Milan Obsession

Tomorrow Milan face off against the team who currently sit in second place in Serie B, Crotone. Why should you care? Because it’s for the Coppa Italia, also known as the Precious. Also known as the only competition that Milan truly have a chance of winning a bonafide trophy in this season. And that reward also comes with a patch to wear all next year, so our kits don’t look quite so empty. (Also because Juventus have way too many patches this year, they can afford to lose some of them.) At this stage of the competition, it’s win or go home. So even if we are facing i Squali, or the Sharks, a team perfectly capable of surprising us, we need to take this match seriously and be fearless against the shark attack.

Mihajlovic has got to be feeling pretty good tonight. He beat his old team and that crazy ex-boss Massimo Ferrero. He also beat his ex-teammate, Montella, who is also the coach who seems to follow him everywhere – taking the jobs at Catania, Fiorentina, and Sampdoria right after Mihajlovic left. He should also be happy because Milan scored four goals for the first time in over a year. But most importantly, having finally been able to implement his preferred system of 4-4-2 with this group, he has to be thrilled at how convincing the system was. So not only has he got to be thrilled with the win, he’s got to feel a little giddy about showing the naysayers who said this wouldn’t work. Told you so.

L’aeroplanino comes to the San Siro, now as pilot of Sampdoria. Time to shoot down a plane.

This match was supposed to be easy. But the easy ones are the trickiest anyway, right? Add to that the sacking of Zenga and the hiring of Montella, and all of a sudden, Milan have no room for error. If we don’t play a perfect game, Sampdoria could drown us. But if we do play a perfect game, the fans will go berserk with the unrealistic expectations and test the mentality of the team yet again. Especially after that overwhelming Trofeo San Nicola victory on Tuesday. So Saturday, we will have to choose between the Devil and the deep blue sea.

Milan are taking part in the inaugural Trofeo San Nicola tournament, along with a cock and a bull. The tournament is just like the Trofeo Tim tournament, where three teams play each other in three 45 minute matches. For Milan, and that team with all of the bull, it is a distraction from the fact that they are not playing in Europe. For Bari, it will be a chance to reminisce about Serie A and how it used to be when they played there. A meaningless midweek friendly. Kind of sad, really. A cock and bull story.

There is an old adage that says “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Apparently, Milan took that to heart tonight when facing Juventus. They obviously took a page out of Allegri’s game plan, to “confuse and astound.” And to be quite honest, Milan upped their game for this one. However, it cost them three points and let Juve jump ahead of us on the table, too. But we as fans shouldn’t be that surprised or heartbroken about this one. We are used to failure and disappointment whenever we see Allegri’s Face. Just be grateful we get to face Inter and Bari on Tuesday now instead of playing in the Champions League. See what I mean? Confuse and Astound.

Let’s see if we can take down this hideous freak of nature (and its zebretta part, too)

Okay, I know that there will be a football match. And I know that the team is actually called Juventus, not Allegri. But I have acute anxiety over something else entirely: That face. I barely even care what happens on the pitch, it will be a win, a draw, or a loss. There will be no ‘Gol di Muntari,’ because there’s goal line technology now, and obviously no Muntari. But I am terrified of having to see Allegri again, to hear him screaming “Dai Dai Dai!” like a possessed broken record player. Even if he is nominated for the coaching Ballon d'Or and is also The Most Interesting Coach in the World. So although I know I should be thinking about the game, I can’t help it. Every time I close my eyes, all I can see is that face.

Saturday we face off with an opponent that is all too familiar. No, I’m not talking about Juventus, I’m talking about Allegri. Massimiliano Allegri are two words which still strike fear in the hearts of many Milanisti, despite the fact that he won a Scudetto and a Super Coppa trophy during his three and a half years at Milan. The first year was the honeymoon period, but the two and a half years after that scarred many Milanisti for life. It’s a little phenomenon I like to call the Allegri Effect.™.

After an extended injury break, the podcast is finally back. Hopefully, Milan get the memo and step up and give us some more good things to talk about. Until that point, like a baby deer learning to stand and then walk, Milan will most likely still be finding our footing. That process allows for successes and failures, but does not demand the consistency that most of us fans are craving. But even with a run of three consecutive wins, consistency is still very much lacking in this season. Whether it be mentality or injuries or just missing pieces still, Milan are definitely still looking to find their footing.

What were you doing at 16 years old? For most people, it certainly wasn’t starting in goal for a big club in Serie A. For most goalkeepers who end up in Serie A, even they were only dreaming of playing for a big club at that age. But Gigio Donnarumma has not only realized that dream, he is also making fans worldwide dream big, too. And it’s not just because of his 6’5”(1.96m) frame, either. It’s because he has “it”… that special combination of astonishing skills, calm demeanor, and maturity well beyond his years that makes a strong case for an amazing career ahead of him. Perhaps it is wrong to put such pressure on his big young shoulders, but out of all of the young keepers we’ve seen break into Serie A before age 20, he truly seems to be a legitimate boy wonder.

It is way too early to say that Milan is on the mend, we’ve seen how quickly a season can deteriorate. And in many ways, nothing’s changed. But there are some signs of hope, some improvements that may not have us top of the table, but at least in a position on the table that Milan are more accustomed to. A month ago, we had a poll that asked what we should do from here to help Milan back to the top. Today, I thought I’d ask what you think is working well this season… which change or changes do you think Milan made this summer that are impacting the club most? For you, what are this season’s surprises?

Countless deadlines have come and gone, the Chinese Stock Market has crashed and is showing signs of rising again, yet Mr. Bee has still not come through with his part of the over-hyped deal to purchase 48% of AC Milan. Despite the fact that fans have spent the nearly half billion euros in their imaginations at least twelve times over, creating fantasy teams that would defy all FFP rules and theoretically be invincible, there is actually no money for such fantasies in reality. And as time goes by, it appears that there never will be, despite the agreement that was signed. Which begs the question, do you still Beelieve?

Going into this match, it was really too much to expect a win. We had three consecutive wins, but only one of those was a good performance. With missing starters and, well, being this Milan, it would have been easy to lose this one. But with the astonishing skills of a 16 year-old keeper and a lot of luck, too, we fought off a very hungry Atalanta when they had a much better game than us. So I chalk up the single point to the luck of the draw.

Riding the wave of three wins in a row, Milan face a new challenge in their house on Saturday in the form of La Dea, or The Goddess. Atalanta haven’t exactly been playing like a goddess, though, coming off of being blanked by Donadoni’s 18th place Bologna 3-0 last week. Their form is good enough to have them still in eighth place, but that is miraculously below sixth place Milan. And while they were disgraced by Bologna last week, they will undoubtedly be determined to not to be made a meal of again. So beware of Atalanta, also known as leftover Bologna.

Milan finally convinced on Sunday, with a 3-1 win over Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico. But that victory came at a great cost, as there were at least three injuries in that match and a yellow card accumulation suspension to be handed down. With the recovery period still unknown for the injured, we start to ask ourselves: Was this victory worth the toll on our starting eleven? What exactly will be the price of victory?

This was a seemingly impossible task: beating Lazio at home, which had not been done this season. Or achieving a third consecutive win, something we hadn’t done all of last season. Or winning despite using two subs for injuries by the 50th minute. Or winning despite those hideous third kits. For so many reasons, Milan were not the favorites. But that’s not what the players thought. Mihajlovic was spot on when he said that we’d need to endure some ugly wins before our game returned. And that those ugly wins would build the guys’ confidence. One could argue that we won because Lazio played poorly, and they would definitely have some merit. But Milan improved tonight, too. So whether you believe Lazio played poorly or Milan played well, or anywhere in between, one thing is for sure: the Eagles have landed.