RedBird’s owner wants to run the company more directly. He didn’t appreciate the internal divisions, now he wants a machine that works in harmony
Day one of year zero. Milan is in the midst of yet another revolution. The first, however, was totally decided by Gerry Cardinale. After a sleepless night the owner of Milan has decided to make a clean sweep. With the belief that there are not many who share his same insomnia within the team and at Casa Milan (Modric, Pulisic, Pavlovic and Saelaemaker are the exceptions) from today onwards he will directly put his hands inside Milan and the statement sent a few hours ago marks the beginning of a new course. His learning period, so to speak, is over. Cardinale has already begun the work that will lead to having a new CEO, a new sporting director and a new coach in a week (more or less). Spoiler: the coach could be foreign, and will have to play on the attack. At Fabregas, to understand, much less at Antonio Conte. No more 3-5-2, no more defensive football. In order. In truth, Cardinale would have made many changes even before but the failure (catastrophe is the kindest word used in these hours at the top of Casa Milan) of the exclusion from the Champions League does not allow any other choice.
furlani
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Giorgio Furlani, who is good with numbers and making the numbers add up, therefore failed, but was rejected for failing to build a machine in which all the parts worked together in an effective collaboration. This is the central point: redesigning the organization so that it is a mechanism that works in unison, in which CEO, director and coach are in tune. What didn’t happen this year. What annoyed the owner the most. More than the names, what is important now is the construction of the structure, designing a disciplined one in which each box collaborates with the others. Returns from the past (remote or near) do not seem foreseen. Paolo Maldini, a great champion, who has the respect of Cardinale and would be an easy solution to satisfy the angry crowd of fans, cannot return, but he has shown that he does not want to team up: he is considered a one man show incompatible with all the other managers. And almost certainly Adriano Galliani will not return either, who although Cardinale met a year ago, but who still represents a vision of football from the past. The impression is that, in all roles, younger profiles will be chosen.
cheerful
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Massimiliano Allegri also failed, and it was the least obvious move. He would have been saved if he had qualified for the Champions League, even if the defensive play and the collapse of the last few months had already raised eyebrows. The sense of the club’s thinking is that his Milan played not to lose rather than to win. The choice a year ago was dictated by the desire to shorten the time after an eighth place and quickly reduce the distance with the other teams, but he is not considered the right coach to start again. Looking for the instant team ultimately turned out to be a mistake: the easiest way and not the right one. Allegri did not enhance the players, indeed some like Pulisic suffered a mysterious involution, he did not increase the team’s assets. But it is above all the mentality, that of looking in the rearview mirror instead of in front, that the coach is criticized for. Who to replace him? It will take a few more days but he will be a coach defined as having the opposite style of play, which will have to be offensive, fast, attacking. Fabregas is liked as a guy (but it won’t be him), he could be a foreigner, there are no preclusions on the matter. And Ibra? Ibra does what he has always done, that is, he is a consultant for RedBird. He doesn’t work for Milan, but he really cares about Milan. It is clear that at this stage his advice and his football ideas will be listened to, but he will not fill a space in the company organization chart, where there is Massimo Calvelli, as a member of the board, whose work is appreciated but who will not be the future CEO. So Milan starts again. On the table there are three names for the coach and three for the CEO: a decision will be made soon. A week, maybe ten days. If for four years Cardinale let it be managed, now he will be increasingly involved. He will listen to everyone, but then he will decide.
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