Gattuso And AC Milan: Why We Were All Wrong

We were all wrong. Let’s take a moment to come together, as a community, and admit that we all assumed the appointment of Gennaro Gattuso as AC Milan manager was absurd to the point of hilarity. Our sides were splitting. Our guffaws echoed along the corridors of the internet. We laughed and we laughed and we laughed. 

But we were all wrong. 

You see, it turns out that Gattuso might just be exactly what Milan needed. 

Gattuso’s management history is — to put it generously — mixed. Rarely at a club for long, rarely distinguishing himself, he was perhaps best known for managing Pisa. This involved getting them promoted in his first season, crafting the best defense in Serie B but failing to score any goals, leaving the club and returning and then leaving for good after being relegated (with the second best defense in the league). 

Few would have earmarked him for a role at one of Italy’s biggest clubs, even if he was a legend in his playing days. But after the collapse of the Vincenzo Montella experiment, Gattuso was brought in and we all sniggered and chortled and joked about how he would head-butt the players and blow everything up. 

But it’s worked. 

This weekend, Milan beat Roma 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico. What’s more, it wasn’t a freak result. They were comprehensively the better team and outplayed their opponents throughout the game. It was remarkable, given how poor Milan was toward the end of last year. 

Of the last nine games, Milan has won seven and drawn two. At the beginning of the calendar year, they were in the bottom half of the table. Now, they’re sixth, unbeaten in 2018, and challenging for the Champions League spots. 

During its first win away in Rome since 2011, Milan was not just the hard-working warriors one might expect from a Gattuso-led side. Instead, they were clever. Tactically astute. They fronted up in a compact formation and were content to sit deep. The midfield’s handling of Radja Nainggolan made the Belgian look like a rank amateur, dominated by Franck Kessie in a performance his manager would have been proud of delivering himself.

Throughout the game, Roma hardly looked likely to score. This is largely down to Milan’s handling of Roma’s attack. Leonardo Bonucci and, in particular, Alessio Romagnoli looked fantastic, putting pay to the criticism that had circulated in the press that the former was not able to play in a back four. Along with the Swiss fullback Ricardo Rodriguez, this mostly Italian defensive unit is formidable and proved more than a match for Edin Dzeko and Co. 

In fact, the resoluteness of the defense has done a great deal to silence much of the criticism around Milan. Bonucci, that big-name summer signing that shocked the world, had been a lightning rod for bad publicity and a symbol of the travails of the club. Now that he’s in a settled unit, the gossip has died down and he’s been able to focus on his game. 

AC Milan is flying high under Gennaro Gattuso. Photo: @SempreMilanCom | Twitter

It’s part of a wider success story when it comes to dealing with the expensive summer transfers that can be attributed to Gattuso. Kessie has been excellent, Rodriguez and Bonucci have settled well. But, up front, the bigger names have been left out in favor of youth products. 

When they arrived in the summer, Nikola Kalinic and Andre Silva were examples of the new owners’ willingness to splash the cash. Silva had been coveted around the continent after playing the foil to Cristiano Ronaldo in the Portuguese national team’s recent successes. Kalinic had been performing way above expectations at Fiorentina. Both were expected to bring goals to Milan and both were expected to start. 

But the form of Patrick Cutrone proved to be an issue. Montella, to his credit, had demanded that the youngster stay at the club after a string of outstanding performances in preseason friendlies and was rewarded when he began to score regularly, in spite of his tender years. 

But the coach was under pressure to play the big names and, time and time again, Cutrone was benched in favor of Silva or Kalinic. 

Gattuso is under no such pressure. As everyone assumes him to be a short-term solution at the club, he feels no compulsion to select certain players. Milan is now much more of a meritocracy and Cutrone and the club as a whole are benefitting. As the teenager continues to score, Kalinic is chugging along, making appearances from the bench, while Silva is almost entirely forgotten. 

This might prove to be a godsend for the club. Despite Milan’s on-the-pitch success in recent weeks, doubts and rumors continue to swirl around their ownership. Yonghong Li, who borrowed a huge amount of money at ridiculous interest rates in order to buy the club, has recently declared himself bankrupt. Li’s involvement seems to be in doubt moving forward, with another set of new owners likely on the horizon. 

The fact Milan will be able to rely so heavily on youth team players such as Cutrone and Davide Calabria might allow them to cash in on players like Silva after just one year. In addition, further expenditure and headline-grabbing signings might be a long way off but might not seem necessary.

It’s another reason why the victory over Roma was so important. By taking these three points, Milan thrust itself back into contention for a Champions League place. Not only does this bring with it a financial boost, but it makes the team more likely to pass FFP regulations and turns them into a more interesting prospect for potential buyers. 

Furthermore, the latter stages of the Europa League have given Milan a chance to grab world headlines. Drawn against Arsenal, the Italian side finds its opponents raw and hurt. The Gunners were eviscerated by Manchester City in the weekend’s League Cup final and managed to lose a home tie to a mid-table Swedish side in the previous round. 

Beat Arsenal, get through to the quarterfinals and keep on winning and suddenly Gattuso’s side finds itself with a very real chance of adding to Milan’s considerable trophy haul and making a success out of what seemed to be a disaster of a season.

Gennaru Gattuso has proven himself at AC Milan. Photo: @bet365 | Twitter

And so, Milan finds itself in a very interesting moment. 

Right now, they’re defying significantly lowered expectations. The appointment of Gennaro Gattuso seems to have been a masterstroke. Qualify for the Champions League, perform well in Europe and get the most out of the squad and Gattuso will have repaired the reputation of himself and his club in one fell swoop. 

But is he a long-term solution? Traditionally, one might expect Gattuso’s emotive and demonstrative management style to burn quickly and then fade just as fast. But we have seen more than simple motivation from the coach. 

The victory over Roma demonstrated that both he and Milan can construct and implement a clever tactical plan. The players have praised their manager’s coaching (perhaps a dig at Montella) and seem to respond well to his praise and management style. Right now, should Milan continue in this fashion, there is a great deal of potential for future success. 

The foundations, however, are shaky. Relying on young players, an unproven coach and a disorganized and unreliable ownership status does not bode well for the future. 

But, already, we have been proven wrong. We all laughed when Gattuso was appointed, so it’s only right that we praise him now. We might cast aspersions on his long-term potential, but he’s more than earned the benefit of the doubt. We were wrong about Gattuso and Milan before; let’s see whether they can prove themselves in the future. 

If nothing else, it definitely won’t be boring.