Here is the deal lads, Milan is not an Elite club anymore. History, tradition, the name, it all means sod all when you can't even get into the Europa League. And before anyone suggest otherwise, this is not a one season hiccup.

With Seire A having only 3CL spots, and teams like Napoli, Inter, Roma, and even bloody Fiorentina having projects; getting one of those spots is not an easy job. Truth be told, even if we did, as long as we are considered non threats in the Italian and European teams, we can't really claim elite statues.

Fact is, this has been a long time coming. Signs were there when we sold Sheva, Calcipoli shafted us, and we were obviously depending on a team which was already mature in 2003. We were not rebuilding fast, and our last "real" WC signing was Ronaldinho (Binho and Zlatan were want-away stars).

Affected by Berlu's own declining fortune, and the terrible state of Italian economy, Milan have been suffering the results of Berlu's unintelligent structuring of Milan. As it was, Milan was simply a play0thing for a rich man that benefited from his money, which plugged whatever problems were in the background. With no more plugs to put in, the plumping is exposed as the mess it is.

These are IMO the problems in Milan which is holding the club down.

Milan Lab

At one time, Milan lab was place that rejuvenated injured football stars, and brought them bakc as good as they were. Lately, we have had cases such as Pato, and now I really hope SES doesn't go the same route.

I have no idea what happened behind the scenes, but Milan Lab is simply not as good as it was. A football team runs on its legs, literally, and we need those in shape.

Scouting Division

This one got castrated when Leonardo left. Leo was responsible for bringing countless stars (Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka, Pato, T. Silva, etc.) to Milan. In fact, his final contribution was reportedly keeping tabs on SES. Now he is building PSG one hell of a team.

Milan's current scouting strategy is relying on Genoa rejects to do good, while getting Juve and Inter leftovers (Aquilani, Poli). Some manage to be good, but whatever we do we also do with a limited vision, and a look for bargain more than value.

Teams like Udinese proves that quality players can be bought cheap, but Milan can't see the forest from the trees. Niangollan was an absolute steal by Roma. Vidal for Juve cost as much as Matri did for us. Great deal are avialable, but we can't seem to make anything beyond signing has-beens and Genoa players.

Ignoring Youth

A leftover from our cash-plugs-all days, we ignore youth despite us desperately wanting to cut costs. We rely on scrubs like Urby, Constant, Zapata, Mexes, and old-man Essian, and completely ignore the cheap alternative. One which is supposedly our own product.

Our current prediciment perhapes would have been avoided if we groomed some talent besides our CL winning team. But we have only Abate from those days as a semi-youth product. No matter what, playing youth players would be better than playing scrubs.

Not all youth players would pan-out, but whomever we play might build himself a decent enough reputation to be sold at a decent price to weaker Serie A teams. In parallel with our should-be youth policy, we should also keep tabs on gems like T. Silva and SES to buy cheap (relatively) and groom.

Clean Up

Despite having a terrible team, we still have the 3rd largest wage-bill in Italy. We are not an elite team, but we pay like one. With a team full of scrubs, we seriously overpay.

The strategy of getting free agents is biting us in the ass if they are in any way like Mexes. While we don't pay anything to get them, we also can't get rid of them. No other club would match their wages, and on our chests they will set with their massive paycheck.

The rest of Milan is expensive as well. From our sub-par medical staff, to our sub-par CEO. Unless Milan is in place to win everything, they shouldn't pay like a team that is.

Revenue Creation

Regardless of whatever we do, as long as we have no money, we can't do it. With no Stadium, or revenue potential is pathetic. In fact, even if we had a stadium, we still would be in a pathetic state considering Italy's economical position.

Milan needs to cash in with faces like Honda and start whoring themselves out to Asian markets. Simply put, Milan should start behaving like a 21st Century team and become a franchise as well as a team. Milan have an attractive kit, and a storied history. They have a brand to sell, and with the city of Milan being a center of fashion, they actually have a huge leg to stand on.

Whatever Milan tries to do, they should spread out their revenue generation. Cash in from the Milan players they sell like Paloschi and Matri, and seriously work on getting their own stadium.

Perhaps becoming a public company would make sense for Milan. Perhapes not, but as they are, revenue is not going to go up any time soon.

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Frankly, I think Milan's problems are not impossible to solve. Yet, to do so would require a management that itself does not require a medical surgery to remove its head from up its own ass.

Agreed on almost everything , though such posts do me much hurt. I know nothing will be done of that soon enough , so to avoid the worst .

These who run Milan are in a world of their own , thinking too smart of themselves , that they will fix things aright again .

I don't really see that anymore , though i do rest my last hopes in our younger players , that they will somehow come out of this period stronger one day and thus lead Milan to better days. Right now , yeah , we have to endure all the stupidity that comes from the top.

The medicine is stop hoping for stuff , yet if you drink too much of that , it becomes poison . Milan is going through very bad days indeed . As for next season , unless they have some real plans , i doubt we can even finish 4th. Won't even talk about getting the right people to lead the team , no coach will get quality to work with , mediocrity most of it will stay right where it is , legends like Maldini are treated like shits and Galliani's hard on is Inzaghi , because sacking one inexperienced coach for another is some kind of genius strategy , that us mortal fans cannot comprehend .

As for money and the stadium , the Milan lab and the scouting , well , i am sure they realise such things much better than us , i give them that. Can't really say much about this , you said what doesn't work , i am sure they already know all that , waay before than us. The thing is , these things don't change overnight so.. their mistakes have consequences and the team and the fans are paying for that dearly.

Anyway , it serves them well , as bad as it sounds. They should know better after all these years and success they managed to have . The fact that we're in 2014 and the italian economy is a mess , is no excuse. They are in charge of Milan for almost 30 years now , did it never cross their minds when money was available to build a new stadium , one which Milan would own? They would be safe today as far as money goes.

Who's fault it really is that after having some legendary players come from our own youth , to abandon the next crops like that ? Who's fault is it that instead of re building the squad as long as our old guard was here , they kept signing finished players or free ones , only to lose everyone in a single summer ?

Milan has to pay for all these mistakes and it has already. The question is , how long it will take to become trully Milan again ? Depending on this summer's additions and departures , it may take quite a long while or just one season. We will see , yet i really don't get my hopes up , rather the exact opposite.

Great read, Spencer.

I think most of us Milan fans are on the same page and would agree, however it remains to be seen if Milan are up for making the appropriate changes. I don't care how long takes, so long as changes are made immediately.

I think this season has shown more than anything that the most important thing in football is coaching.

Best example is Atletico Madrid.

They're a team of journey men who are punching far, far, far above there weight under Simeone. He transmits his ideas perfectly to the players.

To him and other coaches like Klopp the most important thing is intensity and team unity.

On paper our squad really isn't all that bad, just by watching them they don't give there full effort in every match. Ideally, you want the players to believe that the next game may be there last so they have to give it there all. You need a coach who can transmit that idea fully into the players, and Im not sure if Seedorf can.

Another thing is team unity. In Zambrotta's book he talks about how the locker room was divided in 2012, and how Allegri and Ibra almost got into a fist fight.

And if what Seedorf said to the curva leader was true our locker room is divided. Heck, just today there was news that Amelia and Bonera got into a fight on the Milan bus after the unveliving of Casa Milan.

Point is, the 2 most important factors in footy is pretty nonexistent in this club. You need a coach who can bring back those values.

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As for transfer strategy, I think it has become quite clear that we can no longer buy players from top leagues. And as a result, we are bringing in free agents with high wages.

But, I really don't understand why we don't delve into the Eastern European market. In fact, a lot of BVB's success had to do with there shrewd scouting in Eastern Europe.

Now, I'm not saying we buy scrubs from there. But, the best players from those countries will be cheap. Serbia's best player Jojic, was bought for 2M and he's doing wonders for BVB. Chiriches Romania's best player was bought for 7M and he's doing great for Spurs. Then, you have the likes of Ilsanker and Kampl who are doing wonders with RB Salzburg, that have yet to be poached by a big club.

The most well known talents in Croatia, Halilovic and Kovacic were bought for a combine sum of about 15M ffs. Halilovic (2.2) , Kovacic (12)

Point is, there is definitely talent there and for low costs as well. Granted, they will need developing that's why early on I mentioned we need a top coach.

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There are ways were we can improve without spending a whole lot, which includes a top coach and shrewd scouting but our management thinks buying free agents is the cure.

If I was in Milans position I would be focusing on youth, youth and more youth

Instead of picking up these Bakaye Traore types, i'd be looking to promote youth AND bring in talents from around the globe. Basically, when you are no longer expected to win things in the short term, you can focus on giving players time and developing them as opposed to being expected to win the league every season where the margin for error is close to zero.

IMO, the best transfer policy combines grooming youth with the buying of proven and semi-proven talent.

For Milan, the quick fix was always buying the best talent in the Market (in the 90s), and soon became buying the best past-it names (2004 and beyond).

@Dante, I seriously doubt the management are as aware of the problems in Milan as we would like to think they are. As I said, their policy running Milan was basically buying up the market. They had no vision (proven by not actually securing a stadium), and in fact our youth sector have always been neglected. What we did was buy potential talents and groom them. I am not sure, but I think the only Milan youth to win the CL 2003 and 2007 was Maldini.

I really think that none of the Milan management can handle a budget-constrained team. That was not the philosophy of the management since Berlu took Milan, and I frankly have not seen it change.

If their only answer to our scouting problems is getting those honestly more damaging free deals, then they are more lost that we think. As I said, free agents have no resell potential due to their inflated wages. Mostly, they end up running their contracts and going away like Flamini.

I will try to keep my expectations for change extremely low so that I would not be disappointed if no change occurs.

I am tired of repeating the same old stuff for years. Years.

It all boils down to:
1. Stadium
2. Youth
3. Management

Meanwhile, many Milan fans have retrograde views...

E.g. Opposing the sale of the club;
Opposing firing Galliani;
Opposing moving out of the San Siro;
Supporting band-aid transfers (e.g. Birsa);
Supporting "big-name" veteran signings (e.g. Essien);
Supporting sentimental signings (e.g. Kaka);
Opposing giving young players a chance (e.g. Pacifico, Cristante, Petagna) over established players who are rubbish (Mexes, Robinho, Constant, Emanuelson, Zaccardo, Muntari, and the list goes on and on); and
Savaging young players after every game, whilst the veterans get away with consistently shite performances (e.g. compare the harsh criticism of Saponara & the praise lavished upon Mexes)

I'm scare it will take Milan too long to be back in champions league.

The sad thing is that the San Siro will probably host the 2015-16 CL final and we won't even be in the competition unless drastic changes are made.

If all Milan fans can pool their money, i think we might be able to purchase the club

The question is: Who will administrate the club?

Shotgun on on the Sporting Director spot

El Shaarawy wrote:If all Milan fans can pool their money, i think we might be able to purchase the club

The question is: Who will administrate the club?

Shotgun on on the Sporting Director spot

I'm tossing up between Head Scout and "Head of the Firing Squad", or perhaps "The (Contract) Terminator". Yes, that will look good on one of those little golden name plates that people put on their office desks.

Actually, maybe we can establish a new team called the "Postavera", which will be like the Primavera, except it will have all the past-it players who aren't good enough for the first team. I could coach that team and bring back Favalli as my assistant, for he is most learned in the ways of the ancients. We will recruit Tommaso Rocchi,
Andrea Caracciolo, Sergio Pelissier, Fabrizio Miccoli, and Ambrosini will return to captain the side.

missjb wrote:I'm scare it will take Milan too long to be back in champions league.

"A lot can happen between now and never".

milan is doomed.

Atelti have stuck with the same core of players for 4+ years now and there wasn't a whole lot of success 3-4 years ago... they just kept at it and didn't panic mainly because they had no money to buy players Only place they truly made changes was Aguero to Falcao and now Costa. Those sales allowed them to stay afloat.

It's coaching... true... but it's mostly committing to a project and seeing it out.

Interesting .

Yet Atletico never finished 8th in any of these seasons and i am pretty sure the whole lot of success is a sad understatement to what Atletico achieved in these years , where they won 2 ELs and the Copa Del Rey , before even reaching the peak of their project this season.

There were signs this was actually going somewhere.

Compare that to Milan's 3rd and and 8th finish , with absolutely no sings of getting better and see that the connection you made isn't so solid Sports.

I guess we should indeed stick to the core of this team and create a project complimenting our best weapons , there we will agree , yet things have to change drasticaly right away this summer , elsewie Milan will suffer to great depths in the seasons to come.

We are already in Liverpool's steps and Liverpool took their time with money available , let alone Milan who won't give money to buy handkerchiefs to sweep their tears. I am inclined to believe that we can't "stick to the project" , because it has been such a failure.

We need to stick with the youth project tho.

5 years ago, they were 9th followed by 7th, 5th, 3rd and then winners.  Granted, only Koke and Tiago were on that 2009-2010 team.  But the 7th place team had...  Juanfran, Godin, Felipe Luis, Tiago, Raul Garcia, Koke and Costa.  And the rest were actually more talented lol (De Gea, Forlan and Aguero). Many of them were nobodies back then and slowly developed, the most dramatic of which is Costa. But they kept playing the people and developing both individually and as a team.

So really, it's about staying committed to a project for 4-5 years and letting the results come gradually.

In Milans case, we don't stick to anything (or so it seems) - this goes for coaches, players and anything else you can imagine. I also feel as if our transfer market purchases are the equivalent of a mother shopping for her child - it's all about finding the "best" deal on that sales rack and often times the clothes don't match the outfit (in other words, our transfers don't seem to have any actual logic behind them). Ain't nothing wrong with being frugal, but there has to be a method behind the madness.

Coaching is the most important thing in footy. If Berlu didn't want to spend but wanted Milan to stay competitive, he should have done everything in his power to sign a top coach.

But, no one would want to go to this shit hole and be B&Gs puppet though.

Will probably sign 2-3 free agents and sell Balo. And then when the fans and media attack Galliani for not signing anyone good, he'll be like SES is like a new signing.

On another note, do we even have a scouting network? Most of our signings were recommended from a former coach/player. Ancelotti told Galliani to sign Rami, Sacchi told him to sign Mastour. Leonardo found the gems in Brazil.

Most of our signings these days are either free agents, or average Serie A players.

The fact that NUFC are gonna sign Cabella for 6M brings tears to my eyes ffs. There are talented players available for low fees, yet we choose to buy free agents.

Very sadly for Milan and of course , for us the fans as well , no true top coach would accept this miserable situation , i think that goes without any debate ; Nowhere near a contract like the other big clubs offer , nowhere near a budget like other big clubs have , nowhere near the authority they are gifted elsewhere. I am sure our funny circus has actually contacted a lot of interesting coaches since Ancelotti , yet there's a situation that is easy to spot , even from the outside.

To add something very important , we actually had a top coach in Ancelotti , who was and still is our man. Great relationship with everyone at Milan . Why do you trully think Ancelotti left ? I think most of us now.

There's certainly no coincedence to be found in that , after Ancelotti left Milan , he went to work at Chelsea , then Paris , then Madrid . He knew we would stop investing even for direct needs at some point in the near future. And as a top coach who respects his carreer , he went to work where he could actually be competitive.

Let's hope that Pippo is a gem of a coach in the making ... and even that is clutching at straws , i am afraid. It will most likely take Pippo close to 2 seasons to establish his work and create a team that could become competitive again . And if we continue to fall short as far as investments go , or continue to neglect youngsters at this rate , there's no guarantee we can be competitive even in 2 seasons from now.

Pippo has to prove himself a genius for things to turn otherwise and this begs a huge question , what happens untill then ? We cannot afford to miss the next CL , really. Missing this one makes us all sick and our situation got 10x times harder to resolve . Missing yet another one will be a catastrophy and frankly , there is such a possibility. Pippo is the same case with Seedorf. Case. He will either prove to be a genius in the making or we will suffer the consequences once again.

And i struggle to think what awaits Milan once we miss a 2nd consecutive CL . We either bounce back this summer and get ready for next season , or prepare for some dark seasons ahead. Sticking to the project like Sports says is actually , in most cases a wise thing to do , i just don't share the same belief that there's anything that we can hold on to ; this seems to be some very common notion amongst many Milan fans and not just me.

I am eager to see how they will act to set up the team for next season , even though this goes without much hope. They have to get this right for Milan to at least be in the next CL , absolutely nothing else will suffice .

Owner: Dost
VP: Dante
Head of Scouting: Cas
Sporting Director: Me
The Contract Terminator: Forza
Head of Medical Department: Medical99
Financial Manager: LS
Player Performance Manager: Dom
Marketing and PR: Jesp


Great group of people to manage the club imo

El Shaarawy wrote:Owner: Dost
VP: Dante
Head of Scouting: Cas
Sporting Director: Me
The Contract Terminator: Forza
Head of Medical Department: Medical99
Financial Manager: LS
Player Performance Manager: Dom
Marketing and PR: Jesp


Great group of people to manage the club imo

what am I going to do managing our non-existent finances and our ridiculous wage bill. We are probably still paying for Favalli now

El Shaarawy wrote:Owner: Dost
VP: Dante
Head of Scouting: Cas
Sporting Director: Me
The Contract Terminator: Forza
Head of Medical Department: Medical99
Financial Manager: LS
Player Performance Manager: Dom
Marketing and PR: Jesp


Great group of people to manage the club imo

If i'm invited to the new owner's Bunga-Bunga parties , i'd be glad to be VP

Now , on a parallel univerese exactly like ours but one where we succeed them , let's take a look on what the past management () has been doing all this time.

1. Seek investors for the club.

The management was on the hunt for new investors ; they were badly looking to find them. Kinda like the Greeks seek Alexander's tomb , or how researchers and enthusiasts look for Atlantis , or Noah's arc () . There have been rumours that these do exist today , but we still haven't seen any , as of today . They are extremely difficult to be found. These would have been people who would have invested their millions into the club , for a small percentage (of course) , with no place in the board of directors , with no power over their money , with no hope of extending their investement if by some miracle it went well with that circus managing their money. And that's because they have been categorically denying any potential sale of Milan , in the same time they look for investors to help the club's dire needs . How convincing , i am sure they would have found many id........ investors

2. The Project (and the youth project)

Aahh , the project .. The project has always been something like the Matrix ; now , i can't be arsed to explain what the Matrix is right now , but if you have seen the movies , you may get what i am talking about. The project has always been a lie , an illusion . We we're supposedly experiencing it ..... but yeah , in reality it never existed . The Creator Berlusconi and The Oracle Galliani . The Project is their love child . We are it's victims .

3. The model

That nobody knows exactly what it is .. It used to be Milan's model , long ago ; when Milan was Milan . But that's in the past now . After years went by , suddenly the model became Barcelona and their La Masia ; then Ajax's youth philosophy ; later on as declared by Barbara Berlusconi , Silvio's dumb b***c daughter , it apparently was Bayern Munich , all the money they make being 100x times the Juventus of Bundesfoder , had apparently made the Bavarians , "the model to follow" . Not even a month ago , turns out BB said the model is Atletico Madrid this time , because they didn't spend much money , but they won their league and they went into the CL final . Not sure what the model is supposed to be , but there has to be a pattern here ; i am guessing , the pattern of having absolutely no fkn clue what this model is supposed to be .

4. Being frugal and experienced on the market

No need to explain here. See who's a free agent , sign him up , amount a pay roll of a world class team , but for a team filled with mediocrity . Wait a few seasons ; then do the same again . Meanwhile never win anything , crush every single fan's dreams , thank the president for what he did in the past .

5. New Stadium

It doesn't matter they have been for 30 years at the helm of Milan . That weren't enough time to build a new stadium as it seems . One can only blame the economy . And bureaucracy . That's where it is , yeah..

Dat circus

Our wages is the only obstacle imo, the rest are not as pressing or dire. You guys are overreacting.

It's not only wages Ninja , come on.

So , let's say all the players we have , somehow didn't earn as much as they did for the season and earned much less , what difference that would make in the final place being 8th ? When you sign mediocrity , no matter how much you pay to keep it , it's still mediocrity. That you will pay more or less , these are technical matters. What matters to me , to most of the fans that is , is what we see from Milan on the field . And that's deeply dissapointing , i really don't care what they earn. Milan always had a top wage bill , because it's Milan , it's supposed to pay well . That our management has no clue as to whom people they should be paying , that's the problem. The root of the problem isn't the amount being spent on them players , it's first and foremost the players. That is what should concern them.  

The fact that they hadn't the vision to see how this team would fail , regardless of the money given to them , doesn't concern you? Or how they risked with Seedorf and how it all turned out ? That they aren't on the same page between them?

Come on. They suck Ninja . Their management has ruined Milan ever since they stopped investing for players of Milan's worth. That they try to fix the club now , that's only trying to fix their own mistakes that lead the club there.

They didn't inherit this from someone else ; they are responsible and have been here all the time. Sure success should allow them some space , but after 2007 , that's a long time since then. And now it looks much worse , cause let's face it , since last season we have fallen behind in the competition.

Meaning they either do stuff this summer , or we keep this ground we managed this season . And that ground is absolutely nothing that Milan should hold on to.

All of this mess , almost on every front , is a result of simply unjustified high wages ? It is definitely an important issue , yet that's not just it' . IF ONLY that was it and it alone. If we are able to reduce our wages 20% this season , idk just saying , will that make our need to absolutely make the next CL less pressing or dire?

I somewhat don't think so. I hope they raise that wage bill 40% and get some great players again , after flashing out the mediocre players that failed this season. Nobody wants to see where this will end unless we react this summer. We are becoming the italian Liverpool , for that matter. Idk about you but i would hate to see Milan playing Serie A games for the next 5 years and being bad for the most part as well.