Milan Down Under

The season only just ended, but Milan are not on vacation just yet. They have taken a trip to Western Australia to play a friendly vs. Roma for the fans in Perth. There are plenty of people of Italian descent in Australia, as well as many more Serie A and Milan fans. This is Milan's first trip to Australia in 30 years, and the fans have been eagerly preparing for the match with fantastic coreo, proving that there are fans around the world who are every bit as passionate as those in Italy. The players have been busy with obligatory Aussie adventures, while fans prepare to watch one more match ahead of the summer break. And even if it is against the team that sent us out of the Europa League this year, it will be fun to watch Milan Down Under.

Learning about the local culture at Kings Park.

Milan 3, Salernitana 3: Emotional Overload

For both clubs, their fates were decided ahead of this match. Milan had sealed second place, and Salernitana knew they would be relegated. Therefore, the 3-3 draw with Salernitana was actually the secondary story to so many emotions. And Milan's new kit launch was almost a non-story. Pioli made sure that the players whose contracts are up all got some playing time, while the players were primarily focused on sending Pioli off in the best way possible. From a giant circle of hugs before kickoff, to a guard of honor, touching speeches, chants from the fans, tossing Pioli in the air, and one final round of "Pioli is On Fire," the entire evening was beautiful, but also a complete emotional overload.

The entire night was filled with intense emotions and goodbyes.

Milan-Salernitana Preview: Curtain Call

Saturday is not only the last match of the season, it is the last Milan match ever for Giroud, Kjaer, and we know now that it will also be Pioli's last match in charge as well. Who knows who else will leave this summer, as this management do not know the definition of loyalty and definitely are not putting their money where their mouths are when it comes to selecting a new manager. Many of us Milan fans have said all along that there is no point in sacking Pioli unless you have a better manager lined up. Fonseca, their reported choice, does not appear to be better in any way at all, he's just new. This is also the last Serie A match for Salernitana, who have been relegated to Serie B. For so many people, this will be like the curtain call on the stage that is Milan's San Siro.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Torino 3, Milan 1: Going Down In Flames

Just looking at the lineups felt ominous, like when you smell gasoline and hear someone about to strike a match. It was perfect that Pioli would choose to be remembered like this, leaving so many starters on the bench, allowing the bench players to create a deficit too big for the starters to come on and dig them out of. The 3-1 loss away to Torino definitely gave burning down the house vibes. But to be fair, fans online gave up on this team ages ago, and the Curva Sud have boycotted now four weeks in a row. How can they expect the team to show up or care when the fans could care less? It feels like the entire club has just given up and is going down in flames.

Pioli was on fire, and now he's burning down the Club with him.

Torino-Milan Preview: Pioli's Penultimate Challenge

While Pioli has been hounded by questions all season about his future, and he has asked to be judged at the end of the season, all media reports point to this being his next to the last match for Milan. I mean he may get to take the team to Australia for the postseason friendly, but after the way Cardinale sacked Maldini last year, I think Pioli is expecting similar treatment. Which means this trip to Torino is also his last away match, as well as the final away match for Giroud, Kjaer, and possibly other players. With 74 points on the table but no trophies, the best case scenario is for Milan to win both of these final matches and finish on 80 points, a decent second place finish for the season. So expect the match vs. Torino to be about closing out the season well and honoring the players and the manager who will likely be leaving after next week. Earning 80 points this season is Pioli's penultimate challenge.

Strange to think this could be his last away match for Milan.

Milan 5, Cagliari 1: Silencing the Fans

After a really rough month without a win, Milan came back with a vengeance against poor, relegation-threatened Cagliari. Like Mina's shirt that Giroud tore less than ten minutes into the match, Milan took out their aggression by dominating possession and came out on top with a 5-1 win over Cagliari in front of the still silent Curva Sud at the San Siro. And while the Curva had put up a large banner for the duration of the match that indicated that Milan were "unsatisfied," it must have been confusing to the casual viewer, who saw Serie A's second place team shred their opposition with five goals, which could have easily been more. That's what you call silencing the fans.

Celebrating with or without the fans.

Milan-Cagliari Preview: Looking for Clarity

Milan have three matches left this season. While second place seemed to be a certainty for the team last month, recent results have called into question whether or not the team will actually pull it off. Coming to the close of what has been a difficult and disappointing season for the team (not just the fans,) the Curva Sud are set to boycott their third match in a row. Once again this week, they've announced a "silent protest" in order to obtain "clarity" from the management on things the management is working on, but cannot actually do anything about until the season ends. So, Saturday night, Milan will host 15th place Cagliari. Meanwhile, the fans who claim to love the Club the most will stand in silence, while the players who have fought in every match will be battling alone, looking for some actual clarity as to our final position on the table.

Giroud perhaps trying to show the fans where they should actually be looking for clarity.

Milan 3, Genoa 3: The Price of Silence

Milan had four matches left in this season, three of them home games. After protesting the Juventus match last week completely for their own political purposes, one might think that the Curva Sud would be back in full force to support the team they claim to love "In good times and in bad" for this one. But no. Completely stuck in their 1899 Ultra ways, these Karens demanded to speak to the manager by observing a silent protest as Milan hosted an in-form Genoa, making it all about them and their organized crime-like demands. And Milan drew with Genoa, 3-3, when it was a match they could and should have won. But the Curva Sud fans left ten minutes early, so they missed that part. That is the price of silence.

The players deserve support no matter what management does.

Milan-Genoa Preview: Keeping the Faith

When we played Genoa in October, aka the most insane stoppage time match ever, our first goalkeeper, Maignan, was sent off for a straight red card in the 98th minute, with no subs left, so Giroud donned the keeper jersey and gloves and quite literally saved the day. (If you'll recall, their goalkeeper was also sent off for a second yellow in the 103rd minute of a seven minute stoppage time that ended up being 15 minutes long.) This time, Gilardino's Genoa comes to the San Siro, and Maignan is out with a minor adductor muscle injury. And while the Curva Sud have questioned everyone's faith by announcing they will be boycotting again, Sportiello showed us last week that when he is in goal, we can keep the faith.

Giroud has four matches left in this shirt, let's keep the faith.

Milan's Manager Dilemma

After nearly five years, the Pioli Out crowd seem to have finally realized their dream. Having constantly criticized the manager and blamed him for everything from the weather, the kits, to the mercato purchases, player performances, as well as the things he was actually responsible for, it seems that everyone has accepted that Pioli will be leaving at the end of the season. I mean, when pressed, management denies it and pretends to be annoyed by the questions. But they have leaked plenty of information to their spokespeople favorite journalists about having had serious talks with at least one manager, and reports actually have said the talks went all the way back to December. But the fans got wind of this name and vehemently disapproved of him as being the next Milan manager, leaving management reportedly rethinking their decision. And as a controversially successful season wraps up, Milan have a serious manager dilemma.

More questions than answers.