Wednesday was the Lunar New Year, and this year is the Year of the Snake. No wonder, then, that Milan had such a rough time vs. Dinamo Zagreb, while Inter made easy work of Monaco at the San Siro. Sure, Milan won their home Derby 2-1 in September. Then we snaked their Supercoppa from them with a 3-2 victory over Inter in Saudi Arabia last month. But whether it is just our incompetent management and their tragic transfer moves, the toxic Italian media (much of which is owned by Interisti, by the way,) or there is actually something to this whole Lunar New Year thing, Milan fans are not feeling confident going into this one. Perhaps we're all just picturing our greasy-haired owner and his horrible minions, but it kind of feels like the Year of the Snake.
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| The real snakes. |
This match was going to be difficult enough with Fofana suspended and the injuries we have. But the transfer window closes on Monday, which means this management's continued destruction of this club could not be complete with a complete and total meltdown. After sitting on their thumbs all month because they were congratulating themselves for finally sacking Fonseca and hiring Conceição, the loss to Juventus in the league reminded them that they really bombed last summer's transfers. So they clearly thought, "How can we do worse?"
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| My reaction when I found out Tomori told those snakes NO. |
After the loss on Wednesday in Zagreb, all hell broke loose. There were all kinds of rumors, and it turned out that most of them were true. They tried to sell Tomori to Tottenham for €25-30m, but he said no. They were going to loan our precious Camarda to bottom-of-the-table Monza, but after the backlash from everything else, luckily Ibrahimović tried to look heroic by putting a stop to that. (Or maybe someone just showed him his press conference from last June, where he said Camarda would stay and he would be protected.) Also, go to hell, Galliani. You got Daniel Maldini for free, and you turned around and sold him to Atalanta. A Maldini. Wearing nerazzurri. Playing for Atalanta. Is there nothing beneath you?
Our management finally closed the deal for Santiago Giménez, the Mexican striker from Feyenoord, despite him suffering some kind of injury in their match on Wednesday, and our two teams being drawn to face each other in the Champions League Playoff round. But whether it was bringing him in that would infringe on his playing time, or the club needing to clear a spot and wages, or Morata just being unhappy for some reason, that suddenly triggered a quick negotiation for a Morata exit to Galatasaray. Which seemed previously unplanned.
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| Morata was only here six months, but played in two Derbies for us, we will miss him. |
But the one that cuts to the core is the exit of our captain, Davide Calabria. Calabria was a bandiera, he joined Milan's youth teams in 2007 and only ever played for Milan. Not since Paolo Maldini had any other player come through the youth ranks and made it to the first team and stayed like him, let alone made it to captain. As a senior player alone, he has seen four different ownerships and played for nine different managers here at Milan. He was the last player in the team from the Berlusconi era. He had not only seen it all, but lived every minute of it.
We knew that there were things going on behind the scenes after Maldini was sacked for sure. He was meant to be renewed, and was not asking for that much money, honestly, but the club refused his requests last year. They continued to bring in unserious players who were not playing for the badge, but were being paid far more than he was, and that had to be difficult. Then there was that one dinner he reportedly had with some Milan Ultras that saw him be questioned in the criminal investigation.
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| We watched him grow at Milan and become our captain. |
There was also that one issue with Pioli last year, then Fonseca benched him for much of the season this year, while Emerson Royal conceded goal after goal for us. When Conceição came, not only did he also start Emerson Royal more often than not, but he unceremoniously gave Maignan the captain's armband. In the Girona match, despite Emerson Royal linked with an exit, Conceição started him, but he was injured two minutes into the match, which botched that deal. It also meant Calabria came on with no warning or warmup, and he ended up earning his third yellow of the season, which meant he was suspended for the Dinamo match this week.
But where things boiled over was immediately after the full time whistle in the 3-2 win over Parma last weekend. Conceição and Calabria clashed to the point that the entire team had to pull them apart. After a win. Something was not right. And though they both apologized and said everything was okay, it seems that maybe it actually wasn't. His comments after the match were honest and heartbreaking:
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| Grace: something you give because you don't always know what people are going through. |
"There are difficult situations, even private and personal ones that no one knows about. I don't even want to talk about them too much. I want to end this season in the best possible way for the good of the team, which is what I care about most, even more than myself at times. Honestly, I'm thinking about staying focused on this thing, having grown up with this shirt."
While it had been pretty clear that Calabria would leave this summer, he even posted a not-so-cryptic message in his Instagram story following the Supercoppa win, suddenly, he was linked with an exit to Bologna. Now.
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| Why did it have to be this way? |
As our rightful captain, lifelong Milanista, and loyal servant to the club for 18 years prepared to leave the only club he'd ever known, the same snakes in our management who would not renew him or pay him nearly as much as they paid the inferior player they bought were haggling with Bologna, trying to get them to give Milan some money for him. And so on Saturday, Calabria left Milanello for the last time. Alone. In tears.
How wrong is that? Zlatan, who was a mercenary that had played for both Juve and Inter, was on Milan's books for a combined total of 5.5 years (although he barely played for the last 1.5 years,) was just given a king's God's sendoff less than two years ago with a packed San Siro. But Calabria, our current captain, whose entire life has only been Milan, did not even get to say goodbye to the fans at all. And this management wonders why they are so hated. After sacking Maldini and selling Tonali, this should not be a surprise. But it doesn't make it hurt any less.
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| Happy at least he got one last trophy. |
And it says so much about this management that even in Walker's press conference, Ibrahimović talked about needing leaders in our team. Yet they just sent away our own captain and Spain's national team captain in the same weekend. It seems like they definitely had leaders, they actually just want leaders who will tow the line and go along with everything they say. And if that is their criteria, then both Calabria and Morata leaving checks out, because both of them are honest, trustworthy, ethical human beings who stand up for what is right. That they would bring in a captain from a club like Manchester City, whose personal life is anything but honest, trustworthy, or ethical, to be their "leader" speaks volumes of the kind of people they are. Maldini told us about them.
So... it is in this chaotic, emotional atmosphere that Milan host Inter on Sunday evening for a Derby. This management's plan was to have Giménez available to play in this match, but their pathetic attempts at negotiations delayed that, so he will be having medicals Sunday morning and will not be available for the Derby. They are so shameless and pathetic that they called in a favor from Shevchenko and asked him to present our new player ahead of the match, probably hoping the presence of a legend will detract from their reprehensible actions. (It won't.) But hey, at least the Curva Sud and Milan clubs have declared a "truce" on their protests, so will actually supposedly cheer for the team again in this match. Wow. We are so blessed.
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| Conceição will have a seriously depleted squad, but Kyle Walker could debut. |
In the chaos of emotions, Giménez's arrival is exciting and much anticipated, though also difficult to celebrate properly under the circumstances. This match should also see the debut of Kyle Walker, since the only other healthy right back the club had, our captain, just got shipped to Bologna like lunchmeat. Morata is also scheduled to fly to Turkey Sunday morning, so more than likely, Tammy Abraham will start up front.
With Fofana suspended, Conceição's options in the midfield are limited, with Bennacer and the maligned Musah (who shockingly got himself sent off on Wednesday) the most likely to cover that midfield duo if he chooses the 4-2-3-1 system. Loftus-Cheek is still injured, as are the other two right backs, Emerson Royal and Florenzi. Despite the pressure the club seems to be putting on Tomori to leave, he will likely start alongside Pavlović in the back, although in the press conference, Conceição did say that both Thiaw and Gabbia have recovered enough to train with the team. It just seems more likely they would start on the bench.
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| We could only dream of another perfect moment like this. |
Inter come into this one in second place in Serie A, just three points behind Napoli, and with a game in hand, too. They have won their last four matches straight, including their 3-0 win over Monaco on Wednesday in the Champions League. Although, of course, Monaco were on ten men from the 12th minute on, after conceding a penalty in just the fourth minute. Because that's how things go for Inter.
For that match, The Other Inzaghi™ lined up a 3-5-2 with Sommer; Pavard, de Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Asllani, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro Martínez, and Marcus the Molester Thuram™. All your favorite snakes. And of course, The Other Inzaghi™ is only missing a backup goalkeeper, DiGennaro, to injury, because of course, The Turkish Traitor™ and Acerbi the Racist made it back from injury just in time. And they just signed Zalewski from Roma, whom they registered in time to be eligible for this match, too. Of course. This Lunar New Year is already working for them.
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| We need Pavlović's Big Balkan Energy for all 90 minutes. |
To sum up: Milan's entire universe is coming apart, while Inter come into this one with all players healthy and available, in form and with an axe to grind after having lost back to back Derbies to us (including the Supercoppa trophy and extra €5 million prize money from Riyadh.) I believe in Conceição, but he's not a magician. The chaos will either galvanize them or serve to further disorient them, I don't expect a mediocre performance at all.
But it's bad enough that even The Lunar New Year is conspiring against us. We didn't need another incompetent, procrastinated transfer window, and for the snakes in our management to slide out from under their rock and further undermine us all of a sudden, too. I hate Inter so much, they are such total and complete frauds, and I always want to win the Derby with every fiber of my being. Maybe with Sheva there, our new right back wanting to impress in his first match, and our brand new striker sitting in San Siro for the first time, they will bring us luck. But I can't shake the feeling that this has become the Year of the Snake.
This post inspired by the music of The Cure's "Boys Don't Cry"
Serie C Week 25
Reviewed by Elaine
on
4:00 AM
Rating:
