Calcio Debate: Who Should Coach AC Milan Next Season?

Carlo Ancelotti's future remains unclear and so we mull over who should sit in the Rossoneri hotseat next season...

17 Mar 2009 16:40:22

This was supposed to be the year that Milan re-emerged as a domestic superpower, on a charge for only their second Scudetto of the decade and ensuring bitter city rivals Inter were knocked off their perch.After all, having floundered in Serie A for a number of years - which eventually culminated in the humiliation of failing to qualify for the Champions League - this great club was primed for a comeback.It hasn't quite worked out that way. Not only are Inter untouchable in pole position without even having played their best football all season, but Juventus, a side that recently endured relegation, are comfortable in second place.

THE CANDIDATES (Frontrunners for the Milan job)
Carlo Ancelotti (Can't even win the UEFA Cup) Probability: 7/10 Suitability: 6/10
Leonardo (About as proven as Digao) Probability: 6/10 Suitability: 5/10
Frank Rijkaard (Even lazier than Ronaldinho) Probability: 5/10 Suitability: 7/10
Roberto Donadoni (Clueless) Probability: 4/10 Suitability: 3/10
Jose Mourinho (Moratti's inside man) Probability: 3/10 Suitability: 8/10

Milan's only consolation can be that they haven't continued their worrying trend of recent years: dropping a league place each season. From winning the Scudetto in 2004, they came second in 2005 while also reaching the Champions League final, third in 2006 (post-Calciopoli), fourth in 2007 (albeit with a points deduction, and a Champions League title) and a tragic fifth last season.At least they're not sixth - but they could easily have been if Roma and Fiorentina hadn't toiled so much in their attempts to juggle Champions League football with their domestic commitments.

Patience has been running thinner than Emerson's hair at San Siro. Fans don't even have a European campaign upon which they can hang their Rossoneri hats. Consigned to the UEFA Cup this season - a competition never won by the club throughout its history - they were recently eliminated at the hands of a sub-standard Werder Bremen side. They can't even win the cup no one considers a real cup anymore.

Everybody knows the squad is too old; a golden era rusting over and these days lucky to be passed off as bronze. Vice-president Adriano Galliani must surely shoulder some of the blame and perhaps, in proportion, some can be placed at the foot of club president and Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, as well. The financial state of the entire Lega Calcio has done the Diavoli no favours, either, but what many of these circumstances share in similarity is that they are out of the club's control.

Some fans have even called for Silvio's head. This, the man who brought back from the death a miserable Milanello in the late 1980s and transformed them into the superpower they are known as today. The feeling being that this is the only way to well and truly remove themselves from the decaying state of affairs at San Siro.

Right or wrong in this belief, what is as good as certain is that with any kind of new regime would come a new head coach, and thus whether or not Berlusconi and Galliani are exiled from Via Turati, a new coach is as good as a certainty if Milan are to move on and begin forging a new era.
Carletto has long been protected by the current regime - regardless of his shortcomings, he has been made to feel untouchable - but another tame time of things in Serie A coupled with the already well-established, publicised and criticised failure in Europe may see him meet his end. Sweetening the deal for the surly tactician is that Florentino Perez, primed for a return as president of Real Madrid this summer, seems to have Ancelotti in his sights to lead what may be a new Galactico era at the Santiago Bernabeu.

It may end up being that he is able to save face, as instead of being fired, he simply chooses to leave and that inwardly, Galliani won't be sorry to see him go.

Regardless - and it does seem that we say this every year, as of late - next season really will be definitive for Milan. It is a team in slight need of reshaping and a squad hysterically crying out for revitalisation. There needn't be a double-digit summer exodus - too much change too soon could do as much harm as good - but there needs to be a masterplan of some description put into action. This is a Milan side going from game to game with less aim than a desperate Massimo Ambrosini slice at goal.

Something about Carletto, maybe the fact he looks over 60 whilst being under 50, doesn't exactly scream 'up and at 'em'. He's not a man of tremendous action and it's unlikely whether he would embrace change any more than Andrea Pirlo embraces running exercises. It remains the case that he is most likely to remain at the helm going into next season, especially if Juande Ramos continues in his largely impressive vein of form as Real Madrid coach, earning himself an extended contract in the process. But let's say he leaves - the first problem facing the European giants is the lack of eligible successors. Galliani, who in this hypothetical scenario would be the most likely to take the lead in finding the new coach, is an inward-looking individual and is unlikely to consider anyone without a Milanese background. Leonardo, a former player for the club and now a technical director, has been tipped to take over in the summer and is very much the frontrunner. Having publicly denied any such notions, it wouldn't be surprising if Galliani has had a crafty word or two in his ear already - just in case.

The obvious risk involved behind appointing the stylish Brazilian is that he has never coached before in his life. That being said, after the Pep Guardiola revolution over at Barcelona, maybe Milan are hopeful of replicating that success - or maybe the head honchos just want someone impressionable who will be open to their manipulation. Maybe.
While Pep's Barcelona are impressive, they are yet to hit the heights of the golden era forged by Frank Rijkaard at Camp Nou. This was a man who had an outstanding five seasons at San Siro as a player, but has been out of work as a coach since Joan Laporta put him out of his misery in Catalonia. Like Ancelotti, he built a world-beating team and then, in part due to his own lack of inspiration, watched it crumble before his eyes. In many ways, his tactical style is a polar opposite to Carletto's and could provide just the right kind of change needed at the club, but there remain serious question marks over his longevity.

Plunging further still through the former player archive we come to Roberto Donadoni. This, a man prematurely pushed into the Azzurri hotseat, having only coached for just over five years prior to his appointment. Yes, he was impressive at Livorno - but more importantly, it was Livorno. He didn't do that badly in charge of Italy, but found himself completely out of his depth when it mattered in the big games - not a quality that would endear himself to Milanello. Nevertheless, he would have been a strong contender for the post, if for no other reason than him ticking a few superficial boxes, but having just taken the reins at Napoli, the complications surrounding such a recruitment suggest that he's not a man worth quite that much trouble.
Now, short of going to Alessandro Costacurta, fresh off the back of his resignation from the mighty Mantova in Serie B, or wrenching Paolo Maldini from his retirement plans and into coaching before he's even had time to breathe just so he can set right this forever-faltering club, it seems as though Milan must at least be open to the possibility of going outside their own to find an ideal successor.

One man stands out above the rest, doesn't he? He is a man who would have no problem dealing with the abuse that comes from crossing one city rival to the other, and one that, more than any of the other contenders, would guarantee success. Nobody likes him, but he doesn't really seem to care. If the sporadic rumours are true and he really is considering leaving Inter after just a single, somewhat underwhelming season, would the Rossoneri really swallow their pride and go for it? Unlikely... but are there really any better options?