Allegri was sacked by Milan after the club failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League and, honestly, it is more than justified. Not because he had an outright terrible campaign, because for a large part of the season Milan sat in second place, even if they were never truly competing with Inter, who were leaders and eventual champions. But from March onwards, the results started getting worse and worse.
Milan only depended on themselves in the final Serie A matchday and still managed to throw away a 1-0 lead at home against Cagliari, a side with absolutely nothing left to play for, eventually losing 1-2. And yes, you can say it is only one match, but the reality is much bigger than that. Over the final two months, Milan won just 3 of their last 9 games and lost 5 of those same 9. That is ridiculous and clearly points towards problems with the manager as well.
Allegri is famous for what people call “terrorism ball”, and honestly, that is exactly what he is. His teams never entertain, never excite. He was getting results for a while, but once those stopped arriving, there was no attractive football underneath to sustain the project and no real reason to continue. He is an old-school, defensive-minded Italian manager and he simply did not know how to maximise his key players, even with a Milan side that spent almost the entire league campaign inside the Champions League spots.
The biggest example of poor usage is Rafael Leão. This idea of making him “defend” as a striker, despite the fact he barely contributes defensively, before drifting wide again in possession, does not suit him at all. As much as he enjoys one-v-one situations, he receives almost no support around him. He is constantly isolated and expected to solve everything individually, and obviously that makes it much harder for him to produce consistently. It is exactly this defensive mentality that held Italian football back for years, and Allegri represents that philosophy perfectly. He is an outdated manager. Simple as that.
On top of this, there was also a clear dependence on Maignan, who saved Milan in several matches with unbelievable stops, often more than once in the same game.
At the same time, I am not going to pretend this squad is incredible and was completely wasted. Players like Rabiot and Modric performed well. But the question remains: could more have been done? The squad is not elite and the club does not have the financial power of others who can spend over €100 million every transfer window, but there was still a very obvious tactical limitation from the manager.
Conclusion
Milan’s future has to involve trying something different. Enough with outdated managers who do not help the club evolve, neither in the present nor for the future. The real question now is whether the club is actually ready for that more drastic change. Because right now, Milan still feels like a sleeping giant.