Milan Management

[ACMILAN1983]

Thanks for this Dev.

I would want to say that a point where credit is due to Galliani is "extracting" good deals. Two players for example: Ibra and Lopez were headed for the exit from their previous teams for reasons other than falling playing standards. They were both good or better age and quality wise to attract other teams while, even when Ibra arrived, Milan was sliding down the rich scale. He managed to get both.
Galliani has achieved something with less resources but too little of it.

No worries Reza, I was curious about this topic for a while tbh. I don't want to say Galliani is bad specifically, it's very hard to judge without knowing all the facts after all, but there are elements to his work, specifically on how he manages and builds the squad that I think are probably quite a lot less impressive than people will admit to. His example should serve as a lesson going forward, as I think there needs to be real scrutiny in ensuring the club is run well with consistency in the future.

I agree with your point about some of his signings and while I've always questioned the Ibra signing, there's no denying that Ibra did make a drastic change in the dressing room with a winning mentality (albeit also being controversial too). However, as mentioned in my original post, a couple of good signings here or there don't excuse his failures imo.

You might be right that Galliani is overrated. Fact is that in the last 20 years, we've only won three Scudetti and two Champions League trophies. That's not nothing, but I feel like a club as big as Milan should have done a bit better than that, especially in Italy. And especially considering how much money we had available for such a long time, and how much we've spent. As weird as it might sound, we've been a bit trophy-starved after the late 80s/early 90s glory days. Inter won four Scudetti in four years not that long ago. Juve are doing the same now. I am a bit annoyed that we can't assemble a squad good enough to do the same.

It's a strange one when looking at results only. The number of trophies won is both impressive and yet feels kind of underwhelming. It's a funny one, as under Ancelotti it always baffles me how that side only won 1 scudetto, when it really had the ability to dominate and win 3 or even 4. I think that's why that side won't be held as high as the classic Milan sides of Sacchi and Capello.

I wouldn't hold that specifically against Galliani, as that team always maintained a level of competitiveness and was always very close to winning. However, where I do scrutinise his work is the extreme levels levels of success and failure. In that time, you look at Juve and a few seasons aside (all but one after the fallout of Calciopoli), they've always been challenging in the top 2 or 3, most of the time winning.

However, Milan, who given the resources, success and structure have either been very competitive, or midtable. It's that inconsistency and unpredictability that makes me question the management of the club. It's also notable that often during those years where the club failed, that Berlusconi was often less focused on football and more on politics or personal legal problems. Also notable is that the most successful coaches have been selected by Berlusconi, while Galliani has often been known for picking the wrong guys (Berlusconi has been making mistakes too, especially in recent years).