For years, Italians talked about enticing American investors, about the "American business model" in sports, thinking it was so glamorous. And for years, I have tried to warn them. In this fourth year of Gerald & Friends' ownership, I think most people are finally understanding what I was trying to say. And with another 0-0 draw with Juve, two more dropped points in our pursuit of a Champions League qualification spot, the message is very clear. However, just in case people missed it, the Curva Sud were there to remind everyone, as they created a €139 formation in protest of the €139 price tag for the tickets for this match. The quality of football has gone down, the price of tickets have gone up, and the San Siro has become more of a tourist destination for the wealthier foreigners than it is a fortress for passionate Milan fans. And that, my friends, is the price of mediocrity.
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| The price of mediocre football, a Curva robbed of their colors, and a stadium of tourists |
After recent performances, realistically, expectations going into this match were not exactly high. Nevermind that it has been three years since Milan's last league goal vs. Juventus, Allegri's stranglehold on our attack has been successful, with only one goal scored in four matches now. You know the kind of lackluster performances that only unsuspecting neutrals and tourists would pay such ridiculous amounts of money to go see.
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| A proud legend being given a sponsored award in the name of commercialism. |
Or perhaps they were there because Milan Legend Ruud Gullit was given his shiny Tiffany (sponsored) silver platter and fake-inducted in this management's fake new Hall of Fame, another marketing scheme they have used for social media engagement, replacing the actual Hall of Fame which Gullit and many others were (deservedly) already members of.
The villain of the match was established quickly. Locatelli, who arrogantly left Milan for more playing time after growing in our youth sector, then bragged incessantly about having been a lifelong Juventus fan. The joke was on him, at the age of 28, he is a substandard midfielder who wears the Juventus armband like a secondhand piece of clothing rather than the prestige it once had when worn by Del Piero, for example. Locatelli did not take long to prove he did not deserve to even be playing for a team like Juve, let alone starting, and was definitely not worthy of being captain.
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| Honestly, we were lucky our players even survived. |
Locatelli began fouling wantonly and indiscriminately immediately. A bad foul on Leão from behind in the eighth minute did not earn him a yellow card from Sozza, the referee. Nor did his worse foul on Rabiot in the 18th minute, which caused his former teammate to stay down for some time in pain.
Meanwhile, the Juve "captain" was incensed, screaming at the referee, at everyone, really. Videos released later in the week showed him screaming things like "What, are you all referees?" and screaming at Rabiot, "Why won't you shake my hand?!" Normally, screaming at a referee is worthy of a yellow card, which by my count would have been his third by this point, but he was still at zero. The irony that he wanted a handshake from Rabiot, who ironically received back-to-back yellow cards vs. Pisa in February for nothing [they literally "lost" (translate: deleted) the ref cam audio and video for his second yellow card.]
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| Rabiot the hero, Locatelli the scum villain, and Sozza the impotent (or paid?) ref. |
You can't make that stuff up. Locatelli should have been sent off if not for two fouls, for a foul and screaming at the ref, and yet he received nothing. I have such incredible admiration for Rabiot. For one, he had to play with that overconfident two-bit excuse for a midfielder, and now he was screaming at him to shake his hand when the man was in a lot of pain. The restraint Rabiot showed in both words and actions is nothing short of heroic. But don't worry, I made up for it screaming at my own screen here. Locatelli not being sent off became even more important later in the match.
Meanwhile, almost as if he knew he had screwed up, Sozza carded the next foul, Cambiaso's dangerous contact with Saelemaekers in the 20th. It was perhaps considered a more dangerous foul in some ways, but Locatelli had tackled our players at full speed, so I still cannot forgive Sozza. In the 28th, McKennie was down after colliding heads with Tomori, another incident that also foreshadowed things to come, but the Juve player was able to continue playing.
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| Rabiot with the ONE shot on goal against his former team. |
Rabiot was epic against his former team, in the 16th minute, we saw him directing the defense on a set piece. Then Milan's singular shot on target (yes, eight shots, one on target,) was from Rabiot in the 35th, and it was a powerful shot, but straight to Di Gregorio. A minute later, Francesco Conceição, who was a nightmare for the not 100% fit Bartesaghi, worked the ball into the box and over to Képhren Thuram, who slid in and put it into the back of the net. Only he was offside, so the goal was gratefully ruled out.
Bartesaghi earned a yellow card for a foul on Jonathan David in the 38th minute. Then it was time for Maignan's heroics. It was his 200th appearance for Milan, and he came up massively once again to save a dangerous Francesco Conceição shot. Pavlović worryingly went down in the 43rd after a knock from Bremer, but luckily, he was able to continue. The first half ended with yet another save from Maignan on Francesco Conceição.
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| Oh, look, it's an actual striker sighting. |
Whether it was for fitness or for the yellow card, Allegri subbed Bartesaghi off at the half, bringing Estupiñan on, a clear sign that we were not winning this one. Another Maignan save on Francesco Conceição, and then Milan's closest chance at scoring came from Saelemaekers, whose shot in the 50th minute painfully hit the woodwork.
In the 62nd minute, Allegri introduced a striker. This is noteworthy, as he has continued to claim he wants to win without even having a striker on the pitch. Füllkrug replaced Pulisic, whose lack of scoring has led to more media and fan speculation, which clearly, is not helping him. For a player who recently and publicly broke up with his first serious girlfriend, and has bravely talked about battling depression before, particularly when he was also struggling with his career, people are pretty unevolved to continue to add more weight to his troubles. I don't understand how people call themselves fans and are more harsh to their own players than their rivals are.
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| Saelemaekers had a good night despite a match that overall disappointed. |
In the 66th minute, Fofana was replaced by Ricci. Saelemaekers, who was seemingly given more freedom to play more attacking and less defensive in this match, continued to put in good crosses or attempted shots, but was simply unable to convert. The Juve sub Koopmeiners took a wicked shot that was also slightly deflected by Pavlović, but Maignan was able to save that as well. He had five saves on the night. He also punched away a shot from the Dutchman shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, Estupiñan earned his token yellow card for a clumsy tackle on Francesco Conceição.
It was in the 76th minute, the worst moment of the match occurred. Both Locatelli the inept thug and our precious Modrić went up in the air for the same ball, and collided heads with full force. Both went down, but it was clear that Modrić had taken his blow to the face, and was much worse for the wear. Gabbia was the first one to immediately tend to him, and also to call for a sub for him, while Saelemaekers appealed for a red card for the villain Locatelli. Meanwhile, Kalulu and Tomori were als seen arguing like exes as well. Even though it was a tragic accident, the fraud Locatelli should have been sent off in the first 20 minutes.
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| The tragedy. |
After several intense moments as he was being treated, finally, Modrić gingerly walked off the pitch with obvious swelling around his eye socket and an ice pack on his face.The following day, he was diagnosed with a complex, multi-fragment fracture to his left zygomotic bone, and underwent surgery to repair it. He will miss the rest of our season, but hopes to recover in time to play in the World Cup for Croatia. Definitely wish him all the best. Also, was it just a coincidence that Modrić never gets injured and Gerald never attends games, yet Gerald actually attended this match and now he got injured? Something to think about.
Meanwhile, Modrić was replaced with Jashari, and at the same time, Allegri sent Nkunku on for Rafa Leão. Sozza looked the other way when Rabiot just took down Zhegrova both by pulling his shoulder and putting his foot in front of the Juve player's, only getting whistled for the foul, not being shown a card. Players were definitely frustrated, but the subpar football terrorist Locatelli took a dangerous sliding tackle into Rabiot in the 86th minute, and finally was shown a yellow card. It should have been his fourth yellow card, or second red card of the night. But apparently he and Sozza had some kind of "understanding" (read: payment plan,) and he only received the one card.
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| Did we witness Modrić play his last match for Milan? Or his last match ever? |
Maignan closed out his 200th appearance with a massive reflex save on Vlahović, even though he was offside. Our goalkeeper and captain has been immense for us this season, not just as a world class keeper, but also for his incredible leadership skills. He is the real deal, the opposite of Juventus' bargain bin bruiser. But it was still a goalless draw, with Allegri's attack becoming more constipated, and even the defense looking a little more shaky as the season plays out. We also dropped from second to third with this result.
But the real heroes once again were the incredible fans of the Curva Sud. The Club are doing everything they can to silence them and make them extinct, including raising ticket prices for them and for the entire stadium. Families and devout Milan fans are being priced out in favor of luring tourists in who don't know any better, and can be "monetized" by Gerald. But the Curva Sud would not be silenced, creating a surprise €139 formation with their bodies and their flashlights in protest of the horrifically overpriced tickets for this match. At some point, these fans deserve a win... to be able to be fans again in their stadium, maybe even to get their €30 maximum away ticket price rule in place in Serie A, who knows?
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| Will the players even have anymore Ultras to approach after matches the way things are going? |
On the pitch, the football continues to disappoint, the level continues to drop, and the question of our Champions League qualification continues to linger, despite the third consecutive Year Zero last summer, despite hiring Allegri, and all the other changes. But that is what happens when an ignorant American "invests" in a storied club like Milan, and now it is the team and the Milan fans who are paying the price – the price of mediocrity.
Milan Primavera Come Back to Defeat Cagliari 2-1 at Home
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| Primavera Captain Pippo Scotti celebrates scoring the winning penalty. |
After conceding an early goal, Renna's boys came back with a strong performance to take all three points on Sunday. Milan Primavera defeated Cagliari 2-1 at home, their second match back at the newly refurbished House of Puma. This one got underway with the Primavera conceding an unfortunate goal in just the sixth minute to put Cagliari up 1-0. Then it was an open half, with chances at both ends, including a Cagliari player hitting the crossbar in the 36tth. Bouyer also made some excellent saves, however, it was in the 43rd minute that the unstoppable Domniței dribbled around defenders and equalized with a powerful shot from outside of the area to equalize, and it was 1-1 all at halftime.
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| Domniței giving credit for his incredible scoring feet heavenward. |
Domniței nearly scored again, but his header hit the outside of the post in the 55th minute. The visitors were called for a handball in the area, and Scotti converted the resulting penalty in the 68th minute to put Milan Primavera back in the lead. Renna's boys had multiple excellent chances, and the Cagliari keeper made multiple excellent saves, including to deny Borsani in the 76th minute. In the end, Milan Primavera came away with the three points, and they moved back up the table to 11th place after this round. Brief highlights are available. They will travel to face Monza Primavera on Saturday.
Oddo's Milan Futuro with the Big 3-1 Win Over Castellanzese
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| A big statement win with our experienced players dominating the scoreboard. |
Milan's experienced players showed up big for a 3-1 win over Castellanzese in their penultimate league match of the season. With a brace from Magrassi and a goal from Branca, the more senior players in the squad determined this match emphatically. The win also pushed them up to fourth in their penultimate match, still hoping to make the playoffs.
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| Magrassi celebrates his second goal with his teammates. |
From the beginning, Magrassi was determined to score, and even after he opened the scoring in the 15th minute with an assist from Cappelletti, a single goal was clearly not enough. Unfortunately, though, Torriani conceded a penalty, and Castellanzese's "Super Mario" Chessa converted it to equalize in the 26th minute, making it 1-1 at the half.
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| Branca's shot flies under the Castellaanzese goalkeeper to finish them off. |
But Futuro continued to dominate in the second half, and Magrassi continued to attack like an American Highway Patrol Officer on the last day of the month who had not reached his quota of writing traffic tickets. And in the 60th minute, he got his second goal of the match after a cross in from Sala, putting Milan Futuro up 2-1. Torriani atoned for his penalty with an epic save in the 71st minute. And finally, Branca got his goal in stoppage time from Cappelletti's second assist of the match to make it 3-1 for Milan Futuro. Highlights of the match are available. For their final match of the season, Milan Futuro will host Vogherese.
Reviewed by Elaine
on
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