How did we get here?
Serie A is one of the world’s most storied, most successful football leagues. With a number of household names boasting trophy cabinets bursting at the seams, it’s a league that has stood the test of time and consistently turned out world champion-caliber sides. However, recent years has seen the league befallen with hard times, from scandals rocking the elite clubs to financial limitations seemingly affecting most of Italian football and Italy in general. Some have bounced back while others are still mired in financial and sporting muck, perhaps most embodied by the state of legendary powerhouse AC Milan.
While naming not only Italy’s most successful clubs but also that of the world as a whole, one would not get far down the list before listing Associazione Calcio Milan, or AC Milan. When it comes to international titles, only Real Madrid boast more than the Rossoneri with a Italians being the owners of 18 UEFA and FIFA titles, including seven European cups and 18 domestic titles (second only to Juventus’ 30). The Red and Blacks are known all over the world for their legendary colors, larger-than-life past players and exploits on the pitch. However, much of that is now a faded memory when looking at the current situation facing the club. Cost-cutting firesales, mediocre rosters and a murky plan for the future assail Milan while the rest of the world is seemingly flying into the future at light speeds. So what went wrong?
AC Milan was a club which not only produced domestic talent and tactics unlike many others, but since the mid-1980s was able to buy some of the world’s finest and most expensive talent. President Silvio Berlusconi, a man not unfamiliar with the wrong side of the law, bankrolled the club’s spending sprees through some of the most successful years of the club’s history as the Rossoneri demolished most challengers in their path. Perhaps the zenith of Milan and Berlusconi’s time came during the 1989-1900 season where under the tutelage of Arrigo Sacchi, the Italian club won their second consecutive European cup (the last club to do so) with a side that’s considered to be the finest of all time by many pundits. Milan’s reign of success continued well beyond that year and well into the mid-2000s as they collected three more European titles, but then economic austerity hit and hit hard.
As Berlusconi attracted high-profile players, so came their wages and in the era of pre-Financial Fair Play, any debts could’ve been cleared by one check from the man in charge. At one point, the wage bill represented 88 percent of the club’s revenue and while this wasn’t an issue in the past, new rules meant that Milan was forced to sell off its biggest stars to balance the books – namely Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva. With these sales came a drop in not only the quality of the play on the pitch due to inferior players taking their place, but the type of new players that were able to be brought in. No longer could Berlusconi wave his wand and re-stock the shelves with superstars, Milan were now cost-cutters relying on castoffs and youth products while those around them were able to not only stay afloat but succeed with their big-name stars.
Where are we now?
Tenth place and eight points off of a Champions League spot (at the time of writing). Once, such results would be intolerable for the club and its fanbase, now it’s a sad reality that most matches are uphill climbs into European qualifying and the extra revenue this would bring. Berlusconi, ever bombastic and proud, claims that he would not trade his players for the likes of Juventus’ and, now, smartly-run Roma’s, but it’s his side relying on the likes of Philipe Mexes and Cristian Zapata to carry the torch of famed defenders of old.
This brings up another problem though, and that’s Milan’s perpetual gaze backwards. This is a proud club, with a proud fanbase that adores its legends like few others. Berlusconi and his minions, feeding off of this, has struck out twice with his past two managerial appointments following the sacking of Massimiliano Allegri by hiring past greats Clarence Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi, neither with top-flight managerial experience. The club is far too eager to bask in past glories and hope that unqualified past legends will guide them into success instead of developing a coherent and sensible plan for the future. It’s a matter of comfort zones and many attached to this club simply will not step outside of their boundaries to try something new. Berlusconi’s daughter Barbara, deputy chief executive of the club, has laid out a plan to modernize AC Milan and bring it further into the 21st century, including building a new stadium which is badly needed, but this plan will take time and recent results yield little fruit from it.
On the pitch, there’s simply no plan. While Inzaghi got off to a decent start with the players seemingly motivated and buying into his passion, the tactics to follow were exposed and the skipper seems to be in over his head. Some of this has to do with the poor personnel he’s been handed but it’s his job to work with them and in a league that many consider to be weak in quality, he has to be able to find a way though a relatively simple schedule short of midweek European clashes.
Where are we going?
Who knows? As mentioned, Barbara Berlusconi appears to have a plan laid out but it remains to be seen how effective it will be. One thing the club has, though, is a wide-reaching follower base and especially in Asia. It’s a household name with an easily recognizable kit and stadium, and revenues are among Europe’s highest, though how they’re being utilized might be another story. While Serie A is clearly not the league it used to be, it’s still a high-profile one and Milan can reap the benefits of its image as it moves forward.
Certain players need to be cut. That goes without question and it has been the case for years. Mexes earning the amount he does, four million euros per season, is a travesty and the club must remain patient until he, and several others, comes off their books and youth products take their place. Internal talent must be developed and given a chance to shine, not only to cut costs by not signing over-the-hill imports but to re-develop a strong local following once more. The gem in the academy is Hachim Mastour, but this is primarily because the club inexplicably sold off Bryan Cristante this past summer even though he was arguably the closest youth product to securing a senior spot for years to come. That kind of short-sighted decision-making exemplifies the problems facing Milan. However, deals like the one for Diego Lopez and Liverpool’s failed wonderkid Suso should also take priority. This club won’t be winning a major title any time soon so the sooner they offload dead weight for youth with years of control the better. Mattia De Sciglio and Stephan El Shaarawy, though injury-prone and disappointing of late, either need to be tied down and used as building blocks or sold to the highest bidders to fund a youth revolution. Either blow up and rebuild from scratch or look to sneak into Europe for further revenue, middling in between won’t accomplish anything.
A new stadium, as difficult as it is to build one, has to be in the works as Juventus and Roma are lapping them in this regard. A stadium owned solely by AC Milan will bring in greater revenue should the product on the pitch increase and fans come to see it. Roma is in the process of acquiring one, Juventus already has a new one, so it is imperative that Milan do the same.
Finally, Berlusconi has to either relinquish control or be forced out. The days of him writing the club a blank check are over and if they are to be respected and taken seriously then a man too familiar with bending the law cannot be associated with the Red and Blacks anymore. His lack of vision and stubbornness are holding this club back as they live in his delirium of being a title contender. Perhaps his daughter should be afforded more power, but her business acumen has come into question as well as that of legendary vice-president and CEO Adriano Galliani so it’s no guarantee that she’ll bring about the change that’s needed. Rumors of external interest in buying part of the club have lingered for well over a year now, perhaps it’s time that those close to Berlusconi put a bug in his ear to move on from his adored club.
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It might be difficult for fans to stomach, but the powers-that-be at the club don’t appear to have a plan to transition the club into modern success while remaining competitive at the same time. Success won’t come with one or two signings and a hotshot manager doesn’t seem to be on the horizon, so perhaps the wisest thing to do would be to start completely new in the front office, on the pitch and in the academy. Sad times for a club so proud and successful, a club with more legends and titles than it can count, but perhaps with the proper additions it can pave the way as a posterchild of sporting success in the post-FFP world. That alone should feel as good as winning a trophy.
