End of Days: Milan Player Exits

Today is June 30th, which means for a number of players at Milan, their contracts expire. This year, especially, there are more players than usual leaving. Some for whom we have been counting down the days until they are gone, others who we will miss more than words can say. But this year, there is no one at the club making clear statements, as this ownership has chosen to replace our technical and sporting directors with an amorphous "working group." Ironically, one of the members of that "working group" also has a contract that was due to expire today, and the club has not announced a renewal, either. So without any clear messages from the club formerly known as AC Milan, in more ways than one, today can feel like the end of days.

Saying goodbye to our out-of-contract players, big and small

Podcast: The One About Maldini, Tonali, and Cardinale

After qualifying for the Champions League, Ibrahimović retired, Cardinale sacked Maldini and Massara, and everything has fallen apart for Milan. Despite the hopelessness surrounding the club and a Maldini-free future, the transfer market, and the future, new guest Furat joined me to share his origin story and talk about (read: rant) everything happening to us at Milan right now.

An unexpected and unwarranted farewell.

Gerry Cardinale: Crimes Against Football

Gerry Cardinale is in the business of building businesses. And yet, in one move, he did more to destroy the Milan brand and business than anyone else has for decades. In firing Paolo Maldini, he not only exposed his complete ignorance of all things Milan, but of how to run a football club at all. Yet it started long before that fateful day. Since he purchased the club, he has systematically committed crimes against football.

A crime against football for which there is no forgiveness.

The Betrayal of Paolo Maldini

Paolo Maldini is a legend. His entire life has been devoted to family and football. Milan has been his extended family, as a second generation Milan player and captain. His involvement with the club has always been about football. Obviously, on the pitch, he was one of the greatest to ever play the game, both as a player and a captain. But he also became an immediate legend as a technical director, and he and sporting director Ricky Massara formed an outstanding team. Together, they returned the team to the Champions League for three straight years, including a semifinal, and even helped the team win a Scudetto. In fact, the duo won multiple awards for being outstanding in their field from those who actually know football, and many legends in the industry had tremendous things to say about them. That did not matter to new Milan owner Gerry Cardinale, or his fake Milan fan CEO, Giorgio Furlani, though. As a numbers-crunching, data-driven, ignorant, egotistical, and irresponsible management, they took it upon themselves to take advantage of Maldini to help build the brand and tie down important players. Then they fired him in the most sudden and disrespectful of ways, also disrespecting the players, the club, and the fans. It was the betrayal of Paolo Maldini.

Betrayed.

Milan 3, Verona 1: Hard to Say GodBye

There will only ever be one Zlatan Ibrahimović. After Milan defeated Verona 3-1, there was a special tribute to the legendary player to say farewell to him. Only the surprise was that he also announced that he was saying farewell to football. Not that I would have wanted to see him wear another shirt, but, like the players said, "We were not ready." I know this is supposed to be a match review, but between all of the tears, forgive me if it is as much about how hard it is to say GodBye.

The only way to say farewell to a deity

Milan-Verona Preview: Last Dance

Sunday is the last match of the season. For some Milan players, it will be their last chance to wear the Milan shirt. For many of us fans, some of those players could not possibly leave fast enough, as they have overstayed their welcome (looking at you, Bakayoko.) While for others, many of whom we may not even yet realize are leaving, we will look back and wish that this match lasted much longer than 90 minutes. For Verona, this is their ultimate last chance to stay up, as only a result against us and some luck with other results will keep them in Serie A next year. So for many players and many reasons, there will likely be many tears at the final whistle on Sunday, as this will be their last dance.

Will this be the last dance for papa Ibrahimović and little Brahim Díaz?