04-24-2018, 09:37 PM
I'm almost certainly in the minority but it seems to me sacking Mirabelli right now (at least knowing what we do as fans) seems very reactionary and not something that seems to make a great deal of sense.
Before I continue I want to be clear I'm not exonerating him of any blame, but I think there's been a collective failure from pretty much everyone (Gattuso is imo the one exception) in the club to end up where we are.
However, we have to make sense of and understand why we're in the position we are. First of all, I would argue this season the league is more competitive than it's been for years, meaning that while our points earned is technically less than last season, I wouldn't actually use that to measure our quality this season to last. A more competitive league means it's harder to achieve our goals.
The other aspect to consider is our season is characterised by extreme lows and extreme highs. In periods we perform like a team fighting relegation, but we did also have an extended period where we were keeping pace with Juve. The mental and emotional strain this puts on individuals already under immense pressure is extremely high and I think leads to heavy fatigue mentally. I think when we faced Arsenal, we actually took a massive knock as the first leg crippled the confidence we'd built for two months. The issue was that the situation we were left with when Montella left meant that to recover required taking on huge pressure with zero room to relax. Working that way does takes a toll, hence the fatigue we have now.
Related to our mental fatigue is there's significant physical fatigue. Again, this simply seems to come down to how Montella prepared the squad as even early in the season we appeared to have ridiculously heavy legs and while Gattuso has done a phenomenal job to help the players improve physically, there's limits how much can be done in the middle of the season. Physical preparation for a league season is critical in the summer and it seems we completely screwed it up.
On Gattuso, I don't really see major issues since he's come on board including the renewal. The guy took a squad in crisis and sinking like a rock and gave hope for a CL spot. We've struggled in recent games and he's had some mistakes (this is normal for someone inexperienced), but for the reasons above I think he's hit the limit of the squad this season. To truly judge if he's got the ability, he needs a proper chance which he's earned with what he's done this season.
In terms of transfers I've said I think we've generally seen solid results from last summer's activity and I stand by that. Most of us will agree that adding a few quality additions will make us competitive next season, rather than breaking up the foundations we've laid and starting from scratch.
Put simply, there are multiple factors that have made this season a massive disappointment. While I will totally understand if Mirabelli is sacked (ultimately he has to take responsibility being the sporting director), he couldn't control all that happened. If we were to try and point fingers, the biggest culprit is surely what Montella did as it set us up for the disaster of a season. However, as I said at the start, it has to be treated as a collective failure starting with Yonghong Li and the instability the rumours around him brought with them.
Now, if Mirabelli goes into the next market and thinks guys like Strinic and Ki are what we need, then he's clearly in the wrong place. For now, I'm happy to wait and see before judging.
Finally, if it was up to me, Maldini would be back in as Sporting Director at the club, with Mirabelli's role reduced to being head of scouting and transfers (which would be done only with Maldini's approval). I've always wanted Maldini back in such a role and wrote a lengthy posy outlining how I'd see his role back when Barbara Berlusconi was trying to usurp Galliani.
Phew, hard work typing that post on a phone
Before I continue I want to be clear I'm not exonerating him of any blame, but I think there's been a collective failure from pretty much everyone (Gattuso is imo the one exception) in the club to end up where we are.
However, we have to make sense of and understand why we're in the position we are. First of all, I would argue this season the league is more competitive than it's been for years, meaning that while our points earned is technically less than last season, I wouldn't actually use that to measure our quality this season to last. A more competitive league means it's harder to achieve our goals.
The other aspect to consider is our season is characterised by extreme lows and extreme highs. In periods we perform like a team fighting relegation, but we did also have an extended period where we were keeping pace with Juve. The mental and emotional strain this puts on individuals already under immense pressure is extremely high and I think leads to heavy fatigue mentally. I think when we faced Arsenal, we actually took a massive knock as the first leg crippled the confidence we'd built for two months. The issue was that the situation we were left with when Montella left meant that to recover required taking on huge pressure with zero room to relax. Working that way does takes a toll, hence the fatigue we have now.
Related to our mental fatigue is there's significant physical fatigue. Again, this simply seems to come down to how Montella prepared the squad as even early in the season we appeared to have ridiculously heavy legs and while Gattuso has done a phenomenal job to help the players improve physically, there's limits how much can be done in the middle of the season. Physical preparation for a league season is critical in the summer and it seems we completely screwed it up.
On Gattuso, I don't really see major issues since he's come on board including the renewal. The guy took a squad in crisis and sinking like a rock and gave hope for a CL spot. We've struggled in recent games and he's had some mistakes (this is normal for someone inexperienced), but for the reasons above I think he's hit the limit of the squad this season. To truly judge if he's got the ability, he needs a proper chance which he's earned with what he's done this season.
In terms of transfers I've said I think we've generally seen solid results from last summer's activity and I stand by that. Most of us will agree that adding a few quality additions will make us competitive next season, rather than breaking up the foundations we've laid and starting from scratch.
Put simply, there are multiple factors that have made this season a massive disappointment. While I will totally understand if Mirabelli is sacked (ultimately he has to take responsibility being the sporting director), he couldn't control all that happened. If we were to try and point fingers, the biggest culprit is surely what Montella did as it set us up for the disaster of a season. However, as I said at the start, it has to be treated as a collective failure starting with Yonghong Li and the instability the rumours around him brought with them.
Now, if Mirabelli goes into the next market and thinks guys like Strinic and Ki are what we need, then he's clearly in the wrong place. For now, I'm happy to wait and see before judging.
Finally, if it was up to me, Maldini would be back in as Sporting Director at the club, with Mirabelli's role reduced to being head of scouting and transfers (which would be done only with Maldini's approval). I've always wanted Maldini back in such a role and wrote a lengthy posy outlining how I'd see his role back when Barbara Berlusconi was trying to usurp Galliani.
Phew, hard work typing that post on a phone