Gandini: 'Who is in charge of Milan?'

By Football Italia staff

Former Milan director Umberto Gandini maintains Marco Giampaolo “put himself on the chopping block” and reveals he warned Ivan Gazidis.

The club has been struggling in recent months, as they pulled out of the Europa League to wipe the Financial Fair Play slate clean, then sacked Marco Giampaolo after seven games to bring in Stefano Pioli.

“I believe Pioli arrives at the right moment and it’s impossible not to agree with Zvonimir Boban when he says this was a carefully pondered decision,” Gandini told Radio 24.

“This squad deserves better than its current position in the table and Pioli is the right man to prove that. Of course, if you try to compare these players to the past with figures like Paolo Maldini, Serginho, Cafu or even Ignazio Abate, you’re going to struggle.

“Milan should challenge for fourth place, along with another four or five clubs who have similar level squads.”

Giampaolo started with his 4-3-1-2 formation, but abandoned it after the opening game of the season, a defeat to Udinese.

“As far as I can tell, Giampaolo put himself on the chopping block after that Udinese game. After training the team with one system throughout pre-season, he lost one awful match and said he’d been asking the players for something they were unable to give.

“That’s where the cracks started to show. He lost four of the first seven games, the club thought it had a decent squad, so naturally there had to be a divorce,” continued Gandini.

There is another problem at Milan and that is the lack of clarity on who is running the show, as former Arsenal chief Gazidis, Maldini, Boban and President Paolo Scaroni all ultimately answer to hedge fund Elliott Management, who are based in London.

“This is a very different club to all the others, because the owners aren’t involved in football. Their objective is to restructure Milan, get it close to what it ought to be worth and then monetize on their investment.

“I’ve known Gazidis for many years and I told him that being a CEO in Italy is very different to in other nations, as he’d have to answer for his decisions.

“Up until recently, I asked myself who are Milan, as they need to have a face and right now, they don’t. Is it the owner who decides, Gazidis, the President or the Coach? Before, their face was Gennaro Gattuso.”

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