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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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