Will Friuli Be Allegri's Final Dance?
Although this possibility has been denied by Ac Milan's vice president, Adriano Galliani, but one can't really be sure about Allegri's future, especially after a rather similar situation occurred regarding Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva's departure this summer.
The questions regarding Allegri's future started to pop up sometime last summer, mostly occurred after Milan nearly threw away their massive 4-0 lead against Arsenal in the Champions League quarter final. Many rumors were spreading that the relationship between the tactician and some of his players started to get sour after that game. Moreover, Italian media also suggested that the club's owner, Silvio Berluconi, began to lose his trust over the ex-Cagliari coach due to that close call and things obviously couldn't get better by the end of season, when Rossoneri ended up with no silverware.
This start of season, things didn't get any better for Allegri as his team failed to win three home games, losing two and drawing one, without even managed to score any goals yet in front of an already empty San Siro. Obviously losing two important players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva depleted Milan's strength, but not many would expect that the Diavolo Rosso would be experiencing such an awful start in this early part of season, considering they actually have rather 'easy' schedule compared to last season.
Injury problems remain one of the things that troubled Count Max in setting up his best formation this past four matches, but once again, one can't help to question Milan's inability in at least dominating the opponents they faced so far. So far, the Rossoneri players looked rather timid, confused and lack of confidence, a condition which obviously isn't helping the club at all. Although his persistence in keeping the team's basic 4-3-1-2 shape can still be compromised as the team are facing a rather hectic schedule but still he should obviously prepare other alternatives during pre-season in case things are not working out well.
Another issue that Allegri seems to be having is the fact that he still can't find a working system/playing style with Milan, which pretty much made things harder for him and his players. Without a clear system, it's difficult to find comfort on the pitch as the players will most likely be confused and eventually decide to solve things on their own instead trusting each others. Aside from that, it seems that the ex-Cagliari tactician should also change his approach towards the players, stepping aside his 'total professional' attitude and try to reach out more, creating stronger bond that might make his motivational talk gets through easier.
All in all, the chance for Allegri to salvage his Milan career and obviously the club's season is still open, especially if he can finally discover a fixed game plan and inject positive motivational push for his players. Personally, I believe the latter might be much more effective for the time being as if the team can play with more beliefs, a positive result might appear, since technically the Rossoneri still have the upper hand over their opponent.
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