Happy b-day to a really great man!

Yeah, he's held on well. Probably takes good care of himself and hits the gym regularly. That along with his lush hair and beady little eyes, and he looks quite the same as he did when he played for Milan (the last couple of seasons).

For a different (read younger looking) Leonardo we will have to look at the footage of his World Cup 98 matches!

Happy B'day to Leo.

Still wish he could have been with us a scout /advisor or whatnot though.

He coached Milan for only one year. This club turned Carlo gray completely by the time he left.

True, that.

If I had known Leo as a coach meant losing him as a scout... .-.

Happy Birthday, Leo.

That was what I feared when he became our coach. It kinda looked inevitable...

He had been with us for what, over ten years? I figured even if he didn't work as coach, we'd just put him back on scouting.

(imo he did a fine job as coach but maybe we shouldn't get into that discussion again)

I'm not so sure. IMO he was an amateur coach who made some rookie errors and funny decisions. Saying he had a weaker team without depth and his key players got injured isn't enough. It wasn't enough for Ancelotti, why the double standards so suddenly?

Can't say I disagree with him...

that makes me so sad.

I mean "never say never", indeed, but to Inter?
That would really hurt me.

I guess working for Moratti would be easier in some terms, but still...

I wish Leonardo all the luck in England, though

I think Leo was really hurt at how the club treated him during his time as coach. This is the same scenario as the one with Paolo. Who has distanced himself big time from the club

Club = Berlusconi. He had splendid relations with everyone, especially with Galliani. Berlusca was the one who didn't like Leo. There's an exclusive interview at La Gazzetta today with him.

Link

I know. and it really hurts to see how Berlusconi treats our legends.
It's just sad for us fans, because we can't do anything about it.

Except about Paolo, that was 'us fans', not really Berlusconi's fault.
I still am angry about what those ultras did. It was not only unrespectable, but pure blasphemy.

I just don't want to lose legends and make them resent us, make them question, why they spend their whole football life in Milan, when in the end you regret it.

Atm Berlu represents the entire club, he pulls the strings, distancing yourself from Silvio means distancing yourself from the club as well.


It wasn't fans, it was the Ultras, who imo aren't really fans but whatever, the real fans cheered Paolo on that day. The problem Paolo and fans had with the management was because they didn't take any action against the Ultras. They went along with it, when Paolo only did the things he did to cover B&G's @sses and out of respect for them

Berlusconi is a narcissistic?

Is that sarcasm?

maaaaybe

Such a successful coach

He does have a point in saying Allegri basically picked up his style and continued it...

Leo wasn't the best coach ever (after all, it was his first season), but he wasn't half bad and had plenty of room to improve. Now if had got this season's squad and still managed only a 3rd place finish... I'd be calling for his head too. But with the squad he had last year? The man deserves our applause.

Why arent ultras fans?

I think paolo and the club at least think ultras are the fans.. since they are in the stadium.
That day was really horrible. Imagine you spend ur whole life working for one firm, boss, and then he screws u over with ir retirement package..
Ul

I'm not going to really get into it, because it will stir up another huge debate. but imo they're nothing but thugs looking for trouble, using the club to voice their misguided oppinions.

B&G should have stood up for Paolo, simple, but they chose not to

it's sad what he said... I can't believe Berlusconi treated him like that after all that he's done for Milan.

I'm pretty sure Leo saying he could go to Inter is just a professional way of keeping his options open. It'd be pretty foolish to burn a bridge before even getting another management job.

True. And we don't even know what Mr. B said to him behind closed doors (hopefully Leo writes a book a few years down the road). Even the commentator in today's match was saying that if Berlusconi had his way he would play 5 attacking players. Always goes for glory that showoff.

I don't want to say too many negative things of Berlusconi, but sometimes keeping one's feet on the ground works wonders, particularly in football. This isn't the age of Gladiators. Even if we had bought another 2-3 world class players this season, they still would have taken time to gel. Team chemistry takes time, always has. If he was so concerned with the results, then maybe he should have stopped Galliani from signing stupid extensions to our aging midfield, and invested in rebuilding a season or two back. Not to mention bringing in clowns like Mancini (sorry, about that, I rather like that guy, but he has no place in a top tier club like Milan or even inter). Players like these are best suited to Europe League level teams.

I am sure Leo isn't a saint, he made more than a few mistakes, but really, as the owner of the club Mr. B should have known better. Not just from the point of view of the management, but from past experience as well.

Response from Galliani:


In regards to the last sentence, I truly doubt that's the case. Just my P's and Q's.

nah he won't go. If gets a job it'll be in the EPL. He wants full control of the team and in Italy it won't be any different with morrati.


I can see him coaching west ham or something along those lines.

I wouldn't blame Leo for going.

The management gave him absoloutely no support all season long and basically just criticised him, then despite having a good season they get rid of him. Everyone wants 'revenge' on people that wrong them, so I wouldn't blame him for going to Inter at all.

Milan and Berlusconi saved his career, he should remember.

13 years of work seem more than enough compensation.

Maybe the spotlight got the best of him

Oh come on!!!

Leo was never treated fairly as a coach. Allegri suddenly gets appointed and Silvio decides to open his wallet...

Imo, Silvio never really wanted Leo as coach, Galliani did. For whatever reason Silvio relented, but made Leo's life as Milan coach a living hell along the way

With all due respect .. how did you come to that assessment of the situation?

Or maybe Silvo wanted a real coach not an amateur rookie. Anyway, I don't buy the poor little Leonardo story, he was adored by Berlusconi as a player, coaches like Zaccheroni were forced to play him even if he underperformed and finally, like Ibrahim Ba he was resigned by Milan on pure simpaty, ending his career with a fine paycheck.

Fazit - Milan is better without him. He allways should have stayed a scout.

Like Allegri? (no sarcasm or anything intended. this is one simple, innocent question!)

Yes, someone who actually coached clubs before.

Allegri came with 2 serie A coaches of the year and recommendations from alot of high ranked officals in italy.

Leonardo didn't come with anything. He was lucky to get his UEFA A as he was basically mercy passed. There are major differences between the two.


Though I will admit i still love leo and wish he was our coach <3

It's pretty obvious isn't it? It played out right before us last season and went on all through summer with Silvio throwing back handed remarks at every opportunity.

Imo Leo was only drafted in because he was the inside man. I don't know what happened with Carlo, whether he was the one who wanted to leave and left the management with a tough choice to replace him, so chose Leonardo. Silvio tends to clash with a lot of his coaches, simply because he likes to involve himself with how the team should play etc, etc. Him and Carlo didn't have the best of relationship either. With Silvio throwing in a nasty comment here and there when things weren't done his way and Carlo trying to brush it off as best he could, always praising Silvio and saying this and that to keep things calm.

Imo Leo was the inside man, but when he didn't listen to what Silvio wanted, which definately wasn't the 4-3-3, Silvio wanted him out ASAP.

Whether or not Silvio liked Leo as a player doesn't really matter, it's a whole other story, ex, if Van Basten ever came to coach Milan there would be a massive clash between the 2 as VB is a very strong willed character, Silvio doesn't deal well with that, isn't that why he had problems with both Cappello and Sacchi at some point?

Please, I spit up a little in my mouth every time I hear that name. Quite possibly the biggest waste of money in the past few years who wasn't named Digao.

+1

Then he probably should have. I remember pundits and former players all praising Leo in the first half of the season, saying he was the only one who brought tactical innovation to Serie A. I reckon I read a Sacchi interview in Football Italia saying he was very pleased with how Leonardo managed things. Not just that, the media (Italian and World) was all over Leo for standing up to Berlusconi.

It was when we reached 2nd place during a very successful run when Leo issued his 5-point ultimatum. And by golly he was right with what he said and wanted. Out with the old players, and in with the new and whatnot. Most people were praising him after that. Then injuries hit (Nesta and Pato in particular), and he started showing inexperience (if that's what you want to call it). Frankly the last few matches were a total mess, with Huntelaar playing as a winger, and well the less we talk about those the better.

I am not for one instance saying Leo was a miracle man, or the greatest thing to happen to the club, far from it. And he had a lot of flaws too, not playing youngsters, technically somewhat naive, playing 4-3-3 even though he did not have the required personal for it (when it worked, it worked wonders, when it didn't it was worse than a slap in the face). And these are just some of his faults. Speaking of which he also had the 2nd biggest hand in ruining Hunts time in Milan (the first being the player himself). The Hunter should be in the penalty box most of the 90 minutes, not wandering out of it. His job was to finish any through ball and put them in the back of the net, not playing Mr. Wingman.

But fact of the matter is that he did not get a single player he wanted (in fact barely got any reinforcement), lost the club icon (Maldini) and face (Kaka) before playing his first match, had to work with a chubby Ronaldinho, along with the saggy midfield. Let's face it, I was proud of our midfield up till the 2007 season, being on record saying that it was the best in Europe, and now I am practically willing to give a two-finger salute to the old guard (Ambro, Gattuo, Seedorf and I hate saying this, Pirlo). It's not their fault that they are still starting, and that their performance has been going downhill after every match, but at any other big club they'd make the second string backups. The way other 3rd class teams counter us and carve our midfield like unsalted butter makes my heart cringe. Sure it's got to do with both the formation, but the players aren't helping are they?

Getting back to Leo, would I have taken him for another season with these signings? Yes, probably, but only if he made certain changes to his tactics, learned from his experience, and was willing to be a bit more accommodating when it came to formations. If not, then there always are, and will be better coaches available. For all intent and purposes Allegri isn't one of them. Twice coach of the year means nothing, seeing as Leo was one for the previous season. It's what you do with it. And so far Allegri has just been taking Leo's style and has already looked lost. Early times I know, and I am more than willing to cut him a lot of slack and truth be told, my slate for Allegri is clean and will be till the end of the season. That's the time to judge, not now.

Leo with a team like this could have accomplished much more (or could not, there is no way to know). I'd be willing to be the farmhouse that if our new coach had the same old team (as in no singing this summer), then we'd have to be the luckiest club in the world to finish 4th. All our players would have been a year older, while teams like Palermo and Samp have grown stronger, they'd be a shoe in for the CL spots along with Roma and inter. If anything I am happy that Allegri got all these new toys to play with, but in reality it could make things 10x more difficult for him if things don't work out. The pressure is immense, though I have been impressed with how he is coping with it for the time being.

I never was a fan of Leo either as a player, or even a coach (didn't quite get to see his play very often). But at least he secured us 3rd place, and did the minimum, which is more than what could be said of our former friend and ally that goes by the name of Carlo. I mean 5th place for Pete's sake with a two years younger team with Kaka in it. A terribly weakened Juventus finished third with 72 points while we could muster just 64. A team that won the CL a year back fails to qualify next season, and that too in a weakened Serie A. LOL, that's rich! Remember how he lost two consecutive with Juventus, one to Lazio and other Roma? I do not take back what Carlo accomplished with us (seeing as how things were when he first signed), he did good. Two points was the difference, many of the two points Carlo gave away on the road playing either too defensively or with joke of players such as Emerson (who he himself wanted, albeit a few years earlier). Rookie coach you say? Well that rookie just saved us from another humiliation of missing the CL twice in three years. And besides, how many rookies get a chance to manage a Top 5 club in world football and live to tell the tale (this side of Pep, of course). He won a bronze, and maybe with better luck and or tactical knowledge could have made a case for silver or gold. Not saying we deserved gold, or even silver, the squad and team had their faults.

Anyway, in my opinion coaches are terribly overrated anyways, the real coaches are one the ones that people ride on when they travel. There have been some pretty good ones in world football over the history, but for me the best coach is that accomplishes two things - iron out and work around the weak areas of a team, and motivate the players to go beyond what they are capable of. A bit of man management always helps. For club football, the two primary things that matter are the management and the players themselves who fight it out on the pitch. Any half decent coach could and should be able to carve out a strategy for the opposing team and hold training exercises with a whistle in his mouth. A guy like Louie Van Gaal is a pretty good example. So is Guus Hiddink. Most others either get very lucky or terribly unlucky.

Han, in many ways is the best of us, when it comes to judging things. And if he says Leo was treated unfairly, I'm with him. He had his flaws, yes, and yes, I would have a very hard time rating him higher than "B", but at least the guy tried and gave his all. If the ideas was to sign Allegri and shower him with gifts (and don't tell me otherwise, remember how at the start of the transfer season Mr. B said that if a champion was there for signing, he would), then we could have kept Leo. Because on the last day of the match I saw another side of him, the hidden one. His rapport with the players. His team was ready to die with him literally. And this is something that has to be earned, not bought as Berlusconi likes to believe. That for me is a sign of good coach. Lookie, lookie:







Terribly long post, I know, but my $0.02 cents are that if the management wanted to win something, and signed a bucket load of players, spilling all amounts of cash, then as Porty said in the match thread, they should have made the effort of pulling in a weathered, wily, and experienced coach with white hair. Somebody who had at least won a major trophy before. Not another amateur in Masimiliano Allegri. If they did though, then man up and let him do his work, give him a few years (unlike Leo) to make his mark. And learn to keep their beak shut (I am looking at your, Mr. Berlusconi) instead of opening their mouth twice a month to the media. As for Leonardo, I am glad that chapter is over, the last few rounds very pretty ugly and unbearable. Thanks for everything, and best of luck to you wherever you go next. Regrets I have a few, but there were more than one good moments last season!

Great post, one thing I disagree with though.


Great coaches don't just appear from nowhere with a great history. Liverpool got Shankly from Huddersfield Town, United took SAF from Aberdeen/Scotland and Arsenal hired Wenger from Grampus Eight. The Worlds best coaches aren't always available, that's when you have to take a chance of people like these. (Obviously it doesn't work out all the time).

+1 acid brilliant. I still <3 him. Wish he was here

Thanks, guys! And Kurt, I totally agree with what you said, I was merely speaking from the point of view of the stakeholders (us fans, media and the management). The statement should not be taken in isolation, but instead as a big picture. I am all for giving charge to talented unknowns, provided the keep giving the positive results. No coach is born great, after all.

But the important factor is to stick with your choice and give the new coach enough room to not only maneuver through the tough times, but also implement his ideas and stamp on the team. Already some fickle fans are cursing Allegri 10% into the season, wonder what will happen for the remaining 90%, plus the CL and the Coppa. Then again, there are understanding fans, those that have seen the seasons, or think with their brains instead of eyes. But this is always the case isn't it? Fans are volatile, media is temperamental, but the club management should not be like this.

And that in essence was my point. The main man of the management, Berlusconi (and to an extent Galliani) should understand this, if heaven forbid, we run into a bad path until our injury crisis is over. We may get disastrous results for another few weeks, or even a month. This is the time to stand up together and work things out. Think of club football as a three-ringed chain: the management > coach > players. The management and players being the most important, as the former holds things together, and the later fights it out. The coach is a vital cog in between and he has to tackle both the management and the players. Tough job, I tell ya!

Another thing is that a big fish like Mourinho can bench Seedorf, Pirlo or Nesta for say lack of discipline, or if he feels that they are out of form, but a newbie has to think twice, particularly if that new coach is still establishing himself. All that is required is a show of faith from all parties involved, otherwise it will turn into another mess like that in the late 90s/early 2000s before Carlo took over. The first thing I thought when we signed Ibra was "Gee, if only Leo had a player like him in his squad". Maybe Berlusconi opened his wallet this season to piss off Leonardo, maybe its election year, maybe it was the need to show off and be flashy, or maybe he genuinely felt Milan needed new blood.

But let's admit it, the we needed this injection last season, and the one before that as well, in small doses maybe. A champion a season, coupled with another two quality players. Ibra and Robin sounds great (and they still may work out great), but if I had the choice between them and say Dzeko, Krasić, Lloris, Hernanes, Snijder or Robben keeping Gourcuff, not renewing contracts of players over 30, selling Boriello when we had a chance for 19 million, etc. you know where my preference would have been. And no it does not include the Swede. True story!

Ibra and Robin are great players to have in the team, but this is just a big flash plaster. The core of the team is rotting from the inside. I have not seen our midfield dominate the other team's since 2007 (and a few matches after that, notably the 1-0 win against inter when Ronaldinho scored off of Kaka's magic lob). That is the reason every Dickie Bird has been able to counter us at will, score against us as surely as it rains in Hawaii (360/365.25 days on average), and the only big teams we played against carved us up like Thanksgiving turkey (Arsenal 2-0, United 4-0, inter 4-0 which could have been much worse, etc).

Having a dominating midfield means less pressure on both the attack and defense, and it also means control of the match. Since we don't, we need consistent magic from R80 + Ibra, the moment they lose it, we lose. But whatever happens, Allegri needs support from the fans, media and particularly the management. As far as I am concerned, he has it from me: I will be pro-Allegri, as I was pro-Leonardo and pro-Carlo (up until that fateful night in Istanbul, after which he became a timid little rabbit). The only difference is that Leo barely had a team, while our new coach has twice as much on his plate. The expectations are (deservedly) high. How he lives up to them, remains to be seen. I'm out, before this turns into another thesis (boy, do I have time on my hand tonight, I'm suffering from cold and slight fever, LOL, so no work today). That's all folks!

I agree acid and this is a project that will take some time.


We have done a great deal to help solve the backroom staff of our youth department. We've appointed Galli to take role of director. We've brought in Pederzoli, one of the best youth scouts in Italy. We've also brought Stroppa whose done a fantastic job with the primavera.



We've spent probably 30 M in the last 2 summers on purchasing youth, maybe more.


We have some huge prospects and these guys will come to replace our dying midfield and defence.

Novinic= Seedorf replacement
Merkel=Seedorf replacement
Fossatti=Pirlo replacement. (you guys will love this guy when he debuts )
Beretta= Similar player to pato (less fancy more clincal)
Palsochi= Inzaghi replacement
Hottor= Ambrosini Replacement
Strasser= Gattuso replacement
Darmian= Nesta Replacement
Albertazzi= Nesta replacement
Odu= you've all seen what he can do
Zigoni= Inzaghi replacement
Sontonocito= zambrotta replacement
desole= jankulovski replacement
carmona= jankulovski replacement



Now not all these will make the first team. Many will proably be sold or used in deals. But this right here is our future. This is what we have to build our team on.

Beretta? I thought he was a target man forward.

I thought we already sold Paloschi off to Parma??

Good on you, Blue! And yeah, I had been following these youth signings much more than the first team ones. Out of the ones you listed Fossatti, Paloschi, Strasser, Darmian, and Albertazzi have been on radar for quite some time, and of course we now have a very solid base to build upon for the next 5 years.

And after that, one of Paolo's son will return as the king, wear the number 3 shirt! All will be fine, then!

Great posts acid!