Milan Column

[SANT]

Warro, that looks like "perfect italian" to me

For those who can understand italian, look at the video in gazzetta.it

That guy is awesome... if you pay attention to what he says, you will understand how he thinks, and many would stop saying things like: "We need new defenders, we need a new goalkeeper - Dida sucks... get Quaresma, get Torres, and all that crap...

[Blacktop]

Originally Posted by SANT

That guy is awesome... if you pay attention to what he says, you will understand how he thinks, and many would stop saying things like: "We need new defenders, we need a new goalkeeper - Dida sucks... get Quaresma, get Torres, and all that crap...

So true. Love your sig, by the way; it made me chuckle.

Speaking of Dida, the appeal decision is not expected until early next week. Holy Moses, could this be dragged out any longer? The CL will be over by the time this is finally put to rest.

[inter-1908]

what dida did was wrong, maybe not deserving of a suspension, maybe just a fine. You can obliviously tell he was faking it, after he was slapped in the face(very lightly) he started walking, and then out of knowhere he makes a really fake looking fall to the ground. His actions actually appaently sparked milans interest in a new keeper, but those rumours are highly unbelievable.

[Jeff]

www.uefa.com

If AC Milan could be put under the microscope one thing for certain would be discovered – European success is in the Rossoneri's DNA. Even when they struggle in Serie A, the standard they set on the European stage never seems to drop. Milan have won just one Scudetto in the past five years, but their two UEFA Champions League triumphs and three final appearances eclipses their rivals at home and abroad.

'Tradition and history'
"The tradition and history of this club always pushes you to be more determined and focused in European competitions," said Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti in one of a series of uefa.com interviews with the key figures behind Milan's success in the European Champion Clubs' Cup. Last season Milan finished fourth in Serie A, 36 points behind champions FC Internazionale Milano. In Europe the story was completely different. The Rossoneri produced some exhilarating football to defeat the likes of FC Bayern München, Manchester United FC and Liverpool FC to win the European Cup for the seventh time.

Berlusconi influence
Filippo Galli lifted the trophy three times with the Rossoneri and is now coach of Milan's Primavera youth side. He credits club president Silvio Berlusconi for instilling the winning mentality. "When he arrived [in 1986] he immediately said Milan's target was to reach the top of European and world football. It doesn't mean we take the Italian league less seriously, but there is no doubt that for reasons of prestige Milan always targets European and international trophies more than domestic ones."

'Like a family'
Loyalty and a unique management structure are further secrets behind the Rossoneri's success. Most Milan players are happy to spend their entire careers with the club – take Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta for example. Many continue to work for Milan at the end of their playing careers. "I believe the key to this club is the management system chosen by president Berlusconi," said Ancelotti, one of the five men to win the UEFA Champions League both as a player and coach during his time with the Rossoneri. "This club is like a family. Relationships grow stronger year after year like they do within a real family."

Loyalty
"The board undoubtedly pays great attention to players who represented this club," Galli adds. "The club helps former players and doesn't want to lose their technical and personal input. The club gave several of us the chance to stay within the group. I believe it's unusual but it is something which other clubs are now following. Milan have set off down an important path and it has brought great results. Let's hope it continues like this in the future."

'Connection'
Continuity is key. Under Arrigo Sacchi – Berlusconi's first coach – Fabio Capello and now Ancelotti the philosophy of the team has never changed. "There are many similarities between the Milan sides of the past 20 years," Maldini explains. "There is a connection, certain constant factors. Sacchi's Milan started everything. Both Capello and Ancelotti changed the team according to their needs and their tactical beliefs and according to the players they had. But I believe it was Sacchi who formed the blueprint."

'Taste for victory'
Through bitter losses, such as the 2005 final against Liverpool, the Rossoneri have grown stronger. "Defeats have helped us stay hungry and have given us a real taste for victory because we understand how bad it feels to lose," explained former defender Costacurta who now works as Ancelotti's assistant. "Winning five European Cups makes me feel proud. It's a great feeling, also because we reached the final on other occasions. It means we have done well over the years. I was lucky enough to be part of this great team."

Inzaghi delight
The recipe for success is clear: European DNA, family ties, continuity, and of course, goals when you need them most. Step forward Filippo Inzaghi, Milan's two-goal hero in May. "That match will always stay in my heart," Inzaghi said. "Winning the Champions League and being lucky enough to score is extraordinary." No team has won the European Cup more times than Milan, but there is one thing not even the Rossoneri have managed to achieve – a successful defence of the UEFA Champions League title. "There's always hope, we're a very competitive side but in Europe there are many other strong teams," Inzaghi says. "You have to be stronger than them and you also need a bit of luck." Fair comment, though when you look back at the history of Milan's European success, luck seems to have little to do with it.

[inter-1908]

Alot of milan fans, think its now time for a new keeper, although what dida did was not right, i do not think it was deserving that now people would like to boot him out.

[Jeff]

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=453862

Milan's Malaise Running Deep The disastrous home defeat to Empoli has merely confirmed what most observers already knew: there is a crisis at Milan.

The big question, however, is whether this the start of an even deeper decline? Gil Gillespie reflects on the rossoneri's problems...
Milan's Malaise Running Deep
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Disease

Something is rotten at the heart of Milan.

Even the ultra-positive Silvio Berlusconi has now acknowledged that things are not going well for his illustrious team this season.

"This is a black crisis," he told reporters following the Rossoneri’s 2-1 defeat to Celtic in the Champions League. "It‘s the worst period of results since I have been boss of this club."

He's not far wrong. Milan currently lie 11th in Serie A, ten points behind leaders Inter, having won only won two of their first eight league games of the season. To make matters worse, they also lost their Champions League tie against Celtic in the most disastrous of circumstances.

But it is not merely the results that are causing concern at Milanello. Carlo Ancelotti’s team have often looked lethargic, short on ideas and have been over-reliant on the always-inspirational Kaka.

The 1-0, Kaka-less loss against a highly organised Empoli team was a continuation of the somewhat passionless, lifeless displays that has already cost them points against Fiorentina, Siena, Parma and Catania.
Diagnosis

So what exactly is going on in the red-and-black corner of Italy‘s most glamorous city? The theories are many and many of them have an element of truth in them.

The first, and probably the most popular, is that Milan’s starting eleven are too old. Many feel that this is one season too many for the likes of Maldini, Favalli, Serginho, Seedorf, Emerson, Inzaghi and the rarely fit, often fat Ronaldo.

Indeed, more than half of the current starting eleven are the wrong side of 30, hardly ideal in an era when games come thick and fast and usually twice a week.

There may be a little bit of mileage in this argument but, with the super-technology at MilanLab capable of extending careers almost beyond rationality, could it be the problem is not so much one of age as one of motivation? It must be difficult, even for supremely professional athletes, to get fired up for an away game at Siena when you’ve just won the World Cup, the Champions League or both.

Have been-there-done-that superstars, like the trophy collecting Clarence Seedorf, or even Rino Gattuso, got the appetite for the long haul of a Serie A season?

"We have problems against teams who close themselves up at the back," admitted Alessandro Nesta recently. Lazio, for instance, didn’t just sit back and soak up the pressure and Milan destroyed them 5-1. Empoli were far more pragmatic and came away from the San Siro with a win.

But there is a far more glaring reason for Milan’s start-of-the-season slump in form. Inzaghi and Gilardino are not an ideal striking partnership, and neither have been in a particularly good goalscoring mood of late playing on their own, either.

And with Ronaldo still kicking his heels on the injury table, or knocking back the drinks in Brazil, Berlusconi’s last-minute veto of the purchase of the outstanding Luca Toni in the summer now looks extremely short-sighted.

At least there is a chink of light on the horizon in the form of the new Brazilian wonderkid Alexandre Pato who is eligible to play competitive football from January. A quick look at his video highlights package on YouTube explains just why the club were so delighted to get his signature. Reports from the training camp suggest his debut cannot come too soon.


Theory three in the Milan ‘07 equation concerns the presence of Carlo Ancelotti as coach. Ancelotti has made no secret of his desire to succeed his former team-mate Donadoni as boss of the national team and some are seriously questioning his position at the club.

Should he, as Lippi did with the Italian team, have quit at the top after the Champions League triumph in May? Should he have the final say on who he signs and who he plays? And what the hell is he doing bringing on a defensive midfielder like Cristian Brocchi when Milan are 1-0 down against Empoli?

A quick scan of the substitute bench gives us an answer to the last of these questions. Ancelotti simply didn’t have any other attacking options at his disposal. In the end he had to resort to taking off Inzaghi and asking Ambrosini to play as a striker. It’s a ridiculous situation for a club as big as Milan.

However it is Berlusconi, not Ancelotti, who controls the purse strings and oversees the transfer policy. But this doesn’t explain why the long-serving coach hasn’t acted to replace his disaster-prone Brazilian goalkeeper Dida.

Of all the reasons cited for Milan’s average domestic performances and occasional European slip-ups in the last few years, the constant mistakes of the giant goalkeeper are probably the biggest factor of all.

Dida has become the elephant in the room that Ancelotti refuses to acknowledge. This is, lest we forget, the keeper who's three mistakes cost Milan the Champions League final in 2005, the quarter-final of the same competition against Deportivo a year earlier and almost did the same in the European Super Cup of 2007.

And, of course, it was Dida’s two truly diabolical errors that gifted Celtic three points a week or so ago in the Champions League. He is an utter liability, a keeper who has what those in the trade call ‘hard hands’. He cannot smother shots on goal or push them around the post; instead, he just palms them back into the path of oncoming strikers.

He also has slow feet when moving across his line and doesn’t know how to command his 18-yard area. Oh ,and he is indecisive and greasy-gloved when dealing with crosses.

Add a complete loss of confidence and you have the only keeper in the world who makes David James look like Mr Consistency. The trouble is, Milan’s number two Zeljko Kalac is even worse. Ancelotti must face up to the truth about Dida and either buy Marco Amelia from Palermo or recall Christian Abbiati from his loan period at Atletico Madrid.

Failure to do so will only see the early season’s problems deepen. And although Mr Berlusconi may be partly responsible for the malaise, he is not likely to tolerate any further descent into mediocrity.

Gil Gillespie

[inter-1908]

is this a thread were we canpost articles and discuss them?

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by RECOBA

is this a thread were we canpost articles and discuss them?

More likely columns that include some sort of analysis. Use your judgment to decide whether it should belong here.

[Blacktop]

Yes, I know, this is way off topic, but this same publication really laid into Dida after Glasgow. However, after reading this, it doesn't appear they're exactly partisan to the Celts either.

Grow up Boruc!

Celtic's idiot goalkeeper Artur Boruc was up to his old tricks again today at Ibrox. Crossing himself in front of [Rangers] fans and refusing to shake Gers' players hands at the end.

The Polish International has already been in trouble for crossing himself in front of Rangers fans, and he decided he would REPEAT the trick today at Ibrox. The goalkeeper was caught red handed today by Setana Sports cameras who caught him quite clearly looking towards the Rangers fans, think about it for a second then cross himself.

Now, I have nothing against people crossing themselves, if that's what they believe in then fine, I am not going to knock your beliefs. But he quite clearly did it to get a reaction from the Rangers fans, it was premeditated and having already been in trouble over the same thing, the book should be thrown at him.

Boruc was in trouble with the police after he did the same thing in a match at Ibrox in February of 2006. He was cautioned with breach of the peace by the police but escaped getting a criminal record. Boruc was also needleesly booked today for getting involved in a flare up which was going on at the other end of the park, he also refused to shake hands with Rangers players at the end of the game.

Today's behaviour was the latest in a long line of incidents involving him. The incident in February 2006 was the start of it, he was also spotted gesturing towards Aberdeen fans AND Hibernian fans this season. The pole escaped punishment after he was caught flicking his fingers at Hibernian fans in a game a few weeks ago.

It's about time that something was done about his antics, he can't continue to get away with it. Maybe a fine or a ban would teach him a lesson and teach him to grow up and get on with playing football. Why he needs to get involved in these kind of incident is beyond me.

(Vitalfootball.co.uk)

[Jeff]

From uefa.com magazine, an interview with Capello:

uefa.com: Can you describe an exercise you did in training which helped a player improve?

'Capello: In order to improve you have to first find your player's weak points, but you can only improve a person or a player if he understands that everything you do is with the purpose of improving him and not just to expose his weaknesses. The best thing that happened to me, I think it's worth telling, is when I was coaching Clarence Seedorf at Real Madrid. After two months with him I asked him, "Do you think you can shoot?" He said: "Yes, very well." I told him he could shoot only in one way. In football you shoot in several ways, with the outside of your foot, with the inside, and I gave him a small lesson. He is a lad with great character and determination and he started to work hard and improved a lot.'

[Graeme C]

i just wrote this on a page on goal.com, when i finish the site i hope to get more columns from people on the forum.

I really believe that the Milan management is super naive. They are the main cause to Milan's current problems, main cause but Ancelotti's tactics from the last two Seria A games have to be questioned. The last few seasons Milan has failed to add depth to the squad or lower the squad age. They have perfered to sign bargain bin or cheap players like Emerson and Favalli than pay for a player that would actually add something. They rely on old players like maldini, inzaghi, favalli, cafu, and Serginho to make the difference but dont give a young talented player like Gourcuff enough chances. It was pretty idiotic of them not to think Ronaldo wouldnt be injured at all, and only to secure Pato for January. The management had a crazy sense of loyalty towards the players and a sense of being on cloud 9 after the champ league win, when really they were very lucky to get as far as they did! Thus because of loyalty towards the current players, Milan watched as everyone else reinforced.

They never have fully replaced players such as Shevchenko, Rui Costa and Stam. Other teams in seria A like florentina and Juventus have both added depth without breaking the bank, so what is Milans problem? Why cant they play in seria A? Having just Gilardino and inzaghi makes it impossible for them to break small teams down. Questions have to be asked over Ancelotti and if Milans results don’t change, a change of manager is needed. Although its not his fault, Ancelotti has performed miracles with the current squad but he should of had a bigger voice in the summer and demanded more players.

[Blacktop]

Will that be an actual column or is it for the comment box?

[Graeme C]

Originally Posted by BMWTaylor

Will that be an actual column or is it for the comment box?

comment box lol, its not proof read enough or written in the right style for a column.

[Jeff]

I begin to wonder whether we should invite people to write a so-called weekly (or monthly) column for MM. What do you guys think? Any suggestions? I hope that it'll take a little bit more of an analytical approach and to infuse topics that people do care about.

I know the incentive is low, but I hope that, in addition to adding new insights into Milan issues, we can also build a sense of community here at MM. What do you think? - J

[drucurl]

I don't know if here's a good place to write this but now is a GREAT time to be a Milan fan. Soon this depressing cycle will be over and we could talk about it and laugh