Milan market, there is no white smoke for Massimiliano Allegri’s stay
Massimiliano Allegri, the AC Milan coach, spoke about his future, but without confirming whether he will stay with the Rossoneri next season: “Every year you get to this period and you say ‘That one goes that way, that one goes this way’: that’s part of the beauty of soccer. Anything can happen in soccer, even in matches. One thing that counts is the end result, through performance, and right now the goal is clear.”
“My history as a coach speaks clearly,” he added, “I was four years at Milan, I did eight at Juventus, then I came back here. For me so many changes were never in the DNA. I like to work in a club that is a business and must be managed as such: it must be made competitive and at the same time sustainable.”
The Livorno coach’s words come on the eve of the away match in Verona and at a moment of great pressure for Milan, which is coming off a heavy 3-0 loss suffered at home against Udinese on the last day of the championship – with goals from Bartesaghi (own goal), Ekkelenkamp and Atta – that represents the clearest knockout of Allegri’s second era on the Rossoneri bench. The third ko in the last four games, after those against Lazio and Napoli, triggered the booing of the San Siro crowd and further complicated the race for fourth place, with Como and Juventus ready to take advantage.
In this context, Allegri also clarified the club’s immediate priorities: “The first step is the goal of Champions League and then planning for the future, something that already started last year when half the squad changed. We need to get to Champions. We must not look three months ahead, but two years ahead.”
In the background, however, the question related to the Italian national team’s bench remains open. Allegri is considered one of the leading candidates for the role of the Azzurri’s technical commissioner, along with Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini, with the final decision to be made after the June federal elections. Giovanni Malagò, among the favorites for the FIGC presidency, is reportedly intent on strongly supporting precisely the Livorno coach’s candidacy. Allegri, asked on the subject, responded pragmatically, “Before the coach they will have to decide who the president is. Then after that they will decide from there.”
There has been no shortage of controversy: Antonio Cassano, during the Viva el Fútbol broadcast, harshly attacked the coach, calling him “the main non-coaching coach” and accusing him of leading “Italian soccer into the abyss.” Allegri responded ironically in a press conference, “I had the luck and pleasure of coaching Cassano, he had extraordinary plays. I respect everyone’s opinions, if for him I am responsible for the problems of the national team, he has paid me a compliment.”
Meanwhile, according to reports from multiple sources, relations between Allegri and the Rossoneri management would not be idyllic: among the main points of friction would be the market choices of the last two sessions, from the failure to get a starting center forward in the summer to the disappointing winter signing of Füllkrug. In case the coach were to leave Milan, the management would already be considering possible alternatives, including Vincenzo Italiano, appreciated in particular by general manager Giorgio Furlani, and the more resounding hypothesis of a return to Milan – but on the Rossoneri side – of Simone Inzaghi, currently engaged in Saudi Arabia.
