Milan's humbling defeat to FC Zurich sends them lurching deeper into crisisThe Berlusconis want to sell, the team look old and Leonardo may not be around for long. Things do not look good in Milan
Forty minutes into a game that made Milan look like they needed a great big hole in the San Siro to swallow them up, the TV cameras cut away to a pair of faded stars on the substitute's bench. Dida, the Brazilian goalkeeper, was ranting with the disgust of a man who has just found his car vandalised mindlessly for the umpteenth time. Next to him Ronaldinho resembled a nine-year-old stuck in a maths lesson whose mind could not stretch beyond his bubble gum.
And there, in a two-second clip, was the Milan conundrum in a nutshell. Most of the squad fall into the Dida category (too old and creaky even if their hearts are in the right place) while a few are the Ronaldinho category (a signing that has plainly not worked out). It is, as the Corriere dello Sport lamented with their pained headline, "A Milan to make you cry".
Milan 0-1 FC Zurich in the Champions League. Eleventh in Serie A after six league games that generally rank from uninspiring to unbearable. It is desperation time at San Siro. Where on earth to start for Leonardo, the rookie who has been given such an unbalanced group to work with? But while the coach looks likely to pay for a rotten start to this season – and it is of course possible that somebody with Marcello Lippi's experience would make a difference with exactly the same set of players – there doesn't apppear to be a quick fix available to sort out the deeper issues.
The Berlusconi family are not only reluctant to spend money on revamping the squad, they are also said to be keen to sell if a suitable buyer presents themselves with a nice big wad of euros. As the Berlusconi input has dwindled in recent years, so the efficiency of the playing staff has been diluted.
Interestingly, the majority of the team who won the Champions League a little over two years ago remain at the club and are still available for selection. Only Paolo Maldini and Kaká are gone. But for the rest, those two-and-a-bit years have not been kind. How they huffed and puffed against Zurich, a team that were made to look amateurish by Real Madrid.
Although grand statements about the "Milan DNA" have been repeated like a mantra, as if being part of the club's fabric would be enough to see them through, the lack of refreshment in the team is hitting the club hard. "We are not used to playing with so much difficulty," admits Alessandro Nesta.
Although it feels like the worst Milan for an eternity, they have had crises before during the Berlusconi era, notably when the glorious period inspired by Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello began to unwind. Remember Oscar Tabárez and Giorgio Morini – not exactly the finest period in the club's history.
Leonardo is adamant he can turn this situation around, despite admitting his position is fragile having been jeered off by a small crowd at San Siro. "If I could go back, I would accept this job again," he says. "I love Milan and am not worried about myself right now. My concern is what we as a club are proposing. This is one of those moments when it all turns into a chain reaction. Sometimes that goes for you in a positive sense, this time it is negative. The only way out is to keep calm, work hard and realise we can't struggle like this all the time."
It remains to be seen whether he will still be in position for Milan's next Champions League test at the Bernabéu. "Madrid will be a very difficult test against a team that lives for victories with extraordinary players," said Leonardo. The turn of phrase – which not so long ago applied to Milan just as well – clanged.
It could be an awkward rendezvous for Kaká. A bit like bumping into an ex-lover who suddenly looks weary and down on their luck, and has to pretend it doesn't hurt to see the man they once knew so well with the footballing equivalent of a fabulous new girlfriend.
At the same time FC Zurich will host Olympique Marseille in marvellous spirits, as they sit a dizzying second in the group. The idea of even finishing third and securing a parachute drop into the Europa League was not even in the mind of their coach, Bernard Challandes, when the draw was made. As he explains: "Because we were in the last pot, we could see the groups taking shape and I was thinking, 'We'd be OK in that group, or maybe we could get two points from there'. That was the manager speaking, the manager who wants to win, the competitor who says, 'Yes, we've got a small chance'. But on the other hand there's the crazy football fan who says, 'Wow, playing Madrid, Milan, Marseille, is brilliant'. Normally we wouldn't have a chance in a group like ours, but football can still be irrational, illogical, non-mathematical. It's an amazing opportunity for us."
Amazing indeed. To those who whinge about the Champions League group stages being a predictable preamble to the main event this was a whopping great answer. FC Zurich are an interesting example about what Michel Platini was getting at when he wanted to give unfashionable clubs easier access to Europe's elitist competition.
Although they won the Swiss league in three of the past four seasons, this is Zurich's first foray in the Champions League. To get there this time they needed to beat the best of Slovenia and Latvia. In previous attempts, their qualification path was blocked by more demanding opponents: Besiktas one year, and Red Bull Salzburg (who duly went out to Valencia) the next.
It was only natural to wonder whether the seeding system designed to make it easier for the likes of Zurich, Unirea Urziceni or Rubin Kazan would impact on quality. Funny how all of them got the cream at the expense of the fatter cats last week.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/oct/01/milan-lurching-deeper-into-crisis
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