Gianluca Di Marzio has criticised AC Milan for their stance on seemingly only considering managers outside of Italy.
Since the sacking of Massimiliano Allegri last Monday following the defeat to Cagliari in the season finale, multiple head coaches have been linked with the vacancy. The likes of Andoni Iraola, Oliver Glasner, Arne Slot, Mauricio Pochettino and Matthias Jaissle have been touted as options.
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There is a common thread: none of the candidates have been Italian, at least so far. This seems to marry up with the club’s self-declared vision to hire a ‘Fabregas-style’ coach that players front-foot attacking football.
During his podcast with TMW, Di Marzio discussed the future of Milan, focusing in particular on the constant search for a foreign coach by the Rossoneri owners, explaining the reasons for this.
“The input from the owners, and therefore from Cardinale, advised by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is precisely to focus on a non-Italian. In fact, not just for the coaching staff, but also for the sporting director and CEO,” he said.
“While all a club’s planning strategies are respectable, I honestly don’t understand this refusal to hire an Italian. Beyond the roles of administrator and director, which can certainly be found abroad, if there’s one good thing we have in Italy today, given the shortage of technical talent, it’s the coaches.
“This is demonstrated by recent Italian successes, for example, Farioli at Porto, as well as the presence of two visionary managers in the Premier League, De Zerbi at Tottenham and Maresca, most likely, at Manchester City.
“This is to say that the tradition of Italian coaches is a winning one, a tradition that has always led our football to export the qualities of our benches abroad. So why do Milan persist in finding a foreign coach?
“A Fabregas-style coach, they had leaked from Milan in recent days. However, the two names Milan is focusing on today, Glasner and Slot, have everything but a Fabregas-like approach.”
Di Marzio, my man, Cardinale doesn’t even know what a Fabregas is. As for Zlatan, a serious journalist would never take anything he says seriously. These two clowns haven’t got the slightest idea of what coaching profile they’re looking for, they are simply desperate to get a Yes from anyone. And they’re failing miserably even at that.
Yeah Di Marizio is such a joke, look around. De Zerbi is committed to spurs, Maresca was clearly city’s choice and no Italian team was going to change that, and not winning at Porto says more about a coach than winning. Italiano Would probably be fine but something seems pedestrian about him.
Di Marizio has the wool over his eyes like the rest of Italy
Sure, because the profiles your bosses are desperate to hire are so respectable and proven. Pretty sure all top clubs (including the Italians ones) wouldn’t get Glasner or Pochettino even if they were offered to them with a reduced salary demands.
Where does his post support the hiring of Glasner or Pochettino? Everything he said was true: De Zerbi, Maresca and Farioli are out of reach. So what is Di Marzio talking about? Italian IS pedestrian.
Everything you said in your first post is true as well. They’re just looking for a yes man. I’m not crazy about either Glasner or Pochettino.
So putting aside the unrealistic names, the bland names, and the the more things change, the more things stay the same names, here are some “outside the box” thoughts:
Fabio Grosso – has achieved good results with limited resources and young players, favors a 4-3-3, played for big clubs and won a world cup. He’s being targeted by Fiorentina (so technically by the director that Milan wanted to hire last summer).
Ernesto Valverde – highly experienced, has won numerous titles, has coached big clubs (so he knows how to deal with the climate and players), favors a 4-2-3-1, out of contract this summer.
Sebastian Hoeness – They want to go German? Maybe consider him. Uses 3-4-2-1, so it wouldn’t be a radical departure in system, maybe even better to continue with a back 3. Has had good results with Stuttgart, including a second place finish not to long ago, football is in his blood.
Raffaele Palladino – I think he’s had good results and is underrated. He deserves a shot a big club (bigger than Fiorentina anyway), and would also represent a continuation of the back 3.
Did I miss the part where he names all these stunning Italian coaches who are actually available? Off the top of my head there’s Palladino Italiano Motta (thank God Gattuso’s gone to Lazio – who knows what they’re smoking) and maybe Grosso? Yeh I think I’d rather Iraola, Glasner, Slot, Jaissle…
You’ve missed the part where Zlatan doesn’t want Conte, because he won’t allow the circus to continue. He is available, as he was available when we hired the “progressive” Fonseca.
You’re right – how could I forget No Drama Conte? 😂
He is a proven winner. The coaches we are after would only serve to save us from relegation. You RedBirds are find with that, actual Milan fans are not.
Allegri was also a proven winner…
😂 Okay….
Do you not understand why Conte isn’t an option under this management (or what’s left of it anyway)?
I wouldn’t hate Italiano or Palladino. Both play an attacking style.
But neither would be my first or second option.
It’s not just about finding a talented coach. Milan, and Italian football as a whole, are in need of a revolution on almost every sporting level. Reason being that Italian football has stagnated. Part of this stagnation are coaches who don’t have courage, because they have been educated in Italy. It really tells you something, when Fabregas can come in and dominate the league with a new team he put together in like a couple of months. Just by doing things in a modern European way, have Como jumped several steps ahead of every Italian team.
Milan have all the resources to do the same. We just need a coach with the courage to break the wheel – And you do NOT find that in Italy 👌
Another proof of the xenophobia mentality in Italy and Serie A. Smh
Sure, nothing scream xenophobia like 19 teams, fielding starting elevens with two or three Italian at most. Como didn’t even have one, as was the case with Milan in matches without Gabbia and Bartesaghi. Cagliari is the only team in Serie A that relies on Italian core and we remember how our last encounter went.
I guess we now know the secret to Como success.
So, name all these managers who are not available. LOL. The Italian bros are at it again. Even the thought of Conte should send people running for the hills. He lasts two years and when you build a team for him you’re stuck with it. KDB had some pretty unkind words to say about Conte.
“He lasts two years”
So more than any of the coaches RedBird have hired? 😂
So… Italy has missed the last 3 World Cups and the last Italian UCL-victory is decades ago. The “foreign route” can’t do much worse, now can it?