Rating AC Milan's Top 5 Rumoured Head Coach Candidates
It’s no secret that this summer is likely to prove pivotal to the future of AC Milan. Formerly one of Italian football’s most prestigious clubs, they are about to go without European football for a third consecutive year.
Change is necessary, and one specific area in which this will be seen is the coaching department.
Sinisa Mihajlovic brought about mildly improved results following his appointment last summer, but he failed to implement an attractive style of play. Consequently, when the wins began to dry up, he found himself under serious pressure and was eventually sacked in April.
Cristian Brocchi was hired as his temporary replacement until the end of the season, though with takeover negotiations ongoing it remains to be seen if he will still be in charge come 2016-17.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Calciomercato), he is one of five men under consideration for the job, with the other four being Marco Giampaolo, Louis van Gaal, Andre Villas-Boas and Frank de Boer.
What follows is a ranking of the five candidates for the role of Milan head coach.
Criteria Explained
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Three different criteria will be used in order to rate and then rank all five of Milan’s primary coaching contenders. These are explained below.
Achievement
The coach’s results over the short and long term, their level of relevant experience, and their personal trophy collections.
Strategy
The coach’s ability to build and rebuild teams, transfer-market dealings and proclivity for promoting and developing from within.
Style
The coach’s football ideology and ability to implement ideas in line with Milan’s strong history of attractive, attacking play.
Each coach will be graded out of 10 for the above criteria, with a total out of 30.
5. Cristian Brocchi
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Following Sinisa Mihajlovic’s dismissal in April, Cristian Brocchi was appointed Milan head coach until the end of last season. Previously, he was in charge of the club’s Primavera.
Achievements: 3/10
It’s difficult to judge Brocchi on the short time he had in charge of the Rossoneri first team in the final two months of the 2015-16 campaign, where he won just two of six league games in charge and lost the Coppa Italia final to Juventus.
Beforehand, he achieved moderately good results with the club’s under-19s for two years having taken over from Filippo Inzaghi in the summer of 2014.
Strategy: 4/10
Brocchi has no issue giving young players a chance having worked at youth level for much of his coaching career.
The current Milan first team is testament to his work; 17-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, 19-year-old right-back Davide Calabria and 18-year-old midfielder Manuel Locatelli were all promoted following their time under his tutelage.
Style: 7/10
Upon his temporary appointment as Rossoneri head coach, the 40-year-old told a press conference, per Gianluca Di Marzio, “I always (ask) the team to be aggressive towards the match, we'll work every day to ensure we live the match while trying to attack the opponents.”
While Brocchi has outlined his desire for an offensive approach, this has yet to be evidenced at senior level.
Total Score: 14/30
4. Louis Van Gaal
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Following a disappointing two-year period as Manchester United manager, Louis van Gaal was dismissed by the Premier League side on 23 May. He is currently without a club.
Achievements: 9/10
There isn’t a lot that Van Gaal hasn’t done. He had a phenomenally successful spell with Ajax, including a Champions League win in 1995, before leading Barcelona to two consecutive La Liga titles.
He then had a disappointing spell in charge of the Netherlands and an unsuccessful second stint at the Camp Nou before returning to his home country to win the Eredivisie with AZ Alkmaar. From there he won a Bundesliga with Bayern Munich and took the Oranje to the 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-finals.
While he has won domestic titles in three different countries and is highly experienced, his most recent spell—in England with Manchester United—was a minor disaster.
Strategy: 5/10
Van Gaal has always given opportunities to young players, including Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Thomas Muller, Holger Badstuber and, more recently, Marcus Rashford.
However, his transfer record has historically been mixed, with his judgmental tendencies leading to some players being undervalued or sold prematurely under his stewardship.
Style: 5/10
Van Gaal’s time at Manchester United was thwarted almost as much by his dull style of play as it was bad results. His pragmatic possession game simply didn’t go down well with the Old Trafford faithful.
His principles have worked for him with other clubs in the past, though, and at 64 years of age, he is unlikely to adapt his philosophy.
Total Score: 19/30
3. Andre Villas-Boas
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Having led Zenit St Petersburg to the Russian Premier League title in 2014-15, Andre Villas-Boas left the club in May after an underwhelming third-place finish.
Achievements: 8/10
After impressing during a brief spell with Academica, the 38-year-old was hired by FC Porto to replace the outgoing Jesualdo Ferreira. His first season with the Portuguese club was nothing short of incredible; he led them to the league title with 27 wins and three draws from 30 games and victory in the Europa League.
Following on from that, Villas-Boas was hired by Chelsea. But, after winning less than half of his 40 matches in charge he was dismissed. He then had mixed success with Tottenham Hotspur before moving to Zenit.
Strategy: 6/10
One criticism of Villas-Boas is that he tends to work best when taking over at teams with an established squad already in place. However, he must be given credit for bringing the best out of Gareth Bale at Spurs.
Style: 6/10
With a preference for high defensive lines and attack-minded football, the Portuguese has some of the basic stylistic ingredients to suit Milan’s ambitions.
Total Score: 20/30
2. Marco Giampaolo
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Marco Giampaolo took over from Maurizio Sarri at Empoli last summer and built on his predecessor’s good work, leading the Tuscan side to an excellent 10th place in Serie A before leaving.
Achievements: 6/10
The Swiss coach has had an up-and-down career thus far. He earned promotion to Italy’s top tier with Ascoli before keeping them there, and he also had a reasonable season with AC Siena. But short spells with Cagliari, Catania, Cesena and Brescia were unproductive.
Strategy: 7/10
Giampaolo’s tendency to stay with clubs for one- and two-year periods means his ability to build a team has never been fully tested. But in his brief time with each club he has shown a willingness to give younger players a chance, as well as an aptitude for developing them.
An example of this came at Empoli, where his coaching of Leandro Paredes and Piotr Zielinski, who were on loan from AS Roma and Udinese respectively, saw both mature into two of the most promising players in Italy.
Style: 8/10
As discussed in this post, Giampaolo prefers a possession-based attacking style with fast buildup play and fluid combinations. These tenets, when implemented correctly, lead to aesthetically pleasing football.
Total Score: 21/30
1. Frank De Boer
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After five-and-a-half seasons in charge of Ajax, Frank de Boer stepped down from his post with the Dutch club in May.
Achievements: 7/10
After being appointed as Ajax coach in December 2010, de Boer led the club to their first Eredivisie title in seven years in his opening half-season. He went on to achieve four successive championships with the club.
He was, however, unable to add a fifth crown, with Phillip Cocu’s PSV Eindhoven winning the league in 2015 and 2016.
Strategy: 8/10
One of the major difficulties managing Ajax is the club’s inability to keep their best players. This is something de Boer experienced firsthand during his time in charge through the sales of Luis Suarez, Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.
He was nonetheless able to achieve positive results thanks to his sensible approach to the transfer market and promotion of talented youth graduates such as Riechedly Bazoer, Joel Veltman and Davy Klaassen.
Style: 8/10
De Boer is true to Ajax’s tactical history, with his preference for a 4-3-3 system, positional interchanges and building possession from the back. The result is a proactive, offensive style of play with intent on controlling the game.
Total Score: 23/30
