Upon joining AC Milan in the summer of 2016, Vincenzo Montella was an ideal appointment. The former Roma and Fulham striker had proven himself excellent at working in difficult financial conditions and in developing young players. He may not have given Gianluigi Donnarumma his debut, but he was certainly responsible for bringing many of the club’s other homegrown talents through to the first team.
Creating space for these bright hopefuls to shine, he fashioned a core that placed the prodigious goalkeeper alongside fellow teenagers Patrick Cutrone, Manuel Locatelli and Davide Calabria. As well as those products of the Rossoneri youth sector, Montella’s starting XI also included the defensive talent of Alessio Romagnoli, plus loanees Mario Pašalić and Gerard Deulofeu.
However, just twelve months after taking charge at San Siro, his brief changed entirely. Milan were taken over by a Chinese consortium and began spending money at a rapid pace. The young players became somewhat marginalised as veteran players including Leonardo Bonucci, Lucas Biglia and Nikola Kalinic all joined the squad, the Coach struggling to manage their much larger personalities.
He stuck with a three-man defence when – outside of Bonucci – it didn't really suit the talent at his disposal and suddenly the joy surrounding their 2016 Supercoppa Italiana felt like it happened a lifetime ago. That victory over Juventus saw Milan lift their first trophy since 2011 and appeared to usher in a bright new dawn, but with the landscape shifting around him, Montella looked lost and the team would win just two of nine games leading up to a November draw with Torino.
That proved to be the final straw and the Coach was sacked, club legend Gennaro Gattuso appointed in his place. With very little experience of top flight management, the retired midfielder initially struggled, memorably watching the side slump to a draw with rock bottom Benevento as the minnows earned their first ever Serie A point at his expense. Yet while many observers – including this writer – wondered if the change would make any difference, if this was another Clarence Seedorf or Pippo Inzaghi-esque experiment he simply got to work instilling his plan to make Milan respectable again.
Interviews and press conferences followed a consistent pattern, bemoaning the lack of fight in his players and demanding 100% effort at all times. There is rarely any hint of tactical insight from Gattuso, whose manner with the media is exactly the same as the image he projects on the touchline; an angry, snarling bundle of energy who looks ready to physically confront anyone he deems worthy of criticism. In short, he coaches the way he played, limited in many ways but never found lacking passion, determination or the will to win every challenge placed before him.
While that may place a ceiling on where Gattuso can take Milan, for their current situation, he is arguably even more of a perfect fit than Montella was eighteen months ago. Instantly reverting to a traditional back four, the defence is as well drilled as you would expect given the temperament of the new boss, with key midfielder Franck Kessie embodying his uncompromising mindset. The Ivorian is looking much more like the unrelenting force he was at Atalanta last term, winning tackles all over the pitch and providing a platform on which far more dangerous attacks can be built.
The squad is laden with quality, the likes of Suso, Giacomo Bonaventura and Cutrone always capable of delivering in decisive moments, helping Milan embark on their current on a six-match unbeaten run. Winning four and drawing just twice during that period, Gattuso is certainly in no mood to let his team grow complacent, explaining his view of their progress following Saturday’s 4-0 victory over SPAL.
“The important thing is to persevere and not think all our problems have been resolved,” the Coach told Sky Italia. “I reminded the team of where we were two months ago, how many issues we had and pointed out this is the start, not the finish line… I want to see three or four men in the box whenever we put in a cross, I want to see the chain reaction down the right and left flanks. We’ve improved a lot and there’s a long way to go.”
Entering this weekend 25 points behind leaders Napoli and ten away from the Champions League berth they so desperately covet, he is unquestionably right in that analysis. The club will need to address some of their errors on the transfer market this summer, but in Gennaro Gattuso they have found a Coach to steer them in the right direction.
