Milan Obsession

When the referee waved a second yellow then red at Gabriel Paletta on Sunday, for the fifth time this season, it seemed as if he was summoning his Jedi powers as if to say “This is not the Argentinian center back you were looking for.” And even if the guy still has a year left on his contract, we can only hope that comes true. Because now, over a week after taking his medicals, I believe we have found the Argentinian center back we are looking for. And his name is Mateo Musacchio.

After a season of surprising ups mixed with expected downs, and even with securing Europa League qualifying last week, it wasn’t much of a surprise that Milan checked out of this match. A big part of it was injuries, but mentality has been weak for some time, and with nothing to play for, it’s no wonder they didn’t play very hard. I’m not sure you could quite say that Milan came into this season like a lion, but it’s easy to say they went out like a lamb.

Sunday’s match is the final match of the season, and for some of our players, their final match for Milan. Only time will tell who is leaving or even how many are leaving, but there are 90 minutes left in this strange and slightly healing season. It’s hard to know if people will even watch, with the game having been moved back and forth so many times in the schedule, and with so many fans having stopped watching anyway. It feels more like it’s approaching closing time at the local pub than a sporting event. More like a familiar voice saying “last call.”

Sunday’s win over Bologna cemented our sixth place finish, putting us into the Europa League qualifying stages this summer. But that may actually hurt our return to glory more than help it because our squad is so very thin. However, Sunday’s match did have a massive return to glory: our new home kit for next season.
Taking its inspirations from iconic periods. Find out more about the new 2017/18 Home kit by @adidasfootball.#HereToCreate#weareacmilanpic.twitter.com/f4j8qSf29f — AC Milan (@acmilan) May 20, 2017

We’ve seen this before, when wearing a great-looking new kit gave us a win. Looking good just gives you confidence. And what an opportune time to come up with a win. But add to it Montella’s 100th win as a coach, Honda being given a token of faith and coming up big, as well as a much anticipated debut for the young Cutrone, and it turned out to be something worth watching. Oh, and there’s that little Europa League qualification spot, too, if you’re into that sort of thing. But this win definitely had that new kit smell.

Will Milan sacrifice the lunchmeat to get Europe?

Milan have had a slump in form since the takeover. But we have miraculously gotten enough draws to stay in sixth place on the table. Most Milan fans are kind of over this seasonanyway, though. Bologna are mathematically safe from relegation but not in the same continent as a European spot, so there might not be a lot of interest in this game. Except for one thing: the new kits. Response has been very positive toward the new first kit so far, so perhaps people will tune in for that. But will the new kits inspire a win? Or will they be like the Emperor’s New Clothes?

With two games left, some fans have already moved on into full fantamercato mode, they don’t even care about the final results. Others are drawn to the potential mercato this season, but watching carefully to see where we finish. Still others are just so happy that we performed better than expected with no mercato to speak of for over a year now. And everything in between. So I wanted to take a little poll today to see where my readers rate the season:

It is no secret that I hate Inter with a passion. I even wrote about how Karmalicious this season was back in November. I have long said that it is ridiculous how much they spent on their players compared with how much we spent on ours. And for us to be above them on the table, even if by only two spots… it’s a miracle. An exquisitely delightful miracle at that. And while I’ve long said that it was true, I finally sat down to get the actual numbers to prove it, and those numbers surprised even me. Call it a little schadenfreude by the numbers.

The outcome of this match has little impact on me. A win, a draw, or a loss didn’t matter as much to me as how we played. See, I am not on the Europe bandwagon. Both for Financial Fair Play implications as well as playing in three competitions without any depth reasons, I don’t think it’s right for us right now. But the formation Montella chose and how he lined everyone up for this match was completely baffling to me. I didn’t know why then and I still don’t know why, but astonishingly enough, we stole a point. So set your affairs in order and dream of playing a team like Swiss side Grasshoppers this summer, because if we can steal a few more points like this, it’s Strangeways here we come.

Atalanta hail from the same region in Italy as Milano, Lombardia. So they are literally and physically very close to home for Milan. But they also sit just six points ahead of us on the table, and a loss tomorrow could put our hopes of a Europa League qualification spot in serious jeopardy. Additionally, we have seen many Milan players through the years come through Atalanta. Likewise, they have three of our former youth players in their ranks who once offered promises of making it to our first team. All things considered, they are just too close to home.

With an injured mentality, there’s a lot to be down about. But we managed to find things that are much more frightening. It was too easy to jump on the sunshine and rainbows train after the close of the sale of the club, and the performances on the pitch since then have pushed people too far. Reality is not as pretty, but there are still things to be happy about (like Inter’s shambolic season.) Also, we discovered the answer for everything.

Milan fans have been high on the grinta Kool-Aid all season long, and coming down from that high is very painful. The truth hurts, and the truth is that Roma have a squad built to contend for the Scudetto and Milan have a squad that is at best built to stave off relegation. Lazio destroying Roma last week gave us hope that Roma would roll over and play dead for us, but that was not to be. The wolves smelled blood and attacked relentlessly, only allowing us a single consolation goal.

Milan give a proper welcome to the King of Rome.

Roma have so few trophies, but they do have a legend: Francesco Totti, King of Rome. And as the saying goes, “No Totti, No Party.” This week it was announced that Totti, one of the last bandiere and a living legend, will be retiring at the end of this season and will be taking on the role of Technical Director for the club. Therefore, this will be his last appearance as a player at the San Siro, the last party.

This week Serie A is under fire once again for how it is dealing with racism. Inconsistencies in acknowledging and punishing those who abuse players make Serie A look like a league stuck in the dark ages. For a league that was just gaining respect again after more than ten years of decline, all of this negative attention is ridiculous. On the one hand, there is a big Champions League semifinal tonight featuring a Serie A team. But instead, what everyone is talking about is how racist and backwards Serie A is.