The summer has been busy with the World Cup and player movement has been slow, so on that front Milan hasn’t been very busy. But one thing they have done is hire a new coach after firing Massimilano Allegri at the conclusion of the final matchday in late May, and with that Milan welcomes their 4th coach in just over 2 years.
I didn’t know a whole lot about the man now in charge, so I figured I’d do a little reading about him to find out what he’s all about. Below are just a few thoughts about what I’ve learned, including some links to some articles I found helpful.
A New Beginning?
I don’t know that I would have ever clamored for a Rúben Amorim signing. I definitely didn’t follow him so I didn’t have an informed opinion on him. Clearly if you’re doing a job well-enough to get hired by one of the biggest clubs in the world, both financially and historically, then you’ve done something right. Regular readers will know that I wanted Allegri out no matter what (I never wanted him to begin with!), so in a vacuum I would have welcomed just about anybody.
But, we all know how that Manchester United stint went for Amorim. Arriving with much fan-fare after many successful seasons leading Sporting CP, Amorim only lasted about 14 months on the job at ManU, going 24-18-21 during that time (compared to 164-34-33 at Sporting). This inevitably leaves many people wondering, is Amorim really as bad as ManU made him look…a team who for the better part of the last 10-12 years have been one of the most poorly-run teams in the world…or is he as good as the guy who led Sporting to their first league title in 19 years?
As most things for me, it’s probably somewhere in the middle. If he’s given some time and financial support, then yeah, what the hell. Maybe Milan get someone who can return the club to a place were top 4 finishes are routine and maybe a deep run in Champions League here and there. Do that every 3 to 5 years and maybe you stumble into a Champions League final.
The support he gets has to be the right kind of support however, and that for me is a BIG question mark with this management. They’re willing to spend some, that much has been clear. But they’ve also proven be inadequate at best (and incompetent at worse) when constructing a team. There’s usually a couple of signings that appear to make sense and drive excitement, like Modrić or Rabiot (or even Jashari) recently, but then some that are forced like Christopher Nkunku, where poor planning resulted in a panic buy that didn’t fit what they needed at the time. Even Pervis Estupiñan proved to be an expensive backup after not trusting what they had in Davide Bartesaghi.
Summer signings were already going to be slow-going because of the World Cup, but Milan still doesn’t even have a sporting director and are trying to sell us this committee approach that worked so well a couple of seasons ago…color me skeptical. Again, this would be less bad if Milan had time but they really don’t especially after missing Champions League last season, as they can’t afford a slow start and spend the season chasing the top 4. So, a World Cup summer that inevitably causes delays in returning players arriving and new players moving to the club, and now a new coach whose tactics and philosophy will take time to fine-tune.
So, will this be a new beginning? Again…maybe. But Milan need a lot of things to go right. Still, I would take this over another Allegri season where the season, results, and finish are pretty much baked in. At least here there’s the potential for catching lightning in a bottle.
Tactics and Philosophy
Many of you have commented since Amorim’s hiring that he prefers a back 3 and the articles I read clearly support that. So, seeing that his preferred shape is a 3-4-3 didn’t come as a surprise. Reading about how he deploys his 3-4-3 has been interesting, with protecting the center of the pitch being the key philosophy to his approach including using the two central midfielders in a double pivot to reinforce this preference.
While at Sporting CP, Amorim played a very aggressive high line/high press. Once the attacking three press, they aim to push the ball wide and then cut off passing lanes with the central midfielders closing down space and outlet options for the opponent on the ball. Winning the ball back quickly helped his Sporting side lead the league in possession and a slew of other offensive categories. This approached worked less-well while at Manchester United, usually only really bearing some fruit against stronger opponents who played more open…any of these things I’m saying sound familiar? Amorim learning how to balance this approach will be key in a league that has a lot of teams that sit in a low block and are generally unwilling to get out of their own half.
When back in their own third, and when not in possession generally, Amorim likes to switch to a 5-4-1 or 4-4-2 and he started to leverage this more during his time at Manchester United. This naturally led to a more counter-attacking team than what Amorim was used to but again, this type of flexibility can only be a good thing especially after watching Allegri last season.
While in possession and in their own third, Amorim likes to get the opponent to commit to the ballcarrier and then begins to build. The back 3 sit back more and he relies on the two central midfielders and two wingbacks to do a lot of the heavy lifting initially. This helps his sides play more vertically as the players are less spread out horizontally but need to be vertically spread out to create space. This means he likes his guys to play between the lines and get up the pitch.
Once in the final third, they spread out some, try and draw the opponent to one side and then switch the play. The reading I did indicated that he likes his wingbacks to have some offensive skill to take on guys 1 on 1 when the switch of play happens, so Davide Bartesaghi and whoever is at RWB (hopefully Zachary Athekame) should get plenty of opportunities to contribute offensively. So, what happens to the attacking wide players? Well, this is where we’ve seen a lot of that 3-4-2-1 formation talk creep up from, namely that those two wide attacking players will often tuck in (again, keeping to the central/center of the pitch/strong spine philosophy) behind the center forward. This is also why Rafael Leão will be less useful (and Pulisic more useful?…maybe?), unless Amorim counter attacks more than he’s done historically.
One last thing to mention was it was highlighted in the reading how important Viktor Gyökeres was during his time at Sporting, and his work in the channels being key while in the opponent’s final third. This is likely why Milan spent what they did on Gonçalo Ramos, since Santiago Giménez isn’t that box-dominating big man, and Francesco Camarda is still only 18 years old.
I’ll link the articles I read at the end of the post, but it’s important to note that while I read some posts about what didn’t work at ManU, it’s hard to know how Serie A teams will and won’t counter the tactics described above. So, some of that will be a wait and see.
Wrap Up
Well, just wanted to give you a little introduction to Rúben Amorim and share what I read in case you haven’t had a chance to yet. This post is far from complete nor the authority on him, so I encourage you to do some of your own research as well and learn about the guy in charge. As I said at the beginning of the post, I’m mostly indifferent to his signing specifically, but moving on from Allegri was the most important step. At least now there’s some possibility that Milan can break out and challenge for the top 4 and maybe even make the Scudetto race interesting with a little luck.
Forza Milan.
gillis
Articles
Rúben Amorim Tactics by Coaches’ Voice