Milan kick off their summer tour in Singapore tonight with a friendly vs. Mikel Arteta's Arsenal. This will be Max Allegri's first match after being appointed manager in a very overhyped move by this horrible management, even if he was not even their first choice. The same management who publicly struggled to hire a Sporting Director while still showing zero accountability for destroying this team the past two years, thus giving new hire Igli Tare little chance for success in the transfer window. (Tare was also very publicly not their first choice.) Needless to say, I am not excited for any of this, but here we are. It's time to get friendly with Arsenal.
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| Milan training in Singapore ahead of the match. |
If you are new around here, you may not realize that I have written very regularly about Milan for 14 years now (which includes Allegri's first reign of terror.) I also began podcasting 12 years ago, long before everyone and their cousin's dog's stylist had a podcast. Those who have read or listened for a while will have noticed some big gaps here on the blog and complete inconsistency with the podcast in recent years, which have more to do with longterm serioue personal health issues. However since Maldini was sacked, and more so since so many more recent events such as pushing out players like Calabria and Theo, Milan Futuro being relegated, and hiring Allegri again, without anyone being accountable for any of these complete failures, it has honestly been increasingly difficult to find the strength to keep up here.
So, my apologies in advance if this labor of love project falls by the wayside. Life can be challenging enough without this management destroying the one thing that is supposed to bring us joy. But for today, I am here, losing sleep once again to watch a very incomplete Milan team face an Arsenal team who were runners-up to all of their dreams last season.
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| Players called up for the Summer Tour. |
Players Called Up for Summer Tour
Allegri has called up the following players for the preseason tour:
Goalkeepers: Mike Maignan, Pietro Terracciano, Lorenzo Torriani, and Noah Raveyre Matteo Pittarella
Defenders: Davide Bartesaghi, Matteo Duțu, Matteo Gabbia, Álex Jiménez, Vittorio Magni, Strahinja Pavlović, Filippo Terracciano, Malick Thiaw, and Fikayo Tomori
Midfielders: Warren Bondo, Christian Comotto, Youssouf Fofana, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Yunus Musah, Christian Pulisic, Samuele Ricci, Alexis Saelemaekers
Forwards: Samuel Chukwueze, Lorenzo Colombo, Rafael Leão, Mattia Liberali, Noah Okafor
* Five players were called up from Milan Futuro or Primavera teams, indicated with italics. Newly signed players are indicated with bold italics.
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| Two Terraccianos are better than one, I guess. |
For this match, it is reported that he will be missing Fofana and Álex Jiménez, who are struggling with physical injuries. The 19 year-old Vittorio Magni is the only true fullback in the squad. While Terracciano and Bartesaghi have both played many roles and may be considered fullbacks now, none of these players would be considered starters. Allegri has made it a point to make Leão the focal point of the team, and has appointed Maignan the official captain (clearly trying to salvage the last of our world class players.) He seems to rate Saelemaekers and likes Tomori as well, who gave the prematch interview alongside the Mister.
Santiago Gimenez and new signing Luka Modrić have not traveled with the team due to their postseason national team duties. They are both expected to return from their vacations at the beginning of August. Emerson Royal has not yet trained with the team due to post-injury issues and impending transfer plans. Yacine Adli, Devis Vásquez, and Ismaël Bennacer were all shamefully not allowed to train with the first team, forced to train with Milan Futuro and told to find new clubs. Silvano Vos, a Futuro player who had trained with the first team, was not called up for the tour.
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| Samuele Ricci is here to reinforce the midfield. |
Squad Changes Since May
If you have a life and have not kept up with all of the squad changes to date this summer, I will do my best to catch you up here.
Players Out:
Loans ended June 30th: João Félix (returned to Chelsea), Tammy Abraham (returned to Roma), Riccardo Sottil (returned to Fiorentina), Kyle Walker (returned to Manchester City.)
Contracts ended June 30th: Davide Calabria (free agent), Alessandro Florenzi (free agent), Luka Jović (free agent)
Players Sold: Pierre Kalulu to Juventus (option exercised from his loan deal,) Tijjani Reijnders to Manchester City, Marco Pellegrino to Boca Juniors, Theo Hernández to Al-Hilal, Marco Sportiello to Atalanta, Tommaso Pobega to Bologna (loan with obligation.)
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| The legendary Modrić will no travel with the team, but will arrive in early August. |
Players In:
New Players Signed: Samuele Ricci from Torino, Luka Modrić from Real Madrid (free transfer), Pietro Terracciano from Fiorentina (free transfer)
Players in Limbo: (returned from loans, looking for new clubs) Marko Lazetić, Devis Vásquez, Yacine Adli, Ismaël Bennacer.
Lorenzo Colombo, Noah Okafor, and Alexis Saelemaekers all returned from loans as well, and are currently playing with the first team, but may still be loaned or sold.
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| Our official new captain with the airplane captains on Emirates. |
Who knows what we will see on the pitch in the team's first trip to Singapore. We know they'll be wearing the new white kit, but that's about all. The players are probably all still jet-lagged, training near the equator in the Eastern hemisphere. After a season of chaos, Allegri certainly has his work cut out for him, and he literally does not even know who all of his players will be, nor does he even have everyone available who has traveled with the team. Just keep in mind that last year, Fonseca's Milan overperformed in their friendlies against the big Premier League teams, and look how that turned out. So a terrible performance might actually be a good sign, who knows anymore. Ready or not, it's time for our friendly with Arsenal.
Reviewed by Elaine
on
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