The Question: Should AC Milan Have Hired Marco Giampaolo over Vincenzo Montella?

For AC Milan, this Friday night will present a meeting of what is and what could have been.

Over the summer, when discussions were ongoing as to who would be appointed Milan head coach following the departure of Cristian Brocchi, two names were particularly prominent amid the constant speculation.

One of the names mentioned was Vincenzo Montella, formerly of Fiorentina and most recently Sampdoria. The other was Marco Giampaolo, who enjoyed a successful 2015-16 season in charge of Empoli.

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Ultimately, Montella would be appointed Milan coach on June 28, and within a week of that announcement, Giampaolo was hired as his replacement in the Sampdoria dugout.  

The pair will go head-to-head on Friday when their two new teams face each other at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in what promises to be an intriguing battle of respected tacticians as well as an early barometer for what lies ahead.

The match may also provide further clarification, if not a comprehensive answer, regarding the question: Did Milan make the correct decision in appointing Montella over Giampaolo?

The start to this season has not been a positive one for the Rossoneri. An opening day 3-2 win over Torino came courtesy of a last-gasp penalty save from Gianluigi Donnarumma, though the 4-2 defeat away to Napoli only reinforced the gulf in class between Milan and Serie A’s finest.

And following the international break, a 1-0 home loss to Udinese acted as a serious wakeup call to Montella and his players. With two defeats from three games, seven goals conceded and three red cards, the new coach has endured an inauspicious beginning to his tenure.

By way of contrast, Giampaolo has enjoyed his opening three league games in charge of Sampdoria, picking up two wins, one of which came away to his old club Empoli. His sole competitive defeat thus far, 3-2 away to Roma last Sunday, was an understandable one.

Perhaps what has been most impressive about his start to life with the Genovese club has been the speed with which he has implemented his football philosophy, something that was on show last term as he guided Empoli to an impressive 10th-place finish in Serie A.

“Giampaolo's playing style is quite unique,” said Tom Payne, an analyst for Spielverlagerung. "In defence, he prefers an aggressive pressing approach. In a 4-1-2-1-2 shape which sometimes shifts to a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-3-3, his team position themselves high up the pitch and have an extremely narrow defensive block as they look to force the opposition wide. His possession game is compact and combinative, (looking to) move the ball quickly up the field through fast and dynamic interplays."

These stylistic preferences undoubtedly played a part in attracting Milan, who sought more aesthetically pleasing football after the functional play exhibited under Brocchi and his predecessor, Sinisa Mihajlovic. However, the club ultimately went with Montella.

As well as a strong track record which has seen him attain positive results in most of his previous coaching roles with other teams, Montella is renowned for his ability to implement a distinct brand of football.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino described the Milan boss to the press as being “almost like a Spanish coach for his playing style” when the English club met Fiorentina in the 2014-15 Europa League round of 32.

In practise, Montella’s style involves the full-backs pushing high up the pitch in possession. This encourages the wingers to tuck into more central spaces, where they can receive passes between opposition lines.

The outside central midfielders in the middle of Montella’s 4-3-3 will then drop back to offer diagonal passing outlets to the centre-backs, while on occasion the defensive midfielder will drop back to create numerical superiority against a high-pressing opposition.

Defensively, the Milan coach prefers to marry a man-oriented approach with a fairly passive pressing game that usually only begins as the opponent threatens to move beyond the halfway line.

Montella does share one clear tactical similarity with Giampaolo in that both seek to control the game through dominating and utilising the ball. Both also produce attractive, attack-minded football, but the former places greater priority on retention of possession, while the latter puts more emphasis on speed and verticality to build penetrative attacks.

However, at least on the evidence of the first three matches of this Serie A season, Montella has had far more difficulty introducing his style successfully to Milan than Giampaolo has with Sampdoria. The Rossoneri appeared sluggish in their most recent fixture against Udinese, rife with wayward and ineffective passing.

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Sampdoria, meanwhile, have played with a much greater vibrancy and already bear the tactical markings of their coach, with a high defensive line, a narrow setup, fast interplays and a focus on vertical passes.

In spite of the rough start, Rossoneri Blog founder Meytar Zeevi believes Montella should not be judged too harshly: "Milan didn’t live up to the expectations of Montella in the sense that he asked for certain players as his No. 1 transfer-market targets, and not one of them was signed. Jose Sosa, Marko Pasalic and Matias Fernandez may all be decent players, but they are not what Montella wanted for the regista role.

"Wanting (Villarreal centre-back Mateo) Musacchio and getting Gustavo Gomez is another example of the club failing to meet his demands. So Montella has found himself with almost the same side that finished seventh last year. The problems from the past few seasons remain unsolved."

Evidently, patience will be required before Montella’s reign can be properly evaluated. And there remains room for some optimism.

Sempre Milan’s Isak Moller believes, "The style of play has changed significantly (and) in my opinion, the players seem to have more faith in this style, though there’s no doubt it will take time for it to work the way Montella wants it to. The Udinese defeat was a poor game for Milan, but several key players were missing. In my opinion, that result was very much a random event."

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And when asked whether Montella was the right choice over Sampdoria’s Giampaolo, Moller added, “Giampaolo certainly had a good season with Empoli, but I do think it was the right choice to hire Montella. He is the more experienced manager, having coached teams such as Roma and Fiorentina.”

Chloe Beresford has watched Montella and Giampaolo closely in recent years while writing for Viola Nation and Football Italia. She feels that external factors are the one major difference between the pair’s contrasting starts to this season: "It would be unfair to say that Giampaolo is more effective in implementing his football philosophy because of the behind-the-scenes situation that continues to plague Milan at the moment, which is hampering Montella’s progress.

"Given time, I'm confident that Montella can steady the ship. Both coaches are very similar in their approach; they are really effective at drawing the best from the players they have available and guarantee entertaining football."

Comparing coaches on a qualitative basis is difficult primarily because of contextual differences. Aspects that are outside their sphere of influence such as poor transfer windows, a below-par playing squad or uncertainty in the club hierarchy can impact upon their ability to achieve positive results.

Unlike Giampaolo at Sampdoria, Montella has undoubtedly been hampered by all three of these problems during his time at the San Siro so far. Consequently, defeat this Friday night is likely to provoke more questions about Milan’s overarching issues than about their latest coaching appointment.

As someone with a history of good results and a clear, attractive style of football, Montella ticked all the boxes at the time of his appointment. And despite a poor start, it's too early for negative judgement.

He was, and is, the right coach for Milan.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated.