4 coaches that could replace Gennaro Gattuso at AC Milan
Gennaro Gattuso’s time at AC Milan might end very soon. The club’s legend was appointed in November of 2017 and after a mediocre start, the Italian slowly gained trust of the board, the players and the fans. He revived the Champions League aspirations of the club and after buying Krzysztof Piatek and Lucas Paqueta in January, the team seemed capable of even bigger things.
Despite having a great run from December to March, Milan have lost five of their last eight games and dropped from third to seventh place within that time. The players seem unmotivated and are not willing to fight, the fans are getting angry and the board seems to have fallen out of favor with him.
Gattuso’s position is in immense danger. For the case of the manager and club separating, this article provides four possible and realistic coaches that might be the solution for Milan and bring them back to top, where they actually belong.
#4 Gian Piero Gasperini
Gasperini started his career at the youth of Juventus, where he was also brought up as a player. After nearly ten years there, he joined Genoa, Palermo, Inter Milan and, again, Genoa, before ending up at Atalanta, where is still active today. In Bergamo, he transformed a mid-table side into a Champions League aspirant, improving the side from season to season. Right now, they are in fourth place, overtaking the Rossoneri and find themselves in the final of the Italian cup.
The 61 years old prefers to play in a 3-4-2-1, as his side is very good and dangerous in their offense. Despite that, Atalanta's defense is still quite solid, only conceding 1.2 goals per game. This may not sound impressive, but his main back three (Toloi, Mancini and Palomino) combined cost them around £6 million in total, which is nothing in today's market. Gasperini is also very good at developing talents, for example players like Caldara, Kessie, Bastoni, Gagliardini and Conti all played in the North of Italy before joining the top clubs.
The manager can sort out Milan’s offense, which recently looked lifeless, despite having good individual talent in the squad. He would also be able to improve the young players, of which Milan definitely have enough of. Rumours are linking the Atalanta manager to AC Milan in recent days.