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Gennaro Gattuso’s time at AC Milan might end very soon. The club’s legend was appointed in November of 2017 and after a mediocre start, the Italian slowly gained trust of the board, the players and the fans. He revived the Champions League aspirations of the club and after buying Krzysztof Piatek and Lucas Paqueta in January, the team seemed capable of even bigger things.
Despite having a great run from December to March, Milan have lost five of their last eight games and dropped from third to seventh place within that time. The players seem unmotivated and are not willing to fight, the fans are getting angry and the board seems to have fallen out of favor with him.
Gattuso’s position is in immense danger. For the case of the manager and club separating, this article provides four possible and realistic coaches that might be the solution for Milan and bring them back to top, where they actually belong.
#4 Gian Piero Gasperini
Gasperini started his career at the youth of Juventus, where he was also brought up as a player. After nearly ten years there, he joined Genoa, Palermo, Inter Milan and, again, Genoa, before ending up at Atalanta, where is still active today. In Bergamo, he transformed a mid-table side into a Champions League aspirant, improving the side from season to season. Right now, they are in fourth place, overtaking the Rossoneri and find themselves in the final of the Italian cup.
The 61 years old prefers to play in a 3-4-2-1, as his side is very good and dangerous in their offense. Despite that, Atalanta's defense is still quite solid, only conceding 1.2 goals per game. This may not sound impressive, but his main back three (Toloi, Mancini and Palomino) combined cost them around £6 million in total, which is nothing in today's market. Gasperini is also very good at developing talents, for example players like Caldara, Kessie, Bastoni, Gagliardini and Conti all played in the North of Italy before joining the top clubs.
The manager can sort out Milan’s offense, which recently looked lifeless, despite having good individual talent in the squad. He would also be able to improve the young players, of which Milan definitely have enough of. Rumours are linking the Atalanta manager to AC Milan in recent days.
#3 Paulo Fonseca
Fonseca ended his active career where he also started his coaching one: at Estrela Amadora. After a few smaller clubs, he earned himself spells at Porto, Braga and Shakhtar Donetsk, where he is managing right now.
He formed the club into a serial national champion and regular participant at European knock out stages. The Portuguese is a fan of the 4-2-3-1, which helps his teams to play in the possessing and midfield dominating way, as they are doing right now. Shakhtar’s defense has also been quality this season, only conceding 38 goals in 37 games, including in the Champions League. He is a great man manager and improves the squad without actually buying anyone, which he proved again in Ukraine.
Fonseca would help to balance out the defense and attack, a part of the game. which Milan need to improve when they want to be successful. He is impressive with working with what he has got and will definitely find a solution for the seven times Champions League winner.
#2 Eusebio Di Francesco
Di Francesco actually came into coaching after a team manager and director of football spell. Later he joined Pescara, Lecce, Sassuolo and Roma, who fired him after a bad run in March 2019. The Italian, whose biggest achievement might be the comeback against Barcelona in the UCL, is unemployed right now. However, he seems ready again to join another top club.
An offensive interpretation of the 4-3-3, which main weapon is the counter attack, is the formation of choice for the 49 years old. He also uses two defensive midfielders, whose main task is to protect the backline; therefore, the team’s offense relies on the creativity of the remaining players. At Sassuolo, one of Eusebio's biggest strengths was his player development, which saw him improving players like Vrsaljko, Defrel, Pellegrini, Politano and Acerbi.
The unemployed Di Francesco would not cost anything and would be very easy to get. He also already got the perfect players for his kind of football and would not need to change the playing style itself. Rather, he would be focused on trying to improve it.
#1 Marco Giampaolo
At the start of his career, Giampaolo was an assistant, before making the step up at Cagliari Calcio. After a few spells at some smaller clubs, he was able to be the heritage of Sarri at Empoli, where he impressed and earned himself a move to Sampdoria Genoa a few years later. The North Italian side was turned from a relegation side to a solid mid table team, without spending more money than they received through sales.
His favored 4-3-1-2 is rarely seen in today’s game, but is working very good for his club. Beautiful combinations combined with a solid defense, show how good Giampaolo prepares his side. They are also an attacking threat, scoring more than Milan, Lazio and Torino. At Sampdoria he also developed players like Torreira, Zapata or Skriniar, which are now some of the best of the world.
The 4-3-1-2 would suit Milan very well, as they possibly have the perfect player material for that. The Swiss is also known for a beautiful kind of football, which the Rossoneri supporters have not seen in a long time and definitely deserve to see again.
