in 1987/88 Milan spent ?6m on 1 player, the entirety of English football spent ?22m on over 150 players. Let's not pretend this is a new thing. The birth of the Champions League and the 90s saw Italian clubs blow up transfer fees to insane levels. The late 90s/early 200s saw Madrid do it again, and Italian clubs spent themselves in to oblivion. Yes, absolutely English clubs have spent more recently. But to blame them for a system that has been broken for decades, absolving the others of blame is pure xenophobia.

It's also basic economics. Everyone know PL clubs have money due to massive TV rights. Of course English clubs will spend more, they're essentially taxed on their TV earnings.

2017/18 - Premier League clubs made ?2.419billion from TV rights alone. The transfer spend of all clubs was ?2.182billion. 90.2% of their TV revenue.

2017/18 - Serie A clubs made ?924m from Tv rights. The transfer spend was ?1.051billion. Over 100% of their TV revenue.

The idea that English clubs spend a lot, it's totally fine. It's fair. But the idea that they are outspending their limits more than any other league? Absolutely laughable.

It's only normal for Italian clubs to spend more than they make on TV rights cos otherwise how are they going to remain competitive? And that's where the ridiculous nature of FFP comes into play, and how it favours the rich clubs and damages the not so rich ones. But these insane prices over the last 10 years have been driven primarily by those clubs I mentioned earlier, i.e. English clubs, Barcelona, Real etc.

Now, it's arguable that Italian clubs also spent a lot in the 80s and 90s, but that's going way back. Even if you take inflation into account, transfer fees in the 80s were not ridiculous, and in the 90s you had only a handful of clubs that could permit high prices, some of which went bankrupt.

I mean, look at Milan's most expensive signings: https://www.transfermarkt.com/ac-mailand/tr...ekorde/verein/5

Now look at a club like Spurs who are arguably the least powerful one from the big six in England: https://www.transfermarkt.com/tottenham-hot...orde/verein/148

Don't even dare to look at Chelsea, City, ManU cos then it becomes comical.

I'm not pointing the finger on English clubs as the main culprits, but by far and large they have contributed to this corrupt system that is unsustainable anymore. And why something atrocious like the Super League almost became a thing.

Zlatan, Bennacer and Theo unavailable.

Official line-up: Donnarumma, Calabria, Kjaer, Tomori, Dalot, Meite, Kessie, Saelemaekers, Calhanoglu, Rebic, Leao.

Good to see Calabria back, but why oh why start Meite over Tonali?

Also, Zlatan keeps missing matches due to recurring muscular injuries. Is it really normal renewing the contract and paying 7M to a guy who barely plays half the games of the season? I have my doubts.

We're so toothless and uninspired upfront.

1-0 HT

Very mediocre performance thus far.

A few considerations:

Calabria is such a good fullback. He doesn't do extraordinary things, but does what is required extremely well.

Second excellent consecutive game for Saelemaekers. Such a hard-working and intelligent player. If only he had a bit more skill.

Kessie keeps the ball far too long. It's become sort of a trademark of his, but today it's not working and he's lost so many dangerous balls.

Calhanoglu, great goal aside, is just so... I don't know what's the right word for it... Pushover?

Leao and Rebic have zero dialogue together.

We miss a couple of great forwards upfront BADLY.

We will need another goal at least. Because it seems they will be scoring sooner or later.

It's a match that can go either way. Sassuolo have been the better side overall.

We have slightly improved some half decent chances

I die a little inside every time I see Krunic coming in.

Lol.. I just hope we don't trybto hold onto 1 - 0 keep pushing like last 15 odd minutes

****

1-1

Expected.

Wow they scored there 2nd

1-2

Such a dry, soulless and appalling performance. I honestly don't think we'll hold on to 4th spot because we are relegation side bad. Napoli deserve it way more than we do.

Since the subs we have been totally useless. Slowing tempo

Pioli needs to get sacked. He has lost control of his players, he can't motivate them anymore and that is simply astonishing for a team that's fighting to get in Europe after 8 years. I remember when Inter made their comeback three years ago, these games were a fighting hell. Instead we look like we can't even be bothered. It honestly looks like a bunch of 80 year olds barely having the strength to walk. I'm pissed off beyond words but I'll contain myself otherwise I could say all sorts off nasty things...

King krunic took the set piece

Champions League hopes are evaporating... The final games will require a lot of grit.

So pi!ssed off right now!!

2 replica goals FFS! Dalot backing off of Berardi both times

Why can't we just kill off these games when we're controlling them? Each time we invite the opposing team back in

And what the f@ck was that with those subs Pioli???????

Leaving Leao on the pitch?? Taking off Rebic and Hakan? Brining on f@cking Krunic once again???

And why not Tonali? Meite is a ghost out there.

This could cost us 4th FFS!

Do Atalanta reach us in the table should they win tonight? FFS so p!ssed off right now.

This team needs to wake up! Pioli needs to get his head out of his @ss with some of these selections. WTF is his fetish with Krunic?? He's terrible FFS and always puts us at a disadvantage

Not a single moment did we control this match. It was 50/50 all the time, and Sassuolo played a much more organised and thought-out game. We're simply crumbling right now, we've been crumbling for some time.

If by some miracle we make into the CL, we need to re-evaulate a lot of things. I can assure you that if we start next season with this coach, this bunch of players and this mentality we'll finish 10th. Mark my words.

This one is on Pioli.

Schocking attitude nevertheless. This team has a built in looser mentality. Every time things become serious, we crumble.

100%

I thought we controlled the first half. Came out completely flat footed in the 2nd.

But those last 30 minutes or so were appalling.


Leao btw... where do I start with this kid FFS? His laziness and general body language just p!sses me off to the nth degree!

In no way will Milan sack Pioli if we earn the CL spot. And I still think we will because the opposition is also not exactly sensational to say the least.

If we make CL we should honestly start buying experienced players and winners, not just kids and nobodies. I think Dalot, Kalulu, Castillejo, Krunić, Meite, Leao all need to go and a bunch of other players reconsidered as well.

On Pioli to a certain extent. I absolutely hated the subs. But some players are simply not good enough and as soon as you remove the starter and put in the replacement the drop in quality is not simply a dip but a huge plunge

Controlled? In what way? By putting up a veteran performance?

The whole game was appalling. Pioli said our strategy is to win all games. Well.. with that kind of attitude, we won't win anything anymore.

All the other top sides have easy games tonight if I'm not mistaken. I think we'll hold on to 2nd for 2 more weeks and then we'll relinquish that as well

Let's all pray big time for CL. Because if that doesn't come, the future of this club is a huge question mark with the financial situation as is

Not just on the subs, but the attitude of the team is the coach's fault as well. Look at these players! It's like they're playing the Trofeo Moretti in August, man! Aaaargh...

I thought so. We created the better chances, moved the ball better and generally pressed well imo. That's only the first half though. 2nd half was nightmarish

Honestly, after the fiasco of this past week with the super league and now the team seemingly not being able to pull themselves out of this slump, I'm tempted to just pull the curtain on this season. The only thing still keeping me going is the hope for CL football next season

Indeed, we didn't control jackshit.

Likewise.

But then you have to make the subs with more intelligence. Leaving Leao was a mistake. Not giving Hauge the nod but forcing Krunić in another. Taking off both Rebić and Hakan who at least tried to look dangerous while leaving Alexis and Leao was ludicrous.

Insisting on Krunić is another stupid fixation that brings us nowhere.

Why did Meite start? Why starting Leao who was piss poor the other game? Why not giving Romag the nod today? We need our captain back on the field IMO, Tomori is not that better yet to be preferred all the time. Donna isn't doing the same motivational job as Romag IMO. Several mistakes by Pioli today.

Anything new? The same has been going of for how many seasons now? I'm tired of this team and everything around it.

True, but the huge dip that happened when the first sub were made was hugely notable imo

Pioli had Hauge and Diaz on the bench, why not let them play instead of Krunic and a disinterested Leao? So mad today man. I've rarely felt this way about this team this season, unlike in the past. We've dealt with a LOT and we still can't seem to get a full healthy squad (another issue that needs serious looking into this summer, the amount of injuries is beyond ridiculous at this point). But today I can't look the other way. We should have done more.

Our counter attacks have completely gone to sh!t, when just last season they were inch perfect. We're trying to be too overly fussy in the build0up and losing the ball. We're not pressing like we should be. Certain players are not putting in the effort that's needed.

Agreed on all counts re the subs

I think this mostly shows that Pioli is now as well showing fear and being far more reserves in his choices. Krunic, Samu, etc are the "safe" conventional choices off the bench.

Disagree on the Tomori thing though. He's been amazing since the moment he arrived and deserves to be playing imo. Plus he gives us something that neither Romagnoli nor Kjaer offer, which is speed.


But at least the previous seasons we weren't fed false hope. We were sh!t from the word go and generally stayed so throughout the season.

This season we started so well and put ourselves in such an excellent position. Now we're just p!ssing it away with barely a whimper

Official. PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi has been elected as new ECA president after Andrea Agnelli resigning two days ago.


Loooool

The worst of the worst. Charing the ECA

Pioli post match comments are becoming worse than Inzaghi's, talking about how we played well and created a lot.

Shows a true lack of character for a coach. He just doesn't have the balls to admit we played a horrid game.

So, tonight Ibra supposedly will sign a new contract until 2022.

Our main striker for next season will be a 40 year old that earns 7 million per season and plays half of the games.

I honestly am appalled. As much as I value what Ibra has brought to the table for us since his arrival, we cannot hope to have him as main striker for yet another season. Who's gonna sub him when he'll (obviously) be out for most of the games? Leao? Mandzukic? Are we going to spend 30-40 million for another striker? I sincerely hope our management has a clear plan, cos if they think we'll be competitive as we are they are worse than Fassone and Mirabelli.

Who said Ibra will be our main striker? If we manage to get the CL spot I'm positive we'll try signing Belotti or someone else. We'll be most probably looking to ship off Leao as well.

And if we fail to secure CL... well... then it's pretty irrelevant anyway because we'll be staying as we are minus the players we'll be forced to sell.

I doubt Ibra is someone who's willing to be somebody's second and warm the bench.

Napoli currently winning 2-0. Our distance from 5th place is only 3 points now.

Good thing Atalanta lost points.

We have the worst fixtures from the teams aiming to qualify for the CL. Napoli and Atalanta have the easiest.

I am extremely pessimistic about our chances. Unless we make an important turn in how we're playing, I don't see us qualifying, and it would be the biggest disappointment as a Milan fan since Istanbul 2005.

Don't think Ibra can bring to the table what he used to last season... But with that said, I remember Zidane in the 2006 WC, his presence in the middle of the part (let alone his undesputed talent) paved the way for France to reach the final.

I hope this contract renewal will infuse in him the extra motivation to get the job done. It's a handful of games to decide whether this Milan team can be further strengthened this summer or dismantled (Donna and Cala are the obvious to leave for free)... Let's hope for the former.

@ x-off

re ibra, I think it's still a very good move for us. Ibra is the leader of this team. I still think we need him. But with that being said, a proper understudy must be signed. Belotti for me would be perfect. Ibra won't accept a bench role, but he will be rotated with the new striker. And as an added bonus, when Ibra does leave which would most likely be the following summer, the new striker whoever that might be, will have had a full season with the team under his belt. So whoever comes in next season won't have the huge pressure of immediately having to replace Ibra.

So all in all, I think this was a very good and necessary move



Re the remaining fixtures, I'm as pessimistic as you are tbh, and if we don't make CL all current future plans the club has will most likely have to be scrapped. Which is a huge kick in the teeth for all of us and we'll most likely have to sell some players as well.

All that being said, if I am not mistaken, all of our difficult fixtures coming up are away, which is a small blessing seeing as we're p!ss poor at home while pretty decent away from home. Let's just all hope we catch a few breaks in these last handful of games. The future of this club heavily relies on this

Fiorentina 1-1 Juve

Good result for us.

I was just looking at the goal difference of the top 5 teams in the standings:

Inter 43
Milan 22
Juve 35
Atalanta 34
Napoli 34

Another indication that we are the weaker side of the lot. We have the worst attack and the second worst defense.

Another golden opportunity for sure. My worry is that we'll waste it just like we have done with the other opportunities presented and wasted throughout the season

I agree that the stats show a picture that isn't that great for us

And many things factor into that. Zlatan being out injured for practically half the season is a big part of that. Same with Rebic and Hakan either being out injured or struggling to get back into form post some injury or other or Covid.

Missing Bennacer for such a huge stretch also has been a big hit for us, not only creatively but in terms of not having the barrier in front of the defence that him and Kessie had formed over last season

Defenders constantly being in and out of the team throughout the season has also factored into this


I think once the season is over, one of the biggest post moratoriums that has to be done is on the fitness team. We've had too many muscular injuries this season. Disproportional from everyone else in the league. All the absences have surely cost us around 9 to 12 points over the course of this season. The games against Juve, Inter, Atalanta and some other games come to mind when we didn't even have backups available and had to play with Calabria in the midfield the situation was so dire. Losing all our CBs in November and having to play with Kalulu in there which cost us a few points in and of itself.

The fitness team must be looked into seriously this summer.

Yeah, but let's not just blame this on injuries. As I said in a previous post, even when we were missing key players before we were still winning games. Take the away Sassuolo game, for instance.

We played: Donnarumma; Calabria, Kalulu, Romagnoli, Hernandez; Tonali, Kessi?; Saelemaekers, Diaz, Calhanoglu, Leao. So we were missing Kjaer, Bennacer, Rebic and Zlatan.

Compare it to Wedesnday's defeat. We were missing Theo, Bennacer and Zlatan. So more or less the same. Yet the attitude and disposition of our team was completely different. In December we wanted to win, whereas last time we were apathetic beyond words.

That's what's bothering me. That in this extremely fundamental moment of the season we're not showing the dedication and determination that is required. And that's just unacceptable.

Sorry for making it seem that way. I agree, we've not shown up in recent games and it will ultimately decide what happens with the rest of our season

But injuries have played a huge part for us this season

Inter have practically managed to keep a fully fit squad throughout the season. That's a major difference.

As I said, we can attribute around 10 points lost due to injuries and the rest due to under performing