It wasn’t that much of a surprise to see AC Milan win with Clarence Seedorf taking the helm. A new manager usually starts out well, but when trying to see how this thing works in the long term, it has a lot more to do with the ownership and the money they spend than the presence of a certain manager.
Milan won 1-0 without playing well. It’s been quite some time since anyone remembers Milan playing well; maybe when Seedorf was still wearing the Red & Black stripes, before the mass exodus of 2012, when almost every meaningful piece was released or sold to save on money and to completely overhaul the team.
It worked, in a way, last season. Milan got enough of a boost through the arrival of Mario Balotelli and finished third, making it into the Champions League, thanks to some refereeing help. Somehow, despite their awful football this season (it was awful during the first half of last season as well), they are in the round of 16.
Seedorf isn’t getting new players, or at least not big names. He needs to do what Allegri couldn’t with this group. Motivation and simply his presence of being one of the greatest footballers in the world over the last 18 years might help, but it’s going to take a bit more tactical know-how if Milan are to find themselves out of the 11th place they’re stuck in, almost unthinkable.
So do Milan have the tools to finish higher? Certainly, although when looking at Napoli, Roma, Juventus, Fiorentina and even Inter, the Rossoneri are probably the inferior side when it comes to the quality of their players. Maybe when El Shaarawy returns, but we’re still more than a month away from that moment.
Is Seedorf a savior, as Milan fans are treating him, encouraged by the press? Just like Kaka wasn’t the man to get them out of a tough spot, Seedorf isn’t as well, regardless of how many Champions League titles he has under his belt. Seedorf might be a great manager (although someone stepping away from the game and immediately taking the manager role is always suspect), but he’ll need a much better team, which can only happen with more funding coming his way to spend on new players.