Once upon
a time there was a young keeper called Gabriel. Talented enough to be called up
to the first team of a big Brazilian club, he was rotting on the bench there,
not playing at all. But his exploits in the U20 national team gained the
interest of a big European club, AC Milan. So in the summer of 2012, just
before his 20th birthday, he was signed by AC Milan. He was signed to be backup
to the oft-injured Abbiati and good ol’ butterfingers Amelia, so his chances
were good at getting some playing time. In fact, he made seven appearances in
his first season. But things changed, as so often they do, and at 24 years old,
he is now third choice keeper behind two keepers who are both younger than him and
Italian. So what do Milan do with him now? That is the trouble with Gabriel.
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| Sucks to be the "old man" at 24 |
Eerie
when researching for a post to go back four years and find out how spot on you
were back then. Without knowing about Donnarumma or Plizzari or Diego Lopez’ transfer,
four years ago, I wrote this:
There are a lot of questions as to
why Milan made this move when they did. Yes, we need to groom an eventual
replacement for Abbiati and Amelia. But it could easily be five years before
Gabriel is ready to fill those shoes, and he needs to get every minute of first
team playing experience he can during that time. Even still, he may not work
out, purchasing him at 19 years old is a bit of a risk.
Secondly, Piscitelli was on our
bench last year for a lot of the season while Flavio Roma battled injuries. If
he was good enough to be our third keeper then, why not loan out Gabriel
immediately and keep Piscitelli? Instead Piscitelli is at Carrarese and
Gabriel, who actually cost money at a time when the club was screaming crisis,
is warming the bench for Milan. And he took up a non-EU slot, too. When the
deal was originally arranged, Gabriel was supposed to be getting a Portuguese
passport so he would be considered an EU player. However, that fell through and
the club still kept him, even before the mercato was officially open.
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| He was supposed to be part of Brazilian greatness at Milan |
If you
would like to read the whole post, click
here. From day one, the deal was strange. But then came the
aforementioned transfer of Diego Lopez from Real Madrid and both Donnarumma and
Plizzari hit puberty. Abbiati retired, Amelia went homeless, and still Gabriel
couldn’t find a game to save his life. He was loaned to Serie B side Carpi his
second season, and helped them gain promotion, playing pretty much every game.
But then he sat on the bench at Napoli last year, which was also a puzzling
solution… maybe he just liked the weather better there?
That
brings us to this season, where he and the bench continue their long term love
affair. So obviously he needs to get playing time, ideally in Serie A. I mean “not-as-good-as-Donnarumma”
describes all of the other goalkeepers in Serie A, but it doesn’t mean they
shouldn’t play. I get that he needs playing time, really I do. I’ve said it
since he arrived. But where?
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| The extent of his playing time at Napoli |
Enter a
Galliani solution: reports say that he will swap him on loan with Marco Storari
at Cagliari. You know, the 39 year-old keeper who was previously at Milan like
ten years ago, but forever on loan? Because he had no place, not even behind
the fading Dida, the unloved Kalac, the invisible Flavio Roma, or eventually
the oft-injured Abbiati? The keeper who played in Serie B and C until he was
27? But hey, he was Buffon’s backup at Juve for five years. And while he
actually did make more than 40 appearances in those 5 years, winning real
trophies with the team, his claim to fame was his liability. Flip back to
Juve-Catania in February of 2012, and from
the bench, he managed to injure both the goalscorer (Quagliarella) and Pepe
during a singular goal celebration. Cut them both open on their head & face
respectively, both requiring medical treatment. Also known as the Storari Special™. Yeah. He’s that guy.
Juventus
fans would probably wonder why we might not want such an overly enthusiastic and
experienced backup goalkeeper. But even they finally said goodbye to him. They
also probably don’t realize that so far just this season, Cagliari have
conceded 42 goals in the league. 36 of those goals on Storari’s watch. In half
a season. He has also had public fights with both the coach and manager at
Cagliari this season. In half a season.
If that
is not a step backward for Milan in so many wrong directions, I don’t know what
is.
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| Is Galliani trying to harm Milan just to make amends for ruining yet another player's career? |
People
say we need some experience behind Donnarumma. That might be true, but this is
not the experience we need. The last thing we need to do is go back to old,
washed up players with attitude and discipline problems. Hell, we just got done
with all of that nonsense finally by bleeding out the whole squad for four
years. Players Galliani had carefully collected with the football intuition of
a bull’s backside and the “free transfer” and wage spending of a manic woman
with a limitless credit card. Now we’re going to take another one on loan just
because Galliani screwed up four years ago and ruined a young keeper’s career?
The
trouble with Gabriel is that he was a poor decision for Milan in the first
place. Now he’s a keeper without a net, relying on the loans of teams who are
looking for backup keepers instead of wanting to invest in a good, young keeper
for their future. He’s been so unlucky in that Milan surprisingly got Lopez. Then
came Donnarumma and now Plizzari. What he needs is a good club, where he can
start consistently and play regularly. Maybe that club is Cagliari, for him. But
for Milan, we screw ourselves even harder with the other side of that swap. The
real trouble with Gabriel is that he needs to be sold to a good club who will
let him develop into a decent keeper. But in a mercato where Milan desperately
need to sell to be able to purchase, why would Galliani do the right thing? For
Storari? For Gabriel? Or for Milan?
This post was inspired by the music
of Sting’s “Gabriel’s Message”
Our next match is
Milan vs. Cagliari
Sunday, January 8 • 18:00
CET (12noon EST)