RedBird and Gerry Cardinale had probably imagined their AC Milan journey to be in a better position than it currently is, and a report has been critical of their time at the club.
Arriving in 2022, Milan have been trophyless since the arrival of Cardinale and RedBird, and this season seems likely to be another season similar to the last, if not worse.
Unfortunately, the second-place finish of last season means little in the long run, and a club of the Rossoneri’s size cannot focus on results like that when the current situation looks like it does.
Now, as Antonio Vitiello writes for MilanNews, this season looks like a ‘huge stain’ on the Rossoneri. A team that has never been in the Scudetto fight and the RedBird project cannot be looked at as anything other than a ‘flop’ at present.
“Seventh place in the standings, with an average of only 1.57 points per game, is truly a huge stain on Milan. The team has NEVER been in contention for the title since the first day of the season, but now the situation has become truly heavy,” he said.
“And having arrived at December 10, after a sufficient number of games played, we can make an initial assessment of the corporate strategies set up by the club in the summer. To date, Gerry Cardinale’s Redbird sports project is a flop.
“He has set up a structure that is leaking from every side and over time it will have the effect of people distancing themselves more and more from Milan because there is no empathy and communication.
“The American owner has made bad choices from the beginning. The first was to have entrusted Milan to Ibrahimovic when he was not yet ready. More experienced managers were needed.
“The statements made last June 13 by Zlatan at Milanello on the day of the presentation of the 2024-25 season and the new coach still sound cloying today. Six months ago Ibrahimovic spoke in these terms: ‘Now we are making history. As long as I am here, the future is bright’.
“While on the relationship with the owners: ‘We speak the same language with Cardinale. I would not have joined Milan without a project with these ambitions. RedBird is not afraid of challenges, I can guarantee this’.
“After six months we are here to comment on a Milan that if it goes well could finish in fourth place in the standings, otherwise it will remain out of the next Champions League and will be a disaster. In cascade the managerial choices were not correct, such as relying on Paulo Fonseca.
“Today the Portuguese is one of the scapegoats, but who chose him? Ibrahimovic, Furlani and Moncada said they took Fonseca to play a dominant game, but this dominance has rarely been seen.
“Here too there is data to prove it. Yet another choice made with presumption, where the role of the coach was underestimated. And we always return to the same topic, with many possible choices in the summer…
“The market is also incomplete, there is a lack of replacements in some main roles and in the long run the regulars will decline due to inevitable tiredness. Pulisic is the clear example, but also Theo Hernandez or poor Fofana who has to play them all by force.
“A series of significant errors. Now what can be done? First of all, qualify for the Champions League round of 16 without going through the play-offs, because the calendar allows it. In January, invest to cover the gaps in the squad. Try to win the Supercoppa (it won’t be easy), and finish in the top four.
“Then reset and make completely different choices for next season. Because if this is the sporting project, Cardinale would do well to pass the baton.”
damn… so you can’t spend pennies and expect to be a top team… who knew?!
no midfield cover for Fofana and Tiji, or even Theo. Worst RB duo in the club’s history… Jimenez and Terraciano being considered as subs but they never play (just loan them ffs)… depending where Puli ends up playing, we need another CAM/RW… and we did while loosing out on all quality Italians…
RLC gives only 1 international spot, but when Jovic (who isn’t registered in UCL), Florenzi, Calabria (how is he leaving while Emerson Royal staying, idk…), and the loans I mentioned… so basically if we want to register them both in Serie A and UCL, we need 4 Italians… (Parisi, Ricci, Fagioli, Gnoto all are upgrades to BS players we have them replace) and would give us an international spot for RB in the summer
Yes you can, by being smart. That’s how we succeeded with Maldini and Massara and that’s how Atalanta succeeded. You need a capable coach with a clear vision for how he wants to play and a management with the football knowledge to find the right players for the coach’s system. This all started with firing Maldini. Not just firing him, but the manner in which they did it. In a way, it’s poetic justice. It’s just a shame that it’s coming at the expense of the team.
And even at then Maldini wanted them to spend more. Because he knew those pennies would not take Milan anywhere.
He and his team worked miracles with the last one, and he did not want to depend on miracles alone, but on sure chances.
And how did they show their appreciation ND answer by kicking him to the curb.
Well time is vindication everything Maldini said and was fighting against. MEDIOCRITY.
Well said.
100%
100% correct. Firing M&M that way and only to replace them with clowns and a mercenary is completely stupid. If they were going to fire M&M at least they should have brought in more experienced and able management. This season is done. I’ll be suprised if we finish top 4. The way that we play, the chemistry, quality, and the overall atmosphere doesn’t give much hope.
💯💯💯💯
Unfortunately our fate was sealed for the time being with the firing of M&M – it wasn’t just about them – it was about the culture and closeness they created amongst the players. We had a vision and a project all the players believed in and were excited to be a part of – AND that was providing results little by little each year. First a Scudetto, then a semi-finals UCL spot….then it was torn apart. Why? Because Maldini told the truth and said we needed to spend more $$ in order to compete with the bigger clubs. That was it. That was the reason. Gerry’s ego was hurt. And he made it worse by replacing them with inexperienced sporting ppl (like the banker) and Ibra – crazy.
We are a mess.
No you tard, Maldini made many mistakes and should have bee sacked a long time ago
It’s because of his ego we didn’t get Rangnick
It’s his fault we were stuck with Pioli
It’s his fault that we are stuck with Origi
Bro, we’ve spent 200M over two summers. That’s as much as anyone in Serie A. People need to get off the “owners are cheap” fake news. It’s not that we don’t spend money, it’s that spend it really poorly. These people don’t know what they’re doing. Instead of buying 2-3 good players at an average of ~40M per summer they spend ~20M on 4-5 reclamation projects, rejects and unproven potential. Instead of the targeted quality signings that we can then supplement with the best talent out of our good youth system, we go bargain shopping at the discount store hoping somebody mislabeled gold as pewter, and then end up spending a lot anyway. The directors are all amateurs and the head scout is more interested in reading GQ than in reading scouting reports.
Fifa boy is in deep denial about how much Milan spends.
Many people have told it this already.
Doesn’t stick.
crawl back inside your shell…
only if you come with me and suck my dddddddddddddiiiiiiiiiiick
no one in their life will do that… you will just rot and decay
I stay out
the other way around, the people stay away from you… crawl back to your incel cave
I’m gonna stay out of my cave and I’ll take my precious time to write fifa boy under all the comments I see from you, because I don’t like you.
Cry harder now…
The amount of money we also got from selling players, doesn’t mean that he’s been -200 in the red…
No they didnt spend 200 million. With sales we spend 80 million in two seasons 40 per year. It wasn’t enough to plug the holes of the players that left. They been terrible
WTF are you talking about?
On a 4-2-3-1 Fofana and Reijn are supposed to be the cover for the defense
Fofana does okay in this regard but Reijnders is awful, he’s good as B2B but not good on a pivot
Also the fact that you rate a clown like Calabria means you don’t know anything about football and shouldn’t be taken seriously
Just sell to the Arabs
We’re not an oil money club that’s filled with shady people. Incompetent, but not actively destroying the planet.
Oh stfu
Every single one of us here are Milan fans because of Silvio Berlusconi ffs
Don’t give a hoot about Arabs but they spend a lot at least
Shocking
I’m beginning to wonder how much of influence Elliott are having behind the scenes ( right now any theory is possible). Sporting results are just as important as balancing the books. And if not done correctly it will be years before the damage will be corrected, if the banter era is anything to go by. Our recruitment strategy is totally out of synch for a team with ambition. But a good starting point to undo the damage is to get rid of the coach. I’m still pining for Sarri…
“Sporting results are just as important as balancing the books”
Not just as important. They go hand in hand. And these people with vast experience in business should know better. Which makes me think, they’re probably not here for this. Must be a money laundering scheme orchestrated by both Elliott and RedBird.
They had everything. Only needed 2 targeted signings to improve the team and add balance.
A quality ST to replace Giroud and a quality DM that would allow the likes of tiji and benacer to unless their attacking potential.
We also needed a backup lb and a replacement for kjaer but those were low lvl signings.
And ofc a coach to bind it all.
What we got? Well this is what we got…
This is a very unfair and biased assessment of Redbird and the club, yes Redbird have made mistakes , particularly on the technical and sporting side of the club, it is very evident that the club made a mistake in sacking Maldini and Massara, but the first mistake was Elliott’s when they sacked Boban, which began the decline of the sporting side, then followed by Maldini’s, honestly sacking Maldini and Massara was a mistake, but the whole truth of the affair might never come to light, the club is to blame for certain things , but definitely Maldini also has some fault in it what was the true arguement, why did the club feel compelled to sack them, the common thread speaks of a difference in transfer strategy and the future direction of the club, did Maldini make unrealistic demands, knowing fully well what the directive of the club was, for a low cost and sustainable strategy, and thus he went against the clubs policies and make unnecessary demands.
Or was it because of the decline of the performances of the Coach and players, one fault I will lay down on Maldini’s feet is allowing Pioli to burn through some players, not giving the new players enough playing time, even when the older players in the squad were not playing well, case in point CDK, Thiaw , Dest , Aster Vrancx, this essentially made that transfer market of that season was a bad one, which affected Maldini, even before then other players were completely destroyed by Pioli, Maldini should not have allowed Pioli to discard these players, who insisted on playing both Messias and Ibrahim Diaz knowing fully well they were not performing well, and we’re going to leave the club at the end of the season, this was one of Pioli’s faults, which Maldini should have corrected.
After Maldini left , the club should have also sacked Pioli, then brought competent and professional managers for the sporting sector which they failed to do, which right now is glaring to see that something needs to be done, but also they have launched the Futuro team and enhanced the youth teams, this has been one of the good things the management has done, and to ensure success of the club now and in Future, they need to fill in the gaps in the squad with young players from the Futuro team, they just have to be brave about it.
As for the administrative and financial sector, the club has Scaroni and Furlani, and honestly they are doing a good job, the club is growing financially and institutionally, we have zero debts, and the team is know making profits, and the plan to build a new stadium is taking shape, remember 40million was spent on the land for the stadium and other future club properties, look around Europe Milans financial situation is far better than most of the big clubs, this club guided by Redbird will gradually develop into a titan it deserves to be, so patience and common sense is required.
How is Pioli burning through players Maldini fault.
And Maldini did nothing wrong by asking them to spend more. Look at them now. Time is vindicating Maldini. They went cheap and mediocre and got what…
They fired Maldini and spent 200 million on mediocre and yet they have not replicated even half of Maldini success with meagre funds.
Maldini was not the coach, and so he could not interfere with the coach. He knew Pioli was at his wits end and so he wanted Pioli gone.
But how did darling Redbird respond they stuck with Pioli and fired Maldini.
Redbird has been a bane to Milan. No ifs no bias no unfairness. It’s the simple truth. They don’t simply care.
@Usman Yusuf i don’t think you have eyes to see that Cardinale/Redbird have really scattered this precious club.
If this club were run by mediocre before now, do you think Milan would have become a great club??.
Please understand what it takes to have/build a successful club.
David I don’t think you have the brain or the intellectual capacity to analyse things holistically and objectively, Red bird has given this club purpose and a clear path to follow, look at the financial side and the clear path charted in the Futuro project and youth teams, the stadium project, do you know the last ten years of the Berluscini era, we were running at a loss with debts, this is not the first time things like this happen, do you know that in the 96/97 and 97/98 season we were 10th and 11th, I guess you either were not born then, or you were not a Milan fan yet, do you know we were once relegated and bankrupt, this club has always had its ups and downs, and we got up, do you know the Farina era?
We are now debt free, making a profit and you say this rubbish because you are senseless, with all the greatness of the Berlusconi era, why did they not think of building a befitting stadium for the club, yes mistakes have been made in the sporting area, but this club is in the best possible shape it has ever been, can you say that of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea or Inter, juve, or even Man U, you no nothing of football, the only thing that appeases nitwits like you is reckless spending, so that you can argue with your friends over cheap beer and crack…
@Usman Yusuf
Worst analysis I have seen after a long time.
You are asking to play midfielders/defenders(aster vranxx, thiaw,dest) in place of Diaz,messias 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Cdk has got lot of chances but we just have given him some time to settle just like Leao.
Thiaw, Kalulu came to Milan without any first division experience , but still whatever they are now it’s because of Pioli.
Vrancx haven’t had great performances to keep but have good potential,but there was not enough money to buy him outright after the loan
Maldini is technical director, he will not involve in team selection or how coach works.because of his humbleness and love for club,he went to every training session to help young player’s technically and mentally which is not part of his job.
But you can see the clowns now who cares a inch of sh*t what happens in club.even when there are lot of issues they escape from Milan rather than solving it.
It’s not Furlani or scaroni who bring the club out of debt, It’s Elliot and Maldini(MNM). the season we played semi final of champions league we are out of debt as we got 120m. We have completed 2transfer market’s since we came out of debt.
Nothing was better but worse than before.
Mercenary….
Trophyless cardinale milan. Never fight for any silverware.
Cardinale and co have done a horrific job and will no doubt set the club back years.
We are witnessing the end of what was once a promising cycle.
Of course it helps to spend good money when needed but that not absolutely necessary and that’s not my gripe.
Its about being smart, having a plan, a system, building and improving.
Add one or two good players a year and have faith in the youth.
The mismanagement and waste of funds and talented players is staggering.
So many players signed and yet the team is trash. With a trash manager.
Jovic – crap
Abraham, loaned crap
Morata, old crap
Chucky, one footed crap
RLC, crap crap
Musah, young but crap
Terraciano, anonymous crap
Jimenez, ghost crap
Pavlovic, big crap
Emerson, stinking huge pile of crap
Players we got rid of to make room for crap
Kalulu, excellent
Kerkez, excellent
Simic, excellent
CDK, now excellent
Adli, becoming excellent
Tonali, captain excellent
Not to mention all the good young players we passed on or mist out on.
Atalanta are doing a far better job with less money
And yet you still see people praise Redbird or say give them time or that they are doing a good job, and they would turn Milan into a titan. Or that’s its for the long run
😂🤣😂😂🤣😂
Redbird banner men never tire. I marvel at their blind loyalty and blind judgment.
Well… Hard to argue here against the “player by player” assessment. It really shows what has gone wrong. Basically everything. 😀
I can’t but agree with your assessment and Redbird huge nonsense
Redbird and Elliott are same it’s better if they sell milan both are not ambitious
Baseball isn’t football, who knew? Maybe I should stop using that pumpkin pie recipe every time I try to make Lasagna, it’s always awkward once I try to add the cheese but that recipe produces such a good pumpkin pie, it’s a shame.
Fish rots from the head. The problem we have is that Cardinale is emotionally detached from the club and runs it like a business that he knows little about.
The people he put in to run it aren’t working in synergy. Very disjointed management with a lack of cohesion, confusing vision and market choices.
This is evident in the way Milan plays. Confused. Because the players brought in weren’t done so is a cohesive and complimentary manner.
I have no issues with what Moncada and Furlani do separately. I have an issue with Ibra being in this structure – he has clearly shown a lack of capacity to do his undefined job properly.
We circle back to needing an experienced Sporting Director who knows the league well, who is Italian and understands the cultural challenges in Serie A and the bureaucracy that comes with it. Someone that can reign Moncada and Furlani into a functional system and bring a coach within RedBird’s parameters that can actually improve Milan.
Fonseca’s results are on par with his capabilities and limitations. We’ll continue limping along until Gerry makes changes and puts the right framework in place.
I don’t think it’s a stain..that’s more the Li era. That’s a massive stain. Right now it’s more a blot but if you leave it there for too long….
Anyways the point is, changes can be made to reverse course. Interesting to see how he deals with the current situation. Not the end of the world but not looking good either. I’m more disappointed in the lack of sporting application to the project to be honest.
Shocker, there was never a project. I tried to support the owners as much as I could but last time defeat was the last straw. Atalanta doesn’t have big talent yet they have a clear vision. Something we don’t have. We have a far more talented team than Atalanta yet, we’re playing like mid table. Horrendous
He’s not involved at all. Did he think that just purchasing the team would make him richer without any
You failed to mention cardinale’s shameful and disgusting move – kicking maldini and massara away!!!!! That is when proboems started and a pack of fools, idiots and clowns took over.