The Beginning of the End…

By: Gianfranco | February 26th, 2009

So due to the fact that I work during the day my only chance at following this game was through a gamecast today on Soccernet. It is not my favorite way to follow, but I have come to rely on it because it is fast, direct, and most of all discreet.

My first real reaction upon seeing the lineup was that Carletto was looking to defend here and maintain the flat back four to help keep the shutout. Wing play would come from the midfielders and Pato and Pippo would do what they could to score. As the game began I watched as little blue dots in front of Dida’s net, signifying shots from Bremen, now these were alarming to me because they were coming fast and in seemingly dangerous areas. Despite my fears, we earned a PK which Pirlo buried and I began to sense some sort of calm, the shots kept coming from Bremen but I was hopeful. Soon thereafter Pato nailed a seemingly very nice goal, and my mind was at ease.

At this point I decided to pack up and try and get home, at least catch the end on stream. Things never go as planned and as I frantically did my best to drive, shift the car, and follow on my IPhone, my worst fears were coming to fruition. I decided to let it rest a bit, and then the phone beeped, a simple text message appeared with the word Choke. My heart sank, stomach knotted, and I realized my worst fear. They blew it…

I sat for awhile contemplating the match prior to even looking at the comments or any post match wraps. But now that I look through it all, and see that Bremen had 29 shots with 17 on net I shake my head in disbelief and wonder how on Earth did this team get so bad so fast. 17 shots on goal!! That is not some arbitrary number, and though I don’t know how well or how poor Dida played, or if the midfield decided to close up shop and not defend, I can’t help but wonder if tonight was the beginning of the end for the squad as we know it.

I will leave the in depth match discussion to those who watched the game but as know look at the roster, the thought of rebuilding has finally hit home, sunk in, and it seemingly must be addressed. If Carletto does not canned in the next few hours, or early tomorrow it will be miracle, and his resignation should follow if that doesn’t happen. This team of pricey veterans seems to have lost the cutting edge, the eye of the tiger to play with conviction, pace, and steel. This team is a shell of what Milan teams are supposed to be and it is time for a change.

The change however is a bit hard to imagine, who leaves, who goes it always up for debate, and money is constantly a factor. I don’t have the energy or proper state of mind to begin that discussion here, this type of loss is disheartening on so many levels emotionally, that I frankly want to forget Milan for a few minutes, a few hours, possibly a few days. On a night where the owner lost his sister, and our captain having one last chance at a Cup, the team could not hold a two goal lead. A team with so much big game experience just couldn’t show up for another 45 minutes. Many of us remember the dark ages of 96 and 97 and it seems that we are entering it yet again, a fourth place finish is now a must, but even that looks bleak with the run of form, I guess we hope for the best and press on, even on what seems like the worst night since Istanbul, FORZA MILAN…to bad we couldn’t give you one more…

I hope to have something more substantial if I can get my hands on the match, but forgive if I don’t have the will to watch…