotlight grew. It was easy to get carried away.
Back then he had Inzaghi as well, but as a teammate in and out of the lineup for that single 2011-12 season. Now Inzaghi is not only a mentor but his boss.
Inzaghi can relate to the youngster too. Inzaghi would get frustrated—if he couldn’t score, if he couldn’t play. In the final years of his career, he struggled with a string of injuries. He hardly kicked a ball. So there is nothing El Shaarawy is going through that Inzaghi has not himself experienced.
“It’s normal to be annoyed at sitting on the bench and it fuels them to try even harder in training, which is what I watch out for,” Inzaghi told reporters last weekend (h/t Football Italia). “The media created the ‘ElShaarawy controversy,’ as the truth is he’s reacting the way I used to.”
El Shaarawy is an important part of Milan going forward. The team resisted offers for him in the past for a reason. He can defend and attack in equal measure and he can burst up the field on the counter. “He is one of our absolute jewels and one who can stay a regular,” said CEO Adriano Galliani, “and he knows that.”
Better yet, El Shaarawy is the counterweight to Honda in attack. They are the left and right arms of this movable unit, wingers in a 4-3-3 formation. The squad needs that balance, El Shaarawy tracking back and surging forward on the left side and Honda doing a similar job on the right. The whole operation crumbles without that kind of effort.
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They can mix it up too: ElShaarawy managed to assist two of Honda’s Serie A-leading six goals. There is chemistry building here, that intangible quality that has eluded this team for the past three years. The team in general looks whole, the players celebrating with such enthusiasm after scoring, even running toInzaghi. No one is excluded, so long as they stick to the program.
It is a positive environment that Inzaghi has sought to create: Early wake-up calls, a strict diet, diligent training, punctuality. “I will always forgive a technical error,” Inzaghi said before the season (h/t FootballItalia), “but will never forgive the wrong attitude. A Milan player cannot get it wrong off the field.