Devil’s Advocate: Creation myths and great floods – Milan’s biblical proclamations threaten to backfire

A lot of the excitement and genuine enthusiasm going into AC Milan’s season evaporated within 270 miserable minutes of the Serie A season, and it has left fans wondering how to distribute the blame.

After the Torino game, we wrote at length about why Milan’s start to the season – despite a fantastic tour of the USA and wins over the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City – could be a bumpy road.

Internationals returning late and signings joining late disrupted Paulo Fonseca’s attempts to assimilate a playing style, and the result is two points from a possible nine.

The creation myth

While doubts about the clarity of the mercato strategy were festering, Zlatan Ibrahimovic tried to build the buzz in his own way: with vague similes and metaphors. He talked about the ‘Creation in 7 days’, pinpointing at each new signing’s press conference how far Milan were along in the week.

Gerry Cardinale has placed some limits on the mercato spending and it is perhaps obvious that the objectives of RedBird are mainly financial, while the sporting ones take a back seat. Otherwise, would be inexplicable to have another window targeting players in and around the €15-20m range.

There are those who believe – and with merit too – that nothing will be won with this strategy, which was coupled with the serious mistake by the management to burden the entire atmosphere with false promises and arrogance.

Ibrahimovic is also responsible for this, as he has not yet become aware of his role. The days when he was considered God are far away and belong to the era of when he was a footballer – for now he is an apprentice.

To become a top executive/director, the road is still long and concrete results are needed. Ibrahimovic has repeatedly used statements that have sent the fans into frenzy. An example? When the Swede declared that Cardinale wanted him to spend more money but he didn’t want to.

“Gerry is in town, we had meetings yesterday and today. We talked about various things. Nothing new. Gerry wants us to spend more but I say no, we spend what is necessary to strengthen,” he said during the presentation of Emerson Royal.

As mentioned, one of Zlatan’s most controversial phrases was the one about the creation of the new Milan. The Rossoneri played a lot on his image as ‘God’ in the media to talk about the birth of the new team and the transfer window.

Each purchase was presented as a day of the biblical Creation, with the aim of creating a perfect team in seven days. This was all while signing two or at most three players who can be considered guaranteed starters in a team that had so many obvious gaps.

And on the day of the final signing unveiling, that of Tammy Abraham? Ibrahimovic wasn’t present as CEO Giorgio Furlani instead sat alongside the English striker. The Senior Advisor meanwhile is hunting in Canada, so he took the ‘day of rest’ quite literally.

Panic spreads

The first three games have only highlighted and deepened some of the worries that not even cynically minded supporters have, as well as the managerial confusion contributing to what many feel represents the lack of will to make Milan truly competitive to win important trophies.

The results to this point are damning: two points out of nine obtained against three teams who – with respect – will not be challenging for the Scudetto nor most likely even the Champions League places. Now we await a fiery period after the break, with the magnifying glass projected to the derby on matchday five.

Milan will return from the international break in just under two weeks and then they will face Venezia at San Siro in a game that is absolutely must-win. Not only is three points a necessity, but it must also be a convincing performance that brings many certainties that don’t exist currently.

Why? Because in the 20 days that follow, the road gets more bumpy: Liverpool, Inter, Bayer Leverkusen and Fiorentina are on the agenda, with Lecce to break it up. The Rossoneri will play every four days and they are all away matches, except Liverpool and Lecce (and Inter will be at San Siro).

It is a daunting run of games, especially after this terrible start. Fonseca would rather have prepared to face the likes of Mo Salah, Lautaro Martinez and Florian Wirtz when his team had some confidence and semblance of defensive structure.

What his side have instead shown so far is that they cannot even deal with Raoul Bellanova, Duvan Zapata, Dennis Man, Matteo Cancellieri, Taty Castellanos and Boulaye Dia, let alone the elite attacking talent in Europe.

Some high-stakes moments in Stefano Pioli’s tenure come to mind: Roma, Inter and Juventus in 10 days in April, as well as Juventus, PSG, Napoli and PSG again in 17 days last Autumn. Sometimes it happens, and you simply sink or swim.

Even more worrying is that fact that every single goal conceded – and there are six of them in just three games – have shown a very easy way to score against Milan: win the ball back, work it to the left side and send it into the box.

The future is a mirage

We keep hearing about Milan’s financial strength and about how it will safeguard the future of the club towards self-sustainability. Of course such an improvement in the accounts is nothing but positive, and represents a huge turnaround from the peril of previous ownerships.

Yet, fans are asking the same question – at what point does the stabilisation and strength turn into serious investment in the playing squad? During Paolo Maldini’s tenure we were told that consecutive Champions League campaigns were needed, then the goalposts shifted to a new stadium which still seems as far away as it did in 2014.

Milan’s two biggest rivals moved in different ways. Juventus did a full project reboot, backing their new coach with over €160m of signings, the kind of support that enabled them to win the race for Thiago Motta in the first place.

Teun Koopmeiners, Douglas Luiz and Khephren Thuram arrived to fully rebuild the midfield, with Nico Gonzalez and Francisco Canceicao reinforcing the attack plus Pierre Kalulu and Juan Cabal joining the defence.

They also sold well: Matias Soule, Dean Huijsen, Samuel Isling-Junior, Moise Kean and Federico Chiesa all fetched figures between €10-25m, and they even got €7m+ for pure fringe players like Kaio Jorge, Koni Di Winter and Enzo Barrenechea.

Inter didn’t spend anywhere near as much, but again their strength will be continuity and they are adding from a position of being not too far from perfect. Josep Martinez joined and will be the number one in time, while Mehdi Taremi and Piotr Zielinski were secured well in advance on free transfers, and young talent Tomas Palacios came from Argentina.

 

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It is smart business considering the financial constraints the Nerazzurri are under, and the fact they start the season as such strong Scudetto favourites is because of how good the existing framework is, a Marotta-constructed framework that other teams – Milan very much included – can only look on at enviously.

Atalanta have lost some players and gained some but overall they have continuity under Gian Piero Gasperini, and after decimating Bayer Leverkusen in last season’s Europa League final the management and players have an abundance of credit in the bank.

Napoli may still be viewed as a chaotic organisation and could have handled certain things better this summer. Yet, they needed a centre-back – as Milan did – and invested over €30m on a player they believed in, and they went and got Antonio Conte whose nous and experience gives them a chance in any game.

What happens if things don’t pick up for the Rossoneri? Fonseca will be the first to go, maybe the Monday after the derby against Inter or a few weeks after that, because as always in situations like this it is the head coach that is the first to fall as the easiest to replace.

At that point the lack of planning will reveal itself once again, with Milan forced to take an interim or pay a third coach a hefty amount, all with the Scudetto already lost and most likely the European campaign in the balance.

The reality is that a year of transition that could already start before the summer ends. This would be reflected in the dwindling if not nosediving enthusiasm surrounding Milan, then the subsequent knock-on effect on ticket sales, merchandise revenues and brand growth.

Maybe then Cardinale will begin to understand the importance of ambition. Football is more about just the field, but that is where it all begins, and if that field becomes a Great Flood then Ibra’s creation myth will soon be submerged.