AC Milan have chosen to go down a different route with the composition of their new management, at least in Italian football terms.
As MilanNews report, the technical committee conceived by owner Gerry Cardinale is an atypical structure for Serie A, although something similar was seen in 2023, after the dismissal of Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara.
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With Stefano Pioli still in place as the head coach, Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada were his wingmen as the CEO and technical director. This model ultimately did not produce positive results, with Pioli gone in 2024 and the latter two departing a few weeks ago.
The team has now expanded to include more figures, but its structure remains unconvincing in the eyes of many fans and pundits. This is both because of the way it was presented (as the ‘Liverpool model‘) and the fact that the leading executives have basically no experience on a football pitch.
How it will work
It starts with Ruben Amorim, the manager. The Portuguese is much more than just a head coach who focuses solely on tactics:with this structure, he will have a key role in the transfer market, deciding on signings and sales. He’s also the only one accustomed to working on the field.
Once Amorim selects the positions to strengthen, he passes the information to Bobby Gardiner, Director of Football Intelligence, and Donato Lomonte, chief scout. From there, the search for players will begin using algorithms and databases.
They will also conduct an initial screening by meeting with agents and intermediaries of the various players who might be interested. Therefore, in the coming days, Gardiner could begin meeting with some agents.
Once a shortlist of names is finalized, the dossier will be passed to Hendrik Almstadt, who will begin negotiations, effectively acting as director of player trading but acting as a sporting director.
The German’s last experience as a sporting director dates back to his time at Aston Villa, who were relegated in the 2015-16 season after a season with four changes in the head coaching position.
His work was also evident in Elliott Management’s tenure on Milan, with the now infamous restrictions placed on the deals orchestrated by Maldini and ZvonimirBoban. Now he’s back in the spotlight and will be the one to manage the negotiations.
The chain of command doesn’t end there, however, as there’s also the financial work of Massimo Calvelli, the man who inherited the responsibilities from Furlani, who is highly trusted by Cardinale. According to the American owner, he will have the final say on everything.
Then there are advisors and consultants who can influence the player’s judgment, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is closely listened to by Cardinale. The technical committee also includes another Redbird man, David Castelblanco, one of Cardinale’s trusted men.
Therefore, it’s a far from streamlined structure as it seemed until recently it was going to be, especially when negotiations were underway with Ralf Rangnick or Markus Krosche as possible Heads of Football.
So in other words, still a fng mess and every transfer process will take months. I assume that’s good news for Maldini’s Heir who can’t stand to see any transfer happening (in or out).
😂 – we’d still have Calabria as captain if he had his way…
And Krunic instead of Modric & Rabiot.
And Bakayoko instead of Fofana.
Told You, that we will get directors from Temu…
The new sporting director got Aston Villa relegated 😂
In the age of the AI, do you really think that the business will be conducted in the old fashion lock in the hotel and sign last minute way like it used to be. Gusy wake up and stop crying like little girls here. Having structure is good, having new structure based on a process is even better, who say that this will take forever? Based on what personal experience are you speaking, has any of you even been in a leadership position?
Sick of this wait until I read and say something negative attitude.
You have all the proof that disprove(s) your thesis and your optimism, all the indicators that occured and presented themselves so far actually CLEARLY point in the direction of an another downfall of ours and the continuation of a decline yet you still keep repeating that everything will be just fine and
we have nothing to worry about in the world (not a single thing), what the hell is wrong with you, man?
Stop with the obvious gaslighting, I think I can speak on behalf of everyone here that disagrees with you- listen, nobody trusts you anymore and nobody cares about your stupid owner and his rt’s freak show nor about cardi g’s desperate and pathetic attempts to redeem himself that are just for optics and nothing more. Lastly, we certainly don’t fall for his brain-washing tactical appearance that goes on in the media every now and then and takes place with totally staged public (i.e. selected (loyal) journalists on his payroll), you make us all sick to our guts, get it through your thick skull…
*have occured and presented
Alot of yapping over something so basic.
Again, what good is the org structure when incompetence is put in those positions?
Who said any of these people (apart from Amorim) are incompetent? They’re all suitable, if uninspired, hires. The incompetence is Cardinale and Ibrahimovic, but they’re no longer involved.
Never said they were or weren’t. I’m just saying the structure matters little if the ppl put there are incompetent. Based on the incompetence over the last few years of Gerry’s reign, I’d wager we’ll see more of the same.
Also…”Cardinale (the owner ) is no longer involved ” ??? LMAO 🤣🤣🤣 ok
The only comparison I can see with the Liverpool model is that they also hired physics and analytics guys instead of football people – and it brought them a lot of success – 9 years later…
Yes, it took time, but it worked.
Oliver you should watch football Kush’s video about this. It’s very in depth and he seems to understand what the structure actually is and attempting to do…
I have watched that yesterday and the point is Klopp listened and agreed to Salah and Mane instead of ??? and Gotze (his choices and wishes) and to Firmino
as a “false nine”, he didn’t make the same mistake
as Rogers. Kush also said this Milan’s structure puts R.A. in the spotlight and makes him central when it comes to the decion making because he will share the same status and be in line with two other guys, it’s a huge responsibilty on his shoulders and it’s definitely not the same system as Liverpool’s with Michael Edwards in charge as the CEO of football.
*decision
Yep exactly, totally different system but with some similar ideas. Kush broke it down very well unlike here where everything is third hand information being sensationalized used generic and hyperbolic language
So Inter just missed out on Palestra, after weeks of negotiations and dragging their feet to close the deal. If this was Milan there would be 1000 stories about how incompetent Inter management are…
But no one would dare because Inter are more Italian and a sacred cow in the media. What BS…
Such reasoning is outa the window in here buddy.
“This is both because of the way it was presented (as the ‘Liverpool model‘) and the fact that the leading executives have basically no experience on a football pitch.“
WTF does this have to do with anything. Do these pundits know how many talented football managers/directors there are with zero on field experience?
Here’s a quote from Sacchi of all people about the in the face of extreme criticism about his appointment to Milan about the necessity of being a player relative to being coach at a big club:
“I never realised that in order to become a jockey you have to have been a horse first.”
Wow. This might be the first time I agree with Nelli about anything. 😧
zero faith in any of this, because it isn’t set up to revolutionize winning. It’s set up to not run at a cost to Gerry while he figures out how to package everything together to offload.
The real ROI is the sale of The Milan package. That’s the end goal – not the ownership of the club.