Blasphemous Rumors

As if it hasn’t been hard enough to be a Milan fan of the last few years. Allegri freezing out certain players, then the mass exodus of the Senatori, the sale of Ibra and Thiago Silva, the purchases of players like Acerbi and Traoré to “replace” them, promises of rebuilding and youth that were answered with players like Zaccardo and Essien, and clinging to Allegri like some addict while the morale of the team and the results all went down the toilet. Or how about Galliani resigning and then Berlusconi refusing his resignation and then appointing Barbara as joint CEO? Or any of the other insanely ridiculous failings of this Milan management of late? But these rumors of sacking Seedorf, himself a Milan legend, having been pushed out by Allegri, then having sacrificed his playing career to heed the call of Milan… and now he’s on the chopping block after winning five straight? Blasphemy.

The man is a Legend. Giving autographs at an away match.

I thought that this was all a media invention, and I am still not convinced that it is as big as the media has made it out to be. However with Silvio Berlusconi, Barbara Berlusconi, and Galliani all so very tightlipped on the subject, there seems to be more than meets the eye. Perhaps the most telling fact for me is the lack of Galliani Maths™. You see when Allegri was manager, Galliani would spin the numbers any way he could to make things look better than they were, even when things were good. But when Milan won their 5th straight under Seedorf and would have been in third place in the league if you only counted the games since Seedorf arrived, Galliani was quiet as a mouse. And those are the kind of Galliani Maths™ he loved to tout so much.

Results aside, it seems like Seedorf has been making waves within the organization. Hand-picked by Silvio Berlusconi, chosen ahead of the beloved and more experienced coach Pippo Inzaghi, Seedorf seemed destined to right the ship and mend so much at the club. Ironically, he finished getting his coaching badges just last week. But instead of being praised, if rumors like those on La Domenica Sportiva are to believed, Milan are in talks with lawyers to have him sacked without pay for giving an interview to Sky Italia without their knowledge. Blasphemy.

The problem with cancer is that there is really no visual diagnosis

Is Milan management really that cancerous that they would remove what little is healthy about the club? Seedorf has done so much to mend so many things that had been damaged by the cancerous ways of the Milan organization. He’s got the team more fit, playing better, and definitely getting better results. He’s done a 180° on the team morale, and the players all seem to respect him and speak highly of him. He’s got the backing of the Curva again, and has fans worldwide believing in Milan again, too. He has even improved relationships with the media, hence the candid interview with Sky Sports Italia. So why would you remove him from the equation?

Has everyone in management forgotten what football is all about? It’s about the passion. About the fans, the game, the players, and of course the results. After destroying all of those things by selling Ibra and Thiago Silva (amongst other things,) Seedorf is the only person who has been able to bring the Milan back to all of those areas, especially the belief and trust of the fans. I mean was it really so hard for Berlusconi and Galliani to grasp that if you sold your two best players, ticket sales would drop? Yet with Seedorf, ticket sales are finally going up again. If these rumors are true and he is sacked, then it’s hard to imagine anything in this world that could win back the trust in Milan again.

Gonna be hard to toast with an empty glass, Silvio

I hope with all of my heart that these rumors are just a really bored and pathetic media trying to keep the clicks coming until they can invent their best mercato rumors. But if I’ve learned anything about the Milan organization over these last couple of years, it’s trust no one. Not Berlusconi, Galliani, or even Barbara. I had hoped that their cancerous ways were heading toward remission. But now it seems that maybe their cancer cannot thrive if there is anything healthy at Milan at all. When the tumor is bigger than its host, it would be easy to give up the battle. But I really hope that Milan are not that sick and that there is actually no truth to Seedorf being removed. Because that would just be the worst decision in a series of phenomenally horrifying decisions Milan has made. Pure blasphemy.

This post inspired by Rage Against the Machine

Our next match is

il Derby della Madonnina

Milan vs. Inter

Sunday, May 4 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EST)