After the loss this weekend, the criticism directed towards every level at AC Milan has risen substantially, especially at the top.
Another defeat this weekend has seen Milan begin to panic about the chances of them reaching the Champions League. Massimiliano Allegri seemed a little concerned about his team’s chances, but he will remain quietly confident.
This is what the problem is for many, though. Just clinching a Champions League place whilst Inter win another Scudetto shows how big the gap has got between the two clubs. So, whilst it is an improvement on last year, it is by no means a successful season.
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Milan continue to regress
This afternoon, Pietro Mazzara wrote an extended editorial about the regression under RedBird for MilanNews, and it is rather scathing. It is also worth noting that a miniature version of the statement was also posted on Instagram and this is what Theo Hernandez liked.
“What seemed like a narrowing gap has, in the space of four calendar years, transformed into a gulf that appears very difficult to bridge.
“When Milan won the Scudetto in May 2022, the entire club was convinced that things were changing, that the work done by Elliott, Gazidis, Maldini, Massara, and Pioli had allowed the wind to blow in Milan’s sails. Instead, that Scudetto proved to be episodic, because the lifeblood of victory must be fed day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute.
“The flame must be kept alive with investments in high-level players , not sitting there with a calculator and not raising the bar on price tags and salaries, thus opting for players of a higher caliber.
“To win, you have to be ready, first and foremost mentally and visually, because a victory generates expectations and a desire, from the entire team, to continue winning. To do so, you need to raise the bar in everything, not constantly talk about minimum targets, financial limits, or “selling to buy” without building and maintaining.
“Because at AC Milan, you almost always start from structural holes. Inter won like this, building a team over the years that not only won in Italy, but also reached two Champions League finals (thankfully, they lost, but they got there).
“On this side of the Naviglio, since Gerry Cardinale took over AC Milan, things have objectively gone from bad to worse.
“There’s no sense of the hunger for victory that a club like Milan imposes on you. Only those who truly know what Milan is, like Matteo Gabbia, perceive this sacred feeling. Simply because football, within Milan, isn’t an obsession, just as winning isn’t.
“At the end of the season, we’ll tally up the total points Milan has accumulated over the last four seasons compared to the title winners, but we could also widen the gap. The important thing is to look at who does this or that, while the more than €500 million invested in transfers is less important, but rather how that money was spent.
“Given the facts, there’s only one answer: poorly. And the results are there to see.
“Two years ago, after Inter won the Scudetto in the derby (with the embarrassment of the techno blast), the club’s headquarters should have been plastered with those images to spark a sense of anger and revenge. But no.
“Completely neutrally, the focus was on continuing the usual path of diversification and signing players who, if all goes well, will take you to fourth place. Milan isn’t built for fourth place, nor, much less, to be like the Roman clubs, where winning the derby or derbies saves the season.
“Even Napoli passed you by, but that’s because they invested in strong players and spent wisely.
“Let’s not celebrate the possibility of Champions League qualification, because there will be little to celebrate when there are no tricolour patches to apply on the shirts. The upcoming summer will not be like all the others. It will be intense in every way.
“But the belief is that the lesson, four years later, is far from having been learned.”
Can we just be honest with oursleves. Cardinale is not a sports guy. He is a investor. He bought Milan to make money in die future. Forget about great football results and trophies. Secondly, Tare is the experienced expert director yet Maldini won with a strict budget and little experience lol Bring back the goat #3! Hehehe
Can we just be honest with ourselves for a second? Cardinale isn’t some lifelong football romantic he’s an investor. He didn’t buy Milan to collect scarves and vibes, he bought it to grow value and make money in the future. And honestly… that’s not the worst thing in the world. No results = no revenue, no revenue = no big club. Simple math.
Now about the Maldini nostalgia (and yes, we all love him calm down before anyone starts a war 😄). What he did was incredible: winning with a tight budget and limited experience is no small feat. Absolute legend, forever the GOAT #3.
BUT… there’s no rewind button here. That chapter is closed.
And Tare? People act like he just walked in yesterday holding a map upside down. The guy is an experienced director, and even if you admit he’s good, he’s barely had a year in the role and so far, he’s actually doing a pretty solid job. Maybe not “statue outside San Siro” level yet, but definitely not the disaster some are pretending.
So yeah, miss Maldini all you want (we all do), but football doesn’t run on nostalgia. If Cardinale makes money AND the team stays competitive, that’s the balance you need. Turns out “evil investor guy” and “successful club” can sometimes be on the same team after all 😉
Just sell club.He dont know anything about football.
Losing with transfer,keeping players who not good for seria B this man destroy everything what Milan have
u said No results = no revenue, no revenue = no big club. Simple math.
this isn’t math, it’s bussines!
u forget /maybe dnt understand,
no proper investment & good (pro) mngmt = no good players = no result = no revenue = no big club.
NO BIG CLUB? Milan already big club (check their fan base & market value), just won the scudetto, young main squad, manage by pro people b4 redbird, all they need is buy 2 or 3 big players.
in bussines u need spend 1st/ invest/ quality upgrade, it’s called promotion, do u remember Don Berlusconi bought Gullit, Basten & Carletto in his early ownership? or everytime Madrid/ Barca/ Bayern/ City/ PSG change presidency/ owner? the pattern & formula is clear, if redbird not ready for that they should stick w/ Tolose or any US sport but not Milan.
sorry to say but i want Milan as winner more than $ just like Maldini is winner more than $/ play for Galacticos/ curva sud a5s licker
Ah yes, the classic “you don’t understand business” speech 😄
If you did a tiny bit of research, you’d realize AC Milan has been investing just not in the “throw €200M at shiny names every summer” strategy you’re nostalgic about. Different model ≠ no investment.
Also, this idea that Milan was just sitting there waiting for 2–3 “big names” to magically solve everything… football doesn’t work like FIFA career mode. Smart recruitment, structure, and sustainability matter just as much as splashing cash.
And about the history lesson I’m well aware of Silvio Berlusconi bringing in Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Carlo Ancelotti. Different era, different football economy, different rules. You can’t just copy-paste 1988 into 2026 and expect it to work.
And just to be clear nobody said Milan isn’t a big club. It is. The point is staying a big club requires results today, not just history and vibes.
So maybe read what I actually said one more time… slowly this time. It might click 😉
your argument is like another excuse of mediocrity, they who main factor of failure must take responsibility, fans need to speak up & critisize, we’ve right to do that.
i said it again “no proper INVESMENT & good (PROFESIONAL) mngmt = no GOOD PLAYERS = no result = no revenue = no big club” Milan have just WON SCUDETTO w/ young squad & Maldini, give him short budget he give us scudetto, give him bit more we’ll be ready for UCL, this man got cut price CR7 (b4 Juve) & free Messi (b4 PSG) easily just to be rejected by mngmt, w/ 100-200m (u said) it’s more than enough to get them, instead they fired him & spend it on bunch of average, destroy winning squad build by M&M.
my point is, they who mis-guide this club & clearly wrong person in wrong position must take resposibility (re-sign/ get fired) b4 that Milan will not go higher than serie a & UCL participant. furlani, scaroni, moncada they fail again & again, they must go
Maldini controlled the sporting aspect of the club between 2019 and 2023, under strict financial control from Elliott through Gazidis. He got help along the way from Leonardo, Boban and Massara. At the time, in 2019, Milan haven’t played in Champions League since 2013-14 and is in constant turmoil.
Gazidis, Maldini, Leonardo, Boban, Massara. Respected names in football. Legit people who deserve their position because they know how it works in football, either it is business, managing players or establishing a winning culture.
Result is 6th in 2020, 2nd in 2021. After only two years under this management, Milan wins the Scudetto in 2022 and is back in Champions League. Then Milan is 4th in 2023 and goes to UCL semi-finals. That growth has been absolutely unexpected, Maldini is named Best manager in the world in 2022.
Then he’s fired. Cardinale takes over officially, gives power to Furlani and Moncada. “We don’t need Maldini anymore”, brags Scaroni. Cardinale, Furlani, Moncada, Scaroni. Guys that know finance and politics, not how to win in football. Since 2023, Milan has been in constant drama. Four different coaches in three years. Zlatan as a clown. Top players are alienated, lose their form, are sold for cheap. Close to a hundred transfers, in and out. So much money wasted in terrible players. Eliminated from UCL group stages in 2023, didn’t play in UCL last year, might not play it next year. Tare, like Fonseca, made a name for himself in football because he’s good in trading. He’s not a top sporting director. And Allegri’s hiring has been celebrated both by Milan’s PR and Juventus fans. Milan has been such a mess that even the washed up Allegri seemed like an improvement.
Still, bootlickers gonna lick boots. Cardinale has been a major liability to this Milan, turning the club into a circus that can’t win anything. The guy claiming “winning is boring” or “we’re here for ROI” actually meant that. Both the sporting results and the economic growth of the club have been harmed by this ownership and this management and it’s not looking like the future will be any better. You can have a new stadium, you can have an NBA team, you can have revenue and you can be a terrible team if you don’t have the right people at the helm.
SO people should be happy that here is a financial Scudetto team that is waiting to build the stadium and then sell the club to the highest bidder? Or you are delusional and think that is nonsense? Which of the 2 it is?
Tare has experience as a bargain hunter at Lazio, that is it. 0 other experience. Up to know he landed no bargains and overspent on everyone but 2 signings that fell into his lap. What are you talking about exactly? Which prettyy solid job?
Allegri fuori!!!
He doesn’t know football, it’s fine. But.. He think he knows!!
“The flame must be kept alive with investments in high-level players , not sitting there with a calculator…”
He said he was going to make the league better, and thought himself will teach others how to win.. (I think many still remember that)
He’s more than just a dreamer. He should bring his Hype back to US. lol
He is a textbook case of the Dunning-Kruger effect.
It may appear to you, but he is the one flasbinv the cash and bearing all fhe risk. Pkaging monopoly here and making smart statements dies realky not help. What i still do not get is whos idea was to bring Allegri back? I am sure Tare did not
Begging investors to help refinance the existing loans so Elliot doesn’t take the club again is “flashing the cash”? Ok.
Cardinale’s Milan is what happens when a guy who knows nothing about football (heck he didn’t even know what Milan did win which takes like 3 minutes of google search) try to take charge of the situation.
Like let’s not kid ourselves, Elliot didn’t know football and didn’t care about the results, and it’s probably the same for Inter’s current owner, but the difference is they didn’t try to re-invent the wheel. They put competent people in charge and only took care of what they themselves knew.
Not only he get rid of people who yielded good results, who were there for a while, knew the team,… but he replaced them with people with no experience or knowledge in their positions and with no clear structure or hierarchy, only to scrap that, and come up with a new structure but still with ambiguity and no clear structure or hierarchy.
Sudah SAATNYA MILAN REVOLUSI DARI PEMILIK SAMPAI MANAJEMEN TERENDAH. APALAGI ADANYA FURLANI DAN SCARLONI,MILAN DI BIKIN RUSAK DALAM MEMBELI PEMAIN YANG BERKUALITAS DAN TIDAK ADA MENTAL JUARA PARA PEMAIN YANG ADA MAUPUN PEMAIN YANG DIBELI. SUDAH SAATNYA MILAN DI REVOLUSI TOTAL DARI CARDINALE, FURLANI DAN MANAJEMEN TERENDAH. ALLEGRI LEBIH BAIK MENGUNDURKAN DIRI DARI SEKARANG DARIPADA DI PECAT OLEH MANAJEMEN DAN CARDINALE. ALLEGRI LEBIH BAIK JADI PELATIH TIMNAS ITALIA DARIPADA MELATIH MILAN YANG TIDAK DI HARGAI OLEH CARDINALE,FURLANI DAN MANAJEMEN.
Ah yes, another article designed to appeal to a certain section of the fan base, crying about the glory days of M & M, forgetting they won the scudetto with a weak squad of ageing players that needed to be replaced, not to mention losing millions on players leaving for nothing. They were not primed for a dynasty, rather they reached their limit.
The club isn’t going to be sold, certainly not in the current climate, so your whining changes nothing.
The new stadium is almost certainly going to be built and that’s a greater legacy than short-term success. No, Cardinale isn’t a football man, so he’ll continue to hire and fire until he gets it right.
As a president he doesn’t need to be involved in the club daily operation, just need to decide overall long term strategy, which is built a stadium and financial sustainability. It’s just that the people who are employed by him to take control of the club is criticized namely Furlani, and Ibrahimovic. They did invest more money but the results doesn’t reflect on the pitch
Stadium is being built so they make more money from selling the club. It is obvious.
The worst thing for Milan is on a long term. This club has lost very much at fan base level. Whiteout winning , whiteout a clear gameplay identify strategy you don’t make reach in this world. New fans aren’t coming to AC Milan. You can’t live from the past for such a long period. This club needs badly a smart and competent management, something ambitious and fresh energetic way. Players chose by strong personality and talent , players with “hunger” and a coach like Fabregas, De Zerbi, Farioli, Italiano, Xavi , who can give us a beautiful and efficient playing style.