Mihajlovic said that he would never coach Milan. And then he
did. And every game since he left, Milan fans grow more grateful. Berlusconi
said that he had never seen Milan play worse football. And then he fired
Mihajlovic, Milan fans have never been more hateful. There is a lesson here, or
maybe more than one. Berlusconi has been wrong about a lot of things, but
perhaps never more wrong than on this one. Oops, I shouldn’t have said never.
Because the first lesson here is never say never.
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| He's too young to know how to suck that bad |
On the podcast
from this weekend, I said that Brocchi was the least convincing coach I
could remember at Milan. But apparently, he listened and decided that he should
try to be the least convincing coach ever. And I know that’s hard, when you’re
really a puppet for someone else’s ideas. But he certainly is more convincing
every day of being less convincing.
Speaking of more convincing, I have never been more
convinced that the team’s poor performances are a direct result of poor
management than now. This same team that beat Inter 3-0 in the Derby and other
impressive performances this season lost 2-1 to a team that was relegated by
Lasagna shortly thereafter. This bottom table team that got 28 shots off, with
12 of them being on goal. With only 36% possession. I mean that is difficult to
allow if all of your players are in a coma or legally dead. But hey, Brocchi
says that maintaining so much possession is a step forward, right? It is plain
as the nose on my face that this match would have gone drastically different
had Mihajlovic not been sacked by… wait for it… management.
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| A shame that Mauri's first Serie A start for Milan came when the team was imploding |
Wszolek’s apparent cleat to De Sciglio’s face in the 10th
minute was a perfect metaphor for the way management have treated the team.
There were huge gashes, tons of blood, and De Sciglio tried to keep playing,
but was eventually subbed off and required seven stitches to try to repair the
damage, but there will be scars. But in the management analogy, Milan are still
bleeding with no signs of stopping.
At least Menez scored in the 21st, a rebound from a Honda
shot from distance that had been parried by Gollini. 1-0 Milan. If the game had
stopped there, we’d still have a bit of dignity and also three points. But it
didn’t. Like a train wreck that you can see is coming, it just kept going.
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| A moment of celebration in a world of hurt |
The second half just kept getting worse. It kicked off with
an Albertazzi yellow card in the 48th for a foul on Abate, which the ref should
have known was just a friendly greeting from an ex-teammate. Bacca collided
with Gollini in the 62nd, but both players were able to continue. Bacca kept
fighting, but all of his attempts on goal were thwarted. Zapata saw yellow in
the 67th, then Mauri was apparently handed a yellow in the 71st as well, I
assume it was for saying something to the ref.
Verona’s luck became obvious when Romagnoli was called for a
handball in the box as he was pushed and was flailing his arms for balance. But
I’ve seen worse calls for less. So our former Pazzini stepped up and converted
the resulting penalty, making it 1-1 Verona. Besides, it’s not as if Milan did
enough the rest of the match to deserve anything more.
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| Impressive to see how quickly one coach can destroy a team |
So after conceding so many shots, and Donnarumma’s heroics
producing 10 saves, the most for any keeper in Serie A this season, Siligardi
scored from a free kick in the dying seconds of the match, the fifth minute of
stoppage time. 2-1 Verona. Ironically, the free kick was also given for a
handball, perhaps using our hands is part of Silvio’s Brocchi’s
brilliant new tactics? But congratulations to Verona for their fourth win of the season, even if they are still going to Serie B. They certainly earned their three points from this match.
All I know is that anyone who thought they could never see
such a poor performance from Milan against the bottom of the table team should
think again. Until something gives at the top of the club, we’ll likely see
plenty more games like that. Sacking Mihajlovic was demoralizing enough, but
whatever Brocchi’s been doing has obviously sucked the very lives out of our
players, and with Sassuolo only one point behind us again, we should be very lucky
to still finish sixth. Berlusconi thought he’d never seen Milan play so poorly?
Well surprise, Mr. President. Get ready to see much, much worse. You should
never say never.
This post inspired by the music of Romeo
Void’s “Never Say Never”
Our next match is
Milan vs. Frosinone
Sunday, May 1 • 15:00 CEST (9am EDT)