Milan Can Ill Afford Another Failure

Article by e-Sports Net's Brian McLaughlin

Click here to follow e-Serie A on Twitter!

Milan have sacked Clarence Seedorf and have appointed Filippo Inzaghi in a move that has been mooted for weeks on end.

Seedorf leaves the San Siro after the Rossoneri failed to qualify for European Football after an abysmal eighth place finish in Serie A.

However, the Dutchman will feel harshly treated and is arguably paying for the mistakes of his predecessor Massimiliano Allegri who was sacked after a 4-3 defeat to minnows Sassuolo leaving the club with a mere five wins in nineteen games. Reports in the Italian Press are now suggesting that the club legend was disgracefully sacked by e-mail in a move that will heap more embarrassment on the club’s executives after a dismal league campaign.

A question often levelled against Seedorf was his inexperience-the midfielder was still playing football with Botafogo when Silvio Berlusconi chose him as the man to save Milan’s season- therefore the appointment of Inzaghi who is also inexperienced could lead to similar problems.

The legendary striker who made over two hundred appearances for the club was appointed after impressing with Milan Primavera- their U19s team. His task will be to rebuild the club to compete again in the Champions League and after finishing a staggering 21 pts behind 3rd place Napoli the task facing the 40 year old Italian is massive.

The problem with Milan is not so much that they do not have good players, as there are some fantastic young players who are more than capable of performing in the Champions League. The real problem lies in that they are saddled with mediocrities claiming exorbitant wages. The likes of Robinho, De Jong, Muntari and Zapata are all picking up sky-high salaries when they could be replaced with younger, hungrier players for a fraction of the cost. It is a similar situation to Manchester United: they have some really great players but are shelling out too much money in retaining the likes of Young, Fellaini and Cleverley.

Inzaghi needs to be ruthless to that squad and cut out the mediocrities and build his team around the likes of Balotelli, Kaka, Honda and El Shaarawy: those with genuine class that can cut it at the highest level.

But having just walked in the door, Milan have already announced the signing of PSG defender Alex in what is a signing that epitomises the club’s misguided priorities. Whilst the former Chelsea man has been a competent player throughout his career and is costing the seven-times European Cup winners absolutely nothing, it is a stark reminder of how far Milan have fallen. Only a few years ago Milan were winning the Scudetto and performing reasonably in the Champions League, whereas PSG were still an unknown quantity in the upper echelons of European Football. Since then Milan have sold the likes of Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to PSG, whereas the Parisian side are now feeding Milan the unnecessary scraps of their heavily assembled side?

The whole appointment is again a monumental risk for a club that can ill-afford another season of failure, especially given the dominance of Juventus, the renaissance of Roma under Rudi Garcia, a promising Napoli side under Rafa Benitez and the added investment city rivals Inter have secured in their steps to recover. It may have been wiser for Milan to place their faith in a more experienced candidate, such as Luciano Spalletti or even Roberto Mancini- a move that would have perhaps proven unpopular given the success he achieved at rivals Inter!

Nevertheless, Inzaghi is a very respectable figure in Milan and as mentioned previously the club still do possess some talented players who are capable of achieving a Champions League position. But it is clear that the club needs to rethink its strategy amidst the growing uncertainty over Silvio Berlusconi who has been beset by criminal accusations and is currently underway into his community service. The club needs leadership more than ever now, and it needs to have a strong and successful transfer window which will be reflected by not only the quality of arrivals but the ability to hold onto important assets such as Mario Balotelli as the rest of Europe sense an opportunity of capitalising on the club’s misery.

As for Seedorf, he can leave Milan with his head held high. He presided over a marked improvement in results and just fell short of securing Europa League football given the dreadful foundations he had to work from in the wake of Allegri’s departure. Managing one of the biggest clubs in the World is a difficult task for many managers, including those of which can boast of decades of experience in the game, but for a managerial novice like Seedorf the difficulty is somewhat more intense.

© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football