Sunday’s win
over Bologna cemented our sixth place finish, putting us into the
Europa League qualifying stages this summer. But that may actually hurt our
return to glory more than help it because our squad is so very thin. However,
Sunday’s match did have a massive return to glory: our new home kit for next
season.
Taking its inspirations from iconic periods. Find out more about the new 2017/18 Home kit by @adidasfootball.#HereToCreate #weareacmilan pic.twitter.com/f4j8qSf29f— AC Milan (@acmilan) May 20, 2017
The kit
was literally designed by looking back to the glory days. The stripes are the
perfect width. There are no thin
stripes, pin
stripes, gradated
stripes, just simple pure and clean red and black stripes like the
heroes of our glory days wore.
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| Bonaventura is the perfect poster boy for the new kit |
The
neckline is a classic crew neckline (also called a t-shirt neckline.) There is
no Collar
of Doom™, no silly plackets, just a simple black rib crew neck: easy on
easy off, comfortable and clean.
The
Adidas stripes are all red – no weird grey or gold – and they are back on the
shoulders again, loud and proud – no
hiding them under the arms or whatever. On a black panel, no less, it couldn't be more perfect. The kit just has Milan DNA written all over it.
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| The way stripes were meant to be. |
The
sleeves have a simple wide black cuff to elegantly tie in the rib collar and
give the whole jersey a clean, finished look. There are no red stripes or
insets, just a clean, classic finish. Hoping that inspires our players to do
the same on the pitch.
The logo
is blissfully the
original logo, but with a very well thought-out black stitching outline
around both the logo and our gold star to bring emphasis on the red background.
It is this kind of attention to detail that I appreciate so much as a fan – a
complete focus on the most important part of the jersey.
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| The crest is outlined for emphasis, and Lapadula's mustache is obscured, too. Win-win. |
The
shorts are white again, with the red-black-red stripes like we’re used to
seeing in days gone by. No gimmicks, just classic white shorts with classic
features. Bravo, Adidas.
But the
design element that I gave a standing ovation was the font. No more Casa
Milan-inspired fonts that are barely legible and look like some
beginning art student designed themselves. Just a clean, bold, simple all-white
font. Probably will even be legible from those nebulous pixelated streams we’ll
have to find to watch Europa League qualifying matches on.
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| A perfect font for a perfect kit |
Also
beautiful is Donnarumma’s kit. The classic green color is better than the
pressure of the golden boy kit he had to wear this year. Although there is also
a lot of keeper history in a green kit. But the clean white v-neck rib collar is echoed in the clean white stripes that run the full length of the arms. Perfect in its simplicity. And again, the crisp, clean sporty font to let everyone know his name and
number.
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| The perfect kit for the perfect keeper |
The
Adidas marketing has good and bad elements to it. On the one hand, most of the
pics of Lapadula cover up his weasely mustache. And Montolivo alone in the
shadows seems quite fitting. I also like the urban settings and simple photos,
very fitting for where the team is right now.
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| Where he belongs - alone and in the shadows |
On the
other hand, with most of the pictures they’ve added strange graphics that look like
swimming lane lines, strangling our players. There are just no words for that.
But I can forgive the weird ads for such an incredible kit.
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| What happened here? |
It’s hard
not to be optimistic after seeing the new kits in action. Was it just
coincidence that we clinched sixth place while wearing them? Or that a couple
of days later, China announced that it will be removing the ban on foreign
investments so that Yonghong Li can find investors again? This, on the same day
that we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our last Champions League win, too.
Ever since the kits were officially released, Milan’s fortunes have changed for the better.
And even if on paper there is still plenty of reason to doubt, on the surface,
it seems like these kits are helping to bring Milan to a return to glory.
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| The players' reaction to the new kit |
This post inspired
by the music of Julian Cope
Our last match of
the season is
Cagliari vs. Milan
Sunday, May 28 •
15:00 CET (9am EDT)
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