Was it the injuries to Milan's already incredibly thin squad? The referee who acted like he was in Saudi Arabia for a vacation? Or Conte's superior record vs. Allegri? Allegri's focus on taunting Conte's assistant? Or Napoli's desire to avenge the loss we inflicted upon them in the league? Or maybe it was a combination of any of those things or something else entirely, but Milan lost to Napoli 2-0 in the Supercoppa semifinal. And at the end of the day, with €9.5 million available to the winners of the tournament, but only €2.4 million paid to participate, you get what you pay for.
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| A winning team needs more players. Football 101. |
The Cost of Allegri
For fun, let's start with Allegri. He has been the Italian media darling, a "proven winner" for fans who suffered from management's poor decision last year to hire Fonseca. And in the league, he has Milan in second place, which is right where Pioli left off. Except Pioli competed in four competitions in his last season when he finished second in the league. Allegri has now seen Milan eliminated from both the Coppa Italia in just the Round of 16 (after being finalists last season,) and now the Supercoppa Semifinal (after winning it in January.)
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| Media darling, but can he keep it together, and can he actually keep winning? |
So blindly beloved is Allegri that most are willing to overlook the fact that last year, Milan took in €13.6 million between the Coppa and Supercoppa successes, yet will only bring in €2.4 million this season by being eliminated so early from both competitions. That is €11.2 million less than lat year, when they had to sell Reijnders before June 30th to be able to show a positive balance sheet for the 2023-24 season.
This year, in a season without Champions League, every single Euro is important to our balance sheet. Even more so now that we are paying Allegri €5 million per year, more than double Fonseca's wages, and five times what both Conceição and his entire staff made last season. Plus, now we are down to one match per week, so the pressure is really on.
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| Modrić is only playing once a week, but Allegri benches him when there is €9.5 million on the line. |
And how is Allegri handling that pressure? Milan have now played 19 competitive matches. Allegri was suspended for our first two Coppa Italia matches from his Juve tenure, and has since earned two red cards as well, so has missed four of those matches. Of the 15 matches he has been on the bench in all competitions, Milan's record is seven wins, five draws, and three losses. Plus, Milan have conceded two goals per match in the last three matches, and have conceded two goals a total of six times already this season.
In this match, Allegri taunted Oriali, Conte's assistant, with childish insults that were disrespectful and unsporting, and he has been fined €10,000 for it. Obviously, it was only because Napoli tattled on him with a pathetic statement. And even Conte was pathetic and refused to shake hands with Allegri postmatch. Not only did this match increase Conte's all time personal record vs. Allegri to six wins, two draws, and three losses, Allegri is definitely showing cracks under pressure, and it's only December. He presents a calm facade for the media press conferences, but his disciplinary issues in the past are well documented, and to have already received so many sanctions is disconcerting. We are not even playing in Champions League.
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| When you change your attack every year, they need time to adjust, so obviously, you score fewer goals. |
Everyone talks about Milan doing so well against the big teams, but what about the big matches? When progressing and/or big money was on the line? It's not just his discipline that is cracking under pressure. So are Milan getting what they're paying for? I mean, they knew what they were getting when they signed him (and he reportedly was not even their first choice.)
Last year, fourth and fifth were decided by one point. Champions League or no Champions League. One point. This year looks to be every bit as competitive. So for those basking in the false sense of good press and a current second place standing (13 points currently separate the top 13 teams,) this loss might be a good time to wake up and take a closer look at what is really happening.
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| Everyone keeps talking about how Allegri has changed Leão, but he has also been injured a lot... coincidence? |
The Price of Injuries
Milan and injuries could be synonyms. And historically, injuries are virtually a part of Allegri's tactics, they are so completely a part of his coaching. So it makes no sense to me that our completely inexperienced CEO would sign the smallest squad we've had in my memory. But we are absolutely paying for it now. And the money Furlani thinks he saved on transfer fees or wages, it is costing us in sporting success. Which, if he hasn't figured out by now, can be tied to significant prize monies. And it's not like you can attain success (and his coveted prize monies) if you are not willing to invest in a proper team. That is football management 101. But I guess they don't teach that at Harvard.
For this match, Santi Gimenez was missing, having had a successful orthoscopic surgery on his ankle the same day for his longterm issue. Leão was not yet fit after his second muscle injury of the season, which may have something to do with being played out of position. Gabbia was out after his injury in the Sassuolo match. Bartesaghi did not start due to a muscle issue, Fofana and Athekame were just coming back from injury so were also not available to start. And for some reason, with €4-7 million on the line, Allegri thought this would be the perfect time to rest Modrić.
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| Will they lose Pulisic because they are managing the team so poorly? |
And it all showed. Milan struggled to create chances, and when they did, they were so not clinical. The goals both went through De Winter, poor guy, whereas the way Gabbia has been playing, it felt like Napoli would have struggled to score. And when the going got tough, were were all our leaders? On the bench or in the infirmary. Napoli actually had more injuries than Milan, and still had a deeper bench, and that was with five extra Futuro players called up.
And why call up those Futuro players if you were not planning to use them at all? Also, Allegri is aware that he may use five substitutes now, right? Like I know his bench was thin, but fresh legs help in a match like this, yet he only used three of his available subs, and they were too little, too late. He waited until after we were down 2-0 to make any changes. And, I can't believe I have to lecture him again, like his first tenure, but maybe there is a correlation between injuries and not using all of your substitutes? Or did your brain go with your hair?
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| Rabiot with his name in Arabic for the Italian Supercoppa. You get what you pay for. |
I digress, though, as in a week or so, the transfer window opens up again, and it gives Furlani and Friends another chance to sabotage the team. Luckily, now we have Tare, who pulled a masterclass in clearing out players from our roster this summer. And I am giving him credit for the official termination (finally) of Origi's contract this week, too. Because it never happened until now. Plus, Tare masterfully restructured our midfield, including immediately securing Modrić once the Sporting Director had finally been hired. I would go so far to say that having Modrić's quality and leadership is every bit as responsible for the improvement this year as any coaching changes.
The Price of Referees
There is an actual narrative amongst Serie A fans that Milan are receiving favorable treatment by the referees this season. Like obviously, they haven't actually watched a single Milan match. I suppose it stems from the media-driven coverage of the decision to award the penalty in Milan-Fiorentina, but like every other match we have been completely screwed over. Including the 100% valid Pulisic goal in our last league match vs. Sassuolo that newer referee Crezzini disallowed that cost us a full two points. Or getting knocked out of the Coppa Italia after an invalid corner call from Guida. Like I could write an entire post about how much refs have already cost us this season, and it's only December.
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| Maignan could (should?) have seen red, amongst so many poor calls. |
This time, Zufferli let a lot of hard fouls go. And when I say hard fouls, I wonder if he thought the Saudis paid for blood sport. Because there should have at least been many more cards. Which, of course, would have been avoided had he actually made the calls in the first place. For example, Jashari was stomped on. No call. Pavlović was taken out by Neres. Like hard. No card. Højlund fouled Maignan. No call. Rabiot kicked Politano. No card. (But he was finally carded for a foul on Di Lorenzo in the 38th minute.) He also failed to book Højlund for a blatant dive in the 21st minute. Had it been a Milan player, he would have been sent off. But no punishment whatsoever for Højlund. And this was just the first half.
Things escalated in the second half. Maignan hit Politano after he interfered with his distribution. Maignan was so very lucky to not have been sent off, particularly since VAR did review it. I mean we have seen him be sent off for so much less. Then Loftus-Cheek was fouled really hard, but no card. Rrahmani took down Pulisic. No card. Pavlović elbowed Rrahmani in what seemed to be the high chest or neck area. Not sure of intent there, but there was no card, and Napoli were unhappy about that.
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| The physicality in this match was not refereed well. |
Finally, in the 80th, Spinazzola was given a yellow for fouling Loftus-Cheek, but Zufferli had lost control of the match so much earlier. Shortly after that, McTominay came in with not one, but two late challenges on Milan players, and that started the brawl. He and Tomori were fighting, and others quickly jumped in as well. Only those two were carded, but those cards were on Zufferli, that should have never happened.
And it didn't even stop McTominay, who could have easily earned another yellow or two, either for completely holding Nkunku (like arms completely wrapped around him and pulling and battling with him until he finally fell.) Or yet another hard challenge on Pavlović in the 97th minute. But it was Athekame, who came on as a sub in the 68th minute, who was shown the final yellow card, as Zufferli still could not be bothered to try to control the match.
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| Zufferli was terrible in this match, and Tomori and McTominay's cards were avoidable. |
And maybe a better ref would not have decided this match, because Milan were not great, and Napoli won by two goals. But there was too much money on the line to have such a subpar referee and more importantly, risk players from both sides getting injured from all of the overtly physical challenges. But, contrary to popular belief, Milan are definitely not favored by referees, and it was obvious once again in this match.
The Price of Being Knocked Out of the Supercoppa
Napoli obviously proved they were the authentic champions and went on to win the Supercoppa, and it is difficult to argue that it was undeserved. They avenged their loss to Milan in the league, and they got the trophy, the money, everything. Ironically, this match was sold out and had high television ratings, whereas the final was the least watched Supercoppa in years. Because no one cares about Napoli-Bologna. Fans were there to see Milan. And Milan could have received the €6.4 million for reaching the final, or the €9.5 million for winning it. But we didn't. Furthermore, instead of competing for three trophies this season, we are already down to one. And even that one is not exactly looking plausible for all of the reasons above.
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| Maignan has been brilliant. And still has not been renewed. |
Sure, Milan had some chances, but were not clinical. Maignan, after one little bobble in the 22nd, was under fire for much of the match, including his incredible save on Højlund at the end of the first half. The first goal was conceded due to a deflection from De Winter that allowed Neres to slot it in, even if Maignan got a hand to it. The second goal was also due to Gabbia's absence, because De Winter was not up to the task. And that's on management, who brought in the young and inexperienced Odogu to replace Thiaw, our best defender.
But with the mercato on the horizon, will this management take accountability for this loss? Will having a Sporting Director make a difference this January? Will Allegri be able to make do with what he has, and more importantly, stay in control so he doesn't cost the team distractions and his place on the bench every week?
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| De Winter is learning, but at a big price for Milan. |
Now that Milan are showing they can actually concede goals, how long before the other teams take advantage of the injuries, the weakening mentality, and the ultra-thin squad? All of these things could have been avoided. Not just the decisions made on June 5th, 2023, but every single decision made by this management before and especially since. And something they do not seem capable of learning is that you get what you pay for.
Milan Futuro End the Year With a 2-2 Draw at Vogherese
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| Milan Primavera's Borsani scores his second in two matches for Futuro. |
The good news was that Maximilian Ibrahimović and Primavera's Borsani both got on the scoresheet again. Unfortunately, both were to equalize after conceding after conceding to the16th place team. Which meant that Milan Futuro slipped to sixth place in Group B after the 2-2 draw away to Vogherese. Probably a fitting ending of the calendar year for Oddo's Futuro, who have done so much better this season in terms of tactics, mentality, and consistency, while being an even younger and less experienced team than last year's side who were relegated from Serie C after Bonera's reign of terror.
More importantly, you can see the growth and development of the players, even if the results are not always perfect. Maximilian Ibrahimović had already been dangerous for the first 30 minutes, but after Vogherese scored in the 33rd minute, he quickly responded with a fantastic goal of his own just two minutes later. It was 1-1 all. Again, after the half, Vogherese pulled ahead with another goal in the 62nd minute. But this time, it was the substitute, Borsani, who knocked one in less than ten minutes later to level the score again, 2-2 all. That was his second goal for Futuro in two matches, too. Highlights of the match are available. The Futuro will return after the New Year.
Renna's Primavera Concede Late for a 1-1 Draw With Napoli Primavera
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| Renna's side has struggled to find the level of results of his predecessors in recent seasons. |
The Primavera have been doing so well away this season, however a stoppage time goal cost them their full three points with a 1-1 draw with Napoli Primavera. Milan had created a number of chances and were quite unlucky that a couple of them were just barely wide. The match had been goalless at the half, then Milan were awarded a penalty which Lontani converted with a brilliant penalty in the 57th minute to take the lead 1-0. However, despite some Longoni heroics in the second half, a 93rd minute goal from Napoli's Caucci equalized it and there was no time to find the winner for Renna's boys. Milan Primavera end the calendar year in 13th place with 23 points, with Napoli just two points behind them. Brief highlights are available. The Primavera will also resume again after the New Year.
This post inspired by the music of David Guetta, Girl on Couch, & Billen Ted's "Man in Finance"
Reviewed by Elaine
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