Back to basics for Allegri at Milan

By Ogo Sylla

It has been a tough summer for Serie A fans. The mercato has seen many stars and promising young players leave the Peninsula such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Fabio Borini, and Marco Verratti just to name a few. In fairness however, it is AC Milan who have experienced the most tumultuous of mercato and thus results on the pitch may be a difficult thing for Massimiliano Allegri to come by. 

Indeed, in addition to the immense quality the Rossoneri have lost in the form of Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva and Cassano, they have also lost a substantial amount of experience with the departures of Nesta, Zambrotta, Gattuso, Van Bommel, Seedorf, and Inzaghi. As such it becomes a massive task for Allegri to mount anything close to resembling a challenge when it comes to the upcoming Serie Acampaign. In Adriano Galliani and Silvio Berlusconi’s mission to lower the wage bill and make the club more financially self-sufficient, the Milan hierarchy went on to recruit youth or bargain signings they knew could contribute something. 

This new politic thus saw the arrivals of Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Francesco Acerbi (Chievo Verona), Bojan Krkic (Roma), Mbaye Niang (Caen), Nigel De Jong (Manchester City), and Giampaolo Pazzini (Internazionale).

So Allegri tackled his first game of the season against Sampdoria with a completely new team, suffering a defeat at home to the newly promoted side, losing the match 1-0. The particularity of this game was Allegri veering away from his usual 4-3-1-2 and employing a 4-3-3. Berated last season for his lack of tactical inflexibility, maybe the Italian considered exploiting the loss of Ibrahimovic to change the way the team plays. It didn’t quite come off however. Montolivo had a decent game in a regista (deep-lying playmaker) role in front of the defense but didn’t wait long before imparting his preference for a freer role on the left side of midfield. The arrival of De Jong on transfer deadline day however would quickly solve that issue, giving Allegri that holding midfielder he had wanted all summer. 

After this opening day defeat, the pressure was already on for Allegri as the imperative of a victory over Bologna loomed over him. What we must understand is that the relationship between Allegri and the Milan hierarchy had soured over the course of last season. Allegri’s failure to deliver the Scudetto after clawing back to the top of the league holding a lead over Juventus is something Berlusconi did not take very well. However, this year’s pressure seems an unfair one. Many players have been sold from under Allegri’s feet – most notably his two best players, Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva – and the replacements brought in are either inexperienced or of very average quality. 

Asking Allegri to compete for the Scudetto, as Galliani claimed it after concluding his last-minute acquisition of De Jong, Bojan and Niang, is indeed a ridiculous notion. Panic is already evident as Allegri reverted back to his trusted 4-3-1-2 in last weekend’s match against Bologna. In effect, with the pressure back on now it is understandable that the Italian would steer away from risky formations that would require time for the team to adapt to given his obligation for results.

It is a very risky strategy Milan are undertaking this year. That being said, it is one that should have been started some years ago and now the club hierarchy has decided to simply rip off the band-aid. Of course the point is not to completely remove all responsibility away from Allegri. As the coach, it is his duty to try to get the best out of this group. This said “best” would be measured in a finish between the third and fifth spots. Any higher would be overachieving and indeed even securing a Champions League qualifying berth would be, albeit not impossible, quite the achievement for this squad.

Speaking of Champions League, it will have to be a write-off for the Rossoneri. Getting out the group stages should be the only objective but a quarterfinal berth seems all but a bridge too far at the moment. Allegri certainly has a much easier dressing room to deal with, but a much poorer team to get even more out of. But in the end, maybe the Milan’s hierarchy to execute this new strategy now is by design, as the timing seems as good as it could be. After all, the whole of Serie A is in a bit of a flux with lots of clubs going through major changes.

Cross-town rivals, Internazionale, are also in the business of lowering the wage bill and have seen many new faces at the club, which new coach Andrea Stramaccioni will have to mould together. Roma are also in a transition, and one ideologically much more radical and time-demanding than the Nerazzurri’s, given Zdenek Zeman take-over from the departed Luis Enrique. Udinese, who finished in the Champions League qualifier spot, sold off more of its prized assets this summer and are a considerably weaker team. Lazio seem to have opted for the status quo this mercato, with the only player of note having been added being Ederson from Lyon. Fiorentina, who had a very difficult season last year, added much quality to their side but remain an unknown quantity in terms of their ability to compete for the top spots. Thus leaving Juventus and Napoli, the only two teams who seem to have gotten stronger. All this to say that there might be some room for Milan to cause a surprise and finish in the top three after all. 

It will take time for Milan, and as much as there is pressure on Allegri there must also be some indulgence. There are many new players who must learn to play together, and indeed a brand new team that must learn to play without Zlatan who could single-handedly bail Milan out of many tough situations. But at the same time then, Allegri must not let the imperative of results scare him into not trusting some of the newcomers, youngsters and marginalized players at the club. After all, this time of transition is as good as any to figure out if these players can contribute or not. Indeed, as Allegri said: “Milan is at year zero,” and he must thus treat it as such. 

This article is by Ogo Sylla, journalist for the Senegal Football Federation and writes at Forza Italian Football. You can follow him on Twitter @RossonerOgo_3. Comments below please.