The dramatic summer overhaul at AC Milan continues. The astonishing and sudden departure of Paolo Maldini from his role as technical director was quickly followed by the shattering sale of Milan’s beloved boy Sandro Tonali to the nouveau riche Newcastle United.
An unshakable sense of doom dominated the moods of millions, only to be swept aside by a flurry of signings that have elevated the spirits of fans all over.
A red and black revolution is truly underway in its full glory, redeeming the beleaguered owner Gerry Cardinale of his ‘sins’. Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada have firmly hit the reset button, transforming the squad’s stature and depth in midfield and attack. Unfortunately, amidst this razzmatazz, the defense is left wanting.
In 2022-23, Milan emerged as champions of Italy on the back of a sturdy, defiant defense. The team conceded 31 goals in the Scudetto-winning year before opening up the floodgates last season.
As Napoli romped to their first league title in 33 years last season, Milan saw the back of their net ripple 43 times, a whopping 38.7% more concession than the previous campaign.
Interestingly, the attack remained relatively the same, with Milan having scored a mere five additional goals in the previous season. The team was again found lacking in attack, relying heavily on its latest superstar, Rafael Leão and eternal hitman, Olivier Giroud.
With Giroud growing a year older and running on fumes, the management rightly decided to invest in the attacking department, finally addressing the legacy concern at the right-wing by acquiring Samuel Chukwueze. Christian Pulisic, Noah Okafor and Luka Romero make up the rest of an instantly impressive roster of forwards.
The management has also made significant investments in midfield, restructuring the centre by signing dynamic, modern midfielders who will ensure Milan’s metamorphosis into a new-age European side. While the shiny toys embellish the rejigged squad, the management must look further down the pitch to establish balance.
Fikayo Tomori was an instrumental figure in Milan’s title triumph. He and Simon Kjaer formed an impermeable bond in the heart of defence, augmented by arguably the best goalkeeper in the world, Mike Maignan.
Pierre Kalulu emerged as a promising young centre-back later in the season, displacing the ageing viking from the starting line-up, and further strengthening one of the meanest defences in Serie A. When they resumed duty a few weeks later, they looked like a shadow of their impervious selves.
In a short span of time, Kjaer physically deteriorated beyond recognition. Kalulu’s form nosedived resulting in Malick Thiaw winning favour with Stefano Pioli. Tomori, Milan’s best central defender, also regressed, partially morphing into Kjaer’s role as a covering defender.
His numbers plummeted as did his confidence. He wouldn’t press as aggressively and began to occupy deeper positions on the pitch, winning more aerial duels and making more blocks as evidenced by the numbers. This implied that Milan could not derive the best of the Englishman.
#ACMilan in 2023 so far (Serie A):
➤ 15 points obtained out of 36 available
➤ 5 defeats
➤ A 5-game run without a win
➤ 15 goals scored
➤ 21 goals conceded[via @Gazzetta_it] pic.twitter.com/o881eNLAzl
— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) March 21, 2023
Clement Lenglet is back at Camp Nou following an indifferent season in London, and Joan Laporta can’t wait to get rid of him for a reported €10-12m, a throwaway price considering he has three years remaining on his contract. These signs should send alarm bells ringing at Milan. Toss in sirens for good measure.
The 28-year-old is at the peak of his career and is nothing like the defender Milan needs to compete with Tomori and Thiaw for a starting spot. He would become a high-earning, low-performing body in the squad – the very type of player Milan are shedding at the moment.
Demanding the acquisition of a superlative centre-back might seem preposterous given Milan’s generous outlay thus far, but it is arguably more meritorious than paying 20 precious million euros for a raw and unrefined Yunus Musah, who is presumably going to add value as a starter in a couple of seasons.
That said, accusing the management of misplaced priorities may be harsh. There might be a slight sense of myopia, though.
A little over three weeks remain for the conclusion of an unpredictably marvellous transfer window for Milan. The new management deserves all the praise heading their way. But, the good work might be undone if they gloss over a glaring problem in the heart of defence.
Maybe, they have a trick up their sleeve, concealed from all. Remember Okafor?
We aren’t signing Lenglet. That would go up against every policy of management. And his wages are way too high.
They signed RLC, a 27 year old injury prone bench player from Chelsea and gave him 4 millions a season.
What policy?
Lenglet is 29 years old and has a higher wage than RLC.
And look at the rest of our signings, idiot.
This is what we call a stupid person. Called Ted.
Okafor – 23 years old
Chukwueze – 24 years old
Pulisic – 24 years old
Musah – 20 years old
Reijnders – 25 years old (he had his birthday recent)
Romero – 18 years old
Jimenez – 18 years old (could be our third choice RB too)
That policy, idiot.
Add RLC to that list will you. I don’t see no pattern here, just players they bought for the system Pioli needs. And is must not go over 20 millions per player.
Usually people who see patterns are in their starting phase of schizo. And are violent or vulgar. You tick off quite few symptoms.
Yes, calling fellow Milanistas idiots and being weird in the article chats is not very nice.
Even though Giancarlo can have a point there are other ways to write things.
I don’t think Giancarlo talks like this IRL. If he does he is truly an idiot.
When I read the comments on here regarding our transfer strategy and the Moneyball concept espoused by the club, I think there is a misunderstanding of the Moneyball idea. It is not about young players or low cost players. It is about undervalued players whereby a club can get more bang per buck and trade profitably.
Yup… Many fans has mistaken it… But want to added some, the value not just for later sales but also the contribution they can give compared to their value we must paid… Its more bigger than buy low sell high…
Maybe, by some miracle the cbs (minus thiaw) regain form..
Buying, buying, buying can’t be the answer for everything
That’s just it though – I think we need a miracle at this point. Tomori and Kalulu have a worrying tendency to turn into Laurel and Hardy at the back. Even Thiaw’s looking shaky now sometimes and Kaejer’s probably past it.
Could be.. I don’t wanna be too negative about our cbs when Milan finally splashed some cash and we have dept in attack and midfield..
Maybe in the new system they’ll get second wind
🤞
Tomori and Kalulu played well until they got their renewal. To me that says that currently their motivation (and concentration) is lacking.
A year off happens, this year everything will be measured, especially in defense. Let’s hope that the team has more defensive filter and equilibrium with 3 midfielders.
This year despite all the buy-s, we still haven’t solved the problem of the goal. We’ve bought a lot of players but none of them is a serial goalscorer. Chuk for all his prowess and the big money thrown at him, had 6 goals and 5 assists last year in 37 games. Same with Pulisic and Okafor. I hope that one of them truly has a great season (kinda like Kvara last year) but it’s not a given. New team, new coach, new language… Pioli will have his hands full.
You don’t want a serial goalscorer anyway. You want 3-4 players that produce those numbers..
If only one player is the threat your game is predictable af
They played extremely good when we had Kessie/benny to help. I feel like we are missing a key component between the defense and midfield. Now they have to stretch a lot to cover.
I think both the wings and midfield need to contribute more defensively or else we will see more mistakes by our cb. Obviously they are out of form and also makes individual mistakes but the whole unit is out of shape and I feel like that is the main issue here
So the answer is praying? Lol… All they can do is to reinforce the squad to help the coach… The player raise or fall its about themself and the coach… Thats what they are paid for…
There was no doom, stop thinking twitter reddit fan sentiment is the feelings of everyone
The small minority complained everyday because they were too emotional about Maldini, it made no sense in the first place because why would you think Milan can only succeed with Maldini? You think this is such a small club?
And now that things are going well Maldini fans are scrambling to find something to complain about, not content at being happy that Milan finally has a big competitive squad. This window is 10 times better than last one
Going well?! They haven’t played a competitive game yet.
It might go well.
It might also be mediocre.
Signing more players doesn’t automatically mean it’s good until they produce on the pitch.
Sticking with the same midfield from last season with Messias or Saelesmaekers as RW wasn’t cutting it.
Trigger warning.
Nothing I said isn’t true. It has the potential to be good. It also has the potential to be mediocre. It has the potential to be bad but I don’t think it’s going that route.
There were always going to be signings. To call this set of signings “going well” is a guess at this stage of the process.
There were always going to be signings, before and after Maldini. And we’ll never know what would have happened. We only know what currently is.
Tomori and Kalulu will both perform fine next season with the investments we have made. There were issues originating in our midfield. We don’t need miracles and people talking doom aren’t worth our time.
💯
Blaming the defence is a knee jerk reaction, it is the midfield where we were most found wanting.
Our midfield struggled to keep possession of the ball and more often we were physically out muscled and out passed and even out paced.
The management has been shrewd to address this week was as the midfield is obviously where most of the game is played in seria a, this is what won Napoli the seria a, the ability to keep the ball and constantly feed Osimen.
I think we are well covered in defence especially if we promote Simic and play Kalulu as our starting right back, but I feel Pioli seems to be weighed down by the fact that Calabria is Captain and replacing could be bad for moral (probably the reason Pioli turned Singo transfer down) in Pioli’s opinion.
sometimes stability is more important than brining the newest rising player (otherwise psg will have won the UCL mutliples times).
Our transfer window seems good but I worry about how much time will be needed for all the players to learn to play together.
Not exactly. Not when the segments are underperforming. We had to change the right side of the team entirely as an example. And our midfield was a source of many problems last season.
We needed some wholesale changes from last season.
“Not when the segments are underperforming. We had to change the right side of the team entirely as an example. And our midfield was a source of many problems last season.
We needed some wholesale changes from last season.”
Exactly! Couldn’t agree more on each sentence. Either continue to perform worse and worse with the old squad or finally fix the massive issues (like the RW) and rejuvenate the team. Glad the management chose the latter.
I agree with your assessment but think it incomplete.
I cannot find any assessment of the defense mentioning Magion being out for months.
Clearly a better shot stopper than Tartar, he is entirely different as a player. Tartar was glued to his line. Matniin comes out aggressively.
So we shipped goals on the relative skill of the backup, but also one out CBs not finding the keeper where they expected him.
I expect a much stingier defense this year with little to no change. I’m additionally excited to see Thiaw develop.
Exactly and it’s not as if they were the only ones who had rough patches last season essentially the entire squad did due to many different struggles
I’m the last guy to talk doom and gloom as you know but Tomori and Kalulu worry me. Really hope they can get back to scudetto winning form though which would obviously be the best solution rather than buying someone else.
Many of the issues that happened last season was in our midfield. Bennacer had a number of fitness issues.
Bennacer having fitness issues are par for the course.
Bennacer is one of the most unreliable players in the team.
He only played a whole season in his 1st year at Milan and that was because he had a 3+ months lay off because of covid stoppage. Since then he has been either injured or in poor form with maybe 1 good month per season in between.
If those rumors about interest from the Saudi league are true, Milan should take the money and run.
No. We shouldn’t sell him. I disagree on your assessment. He was one of our bette4 performers.
For Benecer, the injuries are an occupational hazard, so to speak
The style of his play means he will get injured, players who like him get injured it is par for the course.
How often is Kante injured, has missed lots of games and Benecer will get injured but that won’t stop him playing the way the does and that’s what makes him and that is even Pep G wants him and I for one would be er want him to change
One of our best performers based on what?
The midfield was the biggest issue last season, after it was the biggest strength the previous season. What was the difference between the 2 years? Kessie out, Bennacer in.
People blamed Tonali for our midfield while keep turning blind eye on Bennacer.
Bennacer lost his starting spot to Krunic last season. The moment he lost his spot Milan midfield got better. Milan went through Tottenham in the UCL without Bennacer.
He started the season in double pivot, lost his spot and was moved forward because of how bad Milan RW was and how poor CDk was, so Pioli was forced to play Brahim on the right and Bennacer at 10.
If Milan needs to sell to get more funds for transfers in January or next summer, Bennacer and Tomori are the 2 players that should be sold before anyone else, especially Bennacer, who like i said is physically unreliable. At least you can count on Tomori to play almost every game
I disagree with your assessment. And Tonali was seeing a downturn in form. So yes some of it can be associated to him. Either way we have signed new players.
How often were Tonali, Kessie and even Hakan injured?
Bennacer never played more than 2900 minutes in a season
Kessie played few seasons with way over 4000 minutes. One season he played 4600 minutes.
Hakan on average played 3500 minutes for Milan
Tonali in 3 season as a Milan player played, 2025, 3153, 3981 minutes.
Bennacer 4 seasons:
2872, 1908, 2102, 2732.
Don’t care about Kante. Kante played in the EPL and started getting injured when he got closer to 30 not early 20s
Preach Z preach lol. Krunic displaced Benny last season. Ppl forgot and now they want K gone lol. A proper replacement for Kessie is still missing. And none of the new signings are close or can guarantee that and they’re a bunch of new signings
Agree – we lacked cover for the defence so hopefully we get Dominguez or similar to help ‘em out.
Kalulu and Tomori looked like good defenders in 2022 because they had Kessie in front of them and Maignan behind them.
Kessie was literally acting like the 3rd CB in the line up, either sliding in at LB when Theo was going forward or playing right in front of Kalulu and Tomori.
Maignan was/is one of the best GK in the world.
Last season, without the protection of Kessie in front of them and Maignan behind them to bail them out , we got to see how good Kalulu and Tomori actually are.
Kalulu lost his spot and Tomori was the turnstile he was known to be since his bench days at Chelsea.
Milan has to bring another CB before the end of the mercato.
Tomori, Kalulu, Kjaer and Thiaw are not enough
Kesshitie isnt even good enough to play in Europe, stop worshipping him
Stating a fact is not worshipping.
He was the most important midfielder under Pioli.
Look at the difference in midfield with and without him..
I don’t care if he hurt people feelings when he left Milan. He earned that right to make his choice to leave.
If Milan previous management was competent and addressed his contract on time, showed him that they value and appreciate him, they could have extended his contract early in 2020 and sign him on a very team favorable salary. Same goes with Hakan. At least they wouldn’t have left for free
This!
We’ve never replaced Kessie. There is no Def mid in the team now and it showed all last season. Krunic was never it and isn’t good enough for it and Bennacer is a 6 or a regista that needs someone else to protect the defence with him.
I’m very happy with the transfers so far but we need a Def mid to complete the team.
If Calabria has someone to help him out from midfield we can get by with him but he’s too limited otherwise.
Probably the best thing for now is that we have true RW player Chukwueze. But CB RB LB and future ST and probably True CDM has to adress and sign players or even promote the likes of Simic Bozzolan Coubis Victor Eletu Kevin Zeroli Chaka Traore Davide Barteseghi. If they buy players because they would be depth/rotation players they don’t need to go above 20m let’s say . Also because florenzi kjaer they don’t get any younger anymore they need to find replacements not spend crazy but enough to bring quality. Lenglet he didn’t prove anything not Barca nor Spurs so no also injury prone at last people in this site call me that I’m crying over 4th 5th CB or whatever but we need just few players more so that there isn’t gonna be any crisis and have to find replacements in the last minute. And going full power from the start of the season not in the middle
Magnain is the only difference, we should be good. Defence will be more experienced. Difference is we can now rely on a proper world class keeper rather then a cone between the posts. We would have been better of woth a primavera keeper then that tata failure
Stick to the plan, olay good flowing football with quality we yave acquired
How many people here had to google Myopia? 🤣
Hahahahaha you got me!
Milan fans will be amazed with this mercato, but this is the worst. the technique is that Milan will need to replace bakayoko, vranx, benacer that was the reason tonali was sold. maldini was sacked because the available budget can’t get anything. I pray Milan get the 2nd star. the technical failure is the change in formation if Napoli won the league with 433 that doesn’t mean it was the best formation, Milan won with 451, juve won with 352. leao will always flop with 4321 like last season, at least lukaku is available for 40m, we can sign him only for derby. I reserve other observation cos whether Milan fans like it or not non of the management read our post here
I sincerely hope they are not reading our posts and being influenced by us, we are mere amutuers, I have watched Milan and seria A religiously for the past 30 years but I am no expert these people who are in our management are qualified heavily paid professionals and are well versed in what they are doing or they would not be trusted with a billion dollar club.
We have a great team and a great squad, we are lacking a few things but which team in world football isn’t.
I can’t wait for the season to start 😆
That’s a poor argument. Since the 2000s, we’ve wasted over a billion on bad signings, many fans knew in advance these players would be bad signings. Our track record is extremely poor, especially when compared to Real Madrid or Man City. For every Kaka, there are 5 duds. RLC and Pulisick are bad signings. That’s 1/3 of the budget wasted. We could have signed Retegui and Dominguez for less and signed Kamada for free for the AM role. Pioli has bad judgement.
laporte would be a dream signing,man city will sell for 20,willing to reduce wages and is a top class cb in his peak and would be a sure starter in milan
If I may say so, it’s too soon to give any praise to the management. As ever, it all remains to be seen on the pitch. It may look quite exciting, but this most likely will require time to pay dividends.
To my humble opinion, ACM will struggle to deliver results and provide constantly a good and exciting outcome. Since there are tons of expectations and possibly pressure of getting results, I even fear that Pioli might well pay the price of failing to put everything all together straight from the start….
On paper ACM has been improved, but it has been drastically changed. It needs time and patience.
This is my exact take but didn’t want to say it as I didn’t want to be labelled too negative. But I think they have alot of work to do especially based on how we’re playing during preseason. I think without a true DM they’re going to ship as many goals as last season. And I don’t think having two super attacking wingers is going to add to our offense if we’re not going to have the ball much due to their lack of defensive work rate
But like u said the signings are exciting to a degree
This summer the transfers went the full spectrum from sarcastically “swimmingly” (not great at all) to “quite impressive” when Chuk was signed to ” hold on wait a minute, how many players do you want to sign now”.
We received different players with different attributes. You can’t really compare any of them to each other or Tonali, Krunic and Benny for that matter. They all bring something different and that brings both excitement and uncertainty and I see this deliniation in the comments – and they’re both legit angles to take.
On the one hand we’ve got depth now but quality-wise we’re going to have to see how they turn out. I would caution ppl to temper their expectations.
I’m really really looking forward mostly to Chuk. We FINALLY got a proper RW which we’ve been missing for the last many seasons I forgot count. That’s the real difference maker for me when it came to these signings. On the flipside we still need a DM (I haven’t really checked out Musah as yet) and a true CAM though Puli could work there or utility man Krunic. But overall I feel we’re finally covered in almost all areas of the pitch, something I didn’t feel last year (and it boils down to the RW tbh)
The transfer window has added enthusiasm and excitement but it has added anxiety. We’re going to start with a completely new midfield, especially and worryingly if Krunic goes. This can be problematic. It takes time to build team chemistry. They can work out if and only if they all play to what their max potential because on paper they look great. I don’t want to get negative but that’s going to be hard to do based on my experience seeing this team for the last 30+ years…it never went well after we spent big, Dutch duo aside.. And it’s going to fall on the coach also because of the mantra being preached by management. He has HIS players now. No excuses
Only Gullit was expensive, Van Basten was about £1.5 million.
Oh? Even with the conversion at the time? I should have caveated it then.
But I know for sure top 3 or 4 times we ever spent big, jack squat won next season. Matter of fact we missed out on ucl even.
I get the signings, the reasonings etc behind it all but history shows otherwise. Too many new players plus expectations are never a good thing.
Don’t want to be the hey I told u so guy but it’s not a crazy angle I’m pushing here
While we wasted money on guys like Papin, we where the wealthiest club in the world so it didn’t matter. When we spent heavily under Terim, Ancelotti took the same players and turned the team into the best in the world. Yes, we’ve never been successful by spending vast sums of money, our success was built on targeted signings. The problem is Berlusconi is gone, we don’t have anyone with his eye for talent. Berlusconi handpicked Van Beaten, Savicevic and Desailly. I believe Desailly was £4 million, I don’t remember how much Savicevic cost, around £8 million tops. Buying a new team doesn’t work. If half the new signings work out, it will be a success.
💯 agreed. Fingers crossed should be a wild ride. Positive thoughts
Yunus was trained by gattuso in valencia , i think he already understand how to become like gattuso . Basically pioli can train yunus to fill kessie role ( box to box but more defensive ) . It needs time of course, reijnders & RLC are mezzala with ofensive atribute . If ACM play 433 maybe midfield are yunus , krunic ,reijnders , if 4231 maybe midfield are krunic / yunus with reijnders/ rlc as double pivot . I prefer 433 it is more balance in mudfield also can bring the best from pobega & rlc if using that formation. The only weakness : we dont have giroud type successor ( strong in header & physical striker ) maybe next summer 2024 we will buy . But yeah finally we put high speed winger like samuel on RW also pulisic & romero as back up RW ( glad we dont need to see salad play there anymore with his defensive atribut) . Squad already good on paper and can compete for scudetto but still need prove in field . The nightmare ? we still with origi , florenzi , salad next season
@Reca you hit on a very important thing there. TIME. We’ll need to be patient and I don’t mind waiting especially with these signings. They’re full of potential. But at Milan you know how expectations are. I really need to check out Musah tbh. I’ve only seen him in that one game vs Mexico and he did well. He actually stayed back and didn’t roam forward as much, very controlled display. And mex vs USA is always a big game. If he’s as defensive minded as I’d like to think, we might be in for a nice treat. What do u make of Krunic / Dominguez..should be replace or no?
On the 433 I found there to be too much space/holes/gaps in the midfield but I think even that needs time to work out. I can’t see us not playing 4231 at the start of the season. It’s all on Pioli tbh
Krunic or dominques? Pioli will choose krunic . Me personally want both and sell adili to fund dominques , adili can be star in his new club maybe but for now he is nothing . From the beginning i dont understand too with RLC choice , both of previous & new management want to sign him . I will prefer dominques than RLC .433 the best option to get pobega & reijnders max potential ( starting yunus,krunic,reijnders)but 4231 also good for yunus & krunic form double pivot . Match 1 to 10 in serie A are tough and need good result if still want to compete winning scudetto . For now lets hope yunus can become our no 6 surpass kessie
I’m excited for the transfers. We have a new innovative team. If people are looking for direct replacements to player A or player B, that isn’t how the real world works.
Clarification, new innovative elements added to a reliable base. Is everything picture perfect? No. But we are miles better than last season. And surpassed opponents who made fewer investments. Of course, on paper.
Now it’s up to Pioli and the team.
Glad to see it’s back to being a revolution….
What I’ve seen is basically the same thing we see saw during our decade in the wilderness – favourite players sold and complete disruption with lots of new signings.
It didn’t work for 10 years.
And it wasn’t that we didn’t signing “quality” players during that period. We signed players like Bonucci, Higuain, Bacca, Balotelli (twice), and of course Acerbi and Hakan who now play for Inter, Romagnoli who now plays for Lazio, we promoted De Sciglio and Locatelli who now play for Juve, and we did Roma a solid by indirectly providing them with Cristante.
The main feature of that period was that nearly every player we signed saw their career nosedive the minute they joined Milan.
Bonucci went from champion to clown back to being a champion in the space of three seasons.
And the main cause of that was the chaos mostly due to Galliani’s never ending wheeling and dealing on the transfer market.
Players were never given time to settle. Just like most of our signings from last season who are being moved on (including to our direct rivals, Atalanta) after just one season with no questions asked why only 1/9 signings were successful.
If at first you don’t success sign, sign again.
Things only settled down slightly with Maldini. We still had too much turnover but the signings were more targeted and Maldini tended to mix some riskier signings like a Tonali with experienced hands like a Giroud.
And we got lucky. Not in the sense that most people think where we fluked finishing top after 38 games. No, the luck was Covid which gave Pioli a period to work with the players for an extended period. We came out of the Covid break and maintained title winning form for 2 years until the World Cup where our rhythm was broken and we’ve struggled since.
And we’ve now had an extended preseason and a load of turnover.
And the media hasn’t questioned any of this and are actually demanding more signings and more disruption. Just to sell content.
Dude, what are you ranting about?? We immensely improved RW (our biggest weakness), signed Okafor who is a huge upgrade to Rebic and Origi and can play any forward position, we have depth in midfield (outside of dm), Reijnders is looking like the real deal and our back line is pretty much the same. Thiaw looked great for Germany he’s only going to get better too.
We signed Romero, Musah and Jimenez for the future.
But, you wanted to stay stagnant and keep playing donkeys like Krunic, Messias and Saladmaker? Do you think CDK will all of a sudden not be a mental midget and start running through defenders?
It’s not about individual signings, it’s about the massive turnover.
Normally a team struggles when they lose one key person. This summer we have lost 5: Maldini who was sacked, Tonali and Krunic who we sold, Ibra who has retired, and Bennacer to injury. Whilst the latter two are nobody’s fault, they compound the disruption.
We’ve then gone out and signed (current count) 8 players only one of whom has any Serie A experience – the goalkeeper.
And there’s likely to be more to come.
It’s not about signing some right winger or whatever. It’s about the disruption to the team. This could well mean that many of our current and new players struggle (these new signings could well negatively impact our current players like Theo and Leao by changing the balance).
The fact is we simply don’t know how any of this is going to play out. And that is an enormous, unnecessary risk in circumstances where we had a solid foundation that had delivered back to back champions league qualifications, a title win, and a semi-final in the champions league.
By this stage we should’ve been focusing 1 or 2 focused signings. Instead we’ve had a revolution and rolled the dice. And this is against backdrop of Pioli losing his mojo in the second half of last season.
Focus on 1 or 2 signings haha you serious? We finished 5th! Wake up guy
We finished 4th…..
And we finished 4th because we failed to beat….Cremonese (twice).
And we held our own against our nearest rivals (except inter).
So we’ve gone out and signed all these players just to figure out a way of beating Cremonese?
We only finished 4th because another team had a point deduction. If they didn’t we’d be in the EL.
We were exposed countless times last season. And drew many times against many teams. We made signings because our right side of the team was bad.
@Kaka
– huge plus, we upgraded the RW..massive massive plus there
– Okafor is def an upgrade to Rebic current form and Origi Current form. But if their playing time is to go by he isn’t going to get much. He’s not going to unsurp Giroud or Leao or even play as a CAM so really how is he getting minutes?
– we’ll disagree on the reinjders. I really don’t see anything special there but a younger, faster Krunic in the making. He lacks certain attributes like defensive awareness as he’ll be playing in the double pivots
– I’m with you on all the rest..from Thiaw to Romero but I wouldn’t call the players donkeys. they all served a purpose at some point esp during the Scudetto run but can be frustrating to watch
I think Maldini’s Heir was getting at the overall picture rather than individual signings l but I could be wrong.
You’re wrong about Reijnders and most of the other signings. You don’t even know what position Okafor can play. He can often play as CF and without Giroud getting older and slower…
With your ideas, we would finish 6th. No thanks.
So how am I “wrong” on reinjders? Im only agreeing to disagree with @Kaka and gave some reasons. You’ve provided none.
But to be complete, let me say that I’m the first person on this site to review him by saying his passing is smooth, long shots his best attributes and stemming from that he can play long balls and crosses. But I’ve also said his frame is small and he gets outmuscled. also said his defense lacks. This was way before he played a game for us and basically it was exactly what weve seen so far. U can agree to disagree but some of these things are just facts. From what I’ve seen so far imo isn’t a bad thing saying he’s a faster Krunic. If he gets Krunic’s reading and positioning ability he’ll be a beast. btw I’ve also said his pace isn’t anything to write home about but that’s not the be all end all. There are others that utilize that attribute better.
Also, how am I wrong on the other signings? Are u saying we haven’t massively upgraded on the RW? Because that’s what I’m saying/agreeing with @Kaka on if you’ve read properly. Or that Romero, Jiminez and Musah aren’t great prospects? Because that’s what I’m agreeing with @Kaka on too if you’ve read properly. U think that’s wrong too?
Or that Thiaw won’t get better? Because of thats what I’m agreeing with @Kaka on.
You think Okafor is not an upgrade on Rebic and Origi? Interesting 🤔
“You don’t even know what position Okafor can play. He can often play as CF and without Giroud getting older and slower…” I don’t understand how u can deduce this after Ive literally said he can’t unsurp Giroud…the position he plays most? U might disagree with him unsurping G but I’ve literally said his position is currently occupied by Giruod. If he’s going to take up the minutes from the departing Rebic and Origi who have filled in for Giroud then those are not huge minutes hence the basis for my reasoning. Or Leao (because he has played at LW in the past) and we got Chuk for RW which he has also played. So I don’t envision that. I just don’t understand the basis for u to say I don’t know what position Okafor plays 🤷♂️
You’re assessments are pretty bad. Pretty dishonest. And pretty inaccurate.
You’re acting as if our team had some sort of mojo last season. We were in serious jeopardy of not making it to the Champions League. Our midfield was rubbish last season and was overrun and exposed time in and time out.
And your idea about Rejinders is incorrect. He’s 1.85M. Not short. You aren’t stating any facts, but pretty obvious opinions based on a pretty poor conception of reality.
“A faster Krunic”. LMAO Krunic is mediocre. That’s an insult to Reijnders. Reijnders is miles better than Krunic even right now. And what is this about Krunic’s reading of the game? The same Krunic that was overrun multiple times last season? Is that it?
Or are you just spewing out more verbose because you can? You have NO idea what you’re even talking about. You’re just blabbering. And at this point if you can’t see the serious deficiencies in our midfield last season, starting with Krunic himself, then that’s your problem.
Giroud is 37 years old, you illiterate. I just stated that. He’s slowing down and likely won’t have another double digit scoring season.
Your ideas are absolutely idiotic. You stated several times we did too much, and I will counter that. We did what we had to do over the failures of last season that nearly cost us the CL and all the revenues that go with it.
@Giancarlo, First of all I’m not with the insults. Keep that to yourself or for other people. Don’t be calling ppl illiterate or idiotic because it doesn’t agree with your viewpoints.
To each his own. I don’t believe you actually read what I’ve written. I’ve addressed basically everything in your post and was trying to figure out where you were coming from.
You said I was wrong about deer AND the other signings based on my response to @kaka. Which to me means you’ve disagreed with the idea that the other signings like Musah weren’t great. I’m yet to hear about that part. OR is it the case you just want to disagree with everything because you disagree with one thing?. You’re doing selective outrage and selective discourse. You hate to agree with certain people so much that you’ll ignore the parts that you can find common ground on and focus on the negative or one or two aspects that you disagree with and blow up on them for it. And that’s not really a proper way to discuss things.
I’ve never said Okafor wasn’t a good signing just a concern on the minutes. U think Giruod is old and he will get minutes, fine. I disagree. It’s very simple. Agree to disagree. But nothing in what I wrote implies I don’t know what his position is which is the statement that confused me the most.
If your viewpoint on Reinjders’ frame is solely height, I’ve never said he was short lol. Being tall doesn’t mean a big frame or being strong/ muscular for that matter. Just look at CDK as an example. Deers is built skinny,.it is what it is. I can’t really help further with your comprehension there. Seems like this comments section is divided on Krunic’s abilities so I’ll leave that alone. But if u dont like that comparison, I’d just say he’s good with potential to become great as most of our signings are.
I’ve also said that we were deficient in midfield since Kessie left and the lack of a proper cam since calha left. Been saying this for the last many years on this very site. And we still were until the most recent signing of Musah. I’ve been complaining since Kessie left that we needed a CDM. That was the aspect that we needed to address but not necessarily changing the entire midfield hence I implied “oversigning”. But we can agree to disagree there. And besides I’ve said the signings are exciting.
My track record here is what it is. I put my neck out everytime I do one of these posts and not to pat myself on the back but I’ve been pretty decent. Last year when everyone was drooling over Pobega replacing Kessie I wasn’t and I said we’d miss what Kessie brought and everyone bashed me to a pulp. And fast forward to now, we know Slowbega ain’t all that and we’re missing a CDM. I’ve also said, before Thiaw blew up, that he was a great signing and hardly anyone knew or commented on his early articles but I did. And I was right again. I gave a thorough assessment on Reinjders prior to him playing a game for us and so far I’ve been correct too. Articles on this very site came out afterwards that he lacks defense. You can go disagree with the writers here then. I’ve also said Romero may be the most surprising signing and it seems to be working out that way. I’ve also talked about RLC and Puli but won’t get into that. I’ve been wrong on Mike though and on Botman when Maldini wanted him.
I agree with most of the post except it being in that terrible banter era. But leading out from there by Maldini to what we have now and catching that covid break are all facts. I like this take.
The signings this window are as exciting as they are worrysome. They seem to breathe new life into fans. But I’ve been a fan of 30 years plus. I’ve seen this before and I’ve seen this quite recently as you said. While it’s not the same as in 2017(?) the starting points are different and we have a more solid core, one should know how too many signings can disrupt the team. Especially in areas that are fundamental to the system ie the midfield.
While I would prefer one more year of the Maldini approach ie small additions (would have been SMS, Berardi and RLC – which would have addressed the same issues but in a different way) to the core before we got into a significant dismantling, I don’t mind the approach of having many potentials that if they become a hit would be great for the future. It’s better than stagnation which is what I was worried about at the beginning of the transfer window. At least I know the management can take serious action. However I think they took too much action lol. It’s a bit overdone for me. But to each hsi own
I don’t get the narrative of high turnover.
Milan lost only 2 important players this summer, Tonali and Brahim, who wasn’t even Milan player.
Milan has basically signed 6 new players and they were all absolutely needed because of the holes in the squad created by the “Maldini approach”.
RW Chukwueze was needed for 4 years.
A back up for Giroud and Leao were absolutely needed and Pulisic and Okafor were signed, because Rebic and origi were absolutely useless.
With Kessie not being replaced and Bennacer serious injury at least 3 midfielders were needed plus the Tonali sale opened up another hole, but that sale financed the strengthening of the midfield with RLC, Musah and Reijnders.
Sportiello was a back up that was needed after the Tatarusanu disaster.
And Romero was an opportunity that Milan took advantage of that has potentially low risk high reward.
The Maldini approach was over.
Milan got passed by Napoli, Lazio, inter and Juventus last season following Maldini’s approach. And how do you finance the SMS, Berrardi, RLC signings? Is Maldini going to pay out of his own pocket? That’s 100 mil on just 3 players, assuming that Maldini with his charm would have convinced Tonali to reject Newcastle offer that quadrupled his salary.
The Maldini project was over
Don’t bother him.
I have brought the same topic to him, but he always avoid it.
He always talking as if it’s a revolution when the only starter we lost is tonali.
He even talked as if gabbia was also core of the team.
Milan wouldn’t have signed these players this season if maldini didn’t fail hard last season.
From ALL of last season signings, who are we left with?
Only thiaw.
Maldini got no budget?
He would, if only he didn’t let players go for free
No but it’s funny they talk about a turnover this summer but lets forget that last season the Maldini approach signed almost as many players.
Origi, Adli, Pobega, Dest. Vranckx, CDK, Thiaw, plus redeeming Messias and Florenzi. All except for Thiaw were useless
Compare that with Chukwueze, Pulisic, Okafor. RLC, Musah, Reijnders, Romero, Sportiello.
He’s nutty.
We clearly made additions. Not a revolution. The bulk of the team is still there.
Maldini’s Heir is nuts. Or he’s a huge Krunic fan and is glowing angry his favorite is now likely to leave.
I was talking about maldini’s heir.
I mean judging from his name, we should know what to expect
I don’t think it’s turnover per se. Perhaps over signing. We lost few in numbers but alot in the starting lineup. Last year’s midfield was Tonali and Bennacer, starting CAM was Brahim, and later in the season Krunic in both cam and as a 3rd mid. And now basically none of these are starting this coming season esp if Krunic is sold. Add that into a new RW if Messias or Saele is benched and you got a whole new midfield and half of the wings as totally new. The mids that protect the backs are new and the mids to instigate the offense are all totally new. That’s a concern, surely, no?
I don’t agree that the midfield is strengthened but rather we have new options that look exciting on paper and potential for playing in more ways as we have more attributes to exploit. That’s a very good thing.
I don’t know how SMS and Berardi would have been financed but with the potential budget of 35m. Maybe they would have sold Timori or Mike. But it would come to about the same 40-60m in the hole as we have now. But if course less players. But thars my personal preference, and only would want that for only one more year though not more. And I get both sides of the coin. Just that now we basically hope they all gel quickly rather than build on what was there.
Except we didn’t over sign. Management directly addressed the right side of the pitch fans have been complaining about for years.
And midfield signings were badly needed because Krunic had more mediocre games last season than good ones. Tonali also left.
So what is the issue?
Not sure why I can’t reply to comment below but it’s outlined above where I went into the reasons why. Long story short, we could have added a couple more pieces or we could have signed a whole new midfield and we went with the latter. Imo didn’t need to do all that. Not to mention lose the last mid that knows the system. But we’re here now so I’m hoping for the best
Knowing the system? Na man. Our midfield was bad last season. We needed a change. It’s laughable to me you wanted us to stick with the status quo which was brutally exposed last season. Nah man. You’re just wrong. Our midfield was our biggest shortfall last season.
I forgot about Brahim but I don’t think his impact is as big as losing:
– Maldini who beyond the market seemed to have a big impact on the players and the culture based on what the players have said;
– Tonali who was the player we were supposed to be building our team around;
– Ibra (nobody’s fault) who was the player who almost single handily raised the squad;
– Bennacer (nobody’s fault) a key linchpin in midfield;
– Krunic a player who was hugely underrated and provided key continuity.
8 players (and the current count is 8 and they’re not finished yet) of a squad of 24 is is a third of the squad.
Now imagine your employer changed one third of the staff over a 2 month period?
And not only did they change one third of the staff they’ve brought in that other third from different countries and cultures.
And I’m sure whatever you do doesn’t come down to split second decisions on the pitch.
But I’ll say this to you as I’ve said to everyone.
You now don’t get to complain about any of our new signings. If you’re so happy today with these signings then you need to stay happy tomorrow even if they don’t perform the way you expected.
Because if they don’t perform it’ll be for the reasons I’ve said.
And hopefully in January and future transfer windows you too will raise the alarm when the directors and agents start their wheeling and dealing.
You’re so delusional. Most of the base is still there. Bennacer has fitness issues that have been ongoing.
Also, building the team around Tonali would have been a failure.
Krunic was anywhere from good to mediocre last season depending on the game. He was more mediocre in the league.
Most of the base is still there and most of our investments target the attack. Ibra retired. Giroud is 37 and seems more lethargic. So most of our signings are directed to the attack.
The midfield was because Bennacer was injured, Krunic clearly not good enough and Tonali leaving by his own accord.
We are clearly better than last season. If you’re too blind to see that… your problem.
Also, stop bringing up stupid delusional ideas about your job situation in life. It is nothing like football. Most of the core, except for Diaz and Tonali, are still there. Ibra barely played last season.
Bennacer is also suffering from lengthy and long running injury issues.
You talk about job so much.
Tbh, with your mentality and negativity, i wonder how do you even still have a job
Funny you never once mentioned the signings from last season.
Because origi, cdk, vranck, dest, messias, and florenzi are all world beaters to you huh.
Oh i forgot, you also said krunic is the new ambrosini, lol
I question if you’re even a real fan. There is spending without direction like in 2017, but what happened here had a point. The base is still there and appropriate investments in the right side of the pitch were made. We also made investments in midfield.
Most of the starting team from last year is still there.
So your argument is bogus and without merit or substance.
These guys are really fried, imagine being perfectly content with the same exact team and only signing 1 or 2 players. We had no depth.
And Tonali was solid, but he’s not world class you couldn’t build a team around him haha give me a break
I don’t even think we should be building a team around anyone. We need to play unpredictably. Not having all our players flow through one player. It’s an old idea of having a Pirlo like playmaker. And with two wingers and other creative outlets it makes little sense.
We were so dangerously close missing the CL because of clear shortfalls in our midfield and attack. Our defensive may have look more vulnerable last season but that’s because of players like Krunic playing poorly.
I don’t even think we should be building a team around anyone. We need to play unpredictably. Not having all our players flow through one player. It’s an old idea of having a Pirlo like playmaker. And with two wingers and other creative outlets it makes little sense.
We were so dangerously close missing the CL because of clear shortfalls in our midfield and attack. Our defensive may have look more vulnerable last season but that’s because of players like Krunic playing poorly.
Sorry for a few typos. I get autocorrect issues.
Imagine being perfectly content with the actual players who play for the team you actually support….
Say what you want but do not come back here criticising these signings if they don’t work out.
For my part I will never criticise OUR PLAYERS ie OUR CLUB and I hope I’m proven wrong.
We need a #9 and have needed a #9. and 1 or 2 registi. Will prob be no #10 in the squad when Pioli inevitably goes back to basics. So itll a mixture of the Chelsea rejects and the Salamander. And we still haven’t got a proper midfield or #9.
I agree some areas have improved (RW, Mezzala) but we have improved with QUANTITY, not quality.
Pioli doesnt rotate. These strategies does really align.
As fans we are allowed to voice our concerns over players and mgmt. Of which there many.
It’s not 2006 and teams don’t revolve around one player in midfield to create plays. Also the players we have signed are quality. Clearly not quantity.
We improved midfield.
Yeah these guys are indeed fried lmao.
Also, with Pulisic, Chukwueze and Okafor possibly playing on the right, Salad won’t see any time at all. That’s why I still think he will be a late departure.
With clear quality upgrades, how anyone thinks this is beyond me. Yeah your logic is nonexistent and your “concerns” aren’t mine or that of other fans.
My concern right now is buying another CB and fullback. If another midfielder, like Dominguez arrives. Great. Clearly not a regista (lmao smh this is early 2000s era nonsense thinking).
You’ve been busy. I wonder who has a job here….
Look this is absolutely pointless because we’re both trying to predict the future (although by your confidence you’d think had a crystal ball…).
What I will not stand is you and others turning on the very players you’re so delighted about now. You need to stick with these guys regardless of what happens.
That’s what being a fan is. Supporting the players who are the club.
You clearly don’t have a job.
This team is not success if the dont have 7 or 8 Italian player in team specially from primavera. ACMilan DNA of Success from Italian Player. Check the history of Milan. REDbird destroy ACMilan
Lmao the last scudetto we won had little to do with Italian players. Also, which ones exactly? Redbird didn’t destroy anything. Quality is in short supply amongst Italian players. Ask yourself why the National Team still regularly plays Bonucci and Acerbi. Two players way past their prime.
Lmao SMS and Berardi. I still can’t believe people bring up those two names here. Two of the most overrated names in the Serie A and one went to a career ending move in Saudi Arabia.
Their numbers prove they perform in Serie A.
LMAO Berardi was sought after three years ago. Not anymore. Get a grip on reality.
Your loyalty to a player who won us the Euros is noted.
Where was he in the qualifiers for the world cup? Oh yes nowhere to be found.
Imagine wanting Krunic over Musah or Reijnders. Imagine wanting to be taken seriously making that argument.
Then imagine thinking Krunic is better then them lmao lmao lmao lmao lolllllllllllll I’m done.
If you wanted to make 1 or 2 changes to the team last season, you’re missing the point. We did not do good last season. This approach would have failed. Our midfield was overrun too many times, putting more pressure on defenders.
If you fail to see this fact, that’s on you.
Last season:
Kessie out
Ibra injuried
Bakayoko failed
Vrankx failed
Adli failed
CDK failed
Serie A 2021/2022:
Goals= 69
Conceded= 31
Serie A 2022/2023:
Goals=64
Conceded=43
” If he gets Krunic’s reading and positioning ability he’ll be a beast.”
Krunic’s “reading” and “positioning” ability last season was trash, and partly the reason why we conceded so many goals last season. It was his inability to provide any sort of cover in midfield.
This is why he’s linked with a move out of Milan. Because it’s all further downhill from here.
This is why I can’t take what some people say on here seriously. You can’t be this blind and daft.
Call it a rebuild or a “project to build on” (Cardinale) but this squad isnt built to win as is. Too many variables, unknowns and undefined roles.
Pioli wants 433 but we have purchased no regista.
Sold Tonali to rebuild the midfield and still no regista.
The people who seem to have the influence in the market have little practical experience. A Wall street guy, a scout, and Pioli. And then baseball people. Baseball….
All moneyball proves is that with a little extra research and analytics that you can build a team greater than the sum of their parts. Which we already did when we won the scudetto. We needed quality upgrades and didn’t get them.
This is a rebuild. Moneyball style.
A coinflip. We just have to wait and see
Lol this is the kind of outdated thinking I was mentioning before. Teams don’t have playmakers anymore. It isn’t 2006.
I still mourn the sale of Sandro Tonali….
My friend Kumar, After reading what you wrote, and a mile long list of coments, respectfully I suggest you either go and see an ophtamologist to check you for myopia yourself (consider yourself lucky if that is what you have) or see a pathologists to test you for Aphasia?
May even be simplier you pretend to know football and you actually are charlatan.
I will let you decide 🙂