Gerry Cardinale has chosen AC Milan’s path forwards, and he is taking inspiration from the structure used by Liverpool.
According to Calciomercato.com, it will be a management team that will report directly to Cardinale directly, an internal solution that will allow Milan to have a leaner structure and be more functional to the objectives set by the American owner.
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This strategy will also have greater influence on the transfer market, depending on the decisions made by coach Ruben Amorim, who will play a key role in building the future at Milan.
It is a corporate, managerial, and technical structure that takes inspiration from the model implemented in England by Liverpool, but how exactly does this Liverpool model work?
Inspiration from Anfield
The new model aims to emulate what was done at Liverpool, a club that the founder of RedBird himself has come to know over the years as a shareholder (RedBird own a stake) of the Fenway Sports Group, the holding company that controls and has owned the Reds since 2010.
It is a vision that Cardinale has always wanted to bring to Milan, as he revealed at the 19th annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (an event presented by ESPN and 42 Analytics): “There is a great example of how there has been an evolution in this sense too, and that is Liverpool.
“The reason I invested in Fenway Sports Group, and it is the only time I am not a majority shareholder but a minority shareholder in a sports-related investment, is because I have so much respect for this ownership and management and what they have done with Liverpool.
“People should take note of the transition they have undergone, so as not to miss a single step, making things work the way they have. They have managed to find a compromise between the sporting side, the business side, and the ownership side. And that is precisely what we should look at and try to replicate elsewhere as well.”
Liverpool’s owners have always aimed to generate revenue year after year to enable ever greater and more consistent success, while never losing sight of the club’s sustainability and the flow of player trading.
How does it work
The Reds have adopted a management and sports philosophy under the guidance of FSG that aims to combine data analysis, financial sustainability and a functional, pyramid-shaped corporate organisation with ownership at its core.
One step at a time, here is how things work:
➤ Management is data-driven: player search through scouting and transfer market decisions are combined with advanced algorithms and statistics that can help define and identify all the talents that are functional to the playing system adopted by the club and the manager.
➤ Self-financing: how can the club acquire these talents? Through a precise strategy that allows the club to reinvest in the market the proceeds generated by transfers, qualification for European competitions (primarily the Champions League, for budgetary reasons), and increased commercial revenues from the entire sporting structure.
➤ The management structure is being streamlined: and what does this structure look like? The project envisions an integrated and strategic team that works harmoniously and synergistically to achieve the set objectives and shape the chosen system.
➤ The tactical identity is well-defined: this entire system leads to an offensive, dynamic, and lively playing philosophy. All elements that dovetail with the decisions of the coaches (Amorim in the case of Milan) and the players.
The complete picture leads us to this precise pattern: winning and remaining competitive by focusing on economic sustainability and the buying and selling of players (maximising the monetisation of outgoings and reinvesting in more profiles with growth margins)
At the management level, the financial and purely sporting aspects of the club’s hierarchy are entrusted to a team of directors and analysts with diverse skills, suited to the context in which they have been placed.
The Reds’ structure (which answers to FSG carries out business through Managing Director Professional Football Michael Edwards, who also oversees financial strategies.
Below him are Technical Director Julian Ward and Director of Development Pedro Marques who plan the growth of the talent acquired by Sporting Director Richard Hughes, thanks also to data analysed with algorithms by Sports Scientist William Spearman.
This precise process is then demonstrated on the pitch by the decisions of Head Coach (which became Andoni Iraola a few weeks ago) who had previously expressed his tactical needs to the management team, guiding the search for specific profiles compatible with the club’s philosophy.
This structure, from the perspective of FSG and now Cardinale, will allow for a certain business continuity based on specific selection criteria, objectivity in market decisions aimed at sustainability and the optimisation of resources present in all areas of the club.
Through algorithms, data flow, scouting and long-term vision, Liverpool has managed to return to prominence at home (three Carabao Cups, one FA Cup, one Community Shield and two Premier League titles) and in Europe (Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup in 2020).
This is all while simultaneously increasing revenues and turnover, recording net profits and a stable return to profitability, always making targeted investments. It is from these premises that Cardinale wants to build and lead the new Milan into the future.