Milan remain the only Italian team in the Champions League. Thanks to a dull draw against Ajax (0-0), Rossoneri could qualify for the knockout stage. While Juventus and Napoli will participate to the Europa League. However it wasn't a joyful night for Allegri's team. After 20 minutes the referee threw Montolivo out of the game, making the challenge more difficult for the Rossoneri. On the pitch, in fact, Milan showed their lack of ideas once again. And the day was also ruined by the clashes between Italian and Dutch fans: three Ajax supporters were stabbed and are still in danger of live.
Despite the qualification to the round of 16, in my opinion, Rossoneri are soon to be rescued. By whom seems to be quite clear: its owner Mr Silvio Berlusconi. Also from what appears, at least to Mr B, very clear: lack of results. However, is it the lack of results the real independent variable, or is it rather the dependent one? Is the lack of results the cause of AC Milan’s problems or rather it is the consequence of something else? In other words, what should Mr. B do to save AC Milan from its most disastrous season? And ultimately, can he really do anything crucial?
Before Livorno-Milan (2-2) last Saturday, someone said AC Milan was on its way back to recovery. Lady BB (Barbara Berlusconi, the Rampant Heir) and ‘Doctor’ Galliani (the Commander in Chief) were forced into a non-belligerence pact by the supreme deus ex machina Mr B. Then the team rose, in Catania first (1-3) and a few days later stunningly in Glasgow (0-3), saved by the resuscitated stars Kakà and (finally) Balotelli. Once again Mr B’s redeeming hand had worked. But Mr B himself is ageing and, on top of that, he has some less playful issues with the Italian justice to take care of. That’s probably why his soothing effect lasted only one week; more precisely until the last minute draw in Livorno, a city that, probably because of its historical far-left-wing tradition, has always been a bad omen for AC Milan and its fervently anti-communist (?!) owner.
However, I believe that AC Milan’s problems are due to much more earthly causes, with no need to disturb Mr B’s super-hero powers, or Livorno’s political traditions. Although, to be frank, politics matters more than it should. Mr B’s political involvement, his ejection from the Italian Senate ruled by the Parliament itself, is exposing him to a whole lot of judicial risks he cannot afford, for his own sake and for his own business, to overlook. Now that he has lost his parliamentary immunity he must double his efforts as well as his economic enterprise in order to remain politically alive. AC Milan are a nice and even lucrative toy; but still a toy it remains. And for Mr B it is no longer playtime.
Politics still matters when it comes to the club’s governance. Lady BB had heavily criticised Doctor Galliani’s management, calling the need for a total reshuffle of the staff, the policies and the overall vision of the club as a business company. Doctor Galliani was promised by Mr B a comfortable and well remunerated seat in Brussels at the 2014 European elections; but Galliani seemed to be more worried about his payout, which included at least six zeroes in between the first digit and the full stop. A sum that Mr B cannot afford to pay at the moment and therefore he decided not to decide: Lady BB and Doctor Galliani must agree to disagree, the club will have a new, complete made out of the blue governing structure and the new course will not start for the next four years at least. Change everything to change nothing. Amen.
What is left? Well, only the things I have already written on the pages of this magazine and I would really love to avoid repeating myself. But having seen the matches against Ajax and Livorno, it seems impossible not to mention them once again (maybe Mr B, lady BB and Doctor Galliani have all missed my previous articles). A team with a defence that would do good for my Sunday footy in Finsbury Park (mostly students and professionals, but not of the football industry); a midfield that has no talent nor creativity (a part from the sparkles left in the 32 year old feet and legs of Kakà); an attack that is totally dependent from the only real star the team has, the hot-headed Balotelli, who though before Catania, hadn’t scored since 22nd of September and mainly because he was disqualified for four matches. Let’s not forget a manager - Mr Massimiliano Allegri- unfit to lead AC Milan, that is, to paraphrase what The Economist once said for his current employer, who cannot read the evolution of the game and consequently adjust the squad to it. The managerial chaos is the cherry on top, or rather the sponge layer base.
The club needs a shake: other investors, new fresh ideas with new fresh minds (and a lot of money, regardless of their freshness). This will not come from the Berlusconi family, whatever member it may be. The team needs a new guide: a manager that can handle Balotelli and adjusts the team’s game to the (poor) skills it has. The game needs some talent, skills, lust for victories. With these players, to win something everyone would need a miracle. And despite 1994’s big slogans, even Mr B, to his very own regret, has never succeeded in making one. Let’s stay earthly though. AC Milan’s problems are clear to all and everyone is aware that there are no easy solutions. But in order to be solved, problems must be addressed. Ignoring them, for whatever reasons, will just prolong the agony. If Mr B and his family no longer have the means to support the club, well then they should hand it over to others, without shame. And so they will be remembered only for bringing the club to the top of the world rather than down to the pits.
