In a move to make amends following an unequivocally disappointing season, AC Milan have swiftly confirmed the return of Massimiliano Allegri as head coach, marking his second spell in charge of the Rossoneri.
Allegri becomes the fourth man to occupy the Milan bench in just 12 months, denoting a level of managerial instability that’s ironic for a club driven by financial caution and sustainability. This was not the kind of ‘turnover’ Milan’s management, led by Giorgio Furlani, had envisioned.
The appointment raises more questions than answers. Allegri, nearly 58, returns to a very different Milan than the one he led to a Scudetto in 2010-11. That team boasted elite defenders and a seasoned Zlatan Ibrahimović in his prime.
This current version is riddled with gaps, especially in defence and attack, posing immediate challenges for a coach whose system thrives on discipline, defensive solidity and graft from forwards.
Substance over style
Allegri is often labelled a pragmatist. He’s not aligned to any tactical ideology but prefers structure, balance, and minimalism. He builds from the back, ensures his midfield is compact, and leans on the individual brilliance of creative players rather than systemic chance creation.
Ironically, Milan are in the process of selling their most prominent playmaker – Tijjani Reijnders – and currently, an adequate replacement is missing from renowned sources and gossip columns. Expecting Allegri to compensate for this loss through tactical wizardry may be wishful thinking; his style isn’t tailored to entertain or create without the right personnel.
Reports suggest Allegri has been offered a bonus if he finishes in the top four. Given that Milan will be playing once a week next season, without the demands of European football, this goal seems modest, even meek.
A club of Milan’s stature, provided with the opportunity at hand, should aim higher. Aided by a comfortable schedule, anything less than a genuine title challenge should be viewed as underachievement.
But perhaps the most alarming aspect of Allegri’s recent track record lies in his work with strikers. At Juventus, Dusan Vlahović – a €70m signing – regressed alarmingly under Allegri’s stewardship. There’s a real fear that a similar fate could await Santiago Giménez, Milan’s marquee January acquisition.
The Mexican forward arrived with much fanfare, but if Allegri cannot evolve his approach, Milan’s attacking potential could suffer much like the Serbian centre-forward.
Allegri’s recent history in Europe is also underwhelming. His Juventus side exited the Champions League group stage in 2022–23 and were ousted by Villarreal in 2021–22. These performances portray a coach whose methods had lost their edge on the continental stage.
Domestically, his record isn’t much better. Since rejoining Juventus in 2021, Allegri averaged just 1.84 points per match. Over the past three seasons, that tally would place his team fourth in each of the seasons, which hardly represents a winning mentality.
His lone piece of silverware in his second Juve stint was the 2023–24 Coppa Italia. A respectable achievement that may be, but underwhelming for a man once considered among Europe’s elite.
Many now argue that Allegri is surviving on reputation alone, a shell of the tactical force he was from 2015 to 2017. His football has not aged well, and he remains stubbornly wedded to conservative principles. In modern football, where fluidity and dynamism reign, Allegri’s stodgy brand of play feels outdated.
A known quantity
For Milan, this appointment feels less like a bold step forward and more like a step backward in search of stability. That said, Allegri does offer something his predecessor could not: predictability and experience. Sergio Conceição’s brief tenure was chaotic.
The former Porto boss never quite adapted to Serie A’s tactical demands or the relentless scrutiny of Italian media. Playing the victim more often than the strategist, he came across as a caricature of Antonio Conte or José Mourinho, minus the results or gravitas.
Conceição left Milan with an underwhelming points-per-match record of 1.71, lower than even Paulo Fonseca’s much-maligned spell. His teams lacked inspiration, relying on rigid defensive structures and sporadic counter-attacks.
The UEFA Champions League blunder against Feyenoord and a baffling collapse in the Coppa Italia final against Bologna – just days after routing the same side – highlighted the inconsistencies that plagued his reign.
In that context, Milan’s decision to act early and decisively is commendable. The appointment of a seasoned sporting director in Igli Tare, alongside Allegri, signals a desire to lay solid foundations well before the 2025–26 season begins.
This proactive approach offers time for squad assessments, preseason planning, and potential reinforcements. However, good administration doesn’t always translate into trophies.
Furlani has spoken of a “reset,” a strategic pivot back toward domestic stability. Choosing Allegri over a more experimental or ‘hipster’ candidate fits that narrative. He is safe, proven, and theoretically dependable. But Milan fans have seen this movie before.
The club’s 19th Scudetto came under Stefano Pioli, a manager who reimagined his methods and embraced risk. The 18th, back in 2011, was Allegri’s masterpiece. Can he write another chapter of glory, or is this merely a nostalgia-fueled rerun?
Ultimately, how high Milan fly depends on Allegri’s ability to defy time, rethink his ideas, and adapt to a squad that may not suit his preferred style. Without world-class defenders or tireless attackers, his margin for error is razor-thin.
Unless he reinvents himself, or the club commits to supplying players that fit his structure, Allegri risks becoming emblematic of a club stuck between past success and future uncertainty.
Whether this reunion brings redemption or regret remains to be seen. One thing is clear: Milan’s bold new era begins with a name from the past, hoping lightning strikes twice.
Could be both. But depends on the market. If it will be quantity over quality again in transfer market, there will be nothing new to see. Milan scouts proved they can’t pick out players with low fees. 1 or 2 out of 8 is not good. So if Tare does a good job Allegri has a chance. But his style of football is boring anyway.
So not sure who is excited for Milan next season. Results will be 0-0, 1-0, 0-1 or 1-1 in 90% of games. I still hope they win something, but it isn’t exciting.
Winning trophies (and not bogus supercoppa) is exciting. And nothing else matters.
721 formation is bad like you and Allegri. Go cry to your mom fat boy, you know nothing
In the end, it makes zero difference whether the scudetto comes with 35 1-0 wins or 3-0 wins. Finishing at 8th and staying out of UCL is another thing though.
nostalgia-fuelled nightmare, allegri is rotten apple and will be fired after 4-6 months
💯
I respect the folks, esp some posters who I’ve generally agreed with in the past, who think this is a good idea. But I just don’t see this working. Max needs teams with talent up and down the field to win something (Milan with Ibra, Juve with BBC). When he has unfinished products and/or teams without talismen (season after Ibra, Juve second stint), he does not win anything. He thinks it was him who won those titles at Juve but those were more circumstacial than anything (bad period for Serie A). The second stint proves this.
And as the article states and I’ve mentioned before, his style is basically pragmatic… unknown if you will, it doesn’t fit anything. I’m pretty sure fans will get bored or turn in short order from what they will see. People tend to have short memories. The style play is boring, lacks dynamism and relies on individuals rather than a system.
His point tally per game in his second Juve stint isn’t far off from Sarge and Fonsy….welcome to Sarge/Fonsy 2.0, jacket thrown on the field with the tantrums included.
While he ‘has Serie A experience ‘ I believe we can do much better. This has signs of top 4 is ok written all over it. It’s unambitious. I’d rather see a new face and a new gamble that makes sense. Have some balls! This has a feel of taking back and ex, and in my experience DON’T DO IT!
That’s the thing, though. This club is not pressuring anybody coming in to do better, or just start a project, or to actually win anything.
We’ll have to see mate. If you look at how many cheap points we dropped last season (against minions, not talking about Atalanta ect …), a CL spot was easily in our reach. This is were I hope Allegri can improve us. Getting the 3 points the ugly way, if necessary. That’s what separated Inter and Napoli from the rest of the pack.
I think we should be realistic- it’s very difficult and rare to bounce from 8th place to scudetto, despite the fact that we’ve just seen Conte do this. If Allegri builds a team so that any opponent struggles to get cheap goals in, it would be a massive step in the right direction imo.
Hear hear.
Cross my fingers if Allergy do it🤞
If they buy the players he want alegri is great couch he can win serie a
Dreaming
As Enrico Silvestrin said, bringing Allegri in is like putting a wig on a hairless cancer PT undergoing chemo.
Milan has exactly the same objectives as before: Top 4, CL, capital gains. That’s it. No pressure to win anything.
The funny thing is that even a broken clock is right twice a day. Two things can be true at the same time. Namely, that Milan had zero ambition by bringing in Tare and Max. And also these two may be the ideal fit at Milan.
Who knows, maybe because of the fact that there is no pressure to deliver any trophies, Max may actually win something. But that would not have been planned, or an actual objective as I mentioned. This might be just an unintended consequence.
“zero ambition by bringing in Tare and Max”
Zero ambition would have been continuing with Moncada and hiring Italiano or some other nobody.
I’m sorry, but we seem to be continuing with Moncada, Furlani, Kirovski and Zlatan.
Sure, some of their responsibilities have shifted a bit, but if none of them actually pay the price for the disaster of last season, I don’t expect much to change.
Let’s also keep in mind that Allegri last won the league 6 years ago and hasn’t seriously competed for it since. Tare also has never built a top team.
I hope both of them will do well, but with less pull and money without UCL, a bit of a dinosaur as a coach and with the sale of Reijnders (and Theo & Maignan), we’re not an attractive destination for top players on the rise.
Allegri has also never shown to be able to develop young players so there’s that as well.
My initial thought when he was linked to us was oh no he’s outdated but maybe the year or two he’s had off he’s studied football with fresh eyes. Top 4 shows little ambition we should be looking for the title. De zerbi (the Milan fan) potentially going to inter hurts because I know he’ll bring a brand of entertaining football and can work with young players. I just feel like if he is actually an option then we should have pushed harder (we were told the door was closed) although I am happy we have got the higher ups sorted early as with the moment redbird came on board there has been delay after delay to the point it’s damaged us. So the point I’m making is…I don’t really know ha!
I didn’t even want Allegri but I can see why they went for him after the sh*tshow with Sergio/Fonseca – and Motta at Juventus…
Exactly my thoughts as well!
Allegri is the safe choice. Fabregas was the bold choice.
Both have risks, albeit different ones.
We shall see.
Its hard not to be impressed with Gasperini, and to a lesser extent Fabregas, for their attacking and exciting approach. But these traditionally anti-Italian type of coaches never won anything. Gasperini deserves his praise, but in all honesty, he had a damn good squad last season, and still wasn’t able to seriously challenge the scudetto. This is serie a, and coaches who don’t know how to grind points simply cannot win the cake. That’s how it’s always been. Allegri imo is in the same vein as Conte and Inzagi – points aren’t the most important thing, they are the only thing that matters. Yes, his record with Juve is worrying. But there are other factors that come into play, like player-coach relationships, luck, ect … I think his appointment isn’t 100% ideal (that would be Conte), but it’s still not a crazy gamble like Fonseca. Let’s hope for the best
It’s a conservative and much needed choice. I am more worried of the mass exodus of the players once again – Tijji, Theo, now potentially Mike and Leao. Too many changes again. There’s no continuity and it will impact the coming season for sure. Pulišić rightfully postponed his extention. Wouldn’t blame him if he hands in transfer request.
The longterm damage this ownership has done to this club will affect the next few seasons at least.
i’ll be happy if i’m wrong, but coaches who have coached then left and then came back again, never succeeded in their second stint.
Sacchi and Capello are examples.
that’s why I don’t expect Ancelotti to come as coach again here.
Editorial pieces suck
Stick to posting mercato news which is what people want
Don’t worry, they’ll be making up market bs all summer long, like every year.
Full nightmare. Coach second spell can’t succed
People deciding about Allegri at this point…. wow
And there are people saying we should be going for the title. This is the problem the club has, the burden of unrealistic expectations.
Next year is going to be a rebuilding year. The aim has to be top 4, maybe top 5 based on the UCL but I imagine the 5th slots will go to England and Spain for the foreseeable future.
Whether it’s Allegri or not… we finished 8th and we’re selling 2 or 3 of our best players. We’ve got a mess of players coming back from loans and a hugely bloated squad. Origi still has another year on his deal and we won’t even give him a chance. Heck, Pulisic only has two years left on his deal now, normally we should be considering selling him at his peak value.
People have to get realistic; this is a building year. At best. Modric isn’t coming in to dominate midfields, he’s coming to try and coach and improve some of the players in the squad, a few of whom will surely be new ones.
The good news is there’s some money to spend, a new sporting director, we’ve a few young talents. Napoli did great last year in a similar situation.
But expecting instant success here isn’t realistic at all, whether it’s Allegri, Guardiola or anyone.
With no Club World Cup, no European competitions, and top four as the target, I would have preferred coaches on the rise like Italiano, Fabregas, or De Zerbi. The bar is low right now and they would have time to incorporate their style and build a team for the long-term.
I still think Allegri is a solid option and top four won’t be an issue. I don’t see him as a long-term coach though.
Wait and see. Allegri is definitely better than Italiano or some other mediocre coach.