Christian Vieri believes that Massimiliano Allegri was not to blame for AC Milan’s collapse, which was instead down to squad construction.
Vieri is probably best associated with Inter given that he amassed 123 goals and 22 assists in 190 appearances there. He also played at Fiorentina, Juventus, Lazio and Torino, while he had a short stint at Milan: 14 appearances, with two goals and two assists.
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There is arguably nobody better to diagnose the attacking issues that the Rossoneri had during 2025-26, a season in which Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic failed to find consistency, while Santiago Gimenez and Niclas Füllkrug combined for one league goal, and Christopher Nkunku struggled too.
Vieri gave an interview to La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanVibes) in which he gave some assessments on the teams around Serie A including his former side Milan.
What do you expect from the next Serie A season?
“In my opinion, Inter and Napoli are two top-tier teams, destined to have a great run on the European stage as well. Honestly, as for Inter, I think they already had what it takes to go much further than in last season’s Champions League.”
Why are Napoli the main challengers?
“Because they have a solid and well-rounded structure. The club is healthy, and the squad is full of players of immense value. Now that Allegri is on the Azzurri bench, I’m convinced that the title fight will be a private affair between them and Inter.”
Allegri is fresh from the failure to qualify for the Champions League with Milan…
Let’s not forget that Max remained in second place for almost the entire season, managing a team that had finished eighth the previous year and facing rivals who were much better equipped and ahead in their project.
“The truth is, there’s no point in beating around the bush: if you don’t have a top-notch centre-forward in your team, you end up winning nothing.”
Milan’s attack still had Leao, Pulisic, Nkunku, Gimenez and Fullkrug…
“I’m talking about a stellar centre-forward, not just any player. I’m talking about someone who’s consistently among the top ten in the world in his position.
“You can’t expect Leao or Pulisic to always pull the chestnuts out of the fire and score every blessed Sunday, but from a true penalty area striker, yes, that’s something you have to expect.”
Allegri tried Leao as a No.9, which he has revealed he didn’t like…
“Footballers shouldn’t make excuses, I’ve never liked that kind of talk. If you’re good, you have to be able to make a difference in any way on the pitch.
“Has the coach put you in the middle of the attack? You move around, adapt, and find a way to create your own space. Besides, to be honest, even when he played there, I often saw him drifting out to the left flank.”
So you think Allegri is completely free from blame?
“Excuse me, but what more can a coach do? He doesn’t have magical powers. It’s the players who take to the field who have to turn things around and bring out something more.
“Is it possible that in all these years, from Pioli to Fonseca, from Conceicao to Max, no one has ever managed to find the right key with this group? In the end, it always comes back to the one great truth of football: to win, you need champions. And above all, you need men with strong personalities.
“It’s a lesson my father always told me, ever since I signed for Juventus. Certain historic jerseys like those of Juve, Inter, or Milan have a much greater specific weight than all the others.”
Who could be Milan’s top 10 world striker be?
“It’s not a question of naming specific names now. What’s certain is that the club’s higher-ups need to get moving and speed up the process. Ibrahimovic? Honestly, I still haven’t figured out his actual role within the club.”
He could not be in relegation form for 8 weeks
How about a manager adapts to the players he has. Every week of seeing Pulisic and Leão as dual attackers was painful. Did anyone see any change in tactics from Allegri- maybe one time? Why did the team get worse instead of improving during the season. The Allegri apologists are out in force.
Allegri is a dinosaur. He made every attacking player worse. And Pioli won the Scudetto, so never mind the assertion that no manager won with this squad. Waste of space interview.
He’s not wrong. Allegri commands a lot of respect around the no matter what you think. Our players don’t command much respect at all, and these days even Leao is a joke.
Allegri commands respect among other dinosaurs. In reality he took over the best teams in italy twice and eventually sent them sinking in both Milan and Juve. Not only did he do it once he did it twice with both teams. Our squad might not be up to par but Allegri is anti football it self and everyone involved in his systems eventually dies
Completely agree with you and was of the same opinion before his second stint with Juve.
In reality it’s not Allegri or Conte who are masters of Italian coaching – it is Marotta who is the behemoth of Serie A with direct involvement in 10 serie A titles in the last 15 years + I would add the last one of Juve, in the season he left.
Actually play football? Or use his players in their natural position? Wild guess
Naaah, aiming for 0-0 for each match no matter the opponent is Allegri’s definition of football. 🙄
“Excuse me, but what more can a coach do? ”
He could try coming up with a formation that actually suits his squad.
We know the squad had big limitations. But still your number one job as manager is to work out how best to use what you have.
The second half of the season was awful. And Allegri had nothing in his kit bag to change the downward trajectory.
Plus he only had 1 gane a week for most of the season.
Couldn’t even muster a decent Coppa Italia run.
Agree with you
Should have asked Vieri if any of his coaches played him on the wing. That’s basically what moving Leao from wing to striker is like