Gerry Cardinale is disappointed with the way AC Milan’s season has gone, and even his right-hand man Zlatan Ibrahimovic has ended up under scrutiny.
La Gazzetta dello Sport begin a report by recalling what Ibrahimovic said on the eve of the Champions League play-off tie against Feyenoord regarding the owner: “Cardinale gives you space to be yourself, in exchange he wants results.”
The results: Milan eighth in the league and out of the European places. Eliminated by the Dutch side in the Champions League. Beaten by Bologna in a boring Coppa Italia final. Winner of the Supercoppa Italiana. Milan’s sporting season, as CEO Giorgio Furlani, has been a failure.
Everyone is responsible, especially those who deal with technical choices and the mercato. Even the technical director Geoffrey Moncada, who follows the online lessons of Unisalento to get in order with the license of sporting director, and the super consultant Ibrahimovic.
Management failure
The results have been discussed. The choices that influenced them were the preference given in the summer to Paulo Fonseca, the first coach of the season and sacked at the end of December. Then the change of direction to Sergio Conceiçao, admired for the intensity his Porto team played with.
The transfer market will also be analysed, in which the €28.5m (plus bonuses) spent on Santiago Gimenez stand out. Then Joao Felix on loan from Chelsea and Kyle Walker from Manchester City, plus Warren Bondo from relegated Monza.
The winter was a period of particular exposure especially for Zlatan, at the official presentations with Santi (“a killer in the penalty area”) then with Felix (“a magical player”). Gimenez ended the season as a reserve, Felix’s impact has been non-existent.
If Moncada can claim the purchases of Reijnders and Pulisic, the top scorers of the season, Zlatan does not have many choices to defend. Cardinale, who was in Qatar for business while the Coppa final was being played, had crowned him last February.
“Having Ibrahimovic allows me to be in Milan even from the US, he is my ‘substitute’ in the city. He has the authority to be my voice when speaking to staff and players, he has a credibility that no one else would have had. He speaks for me,” he said.
It is authority that Zlatan actually had as a player but which is less obvious as a director. Still on the subject of Gimenez: in a video of the ceremony at the Quirinal Palace you can see Zlatan holding out his hand to shake it, but Santi reciprocates with a quick high five and leaves.
With Theo and Rafa, his former locker room mates, things didn’t go any better: they spent a season without particular worries, with few ruptures and many more slow-paced games. Ibra’s convincing efforts were not felt.
Cardinale’s disappointment
Ibrahimovic has been a Senior Advisor to the ownership and Senior Management of Milan since December 2023. A role that includes working ‘with RedBird’s global investment team to support the company’s investment portfolio in the sports, media and entertainment sectors’.
Cardinale would have happily exploited Ibra’s global following as a testimonial, but today you only need to scroll through the social comments under Zlatan’s advertising campaigns to understand the sentiment of the fans.
Ibra is no longer far from criticism, on the contrary. Even outside of football, the former champion’s contribution has been modest. But the real disappointment comes on the pitch, where the Swede has not been able to have an impact like he did in the past as a centre forward.
On the contrary, there are a series of missed targets and wrong movements that have ended up influencing, this time negatively, Milan’s season. It is inevitable that Cardinale is disappointed and that the club’s sporting area is failed.
The news is that this time Ibra might have his role reviewed. Maldini and Massara paid with their jobs, this time the opposite will happen: no firings, but a new sporting director will arrive to fix things.
He needs a big f*cking mirror room. And it wouldn’t hurt to come and visit his asset (the team that is) once in a while. Even the Chinese were more present.
Ut med alla i ledningen inkl Ibra och sälj klubben nu
Our biggest problem is ibrahimovic
Sell the club to someone who can buy players. Since 1985 have never seen mediocrity like this before even when we lost to Depotivo lacourona of Spain in return leg of champions league after winning 4-1 in sansiro
The owner and his management came to destroy the history of Milan most disappointing is Zlatan for his arrogance and big mouth as a manager. He should keep quiet and stop boasting.
Never in the history of football has a club like Bologna beaten us to cup not even when we had garbage players then but in this modern age our management treating Milan like middle table club.
Sell the club and leave with your Novice team of management. All the players we let go won trophies CDK won Europa and the players we sent away won with Bologna who knows their values. Am so ashamed of you guys
Well… Cardinale is disappointed and everyone is disappointed at Cardinale so let’s do the inevitable already. Sell the club, @55hole.
If Cardinale can’t sell than please get rid if Furbetto Furlani and Zingaro Zlatan. Moncada back to scouting and Stadioni Scaroni in Old People’s Home for retirement. Bring Back PAOLO MALDINI ❤️
Keith 🇲🇹
everyone’s solution is to sell to some petro-state. Come on guys. the solution is to have competent management. With some hit and misses but Maldini and Masara were competent and in an upward trajectory. Liverpool was in a sht hole, owned by Americans who watched the budget. Look at them now. ManU and even Chelsea have owners willing to throw as much money as they can (which is what ppl here seems to want) and they arent going anywhere. You can do a lot with little if you have competent leaders. Cardinale is hands off guy, his leaders are Ibra and Co. Closer to home, Bologna, Atalanta, Heck, even Lazio and Napoli. Well-managed teams punching above their weight. Even Inter in the UCL. going to the final, beating teams with much bigger stars and budget.
we need a change in culture. we dont need big mouth leader like ibra, which make player like tomori to complaint in the field while he is the reason we concede, and a starlike mentality like felix who complain to referee everytime he fall down. we need someone who can slap theao when they are lazy defending and stop chasing ball until the end. For that you can not sell people like puli, which the same like tonali only play and give their best eventhough theyre not the most talented player. i remember what was written in milan dress room. That grinta is better than talent. we just lost them all, under this stupid management who didnt understand football but rely on inexperinced people like ibra and sporting director wannabe like moncada.
oh no… Gerry is disappointed…
Clown
I am not sure what is Cardinale dissapointed in??
Is he dissapointed in the stupid prizes he won, playing the absolutely stupid game he was playing at Milan.
Because I don’t understand.
Everyone is disappointed , hurt and confused. The ones who have been confused from day 1, well Furlani and Co.
It is Furlani has last say when buying talent because he has the money. He should be the first to go if not give a back seat to the running of the football club.
Milan missed out on great player that were scouted for months on end and ended up at Inter Roma etc.
Now we find Milan out of Europe and we are having board room discussions on what went wrong?
Maldini and Massara went wrong fellas and that without a sporting director that Furlani is in charge of to hire and still procrastinating?
That there is the problem from day 1 till now, and The Great Boban was 100% correct.
Fellow board members ask The Great Capello what the real problem is and how to fix this mess!
The maybe the supporter can have some peace and the great club may not be laughed at anymore!