Arrivederci Vincenzo Montella, ciao Gattuso

After 18 months in charge, Vincenzo Montella has been dismissed as Milan manager after a goalless draw against Torino at the weekend, in San Siro.

Gattuso promoted from role with Milan’s youth team

After 18 months in charge, Vincenzo Montella has been dismissed as Milan head coach.

A disappointing start to the season, which has seen Il Diavolo slip do seventh place in Serie A, has led the club to fire Vincenzo Montella as head coach, with the team 18 points behind leaders Napoli, and this decision came after they were held to a goalless draw by Torino at the weekend.

A club statement released in their official Twitter account read: “AC Milan announce to have parted ways with VMontella. Management of the first team is entrusted to Gennaro Gattuso, who leaves his position as Primavera coach and to whom we wish the best of luck.”

AC Milan have won just twice in their last nine league matches, only two victories since September 20, and Sunday’s result was their fourth successive home league game without a single goal, two of them resulted in defeats and the other two in goalless draws.

Just six wins in Serie A have cost Montella his job as his impressive start to the campaign, winning 10 of the first 12 matches in all competitions, faded quickly.

The Rossoneri have already booked their place in the knockout stages of the Europa League with a match to spare, but their disappointing domestic form has been a concern for some time.

All this factors led to Vincenzo Montella’s dismissal, and it is now up to Gennaro Gattuso, who made over 400 appearances for the club as a player and has been head coach of the club’s youth team, to finally awake the sleeping giant in San Siro.

Will the tenacity of  Milan’s former captain be capable of awake the sleeping giant in San Siro?

Former midfielder Gattuso played for Milan between 1999 and 2013, winning two Serie A titles and the Champions League twice, and has guided the club’s Primavera side to third in their table, just two behind leaders Atalanta and behind city rivals Inter on goal difference only, having won six of their last eight matches.

In his prime as a footballer, Gattuso was well known for his short temper, but also by being consistent, aggressive, and with an extremely high work rate. He was also very energetic, had a competitive spirit, determination and was an authentic leader. These are some of the qualities that are lacking in this Milan young team, and it is now up to him to imbue some of his tenacity and ferocity in his team.