Be more mature? My thoughts on the subject is that the seniority rule is stupid. Do you want me to write you a dissertation of why I think it's stupid? Because I can!

Captaincy should be given to the best candidate, someone who has character, leadership skills, the respect of his teammates, the list can go on and on. Do you think the likes of Antonini and Bonera have any of those qualities? Just because Bonera has been here the longest does not make him right for the role, which is why the seniority rule is ridiculous as it disregards all of those aspects I listed above.

I'm more old fashioned, I think captain should be the player who's been with the team the longest time, and preferably a defender and Italian. That said, none other then Abate or De Sciglio cross my mind. I still think MDS has much to learn, but he can improve with more consistency and playing time. Abate is the prime example.

Unless someone of the old guard doesn't return: like Seedorf for example, or more likely - Kaka.

Abbiati, Yepes, Ambrosini will most likely leave next summer, and Bonera and Antonini are not considered starters. Personally, I'd give it to Montolivo. He best represents the personification of the leader in our team, and he's been captain of Fiorentina in the past.

Yep, either Montolivo or Abate. I would only suggest Pato if he gets everything together and feel a permanent part of the team again. At the moment who knows whether he will stay or not beyond January.

This is what i wanted to hear thanks...just saying its stupid was not much of an argument.

If he can stay injury free and get his form back then i don't see why not agreed.

Official: Ambrosini leaves Milan

Goodbye Blonde Angel, thanks for everything!

Goodbye Ambro :')

A million times better captain than Gattuso. Thanks for your time here, Ambrosini! Good thing we held onto him until we had another classy one in Montolivo. We may have thrown away our tradition, but at least the armband has been (and is) safe for the foreseeable future.

Best of luck with the rest of your adventure, champ!

My head is OK with it, but my heart aches. it's always hard to lose those who have been with us for many years. it's only when you see the official notification that you suddenly think to yourself "****, there'll be no Ambro anymore" and it sucks.

Ciao Ambro.

Can't say I'll miss him. He never was on the level of his former peers, only had about 2-3 good seasons overall. But still, 18 years of Milan is a lot. Goodbye Ambro, we wish you the best in your future endeavours.

Oh yeah, he never was, and I am sure deep down the guy knows this. But he carried himself well all these years, never complained when he was benched (unlike his peers that you mentioned). Pirlo, Seedorf and Gattuso may all have been better players, but boy, were they a noisy and nosy bunch!

They were noisy because they were world class players.

I was never a big fan of Ambrosini, he could be in the discussion we had the other day about mediocre players in great teams in my view but still will miss him.

The only thing I'll remember from him though was his goal against PSV.

The last of it's kind.

No they were not. Not the last year or two. Maybe even three. Ever since our 2007 CL win, all these 'talented' players got lazy and most of the time played like they did not gave two hoots about the club or its final standing at the end of the season. Ambrosini did, at least tried, when he got to start or was subbed in.

Out of our core group, only Nesta gave it his all till his last match. And speaking of the ugly fairy (Prilo), I don't even recall hearing anything good from him about the club like ever. It made me wonder, but I thought he probably kept his affection to the club to himself, was reserved. But then the cat got out of the bag.

Ambrosini in his last few years > Pirlo+Seedorf+Gattuso combined in their last few years. Again, the likes of Maldini and Nesta were above him in their twilight years, but I've always been contend seeing Ambrosini wear the armband these last couple of seasons. My point is, world class once does not mean a player is world class till eternity.

Only a select few do, and they are called legends. The rest are mere mortals.


Oh he had his moments. The elbow to the Lazio player was one, he had to play the role of the midfield dog back then. And well, then there was the goal you mentioned. In fact, I remember a whole bunch of his goals. Never was a fan of the guy, but boy was he a reliable player, most of the time. And classy too.


True. True!

And not this?



Only Nesta? Gattuso gave it his all in every match, even in his last year with us. Difference between him and, say, Pirlo was that Rino couldn't cut it anymore. But that doesn't mean he slacked on the pitch. Never.

Always liked him. Not as flashy as other players we had but always ready to help the team, never whined, had to deal with many injuries and so on. Always seemed like a nice person to me with good character, which is rare these days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEv26WOmvxQ amongst all this, the Lazio goal stuck in my memory the most.

Grazie.

^ What Juve goal?

oops, I meant Lazio, the header from 2003-04 scudetto sesaon. Maybe my favorite season from that period football quality wise, but the meltdown vs Deportivo ruined whAt should have been a double.

That too but it was not as bag although still an important goal.


I love how this is a highlights video and sitting through a Galliani press conference is among them... (look how bored Ambro looks at 00:10 )

Gattuso has always been all heart, even in his bad moments. And the last few years, he acted like a clown, objectively speaking. Some of his tackles, some of his plays and passes were just, you know it man. I'll give you that, he tried, but it wasn't working, and he never seemed to have tried to correct it.

Nesta, the legend that he is managed it with ease. Ambrosini managed it with control. Gattuso couldn't. Pirlo was another case, but both Gattuso and Seedorf when they played their last year or two, they were almost a negative impact on our gameplay, our team tactics. You know it, the match threads here are filled with it.

Point is that in his twilight here, Gattuso should have used his brains, slowed his game down and tried more control over what he did on the pitch. Instead he tried amping it up to 11, and the result was for all to see. Seedorf and Pirlo were always lazy and leisurely, but even Seedorf went the clumsy route, while Pirlo faded into nothingness.

Maybe it was his, what 18 years at the club, but they taught Ambrosini to understand his limits and stay within them!

Wow, great post! Your argument is detailed and to the point and needless to say I agree 100%.

Thank you. You are too kind!

As Fillipo said, last of his kind. We'd be lucky to see players last 10 years in one club from now on. Anything higher is just the icing on a cake. It goes for us, and almost any other football club. The dynamics have changed, the romanticism vanished, and sad as I am to say this, grace vanquished.

In fact, I can say with reasonable assurance that even fans like some of us here are a dying breed. But I'm lucky I watched players like him and even bigger giants than Ambrosini in their prime. Just as I a lucky I watched some of the classic cartoons and anime when they first aired. The young ones today just don't know what they are missing.

But hey, the world's got to end one day, I suppose, and this probably is how the show will wrap up. Can't complain!

Oh, and that reminds me man. The guy in your avatar, Billy, he knew how to do it. Legend that he is, I always considered him an Ambrosini type of player. Not nearly as talented and flashy as the others around him, but downright classy, downright humble, understood his limits, played to them, and bowed out gracefully.

I'll just say out of our recent senators, Nesta and Ambrosini did it how it was meant to be done. The others delayed it by an year or two, or in case of Pirlo soured their case altogether. And here we have Ambrosini saying that he can't play for any other Italian club after his association with our shirt. Respect, man.

I know how hard it must be to spend an year or two away from the country in a foreign environment. He clearly feels like he has another year to give, but does not want to sign for any other club in Seria A, let alone our direct and utter rival. I am looking at your Pirlo. You should have left to Madrid or Chelsea when you had the time.

But I will not talk about others any more, surely not the real traitor. I have a heavy heart today, but knew this day would come. And this day is all about Ambrosini - the faithful soldier. Good luck, once again, captain! Proud to call you that. And here I thought we'd struggle after Paolo in the captaincy department.

Thanks for the memories, Ambro! There were a bucketful of them!

I agree with you and all, and I have a lot of respect for Ambrosini and this is indeed a day to pay tribute to him, but Costcurta was really on another level. Costacurta at his peak was actually a world class defender, while loyal as he was, Ambrosini was mostly in the above average range throughout his career.

Oh no, that's what I actually meant. More like him, but a legend. Costcurta in all his years at the club wrote history as one of the finest in defense. It's not an apples to apples comparison. Ambrosini isn't a legend, just a very, very good (and loyal) player. And I am sure this is what Ambro will tell his grandchildren in the future.

That I was a very, very good players, who played at one of the best clubs in the world, and won a ton!

So after Ambro's departure, Bonera is the only player on our roster who was part of 2007 CL win.

Agreed. Some people underrate Ambro, but anyone that plays 500 or so games for Milan is by no means a bad player or even average. Certainly above average and would've probably stood out more in a lesser team. It's hard to stand out among the quality we've had over the past 2 decades.

Yeah that PSV goal is what comes to my mind when I think about his goals. he was not consistent enough to be considered a world class player (like Maldini, Xavi, etc.) but on his good day he was as good as it gets.

Too bad he ended his Milan career with a disastrous game where he got sent off.

And that's what hurts. Not just the fact that we lost all the players we had then; it's more that since 2005 to 2013 we failed to establish a natural cycles of players who take over. One of the best things that ever happened to Milan was that Maldini was here to take over from Baresi, and not just that - the fact that they played together had immense importance. Now we almost have a team that has no connection with the past generation, and that makes you sad, because the past generations was brilliant in many ways.


Yeah, but it happens to great players. I remember Jürgen Kohler ending his career the same way, but more tragic in fact. I'm just sad Ambrosini never got the standing ovation he deserved, leaving the San Siro pitch for one last time.

Yeah! Pretty absurd from our management! We all knew that he wasn't going to renew so they should have announced it earlier.

Yes, because our management was asleep for a few years after that CL win and did things the wrong way. Instead of diong it gradually, they made a mess. Baresi was my idol back then but you knew with his departure that we have another giant taking over as captain.

Winning the CL in 2007 certainly hurt this club way more than it helped it.

That doesn't make sense. Even in hindsight. Winning is not hurting this team. Backwards management and mentality is.

It's obviously the managements fault, but winning the CL allowed tem the excuse that Seedorf, Pirlo, Gattuso, etc were fine as starters. Made even more stupid when we sold the player that won it us.

Massimo Ambrosini has described his time at Milan as ‘marvellous’, but refused to rule out a move to Fiorentina.

The club captain is looking for a new outfit after the Diavolo opted against renewing his contract which expires this month.

“This isn’t easy,” he said at a Press conference on Friday. “I’m emotional.

“I decided to wait a few days before talking as I didn’t want to say something in the heat of the moment which wouldn’t have done justice to my 18 years in Rossonero.

“I thank everyone, starting with President Silvio Berlusconi, Adriano Galliani and Ariedo Braida. It has been marvellous here, 18 years which I could never forget.”

The former Italian international was hoping to remain at San Siro after Daniele Bonera and Christian Abbiati were handed new deals.

“It is not up to me to say whether the club were right or wrong to let go of me,” added the former Cesena and Vicenza player.

“There is nothing scandalous about it though. I’m 36, I gave a lot to Milan who had the right to make the decision they made.

“I would have liked to have been informed of their decision in a different way, but I am here to say thank you.

“I would have preferred that Galliani told me first, but I then logically had a conversation with him.

“Life goes on though. I still feel like a player and I want to continue being one. And I’m not leaving Milan with anger.”

Ambrosini is being linked with a move to West Ham, but he is also thought to be of interest to the Viola.

“Fiorentina are a great club, bossed by a great Coach, with a serious and intriguing project,” he added. “If they came forward for me than I’d listen to what they were offering.”

Yes. Apparently he was very hurt with the way he was treated towards the end. I can't blame him. It was a big fuckup from our management. They should have at least informed him first.

Maybe Galliani is getting too old...?

Maybe Galliani needs to get the same treatment. Real classy, baldy!

I dunno man. This is just completely weird what's happening. It's almost as if our management feels compelled to over-compensate for that massive gesture we made back in 2007.

Yeah, I guess. Not liking it one bit though, this unclassy trashing that's going on. Ambrosini could have signed on to play for less than a million, what's a 500,000 a year for a fit, experienced and quality player!

Maybe its time for galliani to go.


The last couple years under him have really made me question his abilities.

I agree. He's like a character from a one-dimensional movie. You tell him his role and he's doing just that.

I'm very bitter and sour, most of my blame going on his part. I've backed up the Milan-family thing for years, knowing that this kind of atmosphere makes us special. But is was nothing but a provisional smokescreen, just like this "new Milan" is. Just another smokescreen, and nothing more. He perpetuated a status quo with Milan which could go on for years. Just like Allegri, in the last year's he's been making one step ahead followed mostly by two steps back.

It is unbelievable how much harm he's done. He made Milan a habit to me, one that for most of the time makes me sick or at least unhappy. Starting with the Leonardo dealing and moving to 2013 Galliani almost single-handedly changed Milan's atmosphere and turned this club into something no one wanted. He's dishonest approach and cheap (and effective) tactics are what is left now. And the worst thing is that people actually believed he has a plan, part of us here acknowledged the respect he payed to some players. And the he turned everything upside-down, Ambrosini being one of the more recent examples.

Career Highlights:

http://youtu.be/by4v-OEpLns

http://youtu.be/umJB1hst4XA

Yuck.

Strange to see him in that ugly shirt.

Yeah, really. It's so unnatural.

You would expect a better treatment for someone who spent 17 years at the club. But on the other hand, Galliani can't even make peace with a legend like Paolo.