In the 2 previous editions we looked at various factors such as Milan’s financials, UEFA FFP and Rangnick’s credentials. Continuing the series we look at a very important factor along with the changes Rangnick (if appointed) can bring.
THE YOUTH SECTOR
A very important part in the modern game today as a football club is the nurturing of young talents. They provide a cost effective method of raising world champions with values of the club embedded in the player from his early playing days. Top clubs have made the academy their priority and have invested millions into the academy. As recently Bayern invested €70 Million into re-structuring their academy and state of the art facilities.
The Milan primavera is one of the most famous academies in Europe if not Italy. Tasked with producing some of the greatest players of all time, Milan academy has carved it’s niche in the youth area of football as well. Some of the famous Milan academy graduates are: Maldini, Baresi, Albertini, Costacurta, Filippo Galli, G. Donnarumma.
But since the turn of the 21st century, the production line has thinned and the current situation is described bleak at best. Quality of the players produced have not scaled up (it is difficult to find a player like Maldini and Baresi, I agree !!!) to the previous generations. The few notable graduates are Donnarumma, Cutrone, Locatelli, De Sciglio, Abate, Astori, Calabria and Antonelli. While Donnarumma has been Milan primavera’s flag high, the other few players albeit a bright start haven’t showed enough consistency.
Milan under previous ownerships never emphasized on youth or invested enough. Youth sector has always been overlooked and a revolving door for managers has led to different philosophies and different managers. Finally it led to relegation of the club from the primavera in 2018-19 which was the nadir of a pretty poor run of games and not replacing the performers after being called upto the main squad. Here are the possible reasons:
– Until recently Milan never laid emphasis on the youth academy, it was completely overlooked and therefore all the promising talents made their way to other academies.
– UEFA, in 2013, introduced the UEFA youth league. It is a youth level champions league for the primavera members. Playing in these competition helps the younger players to gain experience and settle nerves of playing on the big stage.
-There is no Common philosophy for the main team and the primavera. In short the playing style employed in the main team is different from the primavera. This leads to a discord when an academy graduate comes from primavera to the main team
Ralf Rangnick when interviewed by the Bundesliga website spoke this about the youth “Nowadays at the age of 15 or 16 the young players are trained at a high level of performance, both physically and mentally. As a result they have three advantages over older players. Firstly they recover a lot faster from their exertions between games. Secondly their capacity to learn is higher, one of the privileges of youth. Several of today’s on-the-pitch styles of play are learned through mental exercises. Older players can also take steps forward in their development as part of a youthful side, the progress is simply more extreme in the case of younger talents. The third point is an unwavering team ethic. The ability to counterattack, the aggression in trying to win the ball and moving as a unit only works when done collectively. The performance both with and against the ball effects the entire team and requires an absolute altruism. Younger players often have a greater predisposition to invest in the team spirit because they’re aware that they need it for their personal style of play. Those are the three main advantages of utilising young players, always under the assumption that alongside their talent and education, they are surrounded by a healthy environment”.
Salzburg sends all their new recruits to their sister club FC Liefering which plays in 2.Bundesliga in Austria to get familiar with the the high intensity of European football. Liefering also play with the same style that is used by Leipizg and Salzburg which helps the players to settle into the club quickly.
HOW RANGNICK CAN HELP MILAN
Financials and FFP
Althrough Rangnick is not involved in the financials of the club directly, he and his team can use their scouting prowess to get in top-class players at low costs and wages which will ease the burden of the wage bill of the club and does not affect the style or quality of play.
While the club buys these players for a low cost, profit can be easily gained when these players move on to bigger clubs for tidy sums of money. RB Salzbug has reportedly made a profit of over €200M from player sales.
With capital gains from player sales and less wages of exsisting players Milan it will mean that less expenses and more income which will lead to a healthy finances for Milan. This in turn will automatically ease the shackles that UEFA has imposed on Milan via Financial Fair Play as the club is able to show it is in the green for finances.
Sporting Side
Ever since Allegri left Milan in 2013, Milan have tried out a total of 8 coaches until today with Stefano Pioli being the 8th one. None of these coaches have been able to impose a tactical identity or a clear style of play on the team due to poor recruitment and insufficient versatility in the team.
With Rangnick acting in the dual role of Director and Coach he is able to direct his scouts to get players that suit his high intensity Gegenpress. Rangnick known as the “father of Gegenpress” has no lack of tactical identity and will be eager to transcend his style to the players.
And as we saw in the earlier edition, Rangnick is famous for identifying players early and integrating them into his team. His scouting team is one of the best in the world and it would be a major upturn if they will join Milan.
Rangnick also carries a message of a youth project. Often players always consider the project a team pursues and whether it matches with their goals. Leipizg has been an attractive site for young talents around the world with Leipizg providing a majoor career boost to players. Milan too could be a centre of attraction if the club presents a working plan of its rise to the top to the players.
Youth Academy
With Rangnick bringing an unified philosophy to the whole club it would apply to every sporting side of the club including youth academy. A manager who uses the same tactics as Rangnick would be identified and the primavera would be drilled and conditioned with the same playing style the senior team plays. This would help players to easily make the jump from primavera to the senior side.
With scout Geoofrey moncada already working in the club along with Rangnick and his scouting team they will work towards bringing major talents in and around Europe to the Primavera and play for Milan Primavera. Not only does this save Milan from spending money on finding replacmeents, it also gives major competition to exsisting players.
Players bought for the primavera and money spent on the Primavera is exempt from UEFA Financial Fair Play laws. This helps inorder for clubs to invest in the youth.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
While there are always risks that come along with a long term project and with Rangnick’s view of Football, the Good seems to outweigh the bad unless a catastrophe takes place. Unlike the previous few managers, if appointed, Rangnick will be given complete control of the club and this would help him to make decision easier with bottlenecks faced by earlier managers where a difference of opinion always occured between the directors and the coach. With Rangnick seemingly Elliot’s choice it seems they are planning to stick with him in the long run and bring much needed stabily
With the kind of peril Milan seems to be in and with its past glories seemingly too long ago, Milan needs a “factory resets” of sorts and start making changes to the modern vision of football that has ceased to exsist only on the field with different factors now pulled into the equation. Only time will tell what happens and whether it was a successful one.
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