For years, as Milan struggled, people pointed the blame in
every possible direction. And yet with one idiotic and inexplicable move, the
blame finally pointed 100% at the proper source: Silvio Berlusconi. While some,
like his crony and puppet Brocchi still try to target the players or the
quality of the squad or whatever, it all points back to the selfish, delusional,
megalomaniac billionaire. Everyone could see that with Mihajlovic, this team
stood a chance against this Juve team, even if we got the easy road to the
final. But Silvio just couldn’t hold out even six more games, and without even
Galliani’s blessing, he pulled the plug on what was the best Milan effort for
rebuilding in four years. Like death by Silvio.
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| When Silvio lost control of the mentality of the team, he had to bring in another drone |
As if that one Zamparini-esque move wasn’t enough, Silvio
has been going on and on about how horribly Milan played under Mihajlovic, and
how much better they’ve played under Brocchi, who has done everything Silvio
has asked him to. Only Silvio is the only one who sees things that way. The reality
is quite the opposite. One would think that a man who thinks yelling “Hip hip
hoora!” as a pep talk would understand the changes in mentality that this team
went through this season, but no. In fact, just yesterday, he said the team was
playing “embarrassingly” and that if they didn’t play better, he would withhold
their wages. Not only that, but he dared them to sue him, citing that a civil
case could take eight years to resolve. No one knows that better than him.
But how is that motivating? Romagnoli had already mentioned
that the team fear everything about Juve. Playing with fear is not how people
win. And now the players have to fear their very livelihood and possibly their
safety with such delusions of grandeur and power from their club’s owner. My
guess is that after that video was shown, every agent of every player was
called or texted almost immediately. Who could focus on preparing for a big
match when someone is threatening them like that?
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| Pretty sure it's gonna look a lot like that for 90 minutes |
Meanwhile, Juve are celebrating their fifth consecutive Scudetto
following their 5-0 rout of Sampdoria, the last team Mihajlovic left. Anyone
who doesn’t think that man makes a difference in a team need only look that far
back to see that he absolutely does. We all know that Allegri makes a
difference, too, even if it didn’t go as well for us under… wait for it…
Silvio’s management. But when given champions and all of the actual support
without the circus-like atmosphere of Silvio’s Milan, the Allegri
Effect™ has only limited powers. I have a hard time thinking given the
current situations at both clubs that Allegri’s powers will have anything
remotely close to the destructive effect that Silvio’s powers will.
Allegri will be missing Bonucci to suspension, as well as
Marchisio, Caceres, and Khedira to injuries. Normally, I’d say that those
losses would give Milan a bit more of a chance, but I don’t expect that missing
them will change the game given the dire circumstances around Milan right now.
And it’s not as if missing a few players derailed their season in the league
anyway. Our biggest hope might be if Allegri fields a bizarre starting eleven
or subs a key player off like he did in the Champions League vs. Bayern or
something. But even then, Milan are our own worst enemy, it’s not like we would
be able to take advantage of it. Well, there’s always Rocchi, too, he could
help us. But I’m not even sure having him as the ref will be enough.
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| Not sure if he will be able to do enough for Milan this time |
As for Silvio Brocchi, he will be missing his entire
squad’s morale. It’s been largely missing since Mihajlovic was suddenly sacked
after the last time we faced Juve. I expect that Silvio’s unseemly threats
yesterday killed whatever was left of the team’s morale. But physically, he
will be missing Ely, Menez, Abate, and Antonelli. Niang is still trying to be
fit in time, but it is unknown at this writing whether or not he’ll be able to
play. When you look at the list of injuries, the most impactful are Abate and
Antonelli. Without any midfield to speak of, Abate & Antonelli have been
crucial of late, and I’m not sure we have anyone ready to step in and replace
them.
As if the rumors of selling the club, Silvio’s blatant
disregard for anyone but himself, and the sacking of a coach many players loved
so much (except for Diego Lopez) weren’t enough to minimize the chances for
Milan fans, U.S. fans will likely have to stream the Coppa Italia final. So
fitting to have to endure the search for any stream in the first place, then
have it jump and cut out at all of the good parts… just like watching Milan has
been this past four years. But at least Silvio went to Milan today to remind
the guys that he needed his 29th trophy in 30 years… even if he wasn’t going to
pay their wages. Or even show up for the game. Hip hip hoora. That should go over really well. Just accept
our fate now and spare yourself the streaming issues… it’s going to be death by
Silvio.
This match inspired by the music of
The Clash’s “Death or Glory”
Coppa Italia Final
Milan vs. Juventus
Saturday, May 21 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)
Stadio Olimpico, Rome