Tales of One City Part 2:
AC Milan - The Fallen Power
8/23/2005 5:00:00 AM
Bruno Cardile considers whether AC Milan will rise again this season like a phoenix ascending from the ashes…
In this two-part editorial the issues of two soccer teams from one city are presented and addressed. In Part 2 the focus shifts from Inter (Part 1) to AC Milan….
Last year Milan were the high and mighty squad. They were the defending Champions and a team built to dominate any competition. Milan started slowly in the Scudetto race but caught up with Juventus. In Europe they made their intentions clear: to win the Champions League and to erase the mistake of the year before against Deportivo. And they did just that. They cruised through their group stages only losing to Barcelona, but it did not matter as they won the group anyhow. Against Manchester United and Inter Milan they were unstoppable. In the Semi-final against PSV they showed signs of fatigue in the body armour, but in the end, a goal by Ambrosini earned them a plane ticket to Istanbul.
At this time Milan lost the Scudetto to Juventus in what was a two way horse race to the bitter end. They faced Juventus in the final match days of the season only to be out-played by Juve, losing 1-0. A tie against Lecce in the next game all but ended their hopes of keeping the title. However, have no fear as the pundits said. The Milan organization and Berlusconi wanted to create a global brand and what better way to do it than by conquering and dominating Europe?
The critics were writing great things of this Milan side and saying that it could surpass the greatness of the late eighties and early nineties team. The crisis talk that plagued Milan for years and the criticisms that Berlusconi had lost his passion for Milan disappeared as he brought in great players. And attaining the services of Ancelotti, a great young tactician who was a former player and knew the organization well, was paying dividends. He came in at a chaotic time, bringing stability and the coveted fourth place so they could play in the elite European competition: the Champions League.
The next year Milan finished in third place, but were dominant in Europe and Carlo got sweet revenge by defeating Juventus (the team that had fired him) to attain his first prize as a coach. The next year Milan were the team to beat in every competition, but due to over confidence, they lost against Deportivo. However, the rossoneri rebounded to lift the Scudetto.
Hence, a new season began. Berlusconi was angered due to the fact that his team blew the Champions League and quite frankly, he was correct. With wise purchases such as Stam and a united team that knew its agenda and how to carry it out, Milan began its quest to dominance. As mentioned before, the red devils lost the Scudetto race, but they were still very alive in the Champions League and it was evident to any astute soccer fan that Milan focused its eggs into one basket: the CL trophy. They had to face Liverpool and to many of the pundits it was a matter of time before the trophy was brought back to Milan; articles were already being made of Carlo’s second CL triumph.
However, people tend to forget history. While it is important not to be stuck in the past and focus on the present, one cannot neglect history. Ancelotti was the coach of Juventus in 1999 and he came in at a time when Juventus was in crisis and Lippi resigning as the coach. Juventus was still alive in the CL and the Bianconeri focused on this. Against ManU, Juventus traveled to England and nearly won the game. However, ManU tied in the end. However, no stress for at home, Juve was (and still is) a hard team to beat. At first it seemed just that. Pippo Inzaghi got two quick goals in and the celebrations began and Juve was off to their 4th straight final; a record; but: Manchester got three quick goals as Juve self destructed (as usual in Europe) and Manchester was set to face Bayern Munich. Bayern controlled most of the game, but in the end, two quick goals by Manchester United allowed Fergie’s men to lift the prize.
So where am I going with this? Well I will tell you. Ancelotti was facing an English team. His luck against them was not that good. Yes, he got vindication as he won his first trophy in England and he gave Fergie’s men a soccer clinic and if you can give one to Manchester, well you are good, never mind the critiques (they were many and to be fair, ManU did not convert their chances when they had them as the first game could have gone either way). So why the concern? Firstly, Liverpool is not an offensively minded team as Manchester is and Benitez is more of a defensive coach than Ferguson. Despite critiquing Italian soccer and Cuper’s tactics, while he was the coach at Valencia, his team scored just about the same number of goals and was very tight defensively just as Cuper’s was. Moreover, he always critiqued Italian soccer for being too defensive, but cattenaccio (there are many spellings to this word) is a globalizing phenomenon and was invented by a South American who happened to coach in Italy (I will write more about this in another article). Secondly, there was the Iberian syndrome. If one looks back at recent years the coach who wins the UEFA Cup the year before would win the Champions League and was from the Iberian Coast. Porto with Mourihno brings back a suppressed memory? Well Benitez has that history behind him. At first Milan proved the critics correct by giving Liverpool a soccer clinic and putting three goals in before half time. The hand shakes to Berlusconi were being given out at the interval and it was just another 45 minutes before Milan lifted their 7th trophy and the fifth in the Silvio era. However, in the second half, in a matter of 6 minutes, Liverpool tied and Milan were in trouble. Milan did start to take control, but could not take advantage of their opportunities. Tactical mistakes by Ancelotti proved costly (if you read the article finito: reflections on a classic final, it explains this so I will not repeat myself) and the Iberian theory proved correct and the other of Carlo’s luck with English teams. Milan went home empty handed winning nothing and the investment proved to be risky and costly. In short, they got burnt big time. To make matters worse, Inter won something: a Coppa Italia. Now Milan walked the cobble stone streets of rejection and heartache. Berlusconi and the rest of the Milan organization were shaken, but they reaffirmed their faith in Carletto. Silvio was right in one thing as he mentioned “soccer is like politics. Anything can happen.” And it sure did.
Now enter the summer era and the transfer sagas. Some players were leaving the most noted being Abbiati. At first he signed for Genoa; however, due to Preziosi’s shady dealings they were relegated to C1. Then he went off to Cagliari, but due to Buffon’s injury, Juve quickly signed him. This could prove to be a costly error for Milan as if Dida gets injured, or drops the ball Eleftheropoulos has not been convincing and Kalac is not as good as Abbiati. Kaladaze was supposed to leave for Chelsea as to allow for Crespo to stay. However, it did not materialize and the two teams could not find agreement on Crespo so off to England he went. This too could prove to be costly as he could very well score against them next year and it looks like he is adapting to life at Chelsea now. Tomasson decided to leave for first team football and all of the sudden Milan was short of strikers. They acquired Vieri according to many, seemed to be a ploy to use to Parma to attract Gilardino. However, with Tomasson’s departure, Vieri had to stay and Milan was still short of a striker. In the end, Berlusconi entered into the fray of negotiations and were able to secure the young striker as the Swiss consortium deal fell through and Parma needed the money. Therefore, Milan was stacked in the striker department. Moreover, with the addition of Vieri, Milan could win it all provided if he finds his old form and as of date he is improving daily. Milan has a history of buying washed out players form Inter and they prove to become hits. Remember Pirlo and Seedorf? There are many who see this as an act of betrayal, but Milan called. Plus, he had a chance to stay in Italy, live in the same city and still play for a big team. Moreover, it was time for a change as Inter was tired of him, Adriano was the future and Moratti was willing to cancel his contract and pay a lot of cash to do it. Plus with the arrival of Gilardino a younger version of Vieri and no pushover to Adriano, for when the Brazilian left, he was the one who stepped up and scored goals and he has scored more than Adriano in the past two seasons. In short, Milan has the offense to make any defense put a shiver down their spines.
Brocchi and Pancaro also left Milan, but with the arrival of Jankulovski and Vogel in midfield Milan are stacked with talent. In addition, they have an experienced Esajas and a young Boudek. There is so much talent in this midfield that creativity and tactical control will not be hard to come by and with the addition of Vogel and Jankulovski, there are more options available and it has improved from last year which is pretty hard to do. No additions in defense have been done and this could prove to be the Achilles Heal of Milan as the defense is the weakest spot in this team. Kaladaze is the 3rd youngest member of this team as: Borriello, Marzoratti and Rodrigo are young and inexperienced. A couple of defenders would not have hurt them as games against Chelsea have proven Milan defensively susceptible. Ancelotti as of this moment is still experimenting for the right combination and if he does not find it, his job could be on the line. In short, Milan is shaky in the goaltending department as they do not have a worthy replacement and in defense as it is aging. Yes one could say that Juve is aging too so Inter’s, but due to Liverpool’s victory over Milan one must raise the alarm bells even though it could be an overreaction of worrying and I could be wrong as I have been before.
So is Milan the team to beat and the team to rise from the ashes of defeat. The answer is yes. Juventus, Inter are competitive sides, but so too is Milan. In addition, Juve has an injured defensive line and so quick victories could be the key to success. Inter has a strong team and an improved defense, but this is Inter and anything could happen here. History tends to repeat itself. In the early nineties, Milan lost to Marseille only to come back from defeat and win it the next year by giving Barcelona a soccer clinic. Milan is confident and seems to have recovered from the defeats of last year and focusing on this year. I expect Milan to learn from their mistakes and contest in all competitions with the quest for the Champions League high priority. They have the team, so do others, but, there is a fire in their belly as they want justice plus I believe the Iberian syndrome has run its course. In short, I expect a competitive Milan for there is no choice for if not Carlo will be shown the door. The season starts soon and time will tell on how things turn out. If it turns out badly, there is always next year. Cynical, but true. Anyway two teams from the same city facing many challenging scenarios, but the same constant remains: the quest to win is imbedded in both team’s cerebral cortexes. Anyway, the city of Milan will be an interesting place for the 2005/06 season. Well, good luck to Milan and all Serie A teams and may you fill us with tantalizing displays of soccer for all the fans to enjoy and her is at a bright, prosperous new season.
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