Milan: Rotten Apples or Ripening fruit?

By: Ben | July 30th, 2009

Milan lost yet another preseason friendly to the Boca Juniors in a penalty shootout for third place in the German Audi Cup. Preceding this latest wound came losses to: Bayern Munich 4-1, Inter 2-0, Chelsea 2-1, Club America 2-1.

Preseason is understandably more of a chalkboard to test and apply theories of play and combinations etc., however the single alarming fact of all these encounters is the team doesn’t seem to have character any longer with the loss of their pulse: Kaka.

Their performances can be blamed on fixture pile-up and fatigue yet their failure to impose their game (whatever that may be) in these encounters is a sign that the tifosi truly have plenty to worry about in the coming campaign. Aspirations for 5th or 6th place is more of a reality than one of the four coveted seats of the Champions League.

If you examine the barrel of apples the team has to chose from; the ominous future of Berlusconi’s discount empire smells rotten.

The keep tank is filled with mangled bodies. Storari and Kalac could never serve a team of Milan’s pedigree or I should more accurately say what once was Milan’s pedigree. Nelson Dida has become an embarrassment and Abbiati is solid at best but all fall far short of the stewards of the other teams that make the top four; Buffon, Cesar, and Frey possess the instinctual talent that in Milan’s barrel of disasters only Nelson Dida once possessed.

The Milan defense once an impregnable wall has become a brittle fence of fading talent. Zambrotta and Jankulovski no longer have the pace to control the wings and their defensive ability suffers from the same. Alessandro Nesta was a sight for sore eyes however a team can hardly rely on an injury prone veteran to marshal their back line. Gooch is a sorry excuse for a center back, even worse are his skills on the ball and his positioning. Thiago Silva shows promise yet desperately will need a couple seasons under his belt before he can be any serious character in the defense. Favalli, Oddo, Kaladze and Bonera: I will save my breath.

In midfield there are a bit more positives to be seen of which Andrea Pirlo does not figure. The “metronome” has lost his beat, become lazy or more likely has no interest in being part of the new Milan and is patiently awaiting Chelsea to come to his rescue. Gattuso; no longer the pitbull of past still has game to offer in work rate and experience yet the torch of the ball winner must be passed to the tireless Flamini. Ignazio Abate is the brightest light of promise in Milan’s youth. Largely under appreciated, the combative midfielder finally has a platform to launch himself and his pace and work rate can only add some much needed adrenaline to the Milan midfield.

In attack, Pato is the sole candidate for promise. It’s going to take more than table standing to bring Ronaldinho out of his coma. The cute game is still there however precision passing, ability to beat an opponent and creativity are all still performing below his standards. Most importantly it takes character to lead a team, something which Kaka possessed and something Ronaldinho never has. Ability on the ball: yes. Ability to lead: no. The new number 22: Marco Borriello…waste of space. Pippo Inzaghi however is still the clinical goal scorer of the past, can still make the difference yet cannot play every week because of the realities of age. Milan have one and a half strikers and a misfiring idiot savant; roll the dice.

I can only imagine how maddening it must be to the fans that the sole movement in the transfer market was for the banana footed cro-magnon beast Oguchi Onyewu. Partnered only by the embarrassing negotiations for Luis Fabiano; Milan’s transfer activity is proving to be impotent and at the same time infuriating. We should now get used to the idea of a mid-table Milan, rather than the European stalwarts they once were.