Milan's benefiting by not taking Barca's ex-manager, but taking their system

Not long ago, reports all over the media indicated that Massimiliano Allegri was still holding onto the Milan boss seat by the skin of his teeth. There were indications all over that he was due to be kicked out soon with President Silvio Berlusconi, the Curva Sud and every other well wisher for Milan losing patience after a string of bad results early in the season. There were also indications that he will be replaced by Pep Guardiola – a man who filled his trophy cabinet with 10 trophies while handling Barcelona for 3 seasons.

Berlusconi himself admitted to trying to lure the ex-Barca man.

“(You ask) if Allegri will stay at Milan next season? I have to say the truth? Please, ask me another question.

“I always tried to bring him (Guardiola) to Milan, because over the last (few) years because Barcelona played the best football.

“We contacted him, but he said he wanted to stay in a sabbatical. He said that at Milan he’d have fun and felt admiration towards me, and appreciation for the Lake Como, where I could offer a beautiful villa. At this moment, I have to say the percentage for him to come to Milan is very low,” the Milan President had said.

I’ve never been the greatest of Pep’s fans, but there was that feeling of jealously seeing the Catalan giants achieve as much as they did with him at the helm. Surely, he would have his ideas and play his part in putting AC Milan back on the map, but the doubts still remained. Everything was based on ‘ifs’. He would succeed ‘if’ Berlusconi pumped money into the club, but then would we really need Pep for that? Wouldn’t Allegri be able to do the same with the money?

Pep didn’t make the team at Barcelona, it was the La Masia that did so. Pep didn’t bring out great new players – Messi was just starting to peak and the likes of Xavi and Iniesta were close to forming a unbreakable partnership in the middle. Neither did Pep change the team’s philosophy or buy players to give Barca an added edge. The tiki-taka style of play and the cornucopia of talent they possessed, more than Pep being at the helm, was instrumental in Barcelona asserting their dominance. Pep had a ludicrous amount of talent to choose from and a ludicrous amount of money if he didn’t have the talent – the likes of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro were already at the club and he threw an outrageous amount of money for the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cesc Fabregas among others. Pep’s potential as a manager, one that could lead one as mighty as AC Milan, hasn’t been proven as yet. He did win everything that he had to at Barcelona, but all he had to do was adopt a ‘if it’s not broken don’t fix it’ policy and continue what Frank Rijkaard started to help Barcelona stay head and shoulders above everyone else.

At the beginning of the season, Milan were going through one of their worst phases, having struggled to garner points at home or away. To sack Allegri then would’ve been the easiest decision to take: to point the finger on one man, blame him for all of the Dialvoli’s recent woes and get someone else in place of him hoping he would do a better job. But Milan showed patience and instead of looking at Guardiola, they started to look at what Barcelona did to help Pep succeed – keep patience, invest in youth and work towards the result with a sound plan in mind.

Milan put faith in a number of youngsters and, despite not too flattering results, persisted with them. They made clear they had a plan, one that would not bear fruit immediately, but over the course of time. They lost out on many experienced players, players who have been synonymous with Milan for ages, but unlike in the previous years – they did not replace experience with experience, but they opted for youth and it has paid off, and how.

Starting off with 2 wins and 1 draw in their first 8 matches in the Serie A, Milan have stormed back into the reckoning for a spot in the Champions League in superb style. Their form has been on the up ever since then and have only lost once in 2013 – losing in extra-time to Juventus in the Coppa Italia. They now sit pretty tied for third with Lazio and with games against Inter Milan and Lazio coming up, they have a fantastic chance to make the spot their own.

Berlusconi himself has recognized the work Allegri has put in now and the how beneficial Milan’s current plan would be in the longer run.

“After the departure of some top players, it was difficult to put together a team that would be competitive from the start. It took us eight rounds to get settled. The media immediately put Allegri’s position in doubt, but the Coach can confirm our rapport has always been friendly.

“We had telephone calls before the games, but always with great reciprocal respect, even during the tough times. Milan have recovered unity and there are no elements of worry in the locker room. Without those first eight games, we’d be top of the Serie A table.”

Forget the scores of fans who were calling for his head early on, Massimo Allegri even made his club President eat his own words.