AC Milan will restart/reset/rebuild this summer once again, and there are already suggestions that the club will be left with only two Scudetto winners at the start of next season.
Experience is a vital part of football, especially when it comes to winning titles, and Milan could be about to lessen their squad by more than half of their current Scudetto winners, which certainly comes as a shock.
As Gazzetta dello Sport writes, at present, six of the 27-man squad were part of the 2022 Scudetto success; those being Alessandro Florenzi, Matteo Gabbia, Theo Hernandez, Rafael Leao, Mike Maignan and Fikayo Tomori.
However, some players seem to be at the end of their cycle with the Rossoneri, so the club may try to ‘erase the past’.
Florenzi is the most obvious case of this, however, there is a chance that he could remain at the club with a lesser wage and upped importance in the dressing room – a motivator, per chance. However, Hernandez, Maignan and Tomori are all insecure about their futures.
The trio were at the core of the Scudetto success, but now all seem to be on the edge of a fall away from the Diavolo. Maignan, perhaps, has the best chance at continuity, but his position is nowhere near as safe as that of Leao and Gabbia, who seemingly will only be in Rossoneri next season.
New protagonists are needed in the club’s eyes, but there must be some continuity between the two groups.
Dismantling the team is one thing, finding suitable replacements have been their Achilles heel. Had they done a better job at replacing some of these players we would not be sitting wondering what could have happened had Kessie, Tonali, Calha, etc continued with the team. The mercato was poorly handled in the last 3 seasons and that is the gripe, not the end of a cycle…
We won the scudetto immediately after we got rid of the Turkish abomination. But failing to replace Kessie, Tonali, Kjaer & Giroud… Unforgivable incompetence.
Again, we never needed a complete overhaul. Just missing puzzles. Many on this site including newcoming Gerryboys were ecstatic over their spending spree without even understanding the situation. Some of us were doubtful since the very beginning. And they f’d up big time. 250 millions down the drain. Now it will take again dozens if not hundreds of millions to clean this mess and rebuild again. What a bunch of incompetent clowns. Serves them right for being narcissistic and arrogant pr*cks trying to turn this global sporting and iconic institution into one of their cheap fast fashion franchise brands.
Not only did they dismantle a winning team, they replaced it with cheap stopgaps who couldn’t hold a candle to them. Musah is no Kessie, Rlc is no Tonali, Felix is no brahim, morata and Abraham are no Giroud, Emerson is no Calabria, Okafor is no rebic, Fofana is not on the level of prime bennacer. Gabbia and Pav are the closest we’ve gotten to replacing Romagnoli and Kjaers leadership. Chuk is less consistent than Castillejo and Messias. This team was stripped of ita soul and replaced with a cheap plastic skeleton from the Walmart discount bin. There’s no more heart, and no results to follow. The scudetto team was punching above its weight, but that’s why it was so vital to keep that momentum going and strengthen it with further improvements. But we’ve done nothing just move backwards by letting zero experience clowns make decisions. And now we get to watch as they furiously panic because their “master plan” failed miserably…
Great note!
Well said. Did they manage to improve ANY position since the scudetto? Perhaps the RW if we consider Pulisic playing there (which he rarely does though…).
And maybe Reijnders is an upgrade over Brahim but once again… The coaches have been playing him more as a CM than #10.
Alessandro Florenzi [always injured]
Matteo Gabbia [inconsistent until he was shipped off to Spain]
Theo Hernandez [unable to maintain scudetto form]
Rafael Leao [unable to maintain scudetto form]
Mike Maignan [unable to maintain scudetto form]
Fikayo Tomori [unable to maintain scudetto form]
Other than the retirees, probably the only Scudetto winning player who has significantly declined is Tomori.
He hasn’t been good for a long time and after prioritising a replacement for the Kessie—mercenary-scum, and the legends of Giroud and Ibra, the next priority should’ve been a CB.
A world class CB.
It was so simple:
In 22/23 they needed to sign a replacement for Kessie, and nobody else.
In 23/24 they needed to sign a replacement for Giroud and nobody else
In 24/25 they needed to sign a replacement for Tomori and nobody else.
They also should’ve been looking to integrate the next generation of youth players – Pobega, Brescianini, and Maldini are all playing for clubs above Milan in the table.
After not only firing and selling, but showing utter contempt for so many of the Scudetto legends – from Maldini Massara to Calabria – there is nothing left of this club.
People have a go at me for walking away this season but is anyone else a ‘better’ fan for hanging around and insulting players past and present?
What do any of you even get out of this?
This club currently passing itself off as AC Milan is 9th in the table and plays terrible football with players most of whom won’t be around in a few months.
What is the point?
If more people abandoned the club then the owners might sell. Instead they trading off a hollowed out brand name.
You simplify it too much, after the scudetto season, the main priority apart from replacing Kessie is CAM and RW. After that backup for Theo. So far only RW is properly bought with Pulisic.
One at a time.
Like any normal business or household, you do slow renovations and you buy the best.
The starting point was 1st. They needed to improve on 1st.
Massara scudetto legend? FFS, the word “legend” has been overused and doesn’t mean sh1t anymore apparently.
One scudetto doesn’t turn anyone into a legend in a club like Milan. It’s different for clubs such as Leicester but with Milan and it’s glorious history, one scudetto isn’t anything to brag about.
Tell us about the time it did better with your huge expectations.
Milan have won three Scudetti this century, to add to 16 in the previous century.
But you, like the owners, have got big ideas. Big ideas for 9th place.
As you don’t seem to know I suggest googling what happened during 1988-2000 with the club.
Because supporting the club is bigger than one bad ownership.
You’ve reached your breaking point. Fair enough.
Clearly you still care though or you wouldn’t be on here commenting.
What is a ‘club’?
What’s left except the brand name?
I do care. Care enough to quit.
And yet you’re still here.
“Care enough to quit.”
LOL. Still here crying says the opposite.
I’d add Leao and Theo to that list. Each of them having one good match in four is why we have been struggling so badly.