Milan Obsession

After deadlocks in the two previous meetings with Lazio this season, Milan managed to win. The fact that they won because of a referee call is ironic, given incidents for both clubs with the referees recently. That would have been a bigger part of the conversation last week, when both teams were on the wrong end of referee calls. But unfortunately, injuries, fans, and the behavior of players from both teams immediately following the match has left this one a bit of a tainted victory.

Every match is a final, they said. The last ten matches will determine our fate. And with that pressure, Milan started doing what they know best: choking. If that continues, then expect Milan to choke really, really hard in this match. Because with the points and positions on the table, this match really is important to our qualification for the Champions League next year. We can only hope that being so close to qualifying will make Milan step it up when it matters most.

No, this is not that basketball tournament, that’s over for this year. With seven games left, everyone is focused on which Serie A teams will reach the Champions League for next season. Obviously, Juventus will be there, until they spectacularly crash out somewhere between the group stage and the final. But who will the other three teams be representing Italy? And are any of them teams that could actually win in the Champions League, unlike that team from Turin? Today is your turn to predict the Final Four.

After Saturday’s match, the Milan media and social media erupted in a volcano of rancor yet again. Referees have long been abused, and Italy has a special way of honoring them. Every aspect of their lives is published and discussed before each match, especially if there is any trace of them ever having supported any club in any city remotely related to Serie A. But when a ref makes anything perceived as an error, fans and pundits take to their screens with anger typically reserved for family reunions and actual wars. And if a ref makes a call that is perceived as benefitting Juventus, then he’d better have a really good life insurance policy. But this is sport. And football is supposed to be the “gentlemen’s sport.” Isn’t it about time that we start changing the narrative?

Ever since the Gol di Muntari, every Milan conversation about every match vs. Juventus centers around the ref. Which is a shame, because they’re rarely good looking, and nothing they do is ever as exciting as the things going on all around them on the pitch. From everything I’ve read and seen since the game, this match was no different. Milan were robbed, they say. The ref decided the game, they say. Juve own the refs, they say. All of this from people who’ve never even read the FIFA Laws of the Game, let alone reffed. But the biggest crime is that if that is all they took from this game, they missed a really great match. It was filled with so many good (and bad) things. If you people want to bitch and moan about the refs like that little baby Leonardo, suit yourselves. I loved the football.

This match is usually a relished and highly anticipated event, even when Milan have been struggling. But this time, Milan come into this match with our confidence popped like a balloon, with the bits of the balloon then put through a shredder. After a stretch where our performances were poor and then got even more poor, despite winning results, we lost two matches and drew a match that felt more like a loss. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, we lost two more important starters, too. But because of those results, our Champions League dreams are fading fast, so this match is do or DAI.

Six weeks ago, Milan fans would have assumed that three points against a struggling Udinese were a foregone conclusion. Especially at a San Siro filled with nearly 50,000 fans. But over the break, Udinese brought in the pinch-hitting Igor Tudor, the coach that saved them from relegation at the end of last season. And Milan suffered two painful losses in a row, as well as a new crop of injuries, even before kickoff. So now we’re all miserably lamenting a single point in three matches and licking our wounds as well. Might as well send out the wagons and say “Bring out your dead!”

After two painful losses in a row, Gattuso has promised us “something different” for tomorrow’s match. Personally, I am hoping that it is something called winning. Or even better, a good performance. But even to take home a point (or three) would be considered mixing it up at this moment. And while Gattuso’s attempts at different have never really made me comfortable (or been successful,) I don’t want to see another performance or result like recent games. And now for something completely different.

The loss to Inter was soul crushing, then we had to sit through the International Break, only to have our hopes dashed in the first minute against Sampdoria. Despite previous optimism, with so many other teams fighting for top four, it is very clear that Milan’s Champions League berth is not as solid as it seemed only a few short weeks ago. Unless Gattuso makes some productive changes soon, Milan are in hot water.