Monthly Archive: October 2016

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Week 10’s 3-0 loss to Genoa was a disappointment, coming only three days after an impressive and important win against Juventus it was inevitable to wonder if the young team will be able to cope with the sudden increased hype.

As it happened a mixture of poor play and poor judgement, Paletta’s use of both feet to earn himself a red for example, contributed to a set back. All Milan fans now hold their breath and hope that it was only that, a set back, as the coach was keen to emphasis too.

Pescara visit the San Siro for week 11 and the newly promoted team of course feature Massimo Oddo as an up and coming coach. After tweaking the line up and starting Honda and Poli against Genoa it is thought that Montella would revert to the same line up that started vs Juventus, except for the suspended Paletta. However word is that Niang has a fever and may miss the game. Therefore the likeliest scenario has Bonaventura moving up to Niang’s spot and Sosa coming in either to the middle of midfield or the left side of it. This will mean Suso and Abate reclaiming their spot and Gomez starting in Paletta’s spot.

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The 1-0 win vs Juventus is only 3 days old when this young team of average age around 25 has to play another important game. The wonder goal and and the three points tightened the race and the standings and has Milan only two points behind Juventus and first place. Locatelli, Donnarumma and others need to control their emotions and hype and remain disciplined. The veterans have to do the same, for example Poli who came on as a sub in the Juve game, seemed close to getting himself sent off in the short minutes he played.

Being a midweek game squad rotation is also important. Montella needs to balance the winning momentum with player management and decide who plays. Indications are that changes will be minimal and Honda may get a chance in Suso’s spot, as might Poli at fullback in Abate’s place. Calabria and Antonelli are still not available and of course Poli has played at right back before. In Suso’s case, he has played almost all minutes so far this season and is a good candidate for rotation. Zapata is back in the squad but will of course remain on the bench. Romagnoli and Paletta have done well and will keep their place.

Genoa are 12th and are coming off a derby loss to Sampdoria.

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With the good result away to Chievo Milan now sit third in Serie A, level on points for second place, behind Roma. To be in third place is a good achievement and of course it is hoped the progress continues and is bolstered with new owners. Montella must take a good deal of the credit for these signs of hope and what looks to be greater metal strength. As Milan continue to be one of the younger teams, and now even younger with Locatelli a starter things are looking up.

Niang is one of those who has shown those signs of progress and his value to the team is being recognized. He will start alongside Bacca and Suso. Lapadula worked hard but missed chances in his start vs Chievo and will return to the bench. Montella will keep the same midfield trio and hope for continued improvement from Bonaventura in particular. In defence Antonelli and now Calabria will be absent so Abate and De Sciglio will continue to start. Paletta and Romagnoli have their places secured but Zapata has returned to training after a long absence.

In goal this is another chapter in the battle of veteran vs future in Gianluigi Buffon vs Donnarumma.

Juventus’ Medhi Benatia will continue to deputize for the absent Giorgio Chiellini. First placed Juventus are coming off a 1-0 away win at Lyon in the champions league and will have some other notable absentees in Mario Mandzukic and Marko Pjaca.

In the larger context a good result in this game will strengthen team morale and will mean more than any number of points in the table.

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The eventful and come back win vs Sassuolo may be a turning point of the season, however the number of goals allowed have to improve for the rise in the standings to remain sustainable. The week 7 4-3 win which featured Luiz Adriano starting in place of the expected Niang changed when the latter reclaimed his spot. Bonaventura’s low long distance shot had given a good start but almost immediately after the goal an atrocious Abate mistake derailed the game and eventually Milan fell behind 1-3, to later see Abate get the captain’s arm band after Montolivo was substituted made it look even worse. Eventually a Locatelli screamer and an excellent Paletta header were highlights and produced a much desired win.

Now that Montolivo is ruled out long term after damaging knee ligaments on international duty the central midfield role falls to either Locatelli or Sosa. The former seems to be preferred at least for now. There is also late word that Lapadula will start in Bacca’s place to give the Colombian time to recuperate after a tough South American journey with his national team. The rest of the starters are likely to remain predictable with Romagnoli returning after missing out vs Sassuolo.

Chievo featuring Valter Birsa in a playmaking role have started the season well and sit above Milan on goal difference.

As the sale moves or crawls forward towards a possible closing in mid November a lot is of course happening behind the scenes.

Every few days there is a whisper that the ownership group is unknown or that no one knows who is putting the money forward. It might be easy to distrust Berlusconi but this is a man who months ago declared he is entrusting the team in good hands, it seems almost outlandish that he or at least the top brass at Fininvest have no idea who is bringing the cash. As it is equally unlikely Fininvest were tricked or cheated with fake bank papers, another summer rumour.

More recently and after the Chinese, officially the Sino-Europe Sports Investment Management Changxing Co Ltd, appointed ex Juventus and Inter director Marco Fassone as CEO a few Milan legends began to question the new set up. The other appointee, Massimo Mirabelli, the now officially sporting director and formerly a chief scout at Inter raised additional concerns. Then began talk that the new ownership want to entice at least one Milan legend with an ‘important’ role in the new era. Demetrio Albertini was one obvious choice. The former player who left Milan to Atletico Madrid in less than best terms back in 2002 has had some experience at the Italian Football Federation and ran unsuccessfully for its leadership in 2014. Fassone was said to be talking to Alessandro Costacurta and Massimo Ambrosini too. Albertini seemed to be tapping into fan and former players concerns when he used his twitter account to take a shot at Inter, almost simultaneously talks with those former legends seemed to be going nowhere with more whispers that Paolo Maldini, too, will refuse offers unless he sees clear plans.

Albertini And Others React To New Management?

As time moved forward rumours of former player discontent seemed to rule them out one by one and this culminated on the 11th of October when Maldini released a statement via facebook and officially refused to join the new management team. He cited a lack of certainty, ambiguous ownership structure and unclear hierarchy between himself, Fassone and Mirabelli as reasons.

It is disappointing to see public noise by former players and legends, one can’t help wonder why they have been so public about the process. It is conceivable that all the talk could be more private and only the final decision made public. It may also be prudent to not publicly undermine this new era this early in its evolution. Of course this is coming out of deep affection for the team but that love needs to give the new management time too. Some players keep insisting that they “can’t imagine a Milan with Berlusconi”, this list most recently includes Gianluca Zambrotta, Serginho and Rui Costa, but they must imagine it, it is that same man that has insisted on leaving the team in more capable hands. It may also be better if players like Maldini do join the new set up and help influence it and make it succeed even if there isn’t the clearest of plans at the very beginning, now.

In the meanwhile the closing is at the very least one month away and before then the ownership group needs to travel to Milan to meet and formalize remaining issues and show themselves too. But before long focus must shift to the pitch and squad enforcements, those include finding a Montolivo replacement. The midfielder damaged his knee ligaments playing for the Azzurri and will not be available until very late in the season. Montella will look internally and Sosa or Locatelli will remain in the running for the central midfield role deep into the January transfer window.

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The week six tie away at Fiorentina featured Calabria and De Sciglio as full backs, the majority consensus was that both struggled to some degree and Fiorentina were able to exploit width to their advantage. The end result however was a 0-0 tie and the game showed signs of promise as well. In another sign of progress the tie was the third clean sheet in a row.

Despite coming on as a substitute Antonelli is back on the injury list but Abate is likelier to reclaim his lost spot from Calabria with De Sciglio starting on the left again.

Sassuolo’s injury problems are bigger with Domenico Berardi and Stefano Sensi among those set to miss out, Alessandro Matri might not be able to start as well.

The forward line is likely to remain  unchanged with Niang, Bacca and Suso playing in front of Boneaventura, Montolivo and Kucka.

Another solid outing would go a long way towards what is hoped to be the closing of the sale next month. Galliani has once again implied as much, speaking late in the week he has said that everything ends.