AC Milan have been trying to sign their very own version of Pep Guardiola for the past two years. Their first attempt involved bringing Clarence Seedorf back to the club, in January 2014. But, the Dutchman refused to be a puppet and was subsequently fired, even though he managed to inspire results from a team that was at its weakest since Massimiliano Allegri had taken over.
Enter Filippo Inzaghi. The former Italian striker had spent two years with the Primavera (u-19) team, performing miracles by winning the esteemed Viareggio youth tournament. He appeared to be the man with the staff that would part the Red Sea, the savior who would to take this club forward into the promised land. He was expected to be the mentor, who transitioned youngsters into the first-team, thereby forging the core of a new AC Milan.
Well, five months into the job, and Inzaghi is still struggling with giving this team an identity. The one successful tactical shift he has competently executed was converting Jeremy Menez from a winger, into a false-nine. Even that has somewhat been diluted with his insistence of force-fitting a misfiring Fernando Torres into the starting line-up. Or has he really managed even that transition?
When we evaluate Inzaghi’s coaching exploits thus far, we need to consider the possibility of the coach being a mere pawn, controlled to a great extent by the men at the helm, namely Adriano Galliani and Silvio Berlusconi. Massimiliano Allegri was Galliani’s man, Seedorf was Berlusconi’s. Inzaghi appears to be the marionette having brought about a truce within the bureaucracy.
So, when complaints are raised about Inzaghi being clueless concerning his starting eleven, or that the team has just won it’s first game in six matches, we need to add the caveat that Inzaghi’s credit rating at the club has not been impacted, if he is just following orders.
Although his position remains unaffected, there is a growing discontentment amongst the fans. They are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the new coach. He is rapidly losing credibility with performances like the ones against Juventus, Palermo and more recently, Inter. His continuous alterations to the team and his repeated tinkering have further annoyed the fans, who are probably expecting a state of stability by this point.
That apart, his reluctance to make the supremely talented Marco van Ginkel a regular fixture in the first-team has been nothing short of baffling. Particularly in Riccardo Montolivo’s absence, van Ginkel could add technical quality to a midfield currently comprising of destroyers. Additionally, Inzaghi has not helped the progression of Davide Pacifico, Andrej Modic or Hachim Mastour into the first-team. On the contrary, he remained silent as Bryan Cristante, one of AC Milan’s young stars, departed to Benfica in the summer.
Under Inzaghi, the team has evolved into becoming a counter-attacking side that relies on the pace of its attackers to hurt the opposition. The team also exerts pressure by selectively pressing during certain phases of the game. However, AC Milan are unable to break down resolute defences sitting deep.
Admittedly, the team has limited creative midfielders in the squad, but Inzaghi has not enabled the wingers to create from the flanks, which would have been the obvious alternate course of action. The standard of play has stagnated and some would argue that it has regressed.
Inzaghi is AC Milan’s man and will have the support of the management throughout this campaign, unless he fails spectacularly. The fans might not be as charitable, though.
December will be key in defining the extent of support the fans extend to AC Milan’s new coach. A trial by fire awaits him, and we will soon know if he overcomes the ordeal.
Follow Rajath Kumar on Twitter: @rajathkumar. You can read his work on his AC Milan blog “Milan and Me; The Love Affair” — http://rajaththemilanista.wordpress.com/
Continuing to play Bonera in the starting-11 is one of the most baffling decisions this season, regardless of whether it is Inzaghi or Berlusconi’s choice. He should be a bench-warmer at best, only brought on as a last resort, or even better – sold on to a lesser team. I can understand that he has a lot of experience and probably fills some kind of quota for homegrown players, but he has been consistently awful for a while now.
Playing Muntari and Essien in the middle is nothing short of ridiculous, sure they add some defensive steel, but when Montolivo and De Jong come back, they should be two of the first names on the team sheet.
In my opinion, given that Torres is irredeemably useless, Silvio should start delivering on his empty statements about starting an all Italian Milan 11 by phoning up Dortmund and inquiring about Ciro Immobile. He’s still young, he’s Italian, and he was top of the capocannoniere charts last year. It makes a lot of sense. Hell, why not bring in Cerci as well? El Sharaawy, Menez, Cerci and Immobile would be incredible. Neither Cerci nor Immobile have done very well since they moved abroad, but they are proven in Serie A.
Send Torres back to Chelsea, sign Immobile (if possible), resign Cristante (which is a rumor I saw recently), and give Saponara and Bonaventura more opportunities to impress. Oh yeah, and sign Perin before someone else gets their hands on him!
Perin; De Sciglio, Rami, Alex, Abate; Montolivo, De Jong, Bonaventura; El Shaarawy, Immobile, Menez
If Cristante comes back, he should be inserted into the starting lineup. Damn, they need to try to build Milan around young Italian players. Unlike the Premier League, when the Serie A was the best in the world, we also had an incredible national team, because the best Italian sides had an Italian core and identity.
Hi,
Firstly, Jan 2014 to Dec 2014 is not even a whole year. The first line of this article says “AC Milan have been trying to sign their very own version of Pep Guardiola for the past two years.”
Secondly, the first line of the second paragraph says “The former Italian striker had spent two years with the Primavera (u-19) team,” That’s wrong. He spent one year with the Allievi Nazionali and THEN one year with the Primavera.
Thirdly, the squad lacks quality, and in such cases, coaches need a good amount of time to figure stuff out. And things get much worse when there are injuries to boot. Given what he has on his plate, Pippo’s done fairly well so far IMO.
Fourthly, “fans are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the new coach” is generalisation. There’s a good section of the fanbase that is patient as ever with Pippo. Sorry, but the impatience of a few cannot be reflected on the club as a whole.
Fifthly, Hachim and Modic aren’t ready for first-team football yet. As much as all of us would love to see them on the field, their physicality and progress needs to be well monitored off it, or else we risk their future which as of now, has immense potential.
Sixthly, Inzaghi couldn’t do anything about Bryan because he couldn’t start his pro coaching career on the wrong note with the president. He’s a fan of the club, and his aim is to make something out of nothing, even if that’s how the odds are stacked against him.
Finally, Fergie, or Sir Alex, whichever way you choose to look at him, took five years before bringing any sort of success to Old Trafford. And he didn’t just become successful because he was a good coach, but because the board provided him with the funds to buy players who would in turn bring success. Our coach has no such luxury. Pippo needs time, and unnecessary bashing from the fans isn’t going to help.
It’s a good piece, though. In complete agreement with the other stuff.
Cheers
@Gianni Pasquale
I agree with you that Milan should take upon themselves the responsibility of signing Italian players and indirectly, help build the national team. The reports linking the club to Baselli and Soriano can only be considered as positive. I would however differ on Immobile. I’m not too sure about how good a player he is/can be. Milan must be mindful of signing a top class centre forward who can score 20-25 goals a season. Immobile isn’t that player, in my opinion.
@Carlton Diniz
Thank you. Allow me address your points individually.
Firstly, it was in 2012 that Galliani was alleged to have travelled to the States to conduct talks with Guardiola concerning a potential move to Milan.
Secondly, you are right. Inzaghi spent one year with the Allievi Nazionali and then one year with the Primavera. My apologies for getting that fact wrong.
Thirdly, Pippo has done well because the competition around him as performed poorly as well. The squad isn’t vintage, but it certainly is better than Sampdoria and Genoa who are presently above Milan in the rankings.
Fourthly, there were people who defended Allegri until he was sacked. Same was the case with Moyes at United. If you are to look at social media and certain opinion makers, you will realize that the patience that you are suggesting is truly shared by a few.
Fifthly, Modic is 18 and he is at a reasonable age to break into the senior squad. Raheem Sterling and Luke Shaw were 18 last season, when they were making waves in England. As for Mastour, yes, he is 16 and will require more time. My question to you is, do you see any plan of progression with regards.
Sixthly, do you think playing Muntari and Essien earns him brownie points? If playing these veterans worked for him, then there is validity in the argument. In this case, there doesn’t seem to be.
Ferguson wasn’t a rookie when he took over at United. Inzaghi is. And Inzaghi has shown tactical ineptness and fear far too often. Seedorf was a rookie too. More so than Inzaghi. Yet, there was dynamism and bravado in the way his teams played. He was tactically naïve too. But, it seems like Milan have taken a step back with Inzaghi.
Hi again, Rajath,
Some of the comments aren’t addressed properly. See, in chronological order:
1. When the article mentioned “their very own version of Pep Guardiola”, if the VERSION of Pep Guardiola you were referring to was Pep Guardiola himself, then it’s my bad. Apologies.
2. No biggie. We all make mistakes =)
3. By applying the same logic, you’ll see that Fiorentina and Inter have better squads than Milan’s, and are still below us on the standings; so technically, Milan stand exactly where they should in terms of squad strength – sixth.
4. You’re probably right about “social media and opinion makers”, so we can only hope that fans will be patient with Pippo and support him at least for a year or so before losing faith in him. If fans don’t support the coach then who will? Mazzarri? Heh
5. Breakthrough comparisons of fullbacks [Shaw] and wingers [Sterling] to that of central midfielders and/or registe [Modic] are unconvincing. Requirements are different for different positions. Arsenal’s Ramsey and Wilshere, on the other hand, are suitable examples for injuries hindering the progress of young central midfielders. We don’t want the boy Modic to spend more time on the treatment table than on the pitch now do we? So yes, there clearly is a plan of progression with regards. acmilan.com covered it last week.
6. Nope, but what DID earn him brownie points is that he got through an injury-inflicted period without complaining like Seedorf did. And now with De Jong and Montolivo back from injury, Essien should be a thing of the past. Pippo will surely do well with a fully-fit squad at his disposal.
Also, these brownie points have helped strengthen his relationship with the president, which might just help solicit some funds for a quality signing in January.
7. You’ve just stressed on my comment here, so allow me to stress further. Ferguson had experience, and still took FIVE YEARS to do something worthwhile before going on to achieve legendary status. Pippo has only been at the helm for FOUR MONTHS, making the criticism appear harsh in keeping with the resources at his disposal and the injuries he’s had to deal with.
As for your assertion that Milan seem to have taken a step back, Seedorf’s first 13 outings in all competitions ended with five wins, one draw, and SEVEN defeats. In comparison, Inzaghi has five wins, six draws, and two defeats in his first 13 games as head coach, so it doesn’t REALLY appear as a step backwards.
Like you’ve rightly mentioned, Pippo’s a rookie, not the finished product, and rookies need time to grow. Let’s give it a few more months before we start revolting, because right now, two points off of third place is not bad at all.
Ciao
Kolte, don’t argue when you are high ya bugger. Your opinions should be criticized and then duly acknowledged as the fellow is attempting to (albeit with a shot of Absinthe). Btw, get in touch with me, I would surely like to catch up once I’m in Bangalore