Giving too much importance to summer friendlies, whether for better or worse, is often a pointless exercise. However, even in July and August football, it can happen that certain details and situations emerge which, if developed in the right way, can bring great satisfaction during the real football season, where every match counts.
And so, after the double-header of friendlies with Arsenal and Liverpool, especially yesterday against the Reds, it’s impossible not to notice the return of Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Not a return to the pitch, but a return to being a footballer. Without wanting to be too harsh on the English midfielder, born in 1995, in the past season, also due to the constant physical problems that have marked his career, 'Rubes' had become a mysterious object, both tactically and technically. He was unable to find the right role under either Fonseca or Conceição, but above all, he had lost every distinctive trait that, ever since his youth days at Cobham, had made everyone believe they were looking at a potential star.
Loftus has gone back to seeking physical confrontation, to battling with opponents, and to no longer being afraid to make use of his extra centimeters and kilograms. Against a particularly offensive and unbalanced team, he took advantage of the large open spaces to unleash all his horsepower, which had been idle and tamed for far too long. He was also valuable in the defensive phase, managing to provide good central compactness alongside Samuele Ricci and Youssouf Fofana.
The goal was the classic cherry on top: while waiting for him to unlock himself in official matches as well, last season he never found the net, it is already a good satisfaction for a player whom Allegri “targeted” from day one and on whom he is working a lot to bring him back to performing at a high level. It's worth repeating: it’s only July and this is summer football, but after a negative season like the one just ended, it’s important to immediately find possible certainties. Also because in Serie A, it will be difficult to find situations similar to today’s, with daring opponents and lots of space to attack behind the defense. But if used in the right way, players like Loftus-Cheek, with well-defined characteristics, can be effective in any situation because the athletic and physical gap is potentially very wide, as pointed out by Milannews.it.
The English midfielder spoke at the press conference after the match:
"It’s nice to play against a Premier League team. Obviously, it’s fantastic to play against Liverpool, they are among the best teams in the world. At this stage, however, the important thing is to feel good physically, to play as a team, and to build confidence. For us tonight it was a good step forward, it was a good performance. We’ll take it and move forward.”
