On June 25, 2010, Massimiliano Allegri was appointed as the manager of Milan. As is the case with any manager of the club, expectations were high, as they should be. Allegri had inherited quite a line up with players like Clarence Seedorf, Rino Gattuso, Gianluca Zambrotta and many others. In his first season with Milan, there was immediate success with winning the Scudetto. However, from that point on, it was a downfall. As Allegri's tenure lengthened, his tactics and philosophy became more prominent and Milan's level of play started to drop. Luckily, with such a strong team with players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva, Milan's play never became something too worrisome and they remained in the Scudetto race. Eventually, the glory soon ended. On the last game of the 2011-12 season vs Novara, Milan saw the exit of countless superstars and legends of the club. Players like Seedorf, Gattuso, Zambrotta, Van Bommel and Inzaghi were retiring or moving on and then came the sale of Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic to PSG. Suddenly, Milan was stripped of almost everything. It became an almost mediocre squad instantly. Milan's attack went from the Ballon d'Or worthy Ibrahimovic to an unproven, very young Stephan El Shaarawy. The midfield that once saw Seedorf, Gattuso and Van Bommel, now relied on Nocerino, Muntari and an aging Ambrosini. The best defender in the world in Thiago Silva was replaced by Christian Zapata. This drop in talent showed immediately the following season. Milan were in the bottom half of the table, staying out of the drop zone by the incredible scoring run of El Shaarawy. Allegri's job was on the line and fans were becoming restless. Some thought it was only a phase or a slump, but when it lasted all the way up into January, people started realize the severity of the situation. The bald-headed genius that is Galliani took action in the January transfer window and on January 29, 2013 the blockbuster move that shook Europe, Mario Balotelli was bought from Manchester City for a bargain of roughly 25 million euros. Balotelli made an instant impact, scoring in his debut vs Udinese with 2 goals, including the game-winning penalty in the 90th minute. The goals from Balotelli continued and the wins started piling up. By the end of the season, Milan had amassed the most points in the second half of the season and found themselves from as low as 15th to finishing 3rd for a Champions League playoff spot.
In the summer transfer window, Galliani made only one significant signing by bringing back Riccardo Kaka on a free transfer from Real Madrid. Christian Zapata was bought after his loan had ended and Alessandro Matri was bought from Juventus for 11 million euros. With Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy leading the attack, expectations were high for the squad. All looked promising after a 3-0 thrashing of PSV in the Champions League 2nd leg playoff. However, instantly, the season started off badly with a loss to Hellas Verona and things only got worse. With injuries continuously piling up, the dropped points also continued to pile up. It seemed like that after almost every loss, Allegri's job was up for speculation, but Galliani kept convincing Berlusconi to keep him. Finally, after a disastrous 4-3 loss to promotion side, Sassuolo, which saw 19 year old, Domenico Berardi score 4 goals, Max Allegri was finally relieved of his duties on January 13, 2014. Clarence Seedorf retired from playing football with Botafogo and was hired to become the new manager of AC Milan.
The beginning of a new era at Milan has started. Seedorf is taking over in the middle of the season, so Milanisti shouldn't expect too much change or improvement for the rest of this year. It will be interesting to see what moves Milan will make in the summer and how the squad reacts to the managerial change. Clarence is a man known for his leadership and his demand of respect. Under Allegri, the most noticeable problem with Milan was the lack of motivation and very dull style of play. Hopefully, Seedorf can fire the team up before matches and get them to start playing a more exciting style of football. Only time will tell, but the future is bright for Milan and good things are sure to start happening soon.
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