Posted by Ogo Sylla

By Ogo Sylla

With the dismissal of Leonardo from the San Siro hot-seat, in came ex-Cagliari boss Massimiliano Allegri. It was sure to be an uphill task for the young coach as the Rossoneri had been quiet during the summer mercato, bringing in the likes of Mario Yepes [from Chievo], Marco Amelia, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, and Kevin Prince Boateng [all from Genoa]. From this list of sub-par transfers, only Ghana star Kevin Prince Boateng stood out as a player to incite some excitement from the fans.

But the last 48hrs of the transfer window would see the Milan hierarchy pull in astonishing coups, sealing the signature of both Zlatan Ibrahimovic [from Barcelona] and Robinho [from Manchester City]. Surely now the fans would be licking their chops at the spectacle to be put on display at the San Siro, especially after the four goal salvo against Lecce on the opening day of the season when none of the new recruits had taken part.

As is often the case however, reality quickly tore down all illusions and expectations in the opening rounds of the season. A shock 2-0 away loss to Cesena turned out to be a meteoric coming down to Earth for the Rossoneri. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s penalty could only connect with the upright, souring his debut and leaving the Milan fans without a shred of dignity to hold on to, in a tie where they had been thoroughly and deservedly beaten.

Two consecutive 1-1 draws followed against Catania and Lazio, as well as narrow victories over Genoa and Parma, both attained through solitary goals, meaning that Milan had scored a paltry four goals in their last five Serie A matches. Certainly not the return the fans had been hoping for, considering the type of firepower available to Allegri.

Certainly one could have understood that everyone was at their panic stations, and was Allegri already feeling the pressure. Fumbling through his lineups, Allegri attempted to find the right balance for the side while obtaining a mixed bag of results both domestically and in Europe.

But with the Derby della Madonnina coming, Allegri had to find a solution for his ailing side. The derby against Internazionale in fact did prove to be the turning point for Milan. Playing as the away team, Allegri patched up an unexpected lineup. Pirlo and Ronaldinho were both omitted (the latter having not been in the manager’s plans for some time now) and the midfield trio was comprised of Rino Gattuso, Massimo Ambrosini, and Mathieu Flamini with Clarence Seedorf playing as the trequartista. A 5^th minute penalty gave Milan the lead as Ibrahimovic slotted home against his former club. From then on, it was a gritty performance and a hard-earned win from the Rossoneri, who had to hold on especially after Ignazio Abate was given his marching orders on the hour mark.

This victory very much encapsulates the Milan side under Allegri today. The ex-Cagliari tactician has sacrificed some of the flair and creativity of the side to add more steel and running power in the midfield. Indeed Allegri has had to do so. His successful Cagliari side was built on this similar template with the three hard-working, ball-winning midfield runners. This has in some ways become the new identity of Milan as well and instilled a real sense of team spirit on the pitch, where the players fight and work for each other.

We see this in both Ibrahimovic and Robinho tracking back at times to get tackles in. Even at the trequartista position, Allegri has sacrificed the fantasistas like Seedorf and Ronaldinho (who has been offloaded to Flamengo) and placed the more dynamic Kevin Prince Boateng in that position, in an effort to add penetration to the Milanese attacking trident. Slowly Allegri has looked to include Pirlo in his midfield, not in his usual central position as a regista, but slightly shunted to the left of midfield. It would be difficult to surmise why Allegri has done so as of yet since Pirlo has been less than prevalent this season. I would have to think that it might be due to Pirlo’s tendency to focus his passing down the left side of the pitch. Thus if he were to start on the left it would offer him a new view of the pitch on the right-hand side, where Ibrahimovic usually cuts in from and therefore inciting Pirlo to play much more direct passes to the front men.

Allegri’s current work with Milan has been nothing short of impressive. As a coach who was known for playing 4-3-3 during his time at Cagliari, he had to re-adapt himself to Milan’s personnel and switch to 4-3-1-2. His decisions have been bold, with Allegri not scared to let the team know that no one is untouchable and that only performances will guarantee a starting berth.

Indeed from the dropping of Ronaldinho and Pirlo (although injuries were also the cause of this in the latter’s case) to the inclusions of youth products Rodney Strasser and Alexander Merkel in the starting eleven, Allegri’s tactics have all, thus far, been vindicated. His next challenge will now be working in the mercurial talent that is Antonio Cassano into his team setup. He has already made a promising start to his Milan career with three game-winning assists whilst coming off the bench in his last two games.

Allegri has changed the identity of Milan. Actually we should say that he has changed the midfield identity. The ex-Cagliari tactician has proven – certainly to me – that it might be time for the Rossoneri to move on from the likes of Pirlo.

The Milan playmaker is a unique player, and there exists no regista in Europe of his class or guile [certainly not on the Peninsula] at this point in time. For now however, the Rossoneri fans will be forgiven for harboring hopes of the Scudetto, sitting at the top of Serie A, albeit only four points ahead of Napoli, and looking to have the personnel to fire them to some domestic success this season.