AC Milan legend Clarence Seedorf has been announced by AC Milan as the man to take charge of the Rossonieri following the dismissal of Masimillano Allegri.
Milan parted company with Allegri on Monday due to the Serie A side’s disappointing performances in 2013/14, with Seedorf announcing just 24 hours later that he had called time on his playing career in order to take charge of the Rossoneri with immediate effect.
Seedorf, 37, was the first man to win the Champions League with three different clubs after stellar spells with Ajax, Real Madrid and Milan, and has spent the past 18 months with Rio-based Botafogo.
The seven-times European champions have turned to a man with no managerial experience, which looms as the biggest factor in this whole saga. Seedorf is widely believed to have had a clause inserted into his Botafogo deal allowing him to leave for a managerial post. It’s a high risk, high reward decision by Silvio Berlusconi and company, with Seedorf possessing the ingredients to both possibly succeed and fail as a manager at Milan.
He knows the Milan culture, he speaks fluent Italian and his outstanding record as a player positions him as a promising candidate for the position. But on the other hand, Seedorf has been plucked fresh out of his playing career to manage a club like Milan, a Milan side unlike the team he played in, a club that is suffering deeply in the Serie A this season.
However, there is hope for Milan that Seedorf can succeed at Milan, with his appointment bearing many similarities to the club’s signing of Fabio Capello as manager in 1991.
Ironically, it was Capello only last month who stated that Seedorf was not yet ready to take responsibility of Milan, but then again, Capello himself found himself in a similar situation to Seedorf when he first took charge at Milan.
Like the Dutchman, Capello was Berlusconi’s ideal candidate, the “yes-man” in favour of the demanding Arrigo Sacchi. Milan have made these decisions before, and every time that decision has been successful. Sacchi had no experience and won back-to-back European cups, and Capello’s rise was much the same.
After being belittled by the Italian media after his appointment as Milan boss in 1987, Sacchi coined the phrase, “I never realised that in order to become a jockey you have to have been a horse first”. It seems as though Sacchi’s words are still ringing in the ear of Berlusconi, despite Milan’s struggles this season.
Like Capello, Seedorf had been rubber stamped by Berlusconi for the Milan role ever since Allegri announced that he would leave the club at the end of the season, and after Allegri’s premature dismissal, Milan had their man. If Capello and Sacchi’s time at Milan is anything to go by, then the signing of Seedorf seems a wise decision, given Milan’s history of turning inexperienced coaches into household names.
Milan are currently eleventh in Serie A after their 4-3 defeat to promoted side Sassuolo on Sunday, and Seedorf has some work to do. They now sit 30 points behind leaders Juventus and 20 points off the final Champions League berth occupied by Napoli.
Fabio Capello has already stated Seedorf isn’t ready for a head coach position with AC Milan.
If Seedorf’s playing style is anything to go by, he is likely to place a big emphasis on the midfield of his side, which has been underwhelming this season. A dominant central midfielder in his prime, Seedorf must settle on a formation that will allow the likes of Ricardo Montolivo, Nigel De Jong, Kaka and Keisuke Honda to all gel together and be playing regularly in.
For Milan to make a meteoric rise up the Serie A table, these four players are crucial, and so a 4-3-1-2 formation seems likely, with Giampaolo Pazzini likely to be re-called to partner Mario Balotelli in attack.
The Dutchman was very positive as a player, but was prepared to work both ways in midfield at all times. Whatever formation or tactics Seedorf is to settle in, expect Milan to embody the sort of work-rate and tenacity Seedorf displayed during his time as a player for the Rossonieri.
Whether the legendary player can become a legendary manager looms as an exciting prospect.
