Ignazio Abate is about to conclude his third season as a head coach in the AC Milan Youth Sector, and the club will soon have to make a decision on the path they see for him.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, the goal of any coach – at any level and age group – is to improve the sporting results of his team compared to the previous season. It means growth, and is the primary asset that a coach must deliver to the club.
As mentioned, Abate is about to conclude his third year as a head coach at Milan and that growth has been constant: Scudetto finals with the Allievi Nazionale in 2021-22, Youth League semi-finals with the Primavera in 2022-23 and the final this year, while play-offs in the league are also in reach.
His promotion from the U16 to the Primavera – with all the importance and delicacy that the context brings with it from a first team perspective – after just one year is clear proof of the quality of his work and obvious esteem from the club.
The right background
Abate is 37 years of age which means he is still programmed as a football player in some way, and this helps him manage the younger players who are living a complicated age in sport.
The management also like Abate because in addition to working hard, he works well. Then there is the fact that he is a true AC Milan fan, raised at Vismara and Milanello, with a long playing career behind him.
Now, however, a crossroads is coming, one which arises regardless of the virtuosity of his journey as a coach with the Rossoneri: is contract will expire in June and we will need to understand which direction to take.
At first glance it might all seem rather obvious: let’s continue like this, given that everything is going very well. Upon closer inspection, however, the answer is more complicated.
A key meeting
Everything revolves around the face to face discussion that Ignazio will have with the club in the coming weeks. He will sit at the table with Giorgio Furlani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Geoffrey Moncada and Antonio D’Ottavio and will listen to what the club has to say to him.
More specifically, he wants to hear what project and what proposal is in store for him and then he will make evaluations. There are three aspects at stake, in particular.
The first: his very strong bond with the Rossoneri and his gratitude to the club. The second: the Under 23 team that could be launched in Serie C, even if Daniele Bonera seems to be the most likely to be head coach of that team.
Here the third factor comes into play: it is reasonable to imagine that Abate has no absolute preclusions regarding the idea of continuing another season with the Primavera, but it is equally true that in the past he has made no secret of his ambitions.
When asked if he sees his future as a youth coach or making the jump to senior football, he replied clearly: “Absolutely with the greats. It’s a fire I feel inside, I don’t know when but I’d like to try. This year I’ll do the UEFA Pro and then we’ll see, also based on how much I’ve grown.”
Abate will listen to Milan’s offer and then decide on the best thing for his future, knowing that if he shows an openness to leaving then he might end up in demand.
