THE OFFICIAL confirmation of the sacking of Allegri came on Monday after yesterday’s 4-3 defeat at the hands of Domenico Berardi and Sassuolo. And Milan fans took to various social networks to rejoice at the happy occasion. Finally, Allegri, the most hated man in Milan, is no longer managing his club.
But is it really such a joyous occasion? I am not saying that Allegri should have stayed on even after this season, but is it right to trash him as much as fans do? I understand I will catch a lot of heat for this, but what will be said needs to be said.
Allegri came in as the replacement for Leonardo on the Milan bench. Inheriting an aging squad, Allegri nonetheless got the best out of his players. Milan finished that season in 1st place, beating out city rivals Inter by 6 points, winning their first Serie A title since 03′-04′.
Highlights: Sassuolo 4-3 Milan
Official: Milan sack Allegri
Allegri also brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic during the summer on a loan. This was also arguably Pato’s and and Robinho’s best season, with the two scoring 16 and 15 goals, respectively. Allegri took a squad filled with a lot of senators, and drilled them into a title-winning team. Sure he made some mistakes: namely the expulsion of Andrea Pirlo. But to be honest, it’s not Allegri’s fault. Looking at the stats, from 17 matches, Pirlo only managed to produce one goal and three assists. Allegri thought he was done, hell, most people thought he was done. Of course, looking back releasing Pirlo was not the best of moves, but who could have predicted such a revival would happen?
His next season was a bit worse, but still, Allegri guided Milan to a second-place finish in Serie A, and to Champions League. The squad of 2011-12 still had most of the senators, but also had young players starting to break out. Mattio De Sciglio got his first handful of matches, while Stephan El Shaarawy played 28 times for the Rossoneri. In Champions League, Allegri guided Milan to the quarter finals, where Milan controversially lost out to Barcelona away 3-1.
Last season was a miracle of miracles. In the summer of 2012, most of the older players, with the exceptions of Bonera, Ambrosini, Yepes, and Abbiati, were all either retired or released. Gattuso went to Sion, Seedorf to Botafogo, etc. Also offloaded were duo Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to PSG for around €65 million, a tidy sum. Brought in were Giampaolo Pazzini in a Cassano + €7 million swap. This was a deal that I myself can say I was skeptical about, but was quickly proven wrong with Pazzo’s hat-trick on his 2nd appearance. After 30 games, many of them subs, Pazzini finished with 15 goals in 30 matches, a fairly impressive feat. But overshadowing Pazzini were the amazing breakouts of Mattio De Sciglio at fullback and El Shaarawy on the wing. After the first few Serie A matches, Milan sat in relegation, and the beginning of the Allegri hatred was starting. But El Shaarawy, with Allegri’s faith, went on to single-handedly carry Milan half of a season, scoring 16 goals before January. In January, two very important things happened. Often-injured striker Alexandre Pato was shipped to Corinthians, and fiery striker Mario Balotelli was brought in for Manchester City using the funds from the Pato sale. Balo, as you know, went on a rampage, scoring 12 goals in 13 matches and clinching Champions League football.
This season has been a disaster. Milan are in 11th place, 30 points off of Juventus. There will be no Champions League next season for Milan. And Allegri has been the go to guy for hate, not only because of results, but because of some of his eccentric choices regarding players. Yes, I agree that playing midfielders at wingback and playing Constant at all were not the smartest things to do. But I believe he genuinely thought it through and thought that it would work.
In any case, Allegri was forced to work with squads containing players that wouldn’t even be able to get jobs as ballboys during the grande Milan era. If you look at the players in the squad right now, barring De Jong and possibly (key word possibly) Balotelli, no other player would see the pitch had they been in the squad of, say, the 2007 CL winning team. Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Balo, and De Jong were the best players Milan have had during Allegri’s reign. Everybody else is quite a few steps behind.
As for not playing players who fans think should be played? Do you really think you know better than Milan’s coaching staff? Do you see El Shaarawy and Saponara train every day? So tell me how you are 100% that playing one or the other will solve all of Milan’s problems.
Allegri’s stats and honours also do not give the impression of the horrible coach Milan seem to have in mind:
2007-2008- Panchina d’Oro Prima Divisione
2007-2008- Panchina d’Oro (Golden Bench for best Serie A coach)
2010-2011- Serie A, Supercoppa Italia, Serie A Coach of the Year
Overall- 1.92 ppg, 51% wins (2nd best stats for a coach in Berlusconi era)
Yes, you read correctly. Allegri has 3 coach of the year awards sitting on his fireplace. He also is the 2nd best coach that Berlusconi has employed.
So say what you want about him, he did well as a coach. I know this turned into a rant rather than the structured article I hoped for, but I am tired of seeing countless mindless fans drag Allegri’s name through the dirt without stopping to think about the whole story.
Say what you want of me, but I respect him for what he has done and I wish him the best on his journey in football, I wish him success, wherever he goes, and I wish that at his next club, he gets more fan respect than at Milan.
Ciao, and grazie, Mr. Allegri.
Follow me on twitter @daniel_gutman so we can chat, and check out my site at inoffthecrossbar.com
I think that SEDORF ,KAKA ,ABBIATI and TASSOTI schould DISCUSS about witch players dont care and dont deserve to play for MILAN they know it very well and i think it would help a lot
these days i feel lazy comenting on this site coz milan fans dont kno wat they want
We want just what belongs to Milan and Milans Fans since 1899……………………………….V I C T O R Y…………… 😉
Most of u guys are all fools..Cant you see the type of player allergri is playing..How can u chose Bonera over Mexes n Rami..Very stupid n have no urgency..Let him leave..Cnt even read games..Bad coach..
We keep complaining milan had less to none quality players for allegri to use…can we then say that all the teams that we’ve lost to are of better quality polayers? I reserve my comment
While Allegri should not shoulder all of the blame, you cannot just say the players aren’t good enough and that’s why we are where we are. Balotelli, Kaka, Montolivo, De Jong, Abate, De Sciglio ect are not exactly bad players. All of us logical fans that are still grounded in reality understand that our squad, our budget, and our current youth project means that we’re not going to be winning trebles year after year, but we also should not be in the bottom half of the table with FIVE wins at the halfway point. Yes our squad is not what… Read more »
Milan actually has the best squad in italy apart from the defensive area. Our center backs are not bad but lacks motivation. and abbiati is leveled with buffon in my opinion. the only team with better defensive pair is actually juventus. MILAN HAS THE BEST STRIKE FORCE IN ITALY, YET WE PLAY DEFENSIVELY AND SLUGGISHLY, PASSING THE BALL AROUND WITH NO IDES.
thank u brother
let me say this. The only reason we won scudetto first year was mainly cause of ibra, the old senators and partnership of silva and nesta.
You are 100% right respect despite his gaffes. Still wished he stayed the rest of the season
You would get lots of knocks for this but I support your opinion 100%.
Daniel, Daniel, Daniel… I’m sorry but this article really bugs me. You’ll probably call this “hating unfairly on Allegri” but all you’ve done is write a big list of all his so called achievements (and thrown in a few made up ones like bringing in Zlatan) and totally ignored all the reasons why everyone hates him. They don’t call him “the hatchet man” in Italy for nothing. Seedorf, Ambro, Pirlo, Pato, Nesta, Gattuso, Inzaghi, all hated him — heck, even Amelia’s withdrawn his transfer request now that he’s gone — and yet we’re supposed to “give him his dues.” ??… Read more »
with all do respect. its ok for u to have sympathy for max. i do believe he genuinely tried to suceed with the team. the first three seasons i was a strong backer of him. even in the 3rd season when we started badly. i supported him especially with the sale of zlatan n silva, its not easy for a coach. but this season, i believe he has no excuse. with the same team that finish third last season plus balo first full season, he should have done much better. yess, this team may not be good enough to win… Read more »
Well said, I like Allegri but this season, he didn’t get it right at all, horrible changes, slow to act even when it’s. Obvious we need a. Change of tactics and the players are not motivated and that is why a coach is there, wish him best of luck in his career.
Totally agree with you Daniel, great article. The amount of hatered Allegi, a fellow man, got from people on this blog was ridiculous, childish, and so many more negative things. I liked this article as even if it kind of was like a rant like you stated, it was also kind of an homage. He was our coach and he worked for the best of Milan, and that’s what the fans want, even if he didn’t get the results we all were looking for, he deserves respect for his work, considering how much crap he got to take from almost… Read more »
As Boban said recently “Milan has no soul” and a lot of the blame for that is down to one man — Max Allegri. Who else could leave Pirlo — the greatest midfielder of the modern era — rotting on the bench and then boot him out? Who else could leave Inzaghi out of the CL squad — a Milan legend going for the CL goal scoring record? Who else could have the players he had at his disposal — Kaka, Balotelli, DeJong, Monty — and turn them into West Brom? Ok, he may have been “doing his best” but… Read more »
Allegri lovers who will defend him to the ends of the earth make me sick! They all should just pack their bags and follow him out the door!
We will see what you guys will say now, I give it a month before you guys start complaining about tactics, formations and player selection. Because you couch coaches obviously know so much better than a practiced and licenced coach who has several years of experience.
And @Ouch! Shut up. A real Milanista supports his team and those who are attached to the shirt, no matter the situation. You are probably a glory hunter and would start cheering for Munich if Milan were in fact to be relegated someday.
And stop assuming things about people I have been a Milan fan for 10+ years and watching Milan play under allegri hurt soo much that I actually lost passion watching and enjoying football as a whole! That is how bad it got under allegri for me, but still used to watch Milan. I will NEVER support another team as long as I live! No matter what happens to Milan. PS Dont miss allegri too much. Peace mate.
All i read is Allegri bad coach…. bla… bla… bla…. Allegri sacked…. bla… bla… bla….
And I’m very happy. Bye mediocre coach. And hopefully, bye Seedorf at July 2014.
Bring in Rijkaard, or make Tassoti manager.
Finally someone is reasoning with me. I totally agree with every word in this article. I mean he wasn’t another ancelotti but he didn’t deserve the boos, insults and all he got from the Milan fans. I’ll comfortably give him a 6/10
How many hate did Leonardo got? At least under leonardo, we got some real entertaining football. Are Milan players poorer than sassoluso players? Can’t average players play good football? Second best coach of berlusconi era in your dictionary but in mine , he is the worst milan coach ever. even with defensive, ugly football mentality, we still ship in goals against bottom table teams. Can’t defend, can’t attack and can’t entertain. Remember what Barbara B said? ‘Our fans can’t continue to suffer’ you Allegri fan boys can continue to suffer by following him to his new ckub but not us.
“he is the worst milan coach ever.” Exactly! He’s the only coach who’s managed to humiliate Milan to the extent that we’re embarrassed to be called fans.
Daniel Gutman: oh c’mon dude! are u my son or what??? do u want to know my biggest failure? i love mediocre players like crazy. worse, i’m not able to put the right man on the right place and i have no idea on how to encourage my players to give their best potential to the team except by saying dai dai dai. but i appreciated a lot ur compliment to my crapenaccio. thanks. 😀
Does anyone thinks it would have better to sign someone like AVB from tottenham?