This morning’s edition of Tuttosport has taken a rather nostalgic look at AC Milan’s current moment, asking the question: what has happened to the team that won the Scudetto?
The paper (via MilanNews) begins by remaking that the only survivors of the Milan side won the league title in 2021-22 are Mike Maignan and Fikayo Tomori, but they say that because Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao are causing controversy after what happened in the Lazio game.
Ismael Bennacer is no longer at the centre of the project, while Davide Calabria – captain of the current team, and vice-captain of the one that won the Scudetto – now has to fight for his place with the new signing Emerson Royal.
In short, there are enough of that winning block left (six in total), unlike for example the four remaining members of the 2020-21 title team that are at Inter, given the heavy player turnover that has taken place since Antonio Conte left.
The Milan owners have always flaunted that they have prosperous accounts, yet that winning block has been progressively dismantled. Pierre Kalulu and Sandro Tonali have gone, Franck Kessie left on a free transfer, Alexis Saelemaekers continues to be sent out on loan and Brahim Diaz went back.
Some choices clash with the main need expressed over the summer by Paulo Fonseca, that of finding balance to try to at least stop the defensive bleeding. From this point of view, the exit of Saelemaekers to Roma is ‘inexplicable’ in the eyes of the paper.
So, Tuttosport concludes, in this Milan there remains ‘the untouchable quartet of Maignan, Tomori, Hernandez and Leao. But the visual fracture of the Olimpico has made some creaking felt here too’.
Furthermore, only Leao has renewed his long-term contract (until 2028), effectively the last act of the Maldini-Massara duo a few days before being they departed. Maignan and Hernandez are on deals until 2026, so ‘even the signatures of the pillars of the 2022 Scudetto have jammed’.
That’s what Maldini tried to build upon. He explicitly said we already had good foundation, just need additional key decent signings each season. We had the momentum, and no there’s other way to keep the momentum going (and improving) rather than keep investing.
And now, that momentum is gone. The foundation is also falling apart.
Whether you like it or not Maldini was not a good director. I love him and respect him as a player but as a sporting director he was not good.
Too many top players left the club for free and signing CDK for 35m instead of getting Dybala on a free transfer and use that money to get Amrabat to replace Kessie is criminal.
Also, he signed Origi who was injured on a long term contract worth 4.5m per season. That alone deserves jail time. Because we could have got Kolo Muani on a free transfer or Boniface, Enzo Fernandez and Alvarez for cheap.
These were the players Moncada recommended to Maldini. Furlani also wanted Dybala but Maldini refused.
Maldini was fired because of these poor decisions and he did not work well with Furlani and Moncada as he wanted full power on transfers.
Not a good director, yet he won the best director award. He’s not perfect, yes, considering how new he was in the role. Can he get even better in times? Of course.
If he’s not a good director, I don’t know what you’d say on our current directors.
“Not a good director, yet he won the best director award. ”
And Milan physio won the physio of the year award even with the record amount of injuries. They give awards to everyone.
And it’s very easy to point finger here and there. If it comes to bad players, then it’s Maldini’s fault. When it’s good players, the other got credits. Hows that even work.
And let me share this again. Directly from your Moncada.
“Among the things I like at AC Milan is the fact that we work with Paolo Maldini, who played there, he loves this club so much. When we sign a player, Paolo Maldini talks to him a lot and to his family,”
“When a young player arrives at Milan he says ‘ah, it’s Paolo Maldini, it’s impressive.’ Maldini’s work helps to understand where the young player is arriving and his new reality.
“We say to these young people: ‘Ok, so you have arrived at Milan, the work begins now. We believe in you, you don’t have to be shy, show that you have talent and impact. AC Milan are a huge club. Everything depends on your success’. We try to reassure the young players.
“When Paolo tells me that this player is worthy of Milan, that we can structure him, help him grow, I listen to him because he knows how to become a top player. He won a lot with Milan. He has passion in his blood.
“When we sign a player, Maldini pays particular attention to everything because he wants the player to be an added value. I talk a lot with him.
“Milan, before, was already a top club, so maybe they didn’t need to focus much on scouting. They brought the best players like Kakà and Shevchenko who already played in CL and he was already very good.”
Zion, you are 100% right. Maldini made a ton of mistakes and the team was getting weaker. Not only did he letting Kessie leave for free and not replacing him, but Calhanoglu and Donnarumma as well. Not to mention the list of terrible signings he made. But most of the people here have blinders on when it comes to Maldini and think he has never made a mistake ever.
This is one of the dumbest articles I’ve ever read. That was not some great squad Milan had either. They won the Scudetto with probably the 3rd or 4th best squad that year. Everything came together just right for them to win it. Juventus was rebuilding after Ronaldo left, and Inter who had won it the year before just lost their coach and their leading scorer in Lukaku. SO those teams had a bit of a down year and Milan suprised everyone. (no credit to Pioli of course) It was all Maldini.
“The Milan owners have always flaunted that they have prosperous accounts, yet that winning block has been progressively dismantled”
Destroyed the foundations and flushed roughly 180 millions down the drain. Pulisic and Reijnders (who was not even needed considering system and formation in place) were the only improvements from first summer after 110 millions spending spree. Pavlovic the only in this summer after 70 millions spent.
These three combined cost 60 millions. Imagine what we could get with the rest of 120 millions under a proper sporting director and people who actually know their business. Heads were chopped off for much less.
You can add Okafor (he is a great sub and can play 2-3 positions) and maybe Morata (as the new Giroud) and Fofana (as the new Kessie). For the last 2 only time will tell if they will fill the shoes of the previous players. But other than them the squad has been shrank (not in faces but in quality).
Oh yes I totally forgot Okafor. But Morata and Fofana are yet to show anything. They haven’t played enough. Pavlovic was an instant impact like Pulisic last summer.
What a ridiculous comment. First of all, both Okafor and Jovic provided good production off the bench last season, something (depth) that was sorely missing from the previous year’s team. RLC also added 10 goals for the team and put in some very good performances. ANd Musah provided some important minutes and still has potential to end up being a good signing.
To say that Pavlovic is the only good signing from this summer is really too dumb to even warrant a response, but I will anyways.
Morata is an upgrade on a 37 year old Giroud. The guy played 20 minutes and already scored a goal that helped lead the team back from 2-0 down.
Same can be said for Abraham who played about 20 minutes and already made a big contribution in the game tying goal last game.
Literally everyone here wanted Fofana when it looked like Milan might not get him, and now that they signed him, now it’s not a good signing?
These are all upgrades, these are all positive moves. And to say it’s too early yet to judge, when that’s exactly what you are doing is the height of hypocrisy.
“What has happened to the team that won the Scudetto?” Good question…
Well for a start, they had the worst title defence in living memory the following season and wouldn’t have got into the CL if it weren’t for Juve’s point deduction. (Despite still having Maldini as a director.)
Some players’ form either started to wildly fluctuate up and down (Theo, Mike, Leao, Bennacer, Tomori, Kalulu) or drop off a cliff entirely (Calabria).
Other essential players left/were sold – however you want to look at it (Tonali) or were given away for free (Kessie, Romagnoli)
We experienced the worst injury crisis I think in the history of football.
We had a coach who, like his players, enjoyed mixing elite-level performances (Napoli, PSG) with ones you’d expect to see in Serie C.
Senators got old. Giroud, Ibra, Kaer all reached a point where they couldn’t go on.
The whole team needed restructuring thanks to some god awful purchases like Origi, CDK, Ballo, Thiaw and rebuilding from Berlusconi banter era.
RedBird ballsed up by missing out on Motta and Conceição and purchasing even more deadwood like Emerson Royal.
Etc. etc. etc. The moral of the story being – the problem isn’t JUST management – it’s a whole bunch of crap that’s going to take more than one season to fix.
The article feels weak when reflecting on two years ago. On the flip side, the current Milan squad has real Scudetto potential—they just need to believe in themselves. Redbird has delivered two outstanding transfer windows, making the current team even stronger than the one that won the Scudetto. Honestly, I’m more puzzled by how Inter, with such a mediocre team last season, managed to win and take the title, rather than why Milan struggled and finished second. But that’s part of the game—I still enjoy watching Milan.
Inter has a mediocre team and Milan has a Scudetto team? Man you have to know that Milan doesn’t play in black and blue, I think you’re confused.
In the 23/24 season, Inter has players like Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Yann Sommer, Francesco Acerbi, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Kristjan Asllani, Stefan de Vrij, Matteo Darmian, Federico Dimarco, and Denzel Dumfries, but many of them are fairly mediocre. On the other hand, AC Milan can boasts standout talents such as Mike Maignan, Theo Hernández, Rafael Leão, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Olivier Giroud, and Tijjani Reijnders. While Inter has an edge with Lautaro Martínez and Nicolò Barella, the overall comparison shows Milan with stronger individual quality.
How does Inter have a mediocre squad? There’s very few Milan players that could get into Inter’s side.
Lautauro and Thruam are better than any strikers Milan have. Calhanoglu and Barella walk into Milan starting midfield. And their defense is miles better.
That Scudetto was a perfect storm when everything and everyone came together, even Radu. Not one person was solely responsible for it as some would claim…
We’re still a banter club unfortunately, trying to elevate back into European relevancy. But we have a while to go.