Arrivederci Allegri?

Massimiliano Allegri.

Milan’s management is at crossroads, again. Silvio Berlusconi and Adirano Galliani’s constant search of finding the next Josep Guardiola has hit yet another snag. Milan’s top brass entered a brutal media battle with Cagiliari chairman Massimo Cellino, over the signature of highly-rated manager Massimiliano Allegri, which led to the eventual arrival of the young gaffer at the San Siro. A Scudetto winning season later, the hot seat is once again on fire.

Allegri was renowned for his attacking flair of football. He overachieved with modest means at Cagliari, and seemed like a perfect fit for what Milan had in mind. He did win Milan their first Scudetto in seven years, but the context of that victory should not be forgotten. Allegri’s victory came in a season, where Milan faced no real competition for the title. The last minute signatures of Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic spurned Milan from being a Champions League position contender to overnight title favourites. Juventus’ consecutive failure to finish in the top four and Inter Milan’s much expected fall from grace due to Rafael Benitez’ mismanagement, meant Napoli and Lazio were the only teams to trouble Milan in the race for the title. Milan topped the table in October 2010, and made that spot their own till the end of May 2011.

Many would admit Milan’s style of football hardly convinced. They scraped past oppositions without playing ‘champagne football’. But, a new manager, a new core, meant Milan needed time to get their act together. People turned a blind eye to Milan’s horrendous show in the Champions League as well.

Writing it all off as Allegri’s naivety and inexperience, the fans entered this season with promise and hope, believing the man would deliver the prospect of more titles and tantalising football with it. But clearly, the man has not improved, nor shown any signs of improvement.

Allegri’s main problem is his stubbornness to break out of the shell of being a provincial tactician. Allegri has seven strikers in the squad. Yes, it is fair to suggest Antonio Cassano and Alexandre Pato have been injured for large parts of the season. Well, then how about Stephen El Shaarawy, Maxi Lopez and Filippo Inzaghi? They are merely warming the bench.

Allegri continues to play with two strikers and fields a forward destroyer behind them. His midfield three comprises of defensive midfielders, who are not equipped to play-make. The team screams out for creativity time and again, with the burden of creating and scoring, falling flatly on the shoulders of Ibrahimovic. The result; the team has drawn with Bologna twice, drawn with Fiorentina once, losing to them in the return fixture, and failed to beat any of the teams in the top six on the table (barring Udinese, 1-2).

Allegri’s title winning side was built on the foundation of a rock solid defense. This year, his team has conceded four more goals than last season with three games yet to be played. Yes, the team has scored more goals at this point of the competition than anyone else in the league. But, a major contributor to that tally is Zlatan Ibrahimovic with 24 goals. The second highest scorer is Antonio Nocerino with nine. This suggests a frightening level of dependence on Ibrahimovic. Allegri has also lacked a plan B. His convenient tactic of ‘give-the-ball-to-Ibra-and-hope-for-something-to-happen has worked at times, but not consistently over the course of the season.

Allegri is a very limited manager, tactically speaking. His stubbornness to change his formation, irrespective of the opposition, has sparked immense frustration amongst fans. His 4-3-1-2 does not change against a team playing 3-5-2 /4-2-3-1/4-3-3 or any other formation for that matter. Consequentially, Allegri gets tactically outclassed far too often by better managers. His persistence to play Urby Emanuelson out of position has also irked fans and pundits. Experimenting with a left-back as a trequartista is intelligent thinking, but sticking to it when the experiment fails is stupidity. Emanuelson has already added two assists in the last two games, as a left-back!

The treatment of Maxi Lopez is baffling as well. Lopez was brought on loan due to the lack of squad depth, but is nothing more than a fringe player. He is repeatedly given only ten minutes to make a difference. There is no denying his motivation, he always resembles a man highly inclined to impress him employers. Why has Allegri ignored him? Or for that matter, Inzaghi?

Allegri has also shown incapability to deal with competition. Juventus’ relentless pressure at the top has demonstrated a telling effect on Allegri. His whining press conferences, frustrations on the touch line, and inability to bounce out of a rough patch of form all indicate a mentally unprepared manager.

Allegri’s adventures in Europe are another disappointing tale. Apart from the 4-0 hammering of Arsenal aside, there is not another game which documents Milan’s dominating impact on their opposition, group stages included. It is only fair to call Allegri a provincial tactician, who lacks the ambition or the personality to lead a top club like AC Milan. The decision to fire him, a little harsh nonetheless, would be fair. But that being said, his replacement will be key to build on the current success.