Pietro Mazzara believes that AC Milan’s summer ‘revolution’ is one that is at risk of setting the club back years due to the wrong choices made.
It has been a case of two steps forward and three steps back for Milan in the league so far this season. Each time they look like turning a corner, they come crashing back down to earth with a damaging defeat, like the Atalanta one on Friday.
The result is that Milan have taken just five points from 18 available against the six sides above them this season so far. They are nine points behind Fiorentina in fourth, and 12 behind Atalanta who are now top.
Mazzara published his weekly column for MilanNews and – in addition to revealing that Gian Piero Gasperini would have come to Milan in the summer if he were asked – he spoke about the state of the project.
“A cultural all-in that is taking Milan out of its dimension. The defeat in Bergamo on Friday night is yet another proof that this season is seriously in danger of going to waste and that the asterisk in the standings due to the postponement of the match with Bologna cannot, is not and must not be an alibi for what is happening,” he said.
“It is easy to get excited about the victories against Empoli and against the reserves of Sassuolo, but then comes the harsh truth: this Milan is behind Atalanta, Inter and Napoli and will have to fight hard to try to grab fourth place to stay in the Champions League.
“If this situation does not occur, there is a risk of a resounding fall into the abyss that puts the club and team in front of a very significant downsizing with accompanying changes of direction, from all points of view.
“It is not cosmic pessimism, it is not wanting to row against, it is the sad reality of what is seen over the course of the weeks on the pitch. The team has shown, for yet another year, to be poorly assembled, the environment around it is inspired by the Premier League, but in Italy things work differently.
“We need people on the field, we need a real sporting director who is at Milanello and who can make decisions, technical and managerial and for the mercato, alongside Moncada. We cannot leave the team to its own devices, its playing problems but also its environmental ones.
“Who knows what Gerry Cardinale thinks of all this. Who knows what he said to Ibrahimovic, Furlani and Moncada on the trio’s trip to New York. Who knows if he really realises how serious the situation is inside Milan and at Milan, with his investment at risk of depreciating dramatically if they don’t qualify for the Champions League.
“Who knows if anyone will ever take public responsibility for the summer choices made, from the coach to Emerson Royal. The post-Pioli era had to be different, because in Italy foreign coaches, unless they are top managers, don’t win and always do poorly in terms of results.”
Pero ya aparecen los BUFÓNES!!! Defendiendo a un mediocre 🤮🤢🇵🇹🤡
Don’t want to say told you so, but… Yeah
If there is one word to sum up Cardinale’s time with Milan, it’s “Ignorance”. We’re starting to become a club run like Chelsea but with no budget. We’ll have large but short peaks with long and low valleys. Not the way a club like Milan should operate but we fans don’t run the club and it’s clear that Cardinale doesn’t care about the fans. The club is run like the Cowboys now, it’s not for the fans, it’s for the stakeholders. Who cares if the Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl in 20 years, they’re the most profitable franchise in the world. Ask the Cowboy fans who are leaving in droves…They’re not picking other teams, they’re just not watching anymore and not buying jerseys. It was debatable in the summer but I think it’s clear now, this isn’t a comedy of errors in the management’s view, it’s their system. They have a team they built with purpose not by accident. This is the ceiling of their capabilities, that’s it.
The American clowns won’t change their approach next summer. In fact, they will even have the bonus excuse of team not making it top 4, hence the need of budget cutbacks. Fonseca will probably stay or a similar profile coach will be brought in, the mercato will consist of random decisions and we will probably two one or two key players. It’s been two years and these arrogant people have shown zero sings of adapting to the reality of Italian football. They are almost proud with their different approach, because they don’t care about results. It’s naive to think anything in Milan will change until a potential buyer appears. At least Roma’s fans are vocal about their ridiculous US owners. Ours are perfectly happy to make for tickets and jeer the players, what a counterproductive strategy.