La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that there are reflections within Milan having formed a picture over the past few seasons and they are starting to plan for 2025-26, even if nothing has yet been decided in terms of names and surnames.
Nonetheless, 2024-25 has certainly made one thing clear: it might be time to start relying on an Italian coach again. Not only for the skill of some coaches, but for their knowledge of Italian football. Paulo Fonseca first and Sergio Conceiçao now, despite being highly regarded coaches, have not managed to leave the mark they wanted.
They would have both needed and wanted more time to implement their style of play, but at a club like Milan there is never any time and there is only the condemnation – sweet or unpleasant depending on the point of view – to win trophies.
There are many who underline how it is not a coincidence that Milan in the hands of foreign coaches has brought few joys. The last one in fact dates back a lifetime and bears the name of Nils Liedholm, architect of the 1978-79 Scudetto.
After the Baron (who then sat on the Rossoneri bench again in the mid-80s without success), and before Fonseca: Tabarez, Terim, Leonardo, Seedorf and Mihajlovic. Zero titles, sackings, tormented stories (not all, let it be clear).
Those who brought them, those titles, had an Italian passport: Sacchi, Capello, Zaccheroni, Ancelotti, Allegri and Pioli. The reasons for this markedly homegrown philosophy are various, and not necessarily related to the present day.
First of all, part of those years corresponded to the football era in which, in general terms, Italy was the England of today: the top of world football. There was no such marked need to go fishing beyond the border.
Narrowing the horizons to Milan, Berlusconi favoured the leaders of our home. An Italian philosophy also applied to the team (also because the rules on foreigners were more restrictive), where a core was formed by Baresi, Maldini, Nesta, Tassotti, Costacurta, Pirlo, Gattuso, Inzaghi and many others.
There were hHierarchies, clear rules in the dressing room, talent, a lot of leadership and a deep Italian soul, the ingredients that acted as a glue in squads that were still embellished with foreigners of the highest level: this too allowed Milan to become the team of the Invincibles and the Immortals.
Many fans believe that the disappearance of the Italian identity was one of the most obvious causes of the suffering that began after the 2011 Scudetto.
On March 13, 2023, the match between Milan and Salernitana went down in some way in history: the first match in Serie A in the Rossoneri’s history with the entire starting eleven without Italians.
It happened this season against Real Madrid and last season against PSG, too. There is also a question of squad lists in the mix, both in the league and in Europe: Milan have already found itself short of homegrown players.
So all that remains is to wait and see if the corporate philosophy will really shift at least a little towards homegrown horizons. Some Italian players could arrive (Comuzzo, Lucca), an Italian coach (Conte, Allegri, Sarri) and even an Italian director (Paratici, D’Amico).
