This whole week I have struggled for something to say. As I watch transfer rumor after transfer rumor fly by, I can’t help but sit here dumbfounded and ask quite polity WTF is going on!? Sure if you like Real Madrid this may be the best transfer season in history; Kaka, CRON, Benzema, and the possibility for more like Ribery and Villa. If you like Milan however it is a far different feeling, with the Cissokho failure, the Dzeko failure and now the courtship of the likes of Fabiano, Toni, and even the horrible Peter Crouch maybe things really are taking a turn for the worst for the Rossoneri and Serie A.
I have always been of the belief that football, much like life, is cyclical in nature. Serie A, EPL, and La Liga all have had their day in the sun, strong transfer markets and quality teams really push that issue, but this shift of power is alarming especially considering where it may potentially leave our club and league. The EPL has been a powerhouse as of late luring talent and mongering CL final positioning, but even the EPL fans must now gawk at La Liga and wonder how on Earth can this be good for the game?
Galaticos Part I was fruitful for Real with titles and a CL trophy, but the aftermath had left them unable to progress in Europe and at times even struggle on the domestic front, though they did win some titles, the post Galaticos era was not one that many a Real fan would be proud of. Out of that era sides like Milan, Bayern, Juventus, ManU, and even Porto were given chances to shine as they pushed their domestic competitions and challenged for CL final places. Now as we embark on Galaticos Part II the feelings are similar, but the rest of the competition doesn’t seem all that poised to spring back. Even Sir Alex and his new CRON money war chest has yet to make the big splash we all anticipated, no Benzema, no Ribery, no Villa, and yes SAF is a shrewd guy and chooses his players wisely, but Real Madrid seems to be hitting pay dirt with no real answer from the footballing world.
It is no secret that AC Milan and even Serie A as a whole is in a bit of a rut. Serie A clubs do not operate with such massive amounts of debt, they don’t partake in massively lucrative TV contracts, and matter of factly they do not even generate much revenue from stadiums as they are not their own. So as a fan of Serie A and football as a whole, I have asked myself more often than not this week, can Serie A come out strong once again? At first glance the answer is no, but if history does in fact repeat they will find a way, be it new owners, new stadiums, or new operational procedures something will be done to inject revenue in a league that is falling behind quickly. Even as I keep a close eye on Juventus and Inter, big transfer market players, they are making domestic deals for cheap, focusing on youth, and buying what they can in an effort to stay competitive on the low budget, our Milan on the other hand seems to have missed the memo.
The return of players like Abate and DiGennaro is a good start, and the willingness to keep Pato seems like a good plan, but the rest of the plot is entirely lost. Courting a player like Peter Crouch or even a Fabiano is an embarrassment to me as a fan, and a hard hit to the ego of a club who used to buy who it wanted, when it wanted, and basically on their terms. That is no longer the case, and I am OK with that, but in a “rebuilding” system it is important to add youth and depth to produce and create a squad with cohesion and chemistry in a position to be able to compete and with the potential to succeed. How do players like Fabiano and Crouch fit that need? Frankly they don’t, and please don’t say I don’t like Fabiano because he is Brazilian, because that is not the case. I don’t like Fabiano because he is not all that good, some of you bashed the Confed Cup for lack of competition and in the same sentence praised Fabiano for succeeding it, I will not take part in this hypocrisy, and will not support his possible transfer his poor season says enough on that regard. Crouch I will not even discuss…
Yes, I have come to accept that Ronaldinho is our playmaker and I am even comfortable with Pato and Borriello up top, but the issues at LB and RB have not been addressed and even Nesta and Silva at CB cannot be the surest bet. The midfield still lacks any real game tested depth and that is position that Fester and company have not even mentioned. The gist of my ranting here is simple, I have accepted the fact that Real Madrid are blowing teams out of the water, I have also accepted that Milan is in a mode to rebuild much like we did in the late nineties, but I am not sold on how this process is being handled and currently lack the optimism to shine a positive light on things. These have been my most trying months as a Milan fan, and it doesn’t look like they are going to get any easier.