Money Changes Everything

After a joyful victory over Chievo on Sunday, and moving up to third on the table, it’s hard not to smile. But it’s also a little disconcerting not knowing what lies around the corner. I mean, for one thing, now that we’ve finally found some kind of balance with so many young players, will the purchase of the club by the Chinese ruin that balance? Will they spend money on older players, possibly with egos? And what of the emotional balance of the team? If they are already scouting players without consulting with the coach, how will that affect the mentality of the coach and squad? Funny that we kind of got what we wanted – a primarily young team, and that the other thing we wanted, for Berlusconi to sell the club, may actually undo everything else we’ve waited so patiently for. Money changes everything.

"Don't cry Locatelli, it's okay to play youth now."

Sunday’s victory wasn’t just a victory over a team that started the day ahead of us on the table. It was a victory for every fan who cried out for us to field our young players. And even if Montella’s hands were mostly tied due to injuries, it was a beautiful thing to see them all play so well together. But at the same time, Fassone & Mirabelli were at the Chelsea-Leicester game, reportedly to open up talks with Cesc Fabregas. Fabregas is 29, but has seen better days. He is more likely to see a red card or sit on the bench than to perform on a big stage. More importantly, Montella specifically said that he is NOT the kind of midfielder he was looking for. Very disturbing that at the same time our youth were proving themselves, our soon-to-be CEO and Sporting Director were acting in complete dissent to their soon-to-be coach. I’m no football expert, but wouldn’t you want to buy the players that your coach wants?

So strange, that without the signatures even finalized, the Sino Europe Sports group are doing everything wrong. People say that the deal isn’t even finalized yet, it will all work out, etc. But how can people say that when they are already going to work and doing everything the opposite of what Milan, its players & fans want? How will that not disrupt this fragile mental balance we’ve somehow achieved? It’s certainly not good for my mental balance.

Apparently I mistook competence for arrogance

But I find it interesting how money blinds people’s perception. Last week, when reports were made about the identity of some of the members of the consortium, I saw someone excitedly touting that three of the companies alone were worth €3 billion. No mention, of course, as to what their liquid assets are. Which is important, because if you remember, Berlusconi was worth at least €8 billion, depending on who you asked, and his lack of liquid assets amongst that giant number are why he sold the club to begin with. So how is this supposed to be better?

Maybe people just read or hear what they want to, but I am very nervous about our future. While Sino Europe Sports group said a lot of nice things, I don’t believe any of them anymore, based on what they are already doing. Even before the closing of the deal. Ironic that we should finally find our young team that we were looking for, sit in a great position on the table, and otherwise defy the odds. Yet the sale of the club and the people who will be running things are poised to take that all away. Money changes everything.

This post inspired by the music of The Last Shadow Puppets’ “Everything You’ve Come to Expect” album

Our next match is

Milan vs. Juventus

Saturday, October 22nd • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)