After a joyful
victory over Chievo on Sunday, and moving up to third on the table,
it’s hard not to smile. But it’s also a little disconcerting not knowing what
lies around the corner. I mean, for one thing, now that we’ve finally found
some kind of balance with so many young players, will the purchase of the club
by the Chinese ruin that balance? Will they spend money on older players,
possibly with egos? And what of the emotional balance of the team? If they are
already scouting players without consulting with the coach, how will that
affect the mentality of the coach and squad? Funny that we kind of got what we
wanted – a primarily young team, and that the other thing we wanted, for Berlusconi
to sell the club, may actually undo everything else we’ve waited so patiently
for. Money changes everything.
Sunday’s victory wasn’t just a victory over a team that
started the day ahead of us on the table. It was a victory for every fan who
cried out for us to field our young players. And even if Montella’s hands were
mostly tied due to injuries, it was a beautiful thing to see them all play so
well together. But at the same time, Fassone & Mirabelli were at the
Chelsea-Leicester game, reportedly to open up talks with Cesc Fabregas.
Fabregas is 29, but has seen better days. He is more likely to see a red card
or sit on the bench than to perform on a big stage. More importantly, Montella
specifically said that he is NOT the kind of midfielder he was looking for.
Very disturbing that at the same time our youth were proving themselves, our
soon-to-be CEO and Sporting Director were acting in complete dissent to their
soon-to-be coach. I’m no football expert, but wouldn’t you want to buy the
players that your coach wants?
So strange, that without the signatures even finalized, the
Sino Europe Sports group are doing
everything wrong. People say that the deal isn’t even finalized yet, it
will all work out, etc. But how can people say that when they are already going
to work and doing everything the opposite of what Milan, its players & fans
want? How will that not disrupt this fragile mental balance we’ve somehow
achieved? It’s certainly not good for my mental balance.
 |
| Apparently I mistook competence for arrogance |
But I find it interesting how money blinds people’s perception. Last week, when reports were made about the identity of some of the members of the consortium, I saw someone excitedly touting that three of the companies alone were worth €3 billion. No mention, of course, as to what their liquid assets are. Which is important, because if you remember, Berlusconi was worth at least €8 billion, depending on who you asked, and his lack of liquid assets amongst that giant number are why he sold the club to begin with. So how is this supposed to be better?
Maybe people just read or hear what they want to, but I am
very nervous about our future. While Sino Europe Sports group said a lot of nice
things, I don’t believe any of them anymore, based on what they are
already doing. Even before the closing of the deal. Ironic that we should
finally find our young team that we were looking for, sit in a great position
on the table, and otherwise defy the odds. Yet the sale of the club and the
people who will be running things are poised to take that all away. Money
changes everything.
This post inspired by the music of
The Last Shadow Puppets’ “Everything You’ve Come to Expect” album
Our next match is
Milan vs. Juventus
Saturday, October 22nd • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)