Sacrilege

As if things weren’t bad enough with the Lega Serie A changing the rules every day because of the coronavirus outbreak and changing them specifically to benefit one team (cough*Juve*cough,) Milan appear to be imploding at the management level… again. The rumors are uglier than ever, with the possible exit of Maldini and Boban from the club this summer being the ultimate form of sacrilege.

All good things come from the legends

I normally like to wait and get confirmation from the club before adding to the online feeding frenzy of rumors, but we got some confirmation Friday night with words from Boban about Gazidis going behind the backs of he and Maldini and talking to Rangnick about a possible combination coaching/sporting director position for next year. It doesn’t look good. And that is on Gazidis.

Maldini and Boban have slashed the wage bill, decreased the squad size, lowered the average age of the squad significantly, and still improved the football. Because of their status as Milan legends, they have been able to bring in talented players and have convinced them to accept tiny wages in order to improve the squad while being financially responsible. They have been completely transparent in their words and deeds, and hiring Giampaolo was their only mistake. Which they corrected, even though others with more experience urged them to give him more time.

One of these things is not like the others (and it's not just because he's bald)

Remember that when Leonardo and Maldini wanted to bring Ibrahimovic back a year ago, it was Gazidis that supposedly said no. He stuck with the idea of a 100 percent young squad, and we missed out on Champions League by one point. Results this calendar year alone show that not only would we have made Champions League last year if we had signed Ibrahimovic then, but we may have finished higher than fourth place, too. That decision was on Gazidis.

While Maldini and Boban have delivered pretty much everything they promised in their eight-month tenure, barring the Giampaolo bump, Gazidis has actually made the financial situation worse. Last summer was the worst loss in the history of the club, and that includes the Yonghong Li year. There are fewer sponsors, they’ve spent a lot of money re-decorating Milanello and creating an app that is being shoved down our throats, but is honestly not the greatest. Gazidis has actually spent more than he has brought in, and the financial fitness of the organizations he has run before is the only good thing he did. That is on Gazidis.

Not Milan, not even good at his job

The worst of all of this is that Maldini and Boban are Milan. They know what it is to wear the crest, to sweat blood for the club, and to lift the trophies with a shower of red and black confetti. All the trophies. Especially the coveted Champions League trophies. Maldini’s son just broke into the first team and is the third generation of Maldinis to wear the red and black. To choose an incompetent CEO and an unproven coach/director of sport over these Milan legends is pure sacrilege in its highest form.

Maldini: "You want to hire WHO as coach?!"

I have been watching Milan for over 25 years, and I have seen so much, especially this past ten years or so. If Elliott Management choose Gazidis over Maldini and Boban, then the Milan I have worshipped all of these years is dead. I literally may stop supporting Milan. Because why would anyone want to watch a half-ass team owned by a ruthless American hedge fund, run by a CEO whose projects have never produced any level of football worth watching, and that is coached and scouted by some German guy whose greatest glory was winning the German second league almost 20 years ago? No one in that scenario knows what it is to win or even play in Italy, let alone the Champions League. That is not Milan. Not even one Euro of it. If these rumors are true and they push Maldini and Boban out, then they have lost everything. And committed sacrilege.

This post inspired by the music of The Sex Pistols’ “Liar”

Our next match is

Coppa Italia Semifinal 2nd Leg

Juventus vs. Milan

Wednesday, March 4 • 20:45 CET (2:45pm EST)*

This match will be subject to territorial discrimination, and Milan fans are uninvited