In a drastic improvement from the team who were knocked out of the Coppa Italia Serie D on Sunday, Milan Futuro defeated Everton U21 2-1 at Goodison Park on Wednesday. This was the first match for Milan in the Premier League International Cup U21, a competition meant to give U21 teams from England and around Europe the opportunity to compete with one another. And while I was deeply concerned that this would be an unmitigated disaster for Milan Futuro, they proved absolutely the opposite. Not only do they deserve to be there, not only will they even be competitive, but by the end of the tournament, perhaps they will be able to taunt the English sides with the chant, "It's coming home."
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| Ossola and teammates celebrate his winning goal. |
With Milan Futuro having been relegated to Serie D at the end of their inaugural season in 2024-25, having a U23 team play in a semiprofessional league like Serie D raised questions about the standards for their development. Certainly, all the players whose market value depreciated just in that first season in Serie C and then left the club for free seemed to feel that way about playing in a lower league.
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| Will Coach Navarro bring this team out of oblivion this year? |
In contrast, Everton U21 compete in the Premier League 2, a league that is the top level for other Category 1 academies in England. Category 1 academies must all follow strict guidelines for player development in regards to their minimum annual budgets, full-time staff that includes UEFA-licensed coaches, world class facilities, top scouting from ages 12 and up from all over England, and also competing in elite competitions. Everton won their division in both 2017 and 2019.
So, perhaps you can see where I was concerned for our Milan Futuro team, in particular given the atrocities they have been subjected to in their development. However, they did manage to hire a new manager, Coach Navarro, who does have a background in youth development in Spain as well as some first team management experience as well. And they do get to train primarily alongside the first team at Milanello, so perhaps I was a bit shortsighted in my judgment.
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| Plazzotta was fantastic in this match, so close to scoring so many times, too. |
Certainly, once both teams found their feet in this match, it would seem so. Despite playing in such a legendary stadium, it was not long before shots were fired. As in Plazzotta's that was just over in the 15h minute, then Graham answering at the other end, firing just wide. Then came Ossola's powerful shot from the edge of the box that hit the far post. But Milan kept firing, and just a minute later, with a great team play that started with Pittarella in the back, Guernier came in 1v1 on Pickford, who was forced into a big save at relatively close range with his knee. Only the rebound went out to Federico Colombo, who took no mercy and launched it past the poor keeper with a powerful shot on the volley. 1-0 Milan Futuro.
And then it was time for Pickford to say his prayers. Milan Futuro would go on to pepper his goal with 17 shots, six on target. The young goalkeeper had a fine performance, but Pittarella only faced nine shots in all, with only two on target, so had a much more relaxing evening.
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| Federico Colombo pounced on the rebound, Pickford had no time to respond. |
First it was a save to push it over the bar on Pandolfi, then a flying save on a Plazzotta, free kick then at the other end, Everton hit the post in the 39th, their closest attempt in the first half. Pandolfi tried again, but his effort went over. Just before halftime, there was a worrying collision between Balentien and Pickord on the Futuro's effort to attack the goal. With Balentien's awful luck with injury last season, I was genuinely holding my breath for him.
However, the talented Dutch winger did start the second half, even if he was subbed off and replaced by Castiellof a few minutes in, seemingly for technical reasons. Fingers crossed. Everton's most troublesome player, Graham, forced Pittarella into his most spectacular save in the 50th minute, with Everton having just hit the crossbar, it was like a double save for the Futuro keeper. His heroics probably felt a bit in vain, though, when just a few minutes later, Graham did score an equalizer from a great free kick for Everton. 1-1 all.
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| Pittarella takes charge on a free kick. He was excellent, despite the goal conceded. |
Federico Colombo, goalscoring hero, earned a yellow card in the 61st minute trying to stop Graham. In the 66th minute, Navarro subbed Perera and Luca Menon on for Guernier and Mancioppi respectively. Pandolfi took a shot from the top of the area, forcing Pickford into yet another save. Cappelletti replaced the goalscorer, Federico Cappelletti, then Yahyah Idrissi replaced Borsani in the 74th.
Pandolfi was shown a yellow card in the 76th minute, it was unclear whether it was for the tackle or the dissent, but it was a yellow. But then, Ossola got revenge. Castiello sent the ball across to him, where he was wide open, he dribbled it, then performed the perfect feint, fooling Pickford before just slamming it home. 2-1 Milan Futuro. It's coming home.
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| Ossola's goal... does it get any better than that? |
Players were getting tired, things were getting more physical, which was evident when both Patterson and Ossola were shown yellow cards in the 80th minute. Disconcertingly, Ossola went down just a couple of minutes later, for something that happened off camera, and required treatment. Luckily, he was able to return and finish playing the rest of the match.
Plazzotta created one more fantastic chance for Milan Futuro in the 88th minute, when his shot forced Everton into a headed goal line clearance from close range. In the final minute of stoppage time, Piermarini pulled up, but it seemed to be just cramps, so hopefully everyone came out of the match unscathed.
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| Pandolfi also had an epic performance in this one. |
When the final whistle blew, it almost seemed like a dream. But if you watched the full match, you saw how hard Milan Futuro worked, and that they were the better team throughout the match, creating more chances and with a better overall defense as well. If you don't have time for the full replay, brief highlights can be found here. I find the whole "It's coming home" trope ridiculous, embarrassing, and exhausting for England, so I never mind using it against them. I honestly have very little faith that Futuro would lift any trophy or whatever in this competition. I just love that we beat them on their home ground in their tournament.
Out of five matches thus far in this competiton, only one English team have won, ironically, it was Crystal Palace over PSG's U21. Milan Futuro are blissfully on the right side of that stat. Which is so amazing, and I'm so happy for them, they deserve success. But now, they will have to apply it to Serie D, and they'll be doing it on Sunday against a familiar opponent, Caldiero Terme, who they lost to at home, but also defeated soundly away last season. I have no idea how Futuro will ever escape Serie D with the rules the way they currently stand, but it does seem that if they play well enough, perhaps there will be room for them in Serie C for them once more.
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| Take a bow, guys. |
Note: For the past two years, the Primavera and Milan Futuro recaps have been posted as part of the first team posts here, but this year (hopefully) they will all be separate posts for easier navigation.
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| Best Young Player in Serie B, we let him go for free. |
This post inspired by the music of Peter Schilling's "Major Tom (Coming Home)"
Milan Primavera vs. Juve Primavera
Sunday, September 6 • 11:00 CEST (5am EDT)
This match is not being televised in the U.S.
Milan Futuro vs. ACD Sant'Angelo 1907
Sunday, September 6 • 15:00 CEST (9am EDT)
This match can be streamed LIVE on the Official Serie D YouTube channel
Juventus vs. Milan
Sunday, September 6 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)
In the U.S., this match can be streamed in Spanish on Telemundo or Peacock,
Reviewed by Elaine
on
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