In case you are new around here, I am not a fan of Massimiliano Allegri. But even though I did not want him to return to Milan last summer, I acknowledged that he should be able to at least get us back to the Champions League. At the very least. Especially with the players we ended up signing and no midweek matches. It should have been something he could have done in his sleep, even with his anti-football tactics. And yet he did not even manage to do that. It's almost inconceivable that he did not, but here is why Allegri failed at Milan.
 |
| Allegri was just phoning it in all season. |
The reasons are not complicated. He is stubborn. His tactics are defensive to a fault and antiquated. He has not had a new tactical idea since he was still married to his first wife. He likes to gamble in a negative sense, playing not to lose rather than to attack and win. He runs hot and loses his temper. He's notoriously terrible at man management. His subs are usually late and rarely make an impact. None of these things were unknowns when he was hired again last summer. We knew exactly who we were getting.
 |
| Those who cannot tactically adapt, argue and confront. |
And yet, when given decent players, he has a decent record. His ridiculous "corto muso" style of play, winning by a nose, won him a lot of Scudetti. But that was at Juve, and it was when the league was not as competitive, either. Since then, not only has Serie A become far more dynamic, the refs have become more corrupt, and 1-0 wins are not enough to get you into the top four, let alone anything higher.
Those are just basic reasons, though. With the players he had, he still should have managed to sort out the top four, especially given the way the other top teams dropped points as well. So why didn't he? It wasn't necessarily one big reason, but a bunch of smaller reasons that created an avalanche of failure.
 |
| Modrić was probably the reason Allegri even looked as good as he did for half the season. |
We all watched in real time as every player in Milan's attack lost the ability to score, or even shoot on target. In what would become Milan's lowest scoring half of a season in the past eight years, Allegri's Milan was very much outclassed by Conceição's team the previous year, for example. And remember, we finished eighth that year.
But it was the little things along the way. Allegri telling the press that Santi Gimenez broke Jashari's leg in training (and the flippant way he told them) put a mark on Santi that the media and fans would not forgive him for. This was extremely irresponsible management for the mentality of both young players and the entire squad. And it affected Santi when he returned from his own injury troubles, as well.
 |
| Maybe leaving his best players on the bench was part of the problem? |
The way Allegri built up Leão, played him out of position (which is likely why he was injured,) then played him continuously injured and out of position all season long meant that not only did Leão have his lowest numbers for Milan this year, but also when the media turned on Allegri, they came for Leão's blood. That many Milan fans now think that a player who was consistently our best player for six years should "part ways with Milan" (or worse,) for everyone's sake is telling of not only the toxic Italian media, but of a manager who managed both the player and the press poorly.
Pulisic started the season in the running for the capocannoniere. He could not stop scoring. But injuries hit him, too, and he, too, being played out of position definitely impacted not only his physical abilities, but likely his mentality as well. And when he suffered his very public breakup of his very first serious relationship, instead of offering support or shielding him from the public, Allegri said he was "very sensitive." For a player who has spoken openly about having a history of depression, and then going through a spell like that, it was beyond irresponsible of Allegri to say something so out of touch to the voracious and unscrupulous Italian media. And that likely only compounded Pulisic's personal struggles, and thus his performances on the pitch.
 |
| His attackers' shooting was REALLY off target by season's end. |
We all watched in horror as the goals dried up for Milan's entire attack. Not only could our players not score, they could not even shoot on target. These are world class players, at least some of them, and they could not score a goal to save Milan's season. If it were one player, that's a personal issue. But when it was all the players, it was clearly a managerial and mentality issue. And it did not stop with the attack, our defense started to concede goals it had previously not let in as well.
There are definitely the problematic stories of Ibrahimović's direct meddling with the team–calling Fofana and Leão to give them tactical advice that differed from Allegri's. Calling certain players and telling them they were not part of Allegri's plans next season. His continued relationship with the self-centered and ungrateful Antonio Cassano, who openly criticized all things Allegri, Milan, and especially Leão. And, of course, the documented physical altercation between Allegri and Ibrahimović in a public restaurant, where Tare had to physically intervene.
 |
| The bromance of so many years before became an actual brawl. |
That toxicity coming from management, and specifically from Ibrahimović, has contributed to the failure of each season since his arrival as Redbird's Senior Advisor to Milan. But Allegri knows better than to be drawn into that, or to allow it to affect his mentality, let alone the mentality of the entire squad. And for a manager who brags about saying things to people's faces, he kept telling the media that all was well when it absolutely was not. A few truth bombs dropped about management rather than about his players would have done wonders to salvage the season.
All of these little things added up to failure. Like the frogs in the pot of water, who don't realize to jump out before the water slowly reaches the boiling point, Allegri slowly boiled Milan's mentality through his stubbornness. His anti-football over-defensive tactics. Refusing to play players in their positions, let alone try anything new. He puts players in a box in his mind, and cannot see them in any other position or level of performance. His complete lack of empathy as a human being when it comes to his players mentality and psychological well being. And when he has forced himself into a corner, he has no idea how to get out, either, because football has evolved, but he never has.
 |
| Same old same old, bruh. |
The performances of all Milan players at the World Cup, but especially our attacking players, demonstrated what a negative effect Allegri's tactics and man management had on all of them. When they scored, their emotional release was palpable through the screen. It was as if they had to prove to themselves that they were still able to do their jobs, after being stifled tactically and shut down mentally by the one man who was supposed to be a "guarantee" of Champions League qualification.
And while most of the players have nothing negative to say about Allegri, now that he is gone, you can see that they can finally see the sun shining again. They are freer, they are smiling again, they are breathing easily, and they are ready to get back to work and return to their form before Allegri.
 |
| Mood when you play for Allegri. |
He is not a manager who is necessarily blatantly abusive toward his players. He is not someone with some bizarre tactical ideas that no one understands. And in his mind, I think he believes that he is a great manager. All those years at Juve when there was no competition can really go to someone's head. But in reality, he is the kind of manager who can only win with the best of players and ideal conditions. The kind of manager who slowly strangles the life out of his teams. The kind of manager whose negative football ideas destroy the souls of not just the fans watching, but also the players themselves.
And when you added the toxic backdrop of our management, it was just too much. And only too much by the smallest of margins, too. A draw against Cagliari on the last day would have meant an entirely different set of fortunes for Allegri and for Milan. But they did not get the draw. They had their self-belief beaten out of them, their attacking play drilled out of them, and the Milan DNA slowly sucked out of them all season long.
 |
| Allegri watches his last match, his loss of the season. |
Milan rolled their €5 million per year dice on Allegri, and he in turn gambled our season away with his corto muso style of play and his stubborn and slowly oppressive man management. Milan's management did their part, sure. Gerald now talking about Milan "playing to win" instead of "playing not to lose" is pathetically hilarious. I guarantee you he never heard either of those phrases before his cronies whispered them into his ear shortly before he sacked Allegri.
If Gerald had paid attention before hiring Allegri last summer, he would have known exactly who he was hiring. But once again, he did not do his due diligence, he did not rein in his clowns when they meddled, and so here we are, with no Champions League yet again. All of these reasons and plenty more little things all just added up, and that is why Allegri failed at Milan.
This post inspired by the music of She Wants Revenge's "These Things"