As A.C. Milan prepare for Friday’s clash at home to Empoli, supporters of the San Siro giants have a lot to feel thankful for. Gennaro Gattuso has gone through something of an evolution both as a coach and in the way his team plays, and their current excellent form suggests that they are well on course to achieve that highly coveted Champions League spot come the end of the season.
The former midfielder has been realistic about his ability since being promoted from his role in charge of the Rossoneri youth sector following the sacking of Vincenzo Montella in 2017, but is currently benefiting from the results of having the humility to learn as he goes along.
“[Paolo] Maldini and management don’t see eye-to-eye with everything I do? It’s true. Sometimes it happens, but there’s always respect between us,” the coach said in his pre-match press conference. “The club did a good job of raising me. There’s no need to go looking for controversy.
“As for myself, I don’t need to be told I’m doing ‘good’ every time. Things are going well at the minute, but when I’ve been criticized harshly, I’ve tried to read into it as little as possible and just do my job.”
Supporters too, have started to adjust to the changes seen in Gattuso in his team. Many commented on how the side that beat high-flying Atalanta 3-1 on Saturday had started to resemble the “old” Milan, the trophy-hungry version of the team that had been so dominant in the past. This previous column also discusses their on-fire January signing Krzysztof Piatek, who will be hoping to bag some more goals versus Empoli.
#ACM v #EMP - AC Milan are one of the two sides to have gained the most points from losing situations in Serie A this season (13, level with Juventus) – on the other hand, no team has lost more points than Empoli from leading positions (18). (via @StatsZone)
— Michelangelo Gamberini (@mkidj) February 22, 2019
Of course, Gattuso and directors Maldini and Leonardo were part of those glory days, and so it makes sense that they are well-placed to know exactly how they need to go about replicating them. Now under the stable ownership of the Elliott group, it has also been announced that the club have made the move to take on another former Arsenal executive as newly-appointed chief of staff James Murray joins CEO Ivan Gazidis.
The next week will be crucial in determining whether or not this side can achieve the necessary consistency in their performances as–following the match with Empoli–they will compete with Lazio in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi. Better days seem to be on the horizon for the Rossoneri, but can they keep it up?
Chloe Beresford specializes in Serie A for a number of outlets and can be found on Twitter and on Facebook via her page CalcioByChloe.