AC Milan’s Champions League journey came to an abrupt end last night as they were knocked out by Feyenoord, and there is predictably a large fall-out.
As Corriere dello Sport (via MilanNews) recall, Zlatan Ibrahimovic expressed all his disappointment and regret after the full-time whistle, saying that if Milan did not qualify for the Champions League round of 16 it is their own fault.
The Senior Advisor to RedBird Capital spoke of sporting suicide, and it would be accurate given that the red card Theo Hernandez received early in the second half completely changed the complexion of a tie that Milan otherwise looked likely to get through.
The two yellow cards the Frenchman got are the perfect symbol of his season, and it seriously risks having direct consequences on his future at Milan, which is still in the balance considering the negotiations for the renewal in progress.
However, the paper highlights that while Theo might be the main culprit, there are others to blame as well and Sergio Conceiçao is one of them. He tried to defend himself in the press conference after the game, before taking on some responsibility.
“I arrived a month and a half ago, but they make comparisons with coaches who have been here for years. In this month and a half we haven’t worked with the first team, we’ve worked with a few people who do different things,” he said.
“We won the only trophy we could win, we’re in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and in the league, since I arrived, we’ve got 14 points and Napoli 15. It’s not all perfect, there’s a lot of work to do.
“But we have to remember this. The atmosphere here at Milan isn’t the best and the red card proves it: we have to work on this at a mental level with the players. Believe me, it’s not easy, it’s not easy.”
Milan therefore continue without any kind of balance, and if not even the coach things he can find quick counter-measures then the situation risks becoming a very serious one in the scheme of the season.
Yesterday evening Conceiçao didn’t help himself, as the substitutions he made have left many doubts among supporters, which make the Portuguese ‘responsible as much as Theo’ for this elimination of Milan in the eyes of the paper.
What exactly subs?
Abraham is 2nd forward option, which ever Roma does not want.
Bartesaghi… Theos back up plan. We still don’t know anything about him.
Chukwueze- winger flop.
And Fofana who played almost all games since arriving…
There is no one on the bench anymore.
Yes it’s also a coach mistakes. He made few bad decisions, but the result is not his fault and generally he is still good coach , .. Only good thing is now we can concentration only on Seria A and there is a space for more training season… we are 5 points behind 4th place and still has 1 game in hand… + we can still win Coppa italia… let’s be honest we don’t have a chance to win CL … now we have time for important part of season
The coach is right though. The biggest issue is the mental level of the players. They just don’t give a f***. Well… Most of them.
Yes, but what happened? You are writing like this came out of the blue. Milan won the Scudetto, then Redbird took over and after this everything started to fall apart. Before this moment it was actually coming together and it looked like Milan is going back to being a player in CL, fighting for the Scudetto and so on. But, no, the focus is obviously on financial Scudetto and praying to be in CL. This is what it looks like to me. Now I hope that Redbird defaults the loan in 2 years so these guys can take over again. They seem to be much better in sports management that the actual sports management company that Gerry is running.
There’s no big secret behind this mess:
It’s what you get when you have Wall Street greaseballs who only chase paper and have no prior experience of managing a sporting club and neither were they involved in one prior to their executive careers.
It’s what you get when you suddenly kick through the back door the symbol of this club who brought us better days back by winning Scudetto and a got us to bea regular in CL.
It’s what you get when you sell a die hard fan who always left his heart on the field and was a potential bandiera and future captain just to get bunch of no names and non functional players for the sake of re-sale.
It’s what happens when you let your players know, they’re only assets and that no one is safe from being sold. Family values don’t matter here anymore, there’s a price tag on everyone.
It’s what happens when you act tough behind the closed doors but when the team and these young lads actually need you to protect them, you cowardly sneak behind closed doors and leave them alone to face the wrath of the fans only to preach them about success and winning mentality afterwards.
It’s what happens when you use “Ibra tone” and try to force players out of the club, some of which are homegrown, long serving and dedicated players and some who came and were praised 6 months ago but are suddenly a persona non grata.
Very well written.
It’s so sad to see my beloved AC Milan, who under Silvio Berlusconi ruled the world, reduced to such mediocrity that they can no longer compete at the highest levels in Europe. Once the destination of choice for the finest footballers on the planet, it has now become a retirement home for aging stars, and a nursery for budding champions who are to be fed to other clubs. Once a team with a solid Italian core augmented by brilliant players from abroad, it’s now a dysfunctional hodgepodge of international mercenaries of varying and mostly dubious quality.
What is AC Milan if the legendary and talismanic Paolo Maldini – an iconic symbol of Italian power, style, intelligence, and class – is unceremoniously dismissed after helping lead the club to a scudetto and a respectable finish in the Champions League? His successor Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a very good footballer, but a wanderer; I’m afraid he doesn’t hold a candle to Paolo, who, following in the giant footsteps of his father, served the club loyally and with great distinction over a long period.
Sandro Tonali – a young homegrown talent – was sold before he could realize his full potential and help lead the club to glory. Another shortsighted decision by the management.
Berlusconi was a controversial businessman and politician, but he possessed a very important and rare quality – empathy. He viscerally understood that AC Milan wasn’t just a commercial vehicle for making money, but a cultural institution deeply ingrained in the hearts of its supporters.
Gerry Cardinale is smart but not wise. If he’s bent on stripping AC Milan of its identity and turning it into a fungible commodity, instead of honoring its special historical status as one of the aristocrats of world football; if he’s content to allow the team to be also-rans every year instead of world-beaters in the competitions that truly matter; if – to cut to the chase – he can’t afford to buy and retain the best players, he should get out of the club. AC Milan deserves a superior kind of owner – one with far deeper pockets and greater cultural sensitivity.
The manager shares the blame in 100% of cases. But in the case of Milan the owner needs to take blame as well. They bought the club winning the Scudetto and playing CL semi finals. And where is it 2.5 years later?
I wrote CL semi finals in the same sentence but that was later.
This is what happens when you rip the soul out of a team/club.
Many people here seem to think a team is names on paper, it’s not.
Thats where having experience, players with passion and connection to the club.
On 1 hand you have Tonali, young talented and passionate about the club, on the other you have a career mercenary like Felix who has all the skill but none of the heart.
It’s no wonder good players like Theo and Leao have stagnated in this environment.
Please sell the club Jerry before all is lost. Hopefully Maldini will come back to lead the club again
“The manager shares the blame in 100% of cases.”
Nope. (Assuming by manager you actually mean coach as in Italy there are no managers but all of the are coaches. Especially in Milan.) We’ve had 3 different coaches in the last 2 years and the mental issue is still there. And that’s on the coach(es)? LOL. Nope. The pampered babies are the ones responsible for their immature behavior. Sure, the incompetent management shares the blame but blaming the coach goes off-track.
*in the last 2 years = in less than a year
No, it doesn’t. You don’t understand what a manager is obviously. There isn’t a single manager that isn’t to blame for what people he manages do. If you think there is you don’t understand.
And yes, if you can’t change something it is on you. Who else? What is this, woke management? Yes, big part of the responsibility and blame is on the person making the decisions, in every single moment and situation. Irrelevant what it is.
😀 😀 😀
Of course he is to blame. He’s the one directing these players to constantly grab opposing players and pick up.yellow cards every match. And the diving as well. It’s Portuguese football 101. If anyone watched his Porto teams , this is how they played. And his favoboy Jao Felix does it 2 to 3 times per match. Ugly football. Get him out. Now.
What happened to supporting our players – like Emerson?
The guy is so grumpy since his boyfriend got injured. I don’t think there is a single Milan fan in the world who is in love with RedBird, Royal and Fonseca all at the same time. That is some next level masochism.
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
He’s taking the Fonseca firing so hard these days. Poor fella. He misses Fonseca ball, and 8th place in the league. So sad.
Hey aren’t you the fool that was saying now that we had a “real coach” in there things would be better? You have quickly backed away from that I see.
Weren’t you also Theo’s biggest defender? The poor little guy just needs some rest, or coach that understands him better…
I guess those things make you pick up ridiculous yellow cards and dive in the box.
You have any more great takes or are just too busy hiding from those?
Yes , I’m sure you are super happy about Conceicao crashing us out of the Champions League after Fonseca had us set up perfectly to go thru.
Keep deflecting from the fact that you were incredibly wrong about Conceicao.
Let me know when this “Mentality Monster” gets here. He was going to straighten out these guys like Theo and Leao, right?
Too stupid to realize I’m talking about the coach?
And yes, I support players who don’t intentionally sabotage the team.
Say what you want about Emerson, he doesn’t even come close to Theo as our worst player of the season. Plus he kept Calabria off the pitch which was all I could ask for.