AC Milan moved quickly to make key decisions this summer, as Massimiliano Allegri’s return was made official just days after Igli Tare was hired.
Indeed, in a statement on the official website, Milan announced on Friday that Allegri will be back for a second spell at the club. He takes over from Sergio Conceicao as the head coach, who joined on December 30 but lasted just a few months.
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In a feature later that day we revealed the full background on how Allegri’s return materialised, and since then there has been media speculation about the way that the Rossoneri might look under him.
For the present and the future we can draw upon clues from the past. Rohit Rajeev‘s analysis takes a look at his general style of play over the years with different teams.
Before we go into the specifics, there are two schools of thought: positionalism and relationism. Pep Guardiola, Roberto De Zerbi and Paulo Fonseca are from the positional principle of thought, while Diniz (a coach in Brazil) is into relationism.
Coaches like Carlo Ancelotti, Stefano Pioli and Allegri stand somewhere in the centre, where they apply a mix of ideas.
Juventus: Out of possession
So how do Juventus defend? Their shape depended on the base formation. For example, in his last game versus Atalanta as Juventus coach, he adopted a 5-4-1 formation.
In the famous 2-0 win against Barcelona, he adopted a 4-1-4-1 shape. It turned out to be a 5-3-2 shape or a 4-4-2 shape in different stages.
Juve usually did not press high. They preferred to sit back in a mid-block and invite the opposition to attack. And when they try and penetrate Juve’s mid-block, then they would press them, win the ball back and try and counter.
The shape of the press once again depended on how the opposition set up against Atalanta, Juve pressed with 2 men upfront, trying to cut off the defence’s passing option into the midfielder acting as the deep-lying playmaker.
Was this the case against all teams? No. Juventus would press high using a man-to-man marking system. This depended on the opposition. If the opposition was a team like a lower division team then the press would be high and intense.
Now, if the team was prime Barcelona, then Allegri would instruct his team to press high in pursuit of a lead, and once the lead is taken, then sit back and absorb the pressure.
Juventus would press their opposition teams horizontally whenever they would try and use the flanks to penetrate. A man-marking approach would be taken and Juve would press them using the byline as a defender.
What is the main ideology behind Allegri’s philosophy? It’s to clog the centre and make the opposition work double hard for their goals. As you can see here nearly six Milan players are parked in the centre allowing little to no space for Barcelona to pass through.
And what if the opposition tries to go through the flanks? With the amount of players at the back that Allegri has, they would try and outnumber their opponent in the flank (3v2 or 4v3) and win the ball back.
Earlier, we spoke about how Allegri uses relationist principles in his style of play, but that didn’t apply to their defence. He used positional principles where each defender was given a particular zone to defend (not even a marker) and they would have to keep the structure.
Juventus: In possession
Now this is where the relationist principles kick in. Allegri, unlike his peers, does not believe in structures and overloads etc., he allows his players to dictate attacking play and score goals without interfering. But there are certain principles.
Build up with an irrational structure
Back when Allegri coached Juventus he never had a clear structure like how we have observed under Conceicao or Fonseca. Even when he was at Milan, Pirlo, Gattuso, or even Seedorf would drop into the defensive areas to receive the ball.
The closest that thing to this structure structure was this 3+1 when Lemina dropped between the lines to act as a receiver for the three centre-backs in front of him.
Here we can see Bonucci distorting the conception of structure and moving into space (purely because he was really good on the ball) to join the attack or even aid in the build-up.
Baiting the press
Against teams that press high (like Atalanta), Juventus likes to bait the press quite like Inter to create a separation between their midfield and defensive line, after which they will play out from the back either with clipped balls or third-man combinations.
Verticality
Like all Italian coaches, Allegri believes in the quick vertical movement of play and this means a lot of clipped balls/long balls over the top to bypass the defensive lines of the opposition. An excellent example would be the long ball played to Vlahovic for his goal against Villarreal.
Third-man combinations
https://x.com/MilanYouthFocus/status/1928787522949144935?t=NihwOe4pi1hrLWrJqPqYZw&s=19
While Allegri does not believe in structures, he gives ideas to his players to progress the ball and make changes. One such idea is third-man combinations.
Players, purely on the virtue of chemistry and understanding, create passing combinations where a third man recognises a space and positions himself to receive the ball.
Here we can see Rabiot acting as one of the third men and once the move is completed it opens him up to a whole lot of space.
— Rohit Rajeev (@MilanYouthFocus) May 31, 2025
Freedom to move
While Guardiola is a stickler to players taking their positions, Allegri has no qualms about players moving out of their zone to build up play.
Here are two examples: we can see Cambiaso, the designated RWB in the game, playing in the centre of the field, trying to pierce Atalanta’s right flank. In a throwback, we can see Zlatan playing as a No.8 while Seedorf is playing as an attacking midfielder.
The ‘Toco y me voy’ (pass and move)
The ‘Toco y me voy ‘is a principle where a player on the ball is encouraged to pass the ball and move which in turn encourages simple one-twos. Here we can see Khedira do the Toco y me voy and move the ball forward eventually turning out to be the build up to a goal.
— Rohit Rajeev (@MilanYouthFocus) May 31, 2025
Strikers acting as the tabela
It takes two to tango and the tabela is described as someone who joins the player initiating the Toco y me voy, here we look at the striker acting as the tabela.
The striker acts as the furthest point of reference for the ball players and either holds the ball up or makes lay-offs taking his marker out of the equation and creating space.
Below, we can see Higuain creating a lay-off, which became the catalyst for Dybala’s second goal of the night.
— Rohit Rajeev (@MilanYouthFocus) May 31, 2025
One-touch passing football
Allegri teams are also able to conjure great one-touch passing combinations to create chances like this chance they cooked up against Atalanta.
It was quick, and it didn’t allow Atalanta to settle into a defensive position. The quick nature of the passing clasped open the Atalanta defence, something coaches of all tactics emphasise.
— Rohit Rajeev (@MilanYouthFocus) May 31, 2025
Playing out of the press: Escadinha
Teams with positional play usually prefer to switch sides to catch the opposition out of position but Relationist teams prefer to play through them.
One such method is the Escadinha, or players diagonally aligning themselves, which helps them to play through the press. Here we can see Juve players forming an Escadinha.
When Juve had Dybala, who played as a natural trequartista and had a great understanding of spaces, Juventus also used to form passing triangles like this.
Counter-attacks
Of course any team that plays deep defensive football will always try to take advantage of the space behind with brilliant counter attacks. Morata’s goal against us is a brilliant explanation of this.
— Rohit Rajeev (@MilanYouthFocus) May 31, 2025
Individual brilliance
Lastly, none of this is possible without the individual brilliance of the players. Allegri enjoys flair and he encourages them to express themselves to help score goals. Here is an example of Cuadrado doing step-overs to attract two Barcelona defenders to make space for Dybala’s wonderful shot.
— Rohit Rajeev (@MilanYouthFocus) May 31, 2025
Set pieces
Attacking Corners
With a penchant to defend more than to attack, Italian coaches always focused on set pieces. Juventus scored 13 goals in their 2023-24 season from set pieces. One such goal was from Cambiaso.
Salernitana used a zonal marking system in corners. While Chiesa was taking the kick, Juventus players rushed to the front post while Milk blocked the view of the furthest Salernitana layer at the far post, making it easy for Danilo to head it into the far post area for Cambiaso to tap home.
— Rohit Rajeev (@MilanYouthFocus) May 31, 2025
Another set-piece goal came against Barcelona. Barcelona used a man-marking scheme while defending.
Juventus overloaded the front post, and Bonucci made an off-the-ball run, distracting Pique, which left Chiellini alone with Javier Mascherano, who is not the tallest player.
— Rohit Rajeev (@MilanYouthFocus) May 31, 2025
Defensive corners
Juventus used a hybrid marking system with some players given man-marking assignments and some who were zonally marking their assigned zones.
The drawbacks
Isolated striker
With a defence-first approach to his style, Allegri can over-commit defenders to their half and, therefore, isolate the strikers, especially when they have a lead. Here we can see Vlahovic isolated and 3v1 against Atalanta players.
No proper structure
One of the biggest strengths can also be the biggest weaknesses. If the lack of structure makes Juve unpredictable, it can also make them disorganised.
Here, we can see that Locatelli has to turn back and pass the ball to his backline to recycle it because he has no safe passing option forward.
While positional play ensures almost all spaces are covered, relationism depends on the intelligence of the players and how they interpret the spaces.
Conclusion and verdict
Allegri is not an idealist, he is an excellent strategist who often adapts his style of play depending on the oppositions strength and weaknesses. Below is Evra providing a testimony of this.
CONCLUSION
If you have reached this tweet thank you for reading all of the above. It was long but it was my sincere attempt to condense 16 years of tactics into one thread. Allegri is not an ideaidealist, he is an excellent strategist who often adapts his style of play… pic.twitter.com/8zEG1wh1tO
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) May 31, 2025
The style of play is something that is often used as a stick to beat Allegri with, but he has provided results. Result which the management seek, of course, but there is some real work to be done.
With a very flexible approach to tactics, Allegri depends a lot on the quality of the players. With Milan and Juventus he had some world class players in Zlatan, Pirlo, Seedorf, Gattuso, Silva, Higuain, Pjanic, Pogba which makes everything easier.
However, Max was not a big success in his second spell with Juventus and he left under a cloud. The management must provide him with some quality players to turn around the club’s fortunes and ensure that this second stint doesn’t go the same.
I am very excited to watch a 721 formation
Great article.
In the 2nd stint at Juventus, Allegri finished 4th, 3rd and again 3rd. Not bad based on the squad he had.
He didn’t have that good of a team to achieve more, on top of the club dealing with so much of the pitch. Juventus squads during those 3 years were mid.
His teams don’t play attractive football but as long as they win, who cares.
As the article mentioned Allegri needs QUALITY PLAYERS to win. At PSG, Barcelona, Liverpool they have signed quality players for a bargain price.
That means Milan doesn’t have to spend like Man City to paying 75m for 1 player or 100m for 1 player to achieve success.
Serie A is full of young talented motivated players under 50m. Rovella, Ricci, Giovanni Leoni, Coppola, Bellanova, Roberto Piccoli, Soule, etc are all quality italian players under 50m. Including Italian players like Calafiori and Udogie.
They know the value and importance of wearing the Milan shirt. No more signings like Musah, Emerson Royal, Pavlovic, Chukwueze, Okafor, etc.
Sign proven players in Serie A because the Italian league is more tactical and more difficult to play in compared to other leagues. There is no need to adaptation for players already doing well in Serie A.
Where as players from different leagues needs time to adapt. That will hinder the teams progress especially if we are not signing world class players from other leagues.
Yes 💯
We’ve mentioned all our players out on loan that will be coming back but nobody seems to mention Morata. Is he not coming back? My fear is that he has worked with allegri before and will be looking to come back.
Orsolini would be a dream to have in this team. But we also need a new CB that is strong in the air. And some kind of Dybala. I have no idea who that would be. But that kind of player with a high footballing IQ is a must. Adli is the best we have for that atm. Other than him and maybe Pulisic, our players usually display quite low footballing IQ.
I’m not sure why everyone thinks Italianizing the team should be the focus? How about signing great players period? No matter their nationality? But I understand where everyone is coming from……Italy totally dominated the 2024 Euros right? oops, nope, out in the round of 16, losing 2-0 to the Swiss…My bad…..But they were stellar at the WC in Qatar right? Oopps, nope…didn’t qualify at all…but they must have done brilliantly at the WC in Russia right?……Nope, didn’t qualify then either…..that’s 2 WCs in a row missed and a terrible Euros in between. Barella, DiMarco, Acerbi and Bastoni are all V. good Italian international players, and would likely start in our team, but were totally outclassed and overrun last night by PSG’s super talented team. I don’t care if we recruit from Mars, as long as the players are good quality and improve the team on the pitch.
So, you’re basically saying bring in anything but Italians. That’s worked out so well so far….
You and understanding are walking on parallel lines, he simply said making Milan squad mostly Italian shouldn’t be the point of concentration, we should rather focus on signing good players regardless of their nationality — and if the good player is also Italian, fine. But we have to sign good players no matter their nationality
Can’t you read? I clearly stated nationality doesn’t matter.
Yes and you proceeded to completely disregard any Italian talent and rant about how terrible they are. I’ll take the likes of Ricci Rovella Orsolini in this squad all day.
I really hope to be wrong, but unless we make a radical change in the rooster m this is a team completely unsuited to Allegri’s football. A football that defends with a low block positionally, that tries to minimize mistakes and events in a match. The only defender suitable for this is Gabbia. All the others are much better when they play in an aggressive man to man system. We also don’t have midfields that can control the game. And Gimenez does not have the hold-up play necessary to help a team that sits low to go up the pitch.