Journalist Franco Ordine has provided a rather bleak outlook on all of the failings that have led AC Milan to the point of shock elimination from the Champions League.
The fall-out after the exit at the hands of Feyenoord has been raging on since the full-time whistle, with talk of Zlatan Ibrahimovic giving the team a dressing down in training yesterday.
There have been mentioned of a summer revolution being planned with numerous candidates to leave the club, as well as the idea that Sergio Conceicao might not be around to oversee it.
The last remaining objectives for Milan to try and save the season are a top four finish and to try win the Coppa Italia, but everything to this point – barring the Supercoppa Italiana victory – has left a bitter taste.
Ordine published his weekly column for MilanNews and spoke about the result on Tuesday night in a piece titled: ‘Everyone made a mistake, from the club to the coach and the players. Blaming only Theo is a mistake’.
“It is in these hours that the capabilities of the club, coach and players are measured. These are the most complicated hours experienced at the height of the disastrous result achieved on Tuesday evening, after having failed – and it should have been understood immediately that the conditions were there to miss the third and final opportunity – the first two appointments between Zagreb and Rotterdam,” he began.
“A club led with a sure hand by a team experienced in football events does not make hasty decisions today or tomorrow but takes on collective responsibilities and analyses the details. Ibra continues to repeat: ‘There was no maturity’. It’s true.
“But it was evident since the last days of Pioli and the first days of this season when Fonseca was greeted, by the media and fans, with widespread skepticism that ended beyond the gates of Milanello. Hence the sensational rift with Theo and Leao at the Olimpico and the subsequent events.
“An experienced football management team cannot ignore the contradictions in terms of technical judgments starting with Emerson Royal in the summer and then replacing him with the more experienced and reliable Walker, as well as moving from selling Tomori and Pavlovic, to the recovery of the pair thanks to Conceiçao, or from the recognition that the ideal centre-forward could not be Morata but Gimenez purchased at the end of January. Pavlovic is the one who held the bar in defence.
“And these are just some of the points to be considered. The sad evening at San Siro has brought the number one defendant to the headlines, namely Theo Hernandez. He was stoned by fans on social media, by critics and by ferocious insiders. It was inevitable.
“But we must ask ourselves: what has been done to try to cure the dark disease that has affected Theo since the beginning of the season, with a performance below his threshold and with demonstrations that testified to the fact that he was disconnected from the club, the coach, his teammates and football? Paradoxically, on the very evening in which his performance made some progress, he committed yet another folly that cost something like 11 million euros!
“We cannot even think that on this occasion Sergio Conceiçao is completely free from criticism despite the precariousness of his role and the limited time he had available. After the red card he reshuffled the lineup against Feyenoord first with a worrying immobility, then pulling Gimenez away with the explanation that his ailment had to be managed.
“But then he could have brought Abraham on immediately and recalled Joao Felix! Instead he left Joao Felix on the pitch who already during the first half had shown signs of poor finishing. Now is the time in which you cannot make a wrong move or make a hasty decision (like taking off Theo) because the fate of the season will be decided by the next three matches which are Turin on Saturday night, then the recovery with Bologna and then Lazio.
“Finally the last consideration. If the key errors bear the signature of Gabbia, plus Musah, Maignan and Theo Hernandez, that is, the main exponents of the Scudetto season, can we say that what Milan lacked was not quality but the man capable of eliminating the limits and exalting the virtues of the squad? The answer is obviously yes.”
Totally agree.
The team was ahead when Theo was sent off (which was stupid all around) but no one is talking about the idiotic substitutions.
The team was totally broken down simply because of Conceição’s idiotic changes.
Theo should not be the same nly one to get blamed, the team should have reacted better but what do you all expect from a team that can’t win against Cagliari and Dinamo Zagreb
Everyone was talking about the substitutions – go reread the threads. But Milan’s psychological problems were always there. They just stopped playing after Theo’s dismissal – and that seems to be the only constant through 3 coaches now.
Not to excuse Theo who was a clown (again) but let’s be honest he probably wouldn’t have got a red card for diving if it was Serie A… Still an idiot for trying it tho.
Because serie A allows that kind of behavior. Yildiz got a yellow for simulation in the Juventus game yesterday as well.
Yep – we should be as strict in Serie A if other leagues are.
Serie A should catch up to other leagues? LMAO!!! It’s run by dinosaurs.
And now Inter (who has yet to play) is the only serie A team remaining in UCL.
Theo wouldn’t get away with it in Serie A if that was really his intention, and he got and would receive second yellow card for diving. But he also have the tendency to fall lightly to ground to avoid sliding tackles and at that moment (who knows) he probably was expecting a corner kick to Milan since Feyenoords Read was the defender with the tackle. It looked dumb, he should have just gone 100% for another touch on the ball and pass it in the box
Hypocrites didn’t blame Musah for $hit he made vs Dinamo as much as they blame Theo to who we owe so much. In fact they defended him and defending him constantly for his stupidity saying “he is young,he need more playing time,he doesnt play his position…”
Theo will eventually go,don’t worry,and we will search for years for a new theo, there will be a lot of antonini’s ,mesbah’s,Constant’s,ballo toure’s until we find a new quallity player…
Everybody blamed Musah for his stupidity vs Dinamo.
The thing that Theo defenders miss is that Musah is a backup fringe young player and you could expect him to do such a stupid thing, while Theo is supposedly a grown man and a great player.
2nd, that was Musah’s first time to do such a stupid thing, Theo has a plethora of stupid things done, just this season.
Most important thing, Musah mistake didn’t cost you the progress in the tournament, Theo’s did.
You might owe Theo so much, Milan fans and the club doesn’t owe Theo anything. He has been handsomely compensated for his efforts during the last 6 years. Milan made Theo after Real Madrid discarded him and almost no one wanted him back in 2019.
Both resulted in losses. But you’re right, whereas Musah is only 21 and should be allowed mistakes, Theo is a grown-@$$ man and a senior player on this team and should have known better. And Musah even at 21 does not have the track record of disciplinary issues that Theo has.
Milan had way too many shots and 1st half should of ended 2 or 3 up. Yes he did something stupid but the team should of performed better. Also the 1st game was lost in silly mistake as well… the team need moment of calmness but even for that there is no time! All 3 italian teams lost to weaker teams on paper! It’s bigger than theo
Theo second yellow was harsh. What was he supposed to do leave his legs there and get injured? It was better to jump and avoid the contact according to me. It wasn’t a yellow.
Theo is an idiot. That was a blatant dive and a terrible at that. in the age of VAR and cameras up your @$$ why would you ever take that chance already on a yellow in a game you’re actually dominating??
JUST DENSE
What is Milan best 11? Till now, there is no stability and we are expecting wins? Lol
4213 not for lazy players
433 we have gaps on the center
442 we lack a pair of good strikers
Milan shot itself in the foot
I categorically disagree with this article. Ok, the substitutions after the expulsion really were not the best and eventually dismantled the team; Okay, perhaps no suitable job has been done by Conceição in order to recover Theo’s best form. But none of this eliminates a painfully obvious fact: Theo Hernandez was by all means the catalyst element, the pivot of our elimination. The team was with the game under control so far, had already had good opportunities to score in the second Half and everything indicated that it would expand the score and ensure the classification. Expulsion simply imploded everything and the team collapsed, this is the concrete, unavoidable fact.
Theo Hernandez is to blame and must be held responsible for what he did. No one here is talking about stupid punishments, harmful to the club, let alone insane attitudes by the fans, but in PROFESSIONAL responsibility.
The man have said a lot of things to agree with and of course our issues are not just Theo but you want to be precise about Milan’s CL elimination, if you don’t blame it on Theo then you won’t be able to ever blame an elimination on a single player which would be abnormal. It’s not necessary to combine our general issues with an avoidable action of a player that costs us a lot.