On the 11th of July 2019, Ivory Coast and Algeria faced off in the quarter-final of the African Nations Cup in Suez and it pitted midfield players Franck Kessié and Ismaeal Bennacer respectively. Both players are key players for the nation's and in recent times, have proven the same for Milan.
Bennacer vs Kessié at international level.
Bennacer and his Desert Warriors would get the better of Kessie's Les Elephants in a penalty shoot-out, after an intensely and hard fought 1-1 result after regular and extra-time. Algeria would go on to lift the trophy for the second time in their history, defeating Senegal in the final. Both Kessié and Bennacer finished the top assist providers, with three each and the latter won the Best Player of the tournament.
At that time, Kessié had two years at Milan and his move was made permanent, but the management knew they needed a suitable partner in the middle. The choice was a no-brainer, and they bought Bennacer from Empoli. Truth be told, neither player started their adventure at the San Siro in quick fashion, as they both needed time to adjust to the demands of La Scala del Calcio.
Something for us to think about when judging other players too quickly, but that's for another day.
Playing as a midfield duo.
Let's focus on the midfield duo right now.
In Serie A, they have appeared in 14 matches together, with a record of nine wins, four draws and a solitary defeat, to contribute to 31 points of the 63 the club have gathered. Now, that's not to say that when Bennacer is not there, Milan can't do well, but there is certainly a different feel when he and Kessié are marauding around in the middle.
They compliment each other so well...
While Kessié is arguably considered the more defensive, it is the Ivorian who has taken his goal-scoring to another level. Yes, eight of his 10 strikes have come via penalties, but as demonstrated by his goal in Milan's recent 3-1 victory vs Parma, he is very much capable in open play.
Following the quick passing, hold up play and movement between Theo Hernandez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kessie was there to apply the finishing touch to a superb move with a first time right footed goal. In reaching double figures, the man from Ouragahio became the first Milan midfielder since Kaka to achieve the landmark.
Il Presidente is constantly tasked with covering the space in the middle when Bennacer bombs forward. However, as his last goal demonstrated, his tactical nous and knowing when to make an intelligent run into the box has vastly improved.
The French born Bennacer brings his personality to the team in a varying number of ways. He would adjust his positioning based on the requirements of the game. Collecting the ball mostly on the right side of the attack, despite being mainly left-footed, he would keep the ball ticking over and looking for the forward movements of his teammates ahead of him.
A prime example of such was in the Parma game.
The Rossoneri's first goal came courtesy of Ante Rebic. Following good play from Hakan Calhanoglu on the right, the Turk found Bennacer on the inside right position, the midfielder took one touch, had a quick look up, spotted Ibra and found the Swede with a perfectly weighted pass, who's dribbling and skill was completed with the Croat's bullet shot.
What was key from Bennacer, was that he did not take too long to make a decision of what to do with the ball. When Milan have exploited their opponents weakness, was because their movement of the ball has been fast, incisive and accurate, all traits that Bennacer have in his repertoire.
Now to the defensive end of the pitch.
As previously mentioned in the article, Kessie tends to be the more defensive of the duo.
Just one example was versus Torino back in January. In the second half and with Milan leading the Granata 2-0, a chipped ball found Simone Verdi free in the penalty area, just seven yards from Donnarumma's goal. The attacker gathered the ball and had a left-footed shot which could have presented danger to Milan. However, who was there?! Kessie of-course, with a fantastic sliding stop, to prevent the ball from going towards the goal.
It's that type of grit, determination and willingness to "get stuck in" that has every Milanisti making a special place in their hearts for Kessie.
But, remember both players command both ends of the pitch and Bennacer is not without his defensive displays either.
Following his longest injury spell out back in December and January, Bennacer returned to action in an away match against Bologna. Il Diavolo led 2-0 and he came on for Sandro Tonali with 30 minutes left. Despite the limited time, the Algerian acted as if his life depended on it.
He played slightly more deeper than as usual, with coach Stefano Pioli wanting to protect what his team had. Bennacer made a couple of tackles to prevent the Rossoblu counter, cleared away a potentially dangerous cross, all that while still maintaining his passing range and combination play with Kessie. Fortunately, Milan held on for the three points, despite having conceded a goal with 10 minutes to go.
In conclusion
Milan have suffered from an inordinate amount of absentees this campaign, from injuries, covid and suspensions and coach Pioli has had to maneuver his charges carefully. The Parma born manager has singed the praises of both players. On Bennacer, he says: "He has specific characteristic that fits our system" and on Kessie, "He is indispensable to us and even in difficult moments of the game, he is always positive..."
The club are chasing a first Champions League participation in seven years and with the Bennacer-Kessie combination in the middle is arguably the most important part. Given they are 23 and 24 respectively, the club could be set in midfield for years to come.
One issue that I see is the trend to compare Bennacer’s start to Kessie and Tonali, when in reality Bennacer play great since the very first match, He had an issue with the yellow cards, but other than that he was playing good since the beginning, and for some reason we forget that Biglia had all the trust from Pioli because Pioli already knew him from Lazio, but after 5 matches of Biglia blundering around, Bennacer took his place, because it was clear that he was playing good, and was so much better. You can’t say the same thing about Kessie and Tonali. It took Kessie two years and a half to improve, because the current level he’s showing dates back from august 2020, and Tonali will already have a season soon.