Milan Reflect: What Went Wrong?

Hassan Chamas

AC Milan fans must have paraded around the San Siro and the city of Milan until early morning when they defeated city rivals and reigning champions Internazionale. Certainly, it is always nice to win against your local rivals, and the joy is even bigger when you deny them the chance to clinch the title. But this was a special victory for the Milanello, one that saw them consolidate their crucial 4th position in the league standings. Supporters could clearly see the disgust and disbelieve on the face of Inter players, as they were just 3 points away from second-placed AS Roma, with only two fixtures to go.

But things on the red side of the San Siro have not been that great this season, with Milan clearly struggling to win 4th place and qualify to the Champions League, while in the past they have been one of the strongest clubs in Italy. “What happened?” is the right question.

The end of an era

As Ricardo Kaka mentioned after their embarrassing exit at the hands of Arsenal in the Champions League, Milan has come to the end of an era, and not even the most optimistic of their supporters can deny it. Compared to their high standards, the club has had a catastrophe of a season – like last year – and is working very hard to clinch a Champions League entitling-position, albeit one from which they will actually have to qualify for the group stages.

But what Kaka said was missing was that in fact, Milan’s era has ended more than a year before the Brazilian wizard had given his comments to the press, as many people started to wonder long before what has happened to this Milan side that used to terrify most Italian clubs, and ruled Europe 5 times in the last 20 years, in the process having top European players who had the honour of wearing the black and red shirt, such as Frank Rijkaard, Marco van Basten, and Andriy Shevchenko.

Well, the answer is very simple: Age just caught up with this Milan squad. Since signs of fatigue on Paolo Maldini’s face could not but appear, Milan looked to the next man who could be the face of their giant empire. They found their answer in Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko, and many experts nominated him as the future man to wear the Rossoneri arm-band after Paolo Maldini ended hanging up his boots.

However in 2006, life got “boring” at Milan for Sheva, accompanied by reports of his American wife wanting for their son to be raised in an English-speaking country. Pretty soon, he was lured to London-outfit Chelsea, where Shevchenko could not resist the millions that Russian oil tycoon Roman Abramovich had to offer, eventually leaving the San Siro for Stamford Bridge for a hefty £30 million.

Meanwhile, life at Milan continued as normal, going to the extent that the board of directors did not judge any new signings necessary in order to fill the void left by Sheva’s absence. That is, if the club admitted that he left a hole in the first place.

2006-07 was a lucky strike for il Diavolo. Having to suffer the penalty of point-deduction from the Calciopoly scandal back in the summer, Milan started the season with only the Champions League trophy in mind. They eventually succeeded in prizing it; with some amazing team work and the wonders of a certain Kaka enough to take them all the way to a rematch of 2005’s final against Liverpool.

However, Silvio Berlusconi’s head must have been elsewhere when he decided over the summer not to make any changes – that is, if you don’t count the arrival of Emerson, who has done absolutely nothing since his return to Italy – and trusted his side’s ability to stop the Inter juggernaut.

How wrong he was. Up until the Christmas break, Milan had not recorded a single home win in Serie A. Not a good omen for a team that is a title-challenger every season. Even though Milan managed to win the Club World Cup in December, this tournament further drained the tank of what was already an ageing and tired squad – with an age average of 32 or 33 – The inevitable eventually happened in the Champions League with an exit at the hands of Arsenal, and Kaka making his famous declaration. Ultimately, Rome had to announce its downfall, which came at the hands of Vice-president Adriano Galliani, who admitted that Milan has indeed reached the end of a cycle, and that major changes were badly needed in order to bring the club back to its glory days.

Renovation required

As I mentioned before, Milan’s squad is an old one, one which surely isn’t fit to play around 50 competitive matches per season. Almost all positions have to be modified, in order not to let these Italian giants sink any lower. And this time around, Berlusconi surely would have learned from his Inter counterpart Massimo Moratti that you have to pay in order to win.

Milan didn’t have a specific man between the posts this season, with Dida enduring a horrific dip in form, and Aussie goalkeeper Kalac being too gaff-prone (I don’t remember which match it was when I saw him jump to catch a ball, only for it to ironically slip under his arm to find the back of the net, yet such was his form it could indeed have been any match). With Livorno now confirmed as playing next season in Serie B, Italy’s number two Marco Amelia could be their man.

In central defence, things are looking a bit better. Nesta’s re-discovered brilliance – which was displayed in their last match against Inter – has shut-up his critics, and re-affirmed the defender as one of the best in Serie A today. However, he, along with Kaladze and Maldini, are getting old. And with noticeable names such as Gamberini and Barzagli bound to change clubs during this summer, Milan should take advantage.

On the flanks, Milan are negotiating with Barcelona to bring Gianluca Zambrotta back to Italy, as life didn’t go as planned for him in Barcelona. Off the pitch, reports soon surfaced of the Italian and his wife being homesick. A comeback could definitely be the thing he needs to fire him back to his very best.

Milan’s midfield – and the true dynamo of their team – is what really needs the most of the changes. While Clarence Seedorf has been like ageing wine this season, luck abandoned his partners in the middle of the park, with Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso, and most importantly, Kaka, all suffering a noticeable drop of in the level of their performances. Milan took the a step in the right direction by getting one of Europe’s hottest prospects at the moment, Mathieu Flamini, believed to be the person to fill the shoes of Gattuso, with the latest reports claiming that “Ringhio” has agreed terms with newly crowned German champions Bayern Munich.

But what really gets the crowd and supporters on the edge of their seat is the arrival of a new forward. A couple of weeks ago, Galliani dropped a bombshell by announcing the signing of out-of-favor Brazilian Ronaldinho and the return of Shevchenko to the San Siro, saying: “I can confirm that Ronaldinho and Shevchenko are 180% Milan players”. Sadly, these talks have vanished like smoke, with Berlusconi recently citing to the press that Ronaldinho is “no longer a priority”, after Barca supremo Juan Laporta placed a €40 million price-tag on the troubled superstar, and there were further rumours of a long-term injury problem with the Brazilian. Meanwhile, the Shevchenko story faded as well, despite reports of an emotional phone call between Shevchenko and coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Regarding their current array of strikers, only Alexander Pato looks set to stay. Ronaldo’s horrific injury and supposed nights out in Brazil during his rehab will see Milan not renew his contract, which expires at the end of this season. Filippo Inzaghi cannot play constantly at a high level, and like Maldini, must be well rested every-now-and-then. As for Alberto Gilardino, well I don’t believe Milan trusted him that much to begin with, and stories have recently been emerged of him being sold to Juventus, which would allow Milan to bid for Palermo striker Amauri.

As for the man on the bench, Ancelotti has done everything he can with this Milan side since 2001. And it is time for him to seek a new challenge. With the Mourinhos and Rijkaards (Pep Guardiola was confirmed as Barcelona’s coach for next season) all moving this summer, I guess that Ancelotti and his Christmas-tree formation will have to seek employment elsewhere.

In the end, Milan has developed a habit of sticking to their players, one that has backfired on them this season, leaving severe marks. Maybe they should learn from Real Madrid, who in 2006 rejuvenated their team. Consequence: Real has been the top Spanish team of 2007 and 2008.

However, whether Milan change their mentality and actually do make the kind of wholesale changes needed remains a totally different question.