4 Biggest Regrets for Filippo Inzaghi as AC Milan Coach

The truth about Filippo Inzaghi is that he is not ready. He says he loves AC Milan and that he wants to stay for another 20 years, but this is no way to start a coaching career.

Under the stress of winning every game, managing a team in transition, Inzaghi never really had a chance to learn slowly. He was thrown right into the fire.

Now on an almost regular basis, he is answering questions about getting sacked.

The lure of coaching for a team like Milan is hard to turn down. Inzaghi had the opportunity to start his second career with a smaller team like Sassuolo last year, but he stayed with the team he loves.

It may have been a mistake, as former teammate Gennaro Gattuso suggests.

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Gattuso on Inzaghi: "When Milan comes calling, you don't say no. In my opinion, it was a rushed move, just like mine at Palermo"

— Marco Messina (@Marcocalcio22) March 30, 2015"

Over the course of his first season in charge of the Rossoneri, Inzaghi has made some big mistakes. He gave Sulley Muntari the captaincy and failed to hold promises.

In order of severity, here are his four biggest regrets.

Breaking Promises with Fernando Torres

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Fernando Torres thought he was important to Milan.

Inzaghi had reportedly made a phone call to the Spaniard to tempt him from Chelsea in the summer.

"Come to Milan," Inzaghi told Torres, according to Calciomercato (h/t Daily Mail). "I will make you return the player you were, one of the best in the world, in the national team too."

It was a grand statement to make. Torres was looking for a team that would guarantee him a starting spot. Inzaghi ultimately could not keep his promise. Torres was left on the bench, and he left Milan after scoring just once for the Rossoneri.

"The coach decided to make use of different players and I didn’t find what I was looking for when I left England," Torres said, per Football Italia.

Torres may not have been a good fit for Milan anyway. But Inzaghi showed he was not ready to make such grand proclamations. It hurt his credibility so early in his tenure. What he says doesn't exactly mean much.

Giving Captain's Armband to Sulley Muntari

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Milan did not like it when Clarence Seedorf gave defender Philippe Mexes the captain's armband. So it is worth wondering whether they liked it this time around.

Except Inzaghi did worse. He gave Mexes the captaincy for the big derby against Inter, and then turned to midfielder Sulley Muntari for the game against Juventus.

It was an admission of just how low Milan had sunk. Muntari is a hack artist on the field at the best of times, ready to lunge into tackles, and he's someone who has been suspended for nine games over the past three seasons with Milan, but suddenly he came to embody the characteristics of this storied club.

Neglecting Youth Players

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For a former Primavera coach, Inzaghi has been particularly hesitant to use youngsters. He has called up some graduates of the youth team, like Alessandro Mastalli, but only to fill out the roster.

Other first-team players like M'Baye Niang and Riccardo Saponara had to depart just to get proper playing time, and they have thrived since leaving. They have scored braces for Genoa and Empoli, respectively. Now they are important pieces, not just forgotten names.

Now Suso is getting restless. He has only enjoyed 10 minutes of competitive action with Milan, as a substitute in the Coppa Italia. "I want to feel important," he told Milan Channel (h/t Football Italia).

This is a big problem. Inzaghi has favoured aging veterans like Michael Essien over such prospects. He says the time simply isn't right. "You need the right situation to launch their senior careers," Inzaghi told Milan Channel (h/t Football Italia), "and we don’t have that right now."

Those are the words of a coach who is scared to place his own future in the hands of untested youth players. And the ones who leave are proving that life under Inzaghi is not exactly fruitful.

Taking the AC Milan Job Itself

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All of these regrets stem from one simple fact: Inzaghi should have stayed far, far away from this job.

No one forced him to take up the offer. He wanted this life.

"I would like to coach Milan for the next 20 years," he told reporters earlier this month, per Goal.com, "and I am here to reaffirm that."

But the past year has severely hurt his stock. He could have started out with a mid-table club like Sassuolo, where the pressures of saving a seven-time European champion do not exist.

He thanked them for the opportunity last year and decided to stay with Milan.

That decision may well have set him back. If Milan do go ahead and sack Inzaghi this summer, it is likely no big club will come calling his name. He will have to start all over—perhaps even lower than Sassuolo.