3rd , close to second placed Roma, and maybe 2nd if there wasn't for the -8.
Actually, Milan would have been 4th again, because Ronnie was injured for bigger part of the half season
I don't think much would have been different if Ronnie was at Milan since Sep.
The reasons for Milan being behind the top2 are of a different nature and we all know what was the main problem.
But since we're here i'd like to mention another reason for Milan not winning the league : Carlo Ancelotti.
Don't get me wrong. My point in writting what follows isn't to attack Carlo but to praise his work.
There are many different kinds of coaches. Carlo and his assistants are having much different method then, lets say Capello.
Capello with Juve was pushing with 100% from the very beggining and Juve was making the difference in points from the start and then they regularly failled in April and May.
Carlo is doing exactly the oposite. Milan is usually playing with equal power from day 1 to day 34. I'd say they even push much more in later stages of the season, which is something not many ( if any at all) other teams do.
This is positive thing, as much as it's a negative thing.
It's positive because Milan has much more power than the others when March comes and CL knock-out matches are about to be played.
Some may say Milan had better players than Juventus and Inter and that's why they were better than their italian rivals in Europe. It may be true but i don't agree with it. I think the main reason is Carlo's method he's using during preparation.
At the time Juve and Inter were exausted, Milan was giving extra gas.
That explains why Milan won CL 2003 , and played in one more final, 2 more semis and one 1/4 in last 5 years. That also explains why was Milan playing so good in serie A in last 15-19 matches of the year.
The negative aspect is obvious : Losing serie A !
While the others push from the beggining and Milan is taking it easier until new year , Inter and Juventus were making some big advantage and it was very hard for Milan to catch them. It resulted with only 1 scudetto in last 6 years while Carlo is at the helm.
The other negative thing is : It's a bit of a gamble. It's almost like Carlo sacrifeses serie A so he'd do better in CL, and it's a huge gamble because CL is a not a long run tournament, it has knock-out stages and if you have one bad day you can easily find yourself knocked out.
I got a little off topic maybe, although i think i was on topic because i was answering you why i don't think it would have been much different if Ronaldo was with you since September !
