The 2015/16 football season was not one of AC Milan’s most successful, and it was purely memorable for the way it underlined how much they had fallen since their glory days.
Their opening 11 games of that campaign saw them lose five and draw one across all competitions as they got off to a woeful start. Although they clawed back some semblance of self-respect by finishing seventh in the Serie A league table, they were limited to having their season labelled, by many, as a very poor one.
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Even those who don’t support the club know just how important the Rossoneri have been in the history of football, producing some exceptionally gifted footballers through their Primavera Academy since the early 1960s as well as being involved in some era-defining matches down through the years.
This term, however, they have shown some real mettle, despite a recent loss to AS Roma – join us in examining why they can transform their current good spell into something more meaningful and long term.
#1 Takeover will happen & that means a cash injection
You could overtake a Ferrari on a bicycle faster than AC Milan’s much-discussed takeover is happening – and that’s the sad truth of it. Boy, is it taking its sweet time in wrapping itself up? Nearly every few days it seems to stall or hit a brick wall, but even though it’s frustrating for the fans there is no doubt that it will happen, and when it does they will likely receive quite a nice boost of cash with it.
The reality of the situation is that the club needs money. If they intend to get back to bossing Barcelona around like they once did, they’ll need a few blank chequebooks to do it, and the proposed takeover bid by a Chinese consortium would surely give them that opportunity. Money rules, after all.
On a slightly more meaningful level, though, it would usher in a new era – a Silvio Berlusconi-less one that would see the slate wiped clean and their image restored to one. Hopefully, with their minds on improving the financial and commercial appeal of the club as well as making sure the necessary funds are made available to make the transfer window a little more enjoyable for them.
It might take a bit of time, but when it happens it’ll be a significant day in the ushering in of a new Milanese era.
#2 Wonderkids will inspire current Primavera crop
Everyone knows that Milan like to showcase a few youngsters in their first team every now and then – it’s something of a tradition. Their roll-call of famous academy graduates is quite the eye-catcher, in truth.
Gianluigi Donnarumma is no less an impressive member of their team than he was when he first made his senior team debut but his youthful exuberance, melded with an outstanding level of confident maturity, is certainly much more accepted nowadays.
The club have turned down some big money offers for the 17-year-old sensation already, and although pressure to sell him will only mount with every soundbite of praise he gets from Calcio idols, it’s vital they keep hold of him – and Manuel Locatelli.
They are two of the club's most outstanding Italian youngsters, and alongside the equally sprightly M’Baye Niang, Suso and Mario Pasalic, their fixtures in the squad will all play vital roles in showing the developing Primavera youngsters that burgeoning starlets do get chances to shine and make it at this club.
The more examples they can produce of this ethos, the less likely it is they’ll allow a future superstar, like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, to slip through their fingers again.
Crafting their rise back to the big time won’t just come from getting results now – it will arrive when the fledgeling superstars looking up at their youthful idols grow up to replace them to continue replenishing the club’s overall strength in depth. With time and care, that should see Milan regain their self-sustained way back to dominant glory.
#3 Vincenzo Montella is the right supremo for the job
At a time when Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino and Marcelo Bielsa – great tacticians and masters of the idiosyncratic, strategic, touch – it might sound odd to think that a coach who doesn’t believe fully in the ultimate power of tactics could prove valuable in leading Milan back to the bright lights of consistent triumph.
And yet, Vincenzo Montella is already starting to make many doubt their own football philosophy biases.
Recently, the Milan manager stated that he doesn’t hold too much stock in tactics as a necessary ingredient to win championships, quoted by Football Italia as saying that what matters more are ‘the players’ quality, the coach’s skill and the club’s expertise.’ Many would not like to rely so heavily on so many varying and independent factors to ensure success, but there is something to Montella’s comments.
In a way, the daring coach is giving his players the freedom to express themselves in a more fluid formation and system than most would normally buy into – and isn’t it that natural flair and atmosphere of play that very often inspires the best performances and the best performers? Kaka would think so, Ronaldinho, Filippo Inzaghi, too – the list of Rossoneri alumni who have prospered on this mentality surely attest to it.
Of course, time will tell whether Montella is right, but as it stands his liberal approach has the club approaching something resembling a strut at their best. Two wins against Atalanta and Bologna would build up some steam ahead of their festive Super Cup clash against Juventus. It might well evolve into a casual swagger by the season’s end.
#4 Blend of experience will be important
Most like to point to the now folkloric comments of BBC Sports pundit Alan Hansen that ‘you can’t win things as kids’ as to how underestimated young players are at being capable of achieving victory. But it’s also equally fair to point out that the average age of the Manchester United team he was referring to was actually around 26 years – so, not that young after all. The truth is, any team needs a blend of youth and experience to get them across the finishing line.
Looking at Milan’s squad now, they clearly have those strands of wisdom and ‘been there, done that’ know how to compliment the younger guys.
Carlos Bacca, Riccardo Montolivo, Ignazio Abate and Giacomo Bonaventura – there are plenty of mature guys on the roster who have seen it all before, and their guidance and assurance will be necessary to help the club achieve its fullest potential.
Once Bacca recovers from his thigh injury and Bonaventura gets back to full fitness, they will be a force again, one more than capable of catching up with the breakaway two.
#5 Prestige of Rossoneri will always attract quality
Lining out in the famous red and black of Milan will always be a dream for rising stars – there is something indefinably attractive about sporting that jersey, and with their mojo building slowly, they will start to grow outside the rumours linking them to Mario Balotelli and other risky purchases.
In time, they will have the cash to splash on bigger names, more certain hot buys and ever more daring performers with the skill and panache to turn matches on their head and win closely-contested battled.
When it comes down to it, this season will either see them nab a crucial Champions League spot or not, but it is already one of improvement and if they can successfully hold their key components in place and instil more and more confidence in themselves, next season will really see them take off with energy.
Time will tell.
