Milan Showing Signs Of Struggling To Identify With Their Project

“There’s no more ambitious project than ours in Italy,” Sinisa Mihajlovic uttered upon his official unveiling as the new head coach of Milan earlier this month. “It’s a great honour to be here, it’s a very special first time for me...”

Six years on since Carlo Ancelotti’s exit from Milan back in 2009, there finally seems to be a proper project in place at Casa Milan.

After Carlito left, the team struggled for consistent positive results. It was only in the 2010/11 Scudetto-winning campaign under Massiliano Allegri that the team managed to fully deliver on the field. However, there has been no sense of real identity since the club slowly started to release the likes of Clarence Seedorf, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Nesta.

These names formed the backbone of the team and were instrumental to so much success the Rossoneri had enjoyed in the last decade. But with all their ages sitting on the wrong side of 30, Adriano Galliani had opted for a new project - one that would give youngsters a chance, promote the development of youth and Milan’s promising Primavera academy.

Youth products such as Mattia De Sciglio, Bryan Cristante, Simone Ganz, Alexander Merkel and Mattia Valoti were all promoted from the academy ahead of the 2011/12 season, while the arrival of Stephan El Shaarawy meant there was a smorgasbord of youngsters to choose from.

In true Milan style, there was reluctance to dish out regular appearances to the youngens, with only 26 caps spread between them, and with El Shaarawy (22) receiving the bulk of those.

Placing Primavera head coach, Pippo Inzaghi, as the Rossoneri tutor for the 2014/15 campaign was an attempt to dive further into this project. Jeremy Menez and Alex were the only real ‘big name’ signings that were added to the set-up, but that was because they came for cheap after troubled seasons with PSG.

With the only arrivals being players that would arrive for a low fee - Giacomo Bonaventura the most expensive transfer at €7million – and with Milan having gone a season without Europe and three years without a trophy, their so-called project had been put on the backburner.

It often seemed that Milan’s only real reason for playing last term was because they had to.

This year, though, there seems a legitimate reason to smile. The arrival of Mihajlovic may have spiked some contrasting views, but he is the right coach to build a team around and kick start the project. 

“We were convinced that, after weighing up many options, some from abroad, he is the best choice for the job,” Milan chairman, Silvio Berlusconi, revealed at Milan’s first press conference of the season.

“He has a big personality. He showed that last season with Sampdoria. He understands football and has proved he is able to be a leader. He has also shown that he studies his opponents thoroughly, which is very important.”

Although the Serbian may have, what some Milanisti would call a checkered past at Inter, he is a man who goes for what he wants and he is a coach that has a vision in how to build a winning team.

The arrivals of Luiz Adriano, Carlos Bacca, Andrea Bertolacci and Jose Mauri, coupled the exit mass exodus of deadwood, is proof that more thought is going into building a balanced Milan team, on top of plans to build a new 48 000-seater stadium ahead of the 2018/2019 season, shows that a new project is in place for a brighter Red and Black future. However, there some areas that the club are struggling to identify with…

The exit of Adil Rami to Sevilla - just a year after he funded his own transfer to the club - shocked many, while the extension of Philippe Mexes’ contract at the club left critics confused.

The Frenchman was often a liability for the Rossoneri last season. Receiving nine yellow cards, one straight red and a four-match ban for choke holding Lazio’s Stefano Mauri - the 33-year-old was often accused of doing more bad than good.

What made his stay at the club even more preposterous is that he is far from the player Mihajlovic prefers to build his team around. Known as an astute disciplinarian and a no nonsense coach, Mexes’ extension could have been an Adriano Galliani signing more than the Serbian’s.

Another area of concern can be that the imminent exits of both Stephan El Shaarawy and Hachim Mastour, along with talk over Zlatan Ibrahimovic returning to the club.

‘Il Faraone’ may have spent most of last season in the medical room, but his exit doesn’t make much sense either. Along with the 17-year-old Moroccan wonder kid, the duo are considered as two of the most promising talents in Italian football. Their exit from Milan in the midst of building a project doesn’t make much sense…  The only real reason one can pin-point Mihajlovic’s lack of hesitation in letting the Savona-born player go, is if talk over El Shaarawy’s partying habits turn out true.

Another piece that doesn’t quite fit into the Rossoneri puzzle is that of Ibrahimovic. The nomadic Swede goes against the grain of Milan’s project.

Three years into his thirties, Ibra is not a player one usually opts to build a team around for the long haul. Famous for having itchy feet, Zlatan’s return to the club would likely last two years at the most, however, there is no doubting the motivational factor he provides to a team.

If Mihajlovic is serious in building a team, he would refuse Zlatan entry to Milanello. With the towering striker upfront, Milan often fell prone to depending on his height and fell victim to the long balls. This is the exact opposite style of play the 46-year-old coach prefers to see his team utilise, opting for a fast-paced more intricate passing game.

This may be easier said than done, though, with Berlusconi and Galliani probably leading the line of courting Zlatan. After all, he would be a great marketing ploy.

If Milan’s project is to succeed, management and Miha will have to find a mutual understanding of each other, because, as it stands, there are still areas in this project that they are struggling to identify as a unit.