What is wrong with the Rossoneri?

March 31st, 2008 by SM Dev (ste)

What is wrong with the Rossoneri this season?

When AC Milan were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League a few weeks ago, I wrote an article called ‘AC Milan - End of an era?’, and it generated a good debate abouth the Italian giants. There were mixed views on whether this was really the end of an era, but the general consensus was that is was, and only the die hard Rossoneri faithful seemed unwilling to accpet this.

Now, nearly a month later I am going to flag up the same subject (and this is not a Milan bashing before people jump down my throat), and ask what is wrong with the Rossoneri this season?

You can not argue with their success in the UEFA Champions League this decade, however over the last few seasons their league form has slumped, and this could come to a climax this season as they might miss out on European qualification altogether.

This season they are out of Europes elite competition at the second hurdle, out of the Coppa Italia (at the hands of minnows Catania), and most alarmingly sit sixth in the league with a place in the UEFA Champions League at stake!

Inter, Roma and Juventus look set to claim three of the four UEFA Champions League places, with the fourth place being contested between Fiorentina, Udinese, AC Milan and Sampdoria. The teams finishing fifth and sixth in the league claim a place in next seasons UEFA Cup, and if the Rossoneri don’t buck up their ideas they could be playing in that tournament next season or even miss out on European football altogether.

There are seven matches remaining in Serie A this season, and each one will have to be treated like a cup final by the Rossoneri if they are to qualify for Europe next season:

AC Milan v Cagliari on Sat. 5th April;
Juventus v AC Milan on Sat. 12th April;
AC Milan v Reggina on Sun. 20th April;
Livorno v AC Milan on Sun. 27th April;
AC Milan v Inter Milan on Sun. 4th May;
Napoli v AC Milan on Sun. 11th May;
AC Milan v Udinese on Sun. 18th May.

Their home form at the San Siro will obviously have to pick up if they are to claim a European place as four wins in the league at home all season is not acceptable for a team like Milan.

Soccer Manager would like to know what is wrong with the Rossoneri this season? Also do you think they will qualify for the UEFA Champions League or possibly suffer the embarrassment of missing out on a European place altogether?

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24 Comments Add your own

1. billyg | March 31st, 2008 at 10:30 am

they kept too many players who are not good enough for too long and too many old players, who are NOT world class.Gattuso on way back to Rangers in summer. Ancellotti will be sacked and its between Inter or AC where the special one is going. They also havnt had a proper goalkeeper for years and years. 3 on the books and all 3 are very poor.

Players to go,
Dida
Jankulowski
Seedorf
Maldini
Kalac
Inzaghi
and the rest, i would only keep, Pirlo and Kaka, not much dig and fight in the squad.

They have been trying to get away with the players they had without spending big, just always TALKING about buying this and that not DOING anything about it.
2. Manzy | March 31st, 2008 at 10:38 am

i fink day wanna get new blud , new manager , new playerz , new tactics , everyfin g2 b new & let dos ancient playerz & depend on sum young guyz like Pato >>> may do sumfin
3. Manzy | March 31st, 2008 at 10:41 am

about playerz just jeep Kaka , Pirlo , Nesta , Gatusso , Pato
thnx 4 Seedorf , Inzaghi , Maldini , Cafu , Ronaldo , Dida , Gilardinio
they g2g play wid geriatrics
4. resham | March 31st, 2008 at 10:45 am

If ac milan don’t qualify it will be so shocking
5. Daniel Humphrey | March 31st, 2008 at 10:52 am

Milan have been rocked by that Italian scandal last season and were part of it.
They have been poor in the league.
And failed to successfully defend Champs League when the odds were agaisnt Arsenal.
Final Table
1. Inter
2. Roma
3. Juventus
4. Fiorentina
5. AC Milan
6. Palermo
6. alex | March 31st, 2008 at 11:51 am

because most of their players are too old like dida, seedorf and inzaghi and they dont have a good keeper.
7. Daniel Pearosn | March 31st, 2008 at 12:50 pm

milan great fall from last season!
i feel they most remove ancelotti and manager and these players
oddo, ambrosini,maldini, seedorf, ronaldo,dida,kalac

then sign a new gk frey? a rb alves? play nesta and bonera cb janklovski lb pirlo cm gattuso cm kaka pl up front pato from udinese quagilaro? and mutu from fiorentina
8. fuhrerul | March 31st, 2008 at 12:53 pm

i saw the game against atalanta and i have to say that the defense line played very bad.nesta alone can’t do everything!they need at least 3 defender:left,right and center!also seedorf lost many balls i think someone else should be brought to replace him.and a striker to play near pato because gilardino didn’t adapt!
9. cian | March 31st, 2008 at 3:56 pm

ac should just quit football they are so bad
10. Dan Payne | March 31st, 2008 at 4:18 pm

Before I reply please join our forum debate - http://www.soccermanager.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9813

I believe that Milan will get 5th place although im being optomistic and voting for Champions league place through 4th place.

Milan are currently in 5th place and are now 4 points behind 4th placed Fiorentina. Our remaining games are not the easiest but I believe that we will get 14 points out of the 21 available.

Here are my game predictions.

* AC Milan v Cagliari on Sat. 5th April; (2-0)
* Juventus v AC Milan on Sat. 12th April; (1-1)
* AC Milan v Reggina on Sun. 20th April; (3-1)
* Livorno v AC Milan on Sun. 27th April; (2-2)
* AC Milan v Inter Milan on Sun. 4th May; (0-1)
* Napoli v AC Milan on Sun. 11th May; (1-2)
* AC Milan v Udinese on Sun. 18th May. (1-0)

I have been a Milan fan all my life due to a family member living in Milan. Although I havent seen a game this season, I usually see a few and this season has been different to those in the past. We usually aim for champions league glory and a respectable league position that guarentee’s champions league for the following season.

This season there has been little if any emotion within Milan and with it at first being Maldini’s last season at Milan, I found it very suprising and was pretty annoyed at the way Milan have done things. Im now pretty sure that Maldini will do another season with Milan after his injury problems have gone away and who would want to go out on such a low too!

Milan are not a selling club and only sell when a player states they want to leave. So that means things in Milan could be dramatic at the end of the season as the Milan fans will not be happy with nothing being done. Players will be let go as they are at the end of their contracts and some will or should retire.

Milan need more players and as I said earlier its all being discussed on the forum so please use the link and come and debate
11. neilor | March 31st, 2008 at 5:23 pm

milan shud sack ancelotti bring in mourinho he wud probably buy drogba,essien,carvalho,alves da team wud den b alves,nesta,carvalho,jankulovski,pirlo,gattuso,kakaessien,pato,drogba if gattuso goes 2 rangers e’d b an idiot
12. David Matchett | March 31st, 2008 at 5:33 pm

put it this way milan dont get to the champions league kaka goes along wit gattuso hu is goin to rangers and if they go evry1 else is going to go aswell!
13. Scott | March 31st, 2008 at 7:28 pm

Obviously age is an issue, but although I hate to say it, I think Ancelotti is the main culprit.

With all the attacking possibilities Milan have, he plays 2 defensive midfielders, and sometimes 3. Most teams play only 1(including the crap teams). Brocchi, Gattuso, and Ambrosini are all defensive minded. So that narrows your attacking options to Kaka, Pato, Seedorf, and Pirlo(Gilardino can’t score to save his life, and Inzaghi’s play is ugly, but he scores. Yet Ancelotti doesn’t play him and he’s injured alot). Pirlo can’t score during the run of play. Seedorf is too old to be consistent. Pato is too young to carry the team. Kaka is amazing, but not having the season he did last year.

Milan is my team, but they’ve got to be the most predictable team in Europe. Give Gourcuff a chance!!! The kid is talented, but Ancelotti prefers all these defensive minded players because that is what Ancelotti was when he played. Give yourself more attacking options and don’t make it so obvious that you’re going to play EVERYTHING through Kaka and Pirlo. We pass it around until Kaka is open, and since teams know this, he is tightly marked and fouled every game.

I love Gattuso, but all that running has done him in and he’s not nearly the player he was. Ambrosini has been more impressive this season than Gattuso. Sell the pitbull while you can still get good money for him. Start buying young promising defenders and let them settle in defense. Kaladze is slipping. Nesta should be good until he retires.
14. Amjad | March 31st, 2008 at 8:20 pm

I think the only problem is that have too many old players………..they need some fresh legs now……….Otherwise its just a bad patch of time they are passing through……….Times like these come in every clubs way……….Nothing to worry about………
15. Amjad | March 31st, 2008 at 8:42 pm

I think the only problem now is that they have too many old players……….They need some fresh legs like Patto……………Otherwise bad phase like this come in every clubs way…………….Nothing to worry about……….
16. Bobo | March 31st, 2008 at 9:27 pm

To be fair, they are older than most teams, and I think that sending their strongest squad and playing 100% in japan was a wrong move. Since then they have had to play 2 games every week.. that, on old legs is taxing.

Of course they need fresh legs, every team needs to do it every now and again.

As for the question: End of an era? Yes, it’s the end of the Maldini era… end of AC Milan for a while? No way, they always produce quality teams and can’t see why it will be any different. One thing AC has on most other clubs is that Players (specifically top-end players) WANT to play for this club.

And as for not qualifying for the CL.. never mind, they can act like babies the same way Liverpool did when THEY DID NOT qualify for the CL…. Maybe some horses heads on the organisers bed might do the trick…
17. Steven Parker | March 31st, 2008 at 10:12 pm

Milan will qualify just a slip up they should have grasped the league this season but with old players not having that effect they use to makes it just too hard for the youngsters and as i see it Mourinho will be going to Milan next season if they do not do anything serious oh and btw PATO IS ACE.
18. Ryan Morgan | April 1st, 2008 at 5:54 am

They still have a heap of younger players (u22, u24) available that msot don’t know about.
19. Richard lloyd | April 1st, 2008 at 6:27 am

I think they will get into champions league this season but only just. They need to change some of the team but not all of it, as they all know how to play with each other. The new stars like pato and paloschi will do very well with kaka in the next season,after a rest. forza milan!
20. Benni | April 1st, 2008 at 9:42 am

Final Table:
1) Inter Millan
2) AS Roma
3) Juventus
4) Fiorentina
5) Udinese
6) Sampdoria
7) AC Millan
Genoa
9) Palermo
10) Atlalanta
21. Adam Davies | April 1st, 2008 at 9:46 am

Big AC Milan fan, but I feel that its just a few areas of the pitch not pulling their weight in the team. I wotch them on Sundays on Football Italia and they play good in defence and midfield, but they lack a strike force. Since Shevchenko left, they brought in Ronaldo, who is ace, but has been plagues by injury, and Pato, who lacks experience. Inzaghi is good, but too old. They need flair up front, as they never really replaced Shevchenko. Gilardino should leave, coz he is not performing, and Inaghi, although has potential, is not performing either. Pato should stay, and they should stick with Ronaldo, but 2 good new forwards/strikers in teh summer is ESSENTIAL. I also feel that they need a new goalkeeper, as Dida is good on his day, but lacks consistency, and has had a terrible season. They dont need to replace mentioned players above like Ambrosini, Gattuso, Maldini, Oddo, Nesta, Kaladze, Pirlo, Kaka, Bonera etc, but they do need a goalkeeper and a stiker, and maybe a long-term replacement for Maldini, who is a fantastic role model for any young player, and i feel that when he retires, he should become a defensive coach of Milan, just like his father
22. Brendan | April 1st, 2008 at 6:38 pm

I agree far too many old players in the team are past it. Milans problem has always been that they do not sign more than one or two players a year. The entire squad needs completely overhauled. Maybe selling some of the older or declining players and sign new young talent as well as a 20-goal a season striker and they can be great again.
23. Brendan | April 1st, 2008 at 6:46 pm

Kameni would be a good choice of keeper or Manuel Neuer of Schalke. Luis Fabiano would be a good choice of striker and possibly the young Lulinha of Corinthians and Luca Cigarini.
24. David Chow | April 2nd, 2008 at 10:58 am

I agree with Scott, Ancelotti is to blame.

Fair play some of the players are getting too old but seedorf, inzaghi and co are still good enough, just not week in week out, just look at giggs and scholes at man u. they need their rest!

i think a new manager, keeper, striker, defender and an extra attacking midfielder plus a couple of youth players coming through will see milan back up there where they belong (i’m not a milan fan but they should be up there!).