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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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)