How Ruben Amorim could set up at Milan | OneFootball

After weeks of speculation, Milan finally seem to be moving forward with their massive summer rebuild.

Ralf Rangnick, as it turns out, will not be taking over the sporting structure at San Siro and will continue with the Austria men’s national team. Instead, RedBird have turned to Markus Krösche for the club’s sporting directorship, and he could arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt.

In the meantime, Ruben Amorim has arrived as manager and he, following roughly half a year after getting the sack from Manchester United is about to be given another chance at reviving another floundering footballing giant.

What’s in a shape?

At United, a lot was made of Amorim’s insistence at playing with one specific shape, which was often touted to be the chief reason for his downfall.

While there is some truth to that, this was far from the sole reason. Personnel issues and interference from upstairs were also in the mix.

And to say that every 3-4-2-1 Amorim fielded was identical to the previous one and had zero adaptability would be oversimplification at best and plainly wrong at worst, nor were the players in each position performing the same role regardless of who occupied said position.

To put it bluntly, a Manuel Ugarte–Casemiro pivot could never yield the same output as a Bruno Fernandes–Casemiro one. Nevertheless, the results weren’t there, and that was that.

Amorim’s three-at-the-back setup did bring immense success to Sporting, where again he was tasked with reviving a team who hadn’t won the league in nearly two decades. There are enough variations at his disposal — which we also saw towards the end of his United tenure — that, if he gets the time, the players buy in, and of course with a bit of luck, he could turn things around at Milan.

But we know there will most certainly be a back three, and we can already put some players into the starting XI. Strahinja Pavlović emerged as a reliable defensive operator under Max Allegri, which is saying something, and could take one of the spots at centre-back. Matteo Gabbia would be another option at the back, while for the midfield pivot the likes of Ardon Jashari, Youssouf Fofana, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are as ready-made as Amorim can expect his options to be.

Loftus-Cheek’s versatility could be of particular interest to Amorim, given he can also occupy spots out wide. Alexis Saelemaekers, in that regard, would also be an interesting prospect could play as one of the wide forwards or an attacking wingback.

If Amorim wants to stick with forwards who almost play as 8/10 hybrids and can hold width or occupy central areas at will, Christian Pulisic and Christopher Nkunku are promising options to have, though the biggest issue up front for Amorim is one he is inheriting from Allegri.

The Rossoneri were nearly in the title race in the first half of the season. Champions League qualification was considered a foregone conclusion, and yet their attack came apart so spectacularly towards the end of the season that Milan could only manage a tumble down to the Europa League spots.

Rafa Leão wants out, and Milan no longer consider him indispensable. He will lead the line of many Milan forwards who will on the market, and moving him on might actually open up the funds for Krösche and Amorim.

Amorim’s United struggled to create chances. He’ll need to make sure he uses the off-season to sort out those issues in the front two-thirds of the pitch. If he manages that, the defence will return to looking after itself.

What can we expect?

Milan’s late implosion leaves some breathing room for Amorim, at least at the start of the season. The Premier League is notoriously devoid of that, and while the Milan seat is also a hot one, he can start the season pointing to the magnitude of the job at his hands if results don’t immediately flow.

We saw even at Sporting that his methods take time. But before he gets the buy-in from his players, he’ll need the unconditional backing of those above him in Milan’s sporting hierarchy. If he experiences even a fraction of interference he did at Carrington, things may go the same way.

From the outside, an immediate disaster looks unlikely, and things may at least remain more of the same as the next season starts. But as long as Milan have doubts and issues in their sporting directorship, there’s only so much a coach will be able to do.

Anshuman Joshi | GIFN