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Perfect No.8 in the making: Why Comotto has the potential to reach the top

By Oliver Fisher -

After Francesco Camarda stole the headlines by making his senior debut for AC Milan aged 15, someone in his age group made the step up to the Primavera in midweek.

Camarda became more or less a month ago the youngest footballer in history to make his debut in Serie A, but there are a number of interesting talents that Milan have in the youth sector who are beyond their years.

Comotto is the latest, a 15-year-old midfielder who made his debut in the UEFA Youth League against Newcastle last Wednesday, in the final group stage game which ended in a 3-1 defeat.

He is the son of Gianluca Comotto, the former Fiorentina and Torino player, and just like Camarda he has been playing for several years at an under age level. This season he is one of the symbols of Milan U17s, having already scored eight goals in 11 appearances.

Who exactly is the teenager? Scout7Calcio has provided an analysis…

Positions: CM/AM/CDM (double pivot)
Foot: Both
Strengths: Technical ability, dribbling, press resistant, flair, vision, passing (through balls, vertical play), decision making, IQ, work rate, anticipation, positioning, composure, ball control.

Pace and dribbling: Comotto likes to drop deep and take the ball to then start carrying the ball up the pitch with his speed and dribbling ability. You can see his incredible tight ball control in this clip and how easily he beats opponents.

Attacking runs: If he is higher up the pitch he can both use his attacking threat to get into the box himself and score, or like here in the clip below he uses his playmaking skills and find his team-mate at the right time to feed him a through ball and create a chance for him.

Ball control: He also uses his High IQ to find the space for himself to attack and run into. In the example below, the 15-year-old sees the perfect space and runs into. Comotto also shows his incredible first touch ball control, when he receives a high pass.

Decision making: Below he shows his already developed decision making skills. In this clip two of his team-mates start their runs into space while he is put under pressure, but he very quickly makes the right call to find the man in space.

Again here in this clip he receives the ball and sees his team-mate starting a run into the box. Instead of controlling it, he has already made the decision to first touch lob the ball over the defence into the space his team-mate runs into.

His high IQ and decision-making shows also here in this clip. He receives the ball near the box, with the opponents inside the box. Instead of just shooting and it having a high percentage of being blocked, he lobs the whole team and scores a goal.

Press resistance: Comotto is very press resistant thanks to his agility and quick feet. He comes out of almost every tight situation. Here in this clip the opponent follows him to the touchline and he drops him with two quick change of directions.

Movements:After passes he does not stand still and instead wants to move into dangerous zones to impact play. In the sequence below he beats his opponent 1v1 and passes to his team-mates and instantly moves into the box ready to receive the ball.

Two-footedness: Comotto’s right foot is the strong one – he takes set pieces with his right foot (which he scores an incredible goal with in this clip) but can also score great one touch curler with his right.

He also has a very good left foot. He chooses to take set pieces with his right, but when he shoots with his ‘weaker’ foot you cannot really tell that he isn’t left-footed naturally.

What makes him even more of a danger from which ever side he attacks is that he is able to go either way. If a defender wants to push him to the left, he does a drag-back and scores with his right, and vice versa.

Clean tackler: Comotto is a clean tackler someone who uses his anticipation and high IQ to win the ball. Here in this clip after winning the ball he instantly uses his body to shield the ball until his team-mates become free to pass to one of them.

Anticipation: A lot of players have issues against quick-footed dribblers, but Comotto is agile enough to keep up with them and their quick change of directions, like here in this clip he easily keeps up with the dribble and wins the ball.

High IQ: He uses his footballing brain to move into passing lanes and intercept the ball directly, like in the clip below. Comotto knows they will make a pass to the player so instead of tracking back with him, he moves into the passing lane to intercept the ball.

Technical ability: Christian Comotto is after Liberali probably the most technical and intelligent player Milan have in their youth ranks, and he is someone who is already way ahead of his age group.

With the skill set he has, the best position for him is the No.8, where he can use his defensive abilities to help the other midfielder and his work rate, pace and attacking threat as a box-to-box midfielder and his playmaking skills to create for his team-mates.

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Tags AC Milan Christian Comotto

3 Comments

    1. Our young guns have been playing, don’t know what you are referring to. Bartesaghi, Romero, Camarda, and Traore have all played. Unfortunately our form has been poor and it does throw them in the deep end. But we’ve fielded all these young guys. And besides the guys in our team are young, Musah, Thaiw, and Okafor are all born after 2000, and Lapo Nava is 19 years old as well, our backup Gk.

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