Milan Obsession

Traveling to Pescara, it’s hard to fear a team that only has 12 points on the season. That’s six points from draws, three points because an opponent was judged to have fielded an ineligible player, and three points from a coaching change miracle win. So it’s not the team I fear so much, but rather the coach. That coach, of course, is Zdenek Zeman. He’s coached 17 different teams in his career, some of them multiple times. And yet his only claims to fame are winning Serie B two different times and winning Serie C2 once. So I’m not worried about him chasing Juventus for a title now or any time in the future. But what I am worried about is his ability to create brilliant individual wins. His infamous attacking style can throw even the best teams off guard, and take three impossible points any day of the week. So watch out, Milan. On Sunday, you’re entering Zeman Country.

Guest Post: Another great guest post from Tony to get us through the end of this International Break. If you haven’t already, definitely read his debut piece, “The Berlusconi Myth.”Thanks again, Tony!
I have never been a fan of blind optimism. Like the deer in the headlights that is inevitably struck by the same large truck that rendered it unable to move, life will also hit you, too, if you don’t heed the warning signs. It’s not negativity, it’s being realistic. So many people hear that the Milan sale saga has yet another closing date and say “just wait and see” what happens. But I don’t need to wait and see. The warning signs are everywhere. Plus, having lived through the past five years with Milan, I’ve learned that it hurts less when you see it coming. Well that, and just when you think we’ve hit rock bottom, we find a whole new level to sink to.

It is no secret that I am American. But it is also pretty well known that I support Italy when it comes to football. I mean I fell in love with football because of the Italian national team. Also, did I mention I was American? Yeah. Go USMNT. Or something. I mean I think I’d rather be forced to support the San Marino national team or something, at least they try. But as I watched the Italians singing “Fratelli d’Italia” on Friday, including our own De Sciglio, my heart was stirred again in the way that I first fell in love with football, and I was certain that this truly is my Italian love affair.

I am so done with this Sino Europe Sports deal. So done. And yet, here I am, writing about it again because… well because it’s not done. Still. And the saga gets more and more pathetic as the days go by. But as it drags on, the rumors get more and more ridiculous. Some people even think it’s going to get done by hook or by crook.

It’s been almost a year since a true Milan legend left us. Cesare Maldini is probably best known amongst our generation as the father of Paolo, and grandfather of Christian and Daniel. But in addition to having the good footballing genes to pass on to his posterity, he had wisdom. Wisdom that came from experience. Few realize that before Paolo was our captain, Cesare was also a legendary Milan captain in his own right.

Guest Post: I was so excited to find this great piece from Tony in my inbox the other day! Please give him a Milan Obsession welcome for this fantastic debut piece:
With the future of the club hanging in the balance, it might be prudent to look at the club’s financial past. Silvio Berlusconi is well known for rescuing the club from bankruptcy and turning it into one of the most successful clubs in history. However, his beloved status with Milan fans for his endless investments and myriad trophies often clouds the truth. The truth is that the man who “changed football forever” also changed football finances forever. Behind the beloved myth is the unsustainable business model he created.

Tonight the team played like a club that had been waiting for two years for the club to be sold, but had been strung along and were no closer now than they were two years ago. Tired, frustrated, and missing important pieces, it was hardly a performance to write home about. But the most important part was that they pulled off the win. Even if Genoa offered very little in the way of resistance, Milan won in spite of themselves. Which gave fans both hope and the three points. And that was also more than Inter gave their fans today. It wasn’t great, but it was good enough.

Hard to think about the game with so much hanging in the balance

Let’s face it, this deal is going nowhere. And that means neither is Galliani. Perfect, then, that we are hosting his favorite feeder club on Saturday. He can have his choice of lower table Genoa players for only a 20% markup from his buddy Preziosi. Sure, Barbara might have something to say about it, but look what happened to her the last time she tried to do something on her own. So bring a paper and pencil, so you can jot down the names of next year’s squad.

We are still in holding mode. Sino Europe Sports couldn’t get ketchup out of a bottle, much less money out of China. And ketchup can be tricky. While we await yet another deposit but still no sale, let’s take today and compare and contrast this deal with other things that are difficult.

In America, before the exorbitant and now routine use of credit cards, many retail stores offered layaway plans. If you wanted to buy a new television, for example, but couldn’t afford to pay for it all at once, you paid a down payment and the store would hold that TV for you as you made payments. Once you had it paid off, the TV was yours. Sino Europe Sports seem to be forcing that plan on Milan, too. The only problem is not only are Fininvest keeping the club until it is paid off, this layaway plan keeps the club in the back room in a box, too. Not allowing anything to move forward, we have missed out on two transfer markets and negotiations toward this summer’s market are also tied up until the sale is complete. And it begs the question: do Sino Europe Sports deserve to even purchase the club?

This is not the first time we’ve faced the Bianconeri in Turin and faced a scandal. It kind of seems like it always happens there. Which we never seem to mind if it plays out for us, in our house or there. But there is also a dangerous and growing conspiracy theory out there that started, actually with those cry baby cheating Inter scumbags (that’s the unbiased technical terminology, the vernacular is much worse.) Then Napoli joined them because there were no territorial discrimination witchhunts available at the time. Most famously, this past week, De Laurentiis accused journalists in the north of being biased (but you know, that’s not territorial discrimination at all,) and a La Gazzetta dello Sport journalist had his car destroyed by Napoli fans. So I’m sure the man who hops onto scooters with random strangers and incites violence must be right. All Juventus ref calls are clearly biased and unmerited and that is why they, with the strongest and most coveted team in Italy, clearly o…

Do not try this at home

I would say that we have a chance in hell of winning this one. One chance. Away to the Juventus fortress, where they have won every home game for a Serie A record of 30 games. Okay, maybe one chance was too high. They are also coming off of a lackluster draw to Udinese away on Sunday, and we get to be their warmup for killing off Porto in the Champions League at Juventus stadium next Tuesday. Lucky us. So as I mentioned on the latest podcast, all we’ve got left this week is to be able to make fun of their logo. Which at least provides endless hours of entertainment.

I’m not gonna lie, this is not a positive podcast. If you’re not already taking any Milan-induced antidepressants, you probably should talk to your doctor before you listen to this one. Or at the very least buy stock in acohol. The club has sunk to new depths each year for the last four and a half years, and just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, it does. With the latest failure to complete the sale of the club, you’re going to need a lot of Prozac to continue to support Milan.

Going into this match was the most empty and hollow I’ve felt as a Milan fan, and if you read here often or listen to the podcasts, you’ll know that’s saying a lot. With no certainty of the future of the club whatsoever, no direction, no promise of change one way or the other, it was impossible to feel much of anything. And though everyone says that they are not distracted, Montella and the team gave signs that said otherwise before this match. With everyone’s patience wearing thin, it seemed difficult to imagine that the guys would be able to focus enough to pull off the win. But they did, almost miraculously so, to give us a little something to be happy about in a sea of uncertainty. Against all odds, too.

The future of Milan hangs in the balance, and this guy has to lead the troops into battle

This week started out with a somewhat contentious but very welcome win for Milan. It was supposed to end with a takeover of the club after ten months of ups and downs, but instead, it pretty much just went down. Even the press conference for this match was scheduled for today instead of Friday, apparently because Montella was going to be meeting with the new management on Friday. And I have commended Montella in the past for being able to absorb whatever drama was going on around the club. But at this point, when things crumbled again at the last minute, I don’t know anyone who could shield the team from these ridiculous distractions.