AC Milan 2014 Season Recap: A Season Lost

You don't realize how hard it is to recap a season like this one until you try and sit down and do it a few times and end up researching instead of writing.  From a numbers perspective it was ugly, seventh place with 57 points.  16 wins, 13 losses, 9 draws, and a +8 goal differential.  The goal differential is shocking because it one point it didn't look like this team would get positive again the way it was conceding goals, but the losses, that was a real eye opener.  Even in average seasons Milan was a team that may not win but they could work a draw, be it away from home, in tough conditions they would buckle down and get it done.  This team was incapable of that, no matter who was in charge, they didn't even have the mental fortitude or collective cohesion to get it done, which is my main sticking point for the season. This IS NOT a team.

In fact it never truly was, not at the outset, not in the offseason and not at the end.  For all the grief Zlatan gets for speaking in the third person and commending himself, he rallies those around him sometimes by sheer force, but he rallies.  Kaka tried this but it is liking watching a child try and move a mountain, he will try and try and try some more but never succeed.  Instead this task falls on Balotelli who looks more and more in it for himself than ever before.  The cohesion inside attacking and defensive lines was as bad as that across them.  This is the first Milan team I can remember in a long time that most likely left Milanello without even a friendly goodbye, it was a bad season, but team's galvanize in difficult times and this fragmented bunch never did.

One man, to his credit, did stand out.  That guy was Nigel DiJong and while he was the shining star in a pile of crap, it wasn't hard, as he simply tried and that was more than most on this team can be credited for doing.  He was the player of the season for me and seemingly most by the participation here, but again does it say all that much?  Taarabt really showed something as well, but it almost always looked like he was to was just putting on a show for his next move, something he boldly stated upon arriving that this was as temporary stop to a  bigger Club which points more towards to the real problems at AC Milan.

Firing a Coach midseason never yields the results one would expect, and in fact it was only the second time this occurred in my 25 years supporting this Club.  Truth be told the result was the same, but the real problem at AC Milan lives not on the pitch.  Sure the pitch is a by product of the mis management as the players we buy are morally and mentally flawed. The problem comes from the power struggle at the top and the complete lack of ability of those now in charge.  What once was a front office that was revered and full of experience is now a laughing stock.  Berlusconi without money is a joke, as his sort of players are A. not good or B. expensive, so imagine what gets pushed with limited funds.  Galliani once understood the modern the footballer, that was ten years ago, and now seems incapable of reading talent.  Which leaves us to Barbara who with absolutely zero experience has spent an entire year flapping her lips with absolutely zero action.  She left us with this gem most recently...

"We have a moral duty to get straight to work on ensuring Milan return to the levels they deserve,"

In my line of work talk is cheap, if you are going to execute a plan you don't talk about it, you do it.  She talks a big game but I have yet to see one single action come out of her or the front office to prove this Team even knows what the right direction is!  Yes it's dire, and to sum it up in morbid fashion, you need to stop the disease from where it started and it's Via Turati.  It would appear they moved locations to hide and buy time, but the reality is until the Circus either leaves town or straightens up this Club will be in for a few more hard seasons.