Conte vs. Inzaghi: How Lazio-Milan will show Allegri’s motivations for the year

AC Milan have not publicly outlined their goals, at least not past their Champions League return ambitions. However, it seems the Coppa Italia may be one of the targets.

It is far too early in the season to really be getting stuck into goals. After all, there are several more games to play in the Coppa Italia, the Supercoppa Italiana could change ambitions, and then Serie A is something else in itself.

Nevertheless, when Allegri arrived at Milanello, he likely established a few targets, or vice versa, that the club did. Imaginably, within that, finishing in a respectable position in the cup would have been mentioned.

However, the talks probably did not include a Scudetto run, and this is where this week’s game is really important.

As the biggest game in the cup so far, Allegri has a choice to make. Does he want to rotate the squad, or is it worth keeping the faith in his players’ ability to play multiple games per week?

To decide, it may be better to look at history and the two coaches that, alongside Allegri, have seen so much success in recent years.

Inzaghi’s Inter or Conte’s Napoli

Last season, perhaps, showed it best. Antonio Conte returned to management, taking the Napoli job, whilst Simone Inzaghi’s squad continued to be seen as one of the best in Italy. Both approached things differently, and in a way, they were forced to.

For Inzaghi, his squad were – and the Nerazzurri still are – so good, due to the depth available. To play 50-60 games a season, you need to have a lot of strong backups that allow you to play closer towards 60 games than 45.

Of course, the main difference between the two teams here is that the Rossoneri do not have the luxury of depth. However, this was a decision made by Allegri himself. Yes, there will have been financial restraints, and without them, he probably would have asked for more.

Nevertheless, without the Champions League, there was no real need – at least in his eyes – for a massively deep squad. Unfortunately, that does not really help here.

The opposition to this, then, is the league’s reigning champions, Napoli. Conte’s side have been compared to this Diavolo team heavily. Bounce around managers, finish outside of Europe, go back to a respected and experienced Italian winner, and the rest is to be seen.

Molly Darlington + Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Of course, in the Partenopei’s storyline, it led to the Scudetto. However, the Italian took the story a step further by removing a chapter.

Whilst Conte did not send out a team to lose in the Coppa Italia, he rotated heavily when his side faced Lazio at the same stage last season. So, players like Romelu Lukaku, Scott McTominay and Giovanni Di Lorenzo had to come on from the bench to try to salvage a result.

They could not, and with that loss, the Laziali only had to contend with one game a week, with the occasional midweek fixture. Many deem that to be the reason why his side won the league last season. Not to take away from their brilliance, but it probably did help massively.

Which approach is better?

Picking which then is not exactly an easy choice, and there is little evidence to suggest which way the Italian will go with it.

Allegri ultimately picked the size of his squad, but he has players to call upon should he wish to. This suggests that he believes (or maybe expects) that his team can afford the occasional two games per week, which this week is an example of.

Perhaps, this can also be seen as a test. If they fail, it points in the direction of him being more pressing for reinforcements in the January mercato, and/or the summer. Either way, it is difficult to call which way he’ll look right now, especially now that his team is in the midst of an unexpected Scudetto battle.

If he is to rotate, it points strongly towards the choice of fighting for the Scudetto. If he sticks, it is a sign of faith in his squad. Either way, it will be Allegri’s choice, and his players will be expected to get a result regardless.

There is not one ‘set’ way to play it, and it’ll depend on the faith in the squad and the expectations and levels he demands. No one will truly know until the team is revealed, and even then, it probably won’t be as straightforward as that.

As a final sidenote, if the Rossoneri are to bow out of the Coppa Italia on Thursday, it would be 364 days since Lazio beat Conte’s side – in a week where the two sides would also face each other twice – the parallels between the seasons would only be harder to deny.