It all started so well. When the Livorno born tactician left Cagliari in the summer of 2010 to take up the post at Via Turati, he quickly endeared himself to the fans, the board, critics and pundits. He was praised for his teams effective and dominant style of football, his ease in transitioning from a provincial side to a true giant of the Italian game, and most importantly – his ability to deal with egos inside a dressing that was packed with them.
From Ronaldinho to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Antonio Cassano and Robinho, the class of 2010-11 was stacked with more preening, overpaid superstars that a Milanese fashion show, and Max Allegri dealt with them all. His early hardline attitude to the mercurially talented but workshy Ronaldinho was a move that was applauded – the Brazilian, previously untouchable under Leonardo the season prior was publicly made an example of. If you don’t work, you don’t play. It was a move that endeared the manager to fans who grew tired of the former Selecao stars lethargic performances.
For a season, the worries about competition between players who believe they shouldn’t have to compete for places at all washed away – there was camaraderie, character and a surprising amount of harmony. The likes of Robinho and Cassano – players with reputations that surpass footballing ability – publicly announced their happiness at the club. The irony of Fantantonio himself claiming that “If I fail at Milan – send me to the lunatic asylum” still rings loudly in the ears of Milanisti after his departure.
When the Scudetto was lifted at the end of the season, it was called a “New Look Milan” – one that was unique in the sense that traditional footballing “villains” like Mark Van Bommel, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Gennaro Gattuso were heroes for an appropriately devilish Diavolo outfit.
However, as always is the case in football – when the results start to dry up, the moods fade from merry to mutinous very quickly. The Scudetto hangover faded rapidly into the confusion and then anger following Andrea Pirlo’s exit from the club amongst a swathe of contract re-negotiation. Why would a 31 year old be ushered out of the club to join a direct rival, whilst older, less talented players received extensions? Despite all the admittedly valid concerns about the tactical burden that the midfielder places on the team, the season that followed where the Maestro had the Indian Summer to end all Indian Summer’s as he led Juventus to an unbeaten season and the Scudetto.
Meanwhile, reports began to seep through of unrest as the season unfolded. Tales of arguments with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Clarence Seedorf as well as consistent stories of disagreements over tactics and transfer strategy with Adriano Galliani have began to appear with more regularity, cemented by announcement that departing vice-captain, Gennaro Gattuso claimed that “in the last 18 months I saw things at Milan I had not seen in the last 13 years” – referring to the lack of discipline that had seemingly been lost since Allegri took over.
Whereas in previous years Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani would have sooner chosen to axe a manager rather than agree to sell a star or influential player – it appears that for now, the board have placed the metaphorical eggs in Allegri’s basket. Regardless of the financial constraints that marred the sale of Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, when it came down to the other exits – Pirlo, Gattuso, Alessandro Nesta, there is an air of that first Ronaldinho saga in every single one of them. Allegri put his foot down, and the board gave in.
It is thought that the Cagliari tactician is merely here to be a stop gap. Like Christian Bale’s character in the climax of superhero blockbuster “The Dark Knight”, Allegri is the scapegoated villain, capable of taking the criticism for being the man to oversee the painful departure of former heroes, while the board prepare for the future. Whether that may be the case or not, the idea that Allegri is as popular is he was in May 2011 for his hardline approach is a fallacy.
The former Sassuolo coach spoke of a Milan “without reference points” as his tactical aim, to eliminate easy targets for his opposition to attempt to stifle, and thus increase the likelihood of success. However, in football it is impossible to have a tactic in this way, as good players automatically become reference points for their teammates, and inevitably the opposition. The situation that Milan find themselves in is that they have ushered out a huge amount of quality, and not really replaced it. Through a combination of Allegri’s apparent stubbornness and Galliani’s fiscally minded measures, Milan have lost a large amount of the character that very often pulled them through games.
What is left is a team that is still in transition, looking to focus on youth as a point of necessity rather than choice, steered by a coach who is unwilling to lend his team to players who may cause issues, and often has spates of tension with his own employers. It is surreal to see from a club world renowned for it’s family like attitude and treatment of players, but if results and transfer strategy continues to yield disappointing results, Rossonero will be petitioning for a divorce before long.
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No, What do you expect they sold have the team. If they win a few games all will be forgotten.
There’s a lot of issues with Allegri currently. Some results will come when all of the squad members are available but ultimately Allegri may not be the one to take the team forward due to his tactics or lack thereof.