AC Milan vs. Torino: Could Sinisa Mihajlovic Come Back to Haunt His Old Club?

The spectre of a football club’s past can often heap pressure on its incumbent staff. Last season, Sinisa Mihajlovic struggled under the weight of AC Milan’s illustrious history before finally succumbing on 12 April of this year, when he was relieved of his coaching duties.

A combination of underwhelming results and functional football laid the groundwork for his eventual demise less than one year after he was appointed amid great hope and expectation.

Mihajlovic’s arrival at Milan came after a hugely disappointing 10th-place finish in 2014-15, the club’s worst position in 17 years. But, with quality new signings in Alessio Romagnoli from Roma and Carlos Bacca from Sevilla, he was charged with leading the Rossoneri back up the Serie A table and on into European football.

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However, within months it became clear that results were not going to improve drastically any time soon. An embarrassing 4-0 home defeat to Napoli provoked a tactical reshuffle, and in came a more cautious, defence-first style of play.

Lacking for imagination and creativity, Mihajlovic’s Milan struggled to break down inferior opposition, with draws against Atalanta, Carpi and Verona, as well as a defeat to Bologna, paving the way for the coach’s dismissal. The final nails were hammered into his proverbial coffin between March and April, when the team went five games without a victory.

On his Facebook page (h/t Football Italia), club president Silvio Berlusconi pulled no punches in clarifying why he had opted for a change in head coach, simply stating: “Milan must return to a style of play and results worthy of our history.”

Four months on and how times have changed.

Berlusconi has agreed to sell Milan, but not before hiring Vincenzo Montella as his new head coach. Mihajlovic, meanwhile, is now in charge at Torino. And, in a twist of fate, the two teams will meet one another this Sunday in the opening round of 2016-17 fixtures.

The new Rossoneri boss has had a tricky beginning to life in the hot seat, with pre-season throwing up friendly clashes against some of Europe’s finest, including Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Liverpool. Results are negligible during this period, but stylistically, it is apparent that he is more in line with the proactive, attacking style seen in the club’s recent past.

Montella is renowned for his ability to inspire beautiful football. His time with Fiorentina resulted in some of the most aesthetically pleasing passing play seen on the peninsula. And, within a matter of months, he has begun to implement his vision at Milan.

The changes are clear to see in the way his side builds possession. Gone are the aimless long balls of years gone by. Gone too are the nervy clearances at the slightest hint of pressure. Moves are now orchestrated, quite deliberately, from the back; all defensive players have a role to play in safeguarding the ball, including Gianluigi Donnarumma between the sticks.

Montella has imbued the team with greater purpose when attacking, and he has also altered the way the team defends.

While in 2015-16 Milan’s approach was often more passive, now they seek to win the ball back immediately after losing it, and higher up the pitch. This quick counter-pressing scheme has been installed along with a man-orientated middle press, where the opposition are initially closed down before entering Rossoneri territory.

This stylistic shift is one of the primary reasons behind Montella’s appointment. Mihajlovic’s philosophy was, and is, more pragmatic and reactive, and that is unlikely to change at Torino.

This summer, the Granata’s transfer policy has spoken volumes about the new direction being taken, specifically in the simultaneous arrivals of Adem Ljajic and Iago Falque, two wingers who were signed on the same day from Roma.

Previously under Giampiero Ventura’s auspices, Torino lined up in a basic 3-5-2 shape, with width supplied by a pair of adventurous wing-backs. The aforementioned double signature was a clear indicator that a change in system was on its way under Mihajlovic.

Pre-season has confirmed as much.

The 3-5-2 can have its benefits in building possession, namely in that—as long as the players are spaced out correctly—the back three, along with a deep-lying midfielder and the two wing-backs, can aid ball circulation by creating diagonal passing outlets and wide out-balls. Through a simple numerical advantage, three centre-backs are harder to press than two.

But Mihajlovic, as was seen during his time at Milan, does not place great emphasis on the notion of building from the back. He favours a more simplistic passing game, with a focus on playing the percentages, risk-minimisation and efficiency. If anything, he prefers his side not to have the ball.

His best season as a club coach, with Sampdoria in 2014-15, provided a good insight into his tactical mind. The Blucerchiati challenged for a place in Europe before eventually settling in seventh, and their statistics told the story of their success.

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Only four teams in Serie A that season conceded fewer goals than their 42. At the same time, they averaged 49 per cent possession, the 11th-highest in the league, per WhoScored.com. They also scored just 27 times from open play, while hitting the net four times from counter-attacks, something only Lazio and Palermo could better. Additionally, 73 per cent of their attacks came from the wings.

Sampdoria’s numbers that term offered a telling portrait of Mihajlovic’s style of play. It was transition-based football that prioritised absolutely the effective over the aesthetic.

At Milan, a team who—due to their great prestige and tradition—tend to have a lot of default possession due to the negativity of their opposition, these ideals were never likely to suit. But with a side like Torino, they could work well.

In his pursuit of the functional, it was no surprise that Mihajlovic’s most important midfielder at Milan was Juraj Kucka. The energetic Slovakian battler thrived in the system, with his ball-winning and ball-carrying qualities perfectly tailored to the coach’s whims.

And an abundance of similar players can be found in the Torino ranks, namely in Afriyie Acquah, Marco Benassi and new arrival Panagiotis Tachtsidis.

These dynamic, box-to-box midfielders will no doubt form the basis of Mihajlovic’s central trident in a 4-3-3 shape, with pace and skill in wide zones from the likes of Ljajic and Falque. Up front, the physically rugged Andrea Belotti should relish a lone centre-forward role.

The building blocks of a strong counter-attacking side are evidently in place at Torino, and Milan will be the first team to test out their effectiveness.

Montella, meanwhile, placing more focus on qualities such as ball control, press resistance, vision and pass execution, looks set to populate his midfield with technicians. Kucka is no guarantee to start, with a trident of Riccardo Montolivo, Andrea Bertolacci and Giacomo Bonaventura a real possibility.

Further forward, the nominal wingers, perhaps Suso on the right and M’Baye Niang on the left, will be tasked with drifting infield into more dangerous areas, from where they can offer penetrative forward passing options to the midfielders and draw out the opposition centre-backs.

In terms of the basic shape, Milan and Torino could both line up in a 4-3-3, though their patterns of play and overarching style couldn’t be much more different. The former will look to press and pass, the latter will look to parry and thrust.

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In football, however, it is often easier to defend than create. Complex possession play takes a great deal of time to harness correctly as players need to know their team-mates' movements inside out before it becomes instinctive.

Consequently, Torino, with their more reactive ideology, may be better equipped than Montella's side as the 2016-17 campaign opener draws closer.

Mihajlovic’s style of play was one of the primary reasons behind his early Milan exit. Ironically, it is that very same style that could cause trouble against his old club this weekend.