5 Managers Who Could Replace Massimiliano Allegri at AC Milan
The adage that titles are not won or lost pre-Christmas is often true, but few can anticipate AC Milan overcoming the 19-point chasm to claw their way back into contention.
Sitting in 10th position, they have won only three of their 12 league games, collecting an unspectacular 13 points from the 36 on offer. They have not won any of their last four league games (including a meek goalless draw to Chievo) and they also risk exiting the Champions League.
In the pressure cooker that is the San Siro, when there is not only a relentless hierarchy in the boardroom to appease but also the club's diehard Ultras in the stands, Allegri has had a good run.
Since being appointed in June 2010, the former Cagliari manager has presided over 169 games—longer than previous incumbents Leonardo, Alberto Zaccheroni and Fatih Terim—and can boast a win rate of 52 percent.
His team play good football: Deploying a 4-4-1-1 formation, they use naturally wide players such as Ignazio Abate and Urby Emanuelson to feed the creative players in the centre of the field: Kaka, Riccardo Montolivo, Valter Birsa and Nigel de Jong.
But the Rossoneri faithful have an insatiable hunger for trophies and success. One Serie A title in three seasons is not an ample return.
With the pressure on him to deliver, Allegri was last week given the dreaded "vote of confidence" by the Milan board, as reported by the BBC.
As their contingent of internationally-selected players meander back to Milan and the club prepare to welcome Genoa to the San Siro—a side who are three places better off, in seventh—it looks likely that if Allegri fails to deliver three points, vice president Adriano Galliani will instead deliver his P45.
Let's now take a look at five candidates who could replace Massimiliano Allegri, should he depart the Milan club.
Diego Simeone
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An industrious defensive midfielder in his playing career, Diego Simeone was not famed for his penchant for guile or craft.
However, he is currently heralded as one of the most forward-thinking coaches in current European football.
At the helm of Atletico Madrid, he has cultivated a team which, instilling youth and experience, has shaken up the duopoly in Spain's La Liga.
Favouring a 4-4-2 formation which is not indifferent to Milan's (Atletico's David Villa enjoys dropping in behind Diego Costa, receiving the balls from out wide), Simeone likes his side to play frenetic, expansive football.
This brand and style would not look out of place at the San Siro.
There is one caveat though: Simeone counts, among others, Inter Milan as one of his former teams. If he was to be appointed, he would polarise opinion amongst the fans before even taking to the dugout.
He was part of a successful Nerazzurri side, playing two full seasons and, in a team inspired by Ronaldo, winning the UEFA Cup.
Whether this affects his potential candidacy remains to be seen but from a managerial point of view, he has the credentials to shake the Rossoneri from their malaise.
Guus Hiddink
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It may come as a surprise to many to learn that the celebrated Guus Hiddink—the man who can count (to name but a few) Real Madrid, Chelsea, Valencia and the Netherlands as former employers—is currently available.
Having left Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala in July following just 18 months at the helm, he is awaiting the next chance to apply the deft man-management tactics which have proved successful previously.
Whilst his inauspicious playing career was limited to three Dutch teams as well as a stint in the now-defunct North American Soccer League, he has crafted a reputation as an assured, versatile and engaging manager.
Prior to his foray into Russian football, Hiddink coasted through a nondescript 16-game spell in charge of Turkey but this was on the back of an exemplary interim spell at Chelsea: Amid the uncertainty of the 2009 season, he guided the team to FA Cup success.
The notable thing about the Dutchman is that during his 26-year coaching career, out of the 12 teams that he managed, it is with only four of them that he has presided over more than 50 games.
That is not to say he under-performs or warrants early dismissal. More pointedly, he prides himself on being a "troubleshooter" who can be parachuted in, appointed on an interim basis and restore stability to a troubled team.
With that in mind, AC Milan could install him to see out this season, where he achieves a Champions League-qualifying position, before then handing over the reins to another, more long-term candidate in the summer.
Michael Laudrup
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Since arriving at Swansea during the summer of 2012, Michael Laudrup has looked to craft a team which is classy, aesthetically-pleasing and engaging—all the traits of their manager himself.
This happened almost instantaneously: Winning the League Cup in his debut season at the Liberty Stadium certainly exceeded the expectations of many.
Whilst he was a critically-acclaimed player, his managerial career had yet to hit the same meteoric heights.
After initially announcing his credentials with a successful 132-game run at former club Brondby, unsuccessful and fragmented roles at Getafe, Spartak Moscow and Real Mallorca followed.
However, now in his second season with the Swans, he is thriving in the stable environs of South Wales. He has a team which was frugally-assembled, who are enjoying their moniker of being one of the league's slickest-passing sides, and is growing under his stewardship.
With a penchant for styles which err on the side of pioneering—when they defeated Sunderland 4-0 last month, Laudrup's men lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation—he has the imagination which has enabled Swansea to assert themselves as European qualifiers.
But in the summer, he was heavily linked with the then-vacant Chelsea hot seat (a rumour that he confirmed in an article in The Guardian in October) before Jose Mourinho returned for a second spell.
His achievements have not gone unnoticed: The hierarchy at Swansea should brace themselves for further advances.
Gennaro Gattuso
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The prodigal son of the San Siro, appointing Gennaro Gattuso as manager would be a left field choice.
On paper, it makes sense. After a 13-year spell as the engine room of an AC Milan side which won two Champions League and two Serie A titles, he was adored by the Rossoneri faithful.
However, he is a divisive character: Notoriously feisty, his short temper often landed him in trouble. He had well-documented altercations with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Christian Poulsen and Tottenham coach Joe Jordan.
Whether he has the temperament which could endure the stifling pressures of the San Siro managerial role is not yet clear.
Sacked from Palermo after just six league games—of which he won two—Gattuso experienced the wrath of the ruthless club owner Maurizio Zamparini.
Whilst in time Gattuso can notch this down to experience, it does mean that the former Italian international's managerial credentials took a cruel hit before they were yet to be formed.
His managerial record declares that he has been at the helm of two teams, FC Sion and also Palermo. However, his time at the former extended to only 12 games whilst the latter was only eight games.
With such raw ability, and still only 35, Gattuso could perhaps benefit from a time in as an assistant manager or as part of a coaching team.
If Allegri does leave, whoever does succeed him should strongly consider recruiting Gattuso. Whilst never known for his goal-scoring prowess, his positioning and work-rate was exemplary.
Mauricio Pocchetino
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A stocky centre-back in his pomp, Mauricio Pochettino was famed for taking a robust approach to the game.
During spells at Paris Saint-Germain, Espanyol and Bordeaux, he enjoyed a 12-year stint in Europe. Never blessed with pace, he was a meticulous player who generated successful tackles—and there were plenty of them—by contemplating when and where an attack would happen before sniffing it out.
Now in charge of Southampton in the English Premier League, he has transferred this cerebral approach to coaching.
With his side boasting the meanest defence in the league—five fewer than Chelsea and Liverpool—they are riding high in third place, three points behind leaders Arsenal (who they face this weekend).
Things weren't always rosy on the south coast. Appointed as successor to Nigel Adkins, who had achieved back-to-back promotions with the club, there was allegedly fierce resistance to the chairman's decision to appoint a man who spoke little, if any, English.
Building a team around the club's core of English players—a number of whom were rewarded with international call-ups this week—the Argentine manager has his team play slick football. In their most recent game, a 4-1 mauling of Hull, the Saints had 61 percent possession, 15 shots on goal and a pass success rate of 83 percent
This impressive display is no one-off: In his previous role at Espanyol, he saved the club from relegation in 2009.
Whilst his management career is still in its infancy, his resolute attitude would go down well in the cauldron of the San Siro. Favouring home-grown players and utilising the club's youth system, these values would sit well with Milan vice president Adriano Galliani.
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