Moving On…

FAN ARTICLE by Ahmad Al-Hamdan.

Hello fellow Milanisti. It’s been 9 months since my last article, and I feel like it’s time to write something else. First off I want to say that this has been the most emotional season for me as a Milan fan, it had its ups and down, but by the end of the season it has ended with disappointment. After having a terrible start to the season we came back up only to fall even harder.

We end the season 2^nd to an undefeated Juventus whom are extremely average at best, with no trophies and no true accomplishments except reaching the quarter finals in the Champions League. Granted it was the farthest we’ve reached since 2007, but still a disappointment in my mind.

Traoré: “I am joining Milan!”
Why Milan must sack Allegri to surge a title challenge and be a European force next season

Milan has been hit hard this season with countless injuries to important players such as Cassano, Prince and Thiago. We topped the injury list for this season by a clear mile having used our complete starting line-up a handful of times but managed to remain in the top 2 and do well in Champions League and Italian Cup. I can’t help but blame our medical staff and our CHEAP leaders B&G for this. Milan should have the one of the best medical teams in football. Milan also deserves better signings, not expect mediocre players to play world class football. Of all the money coming in from sponsors and shirt sales we have, nothing is being spent on bringing in players that we desperately need.

When I saw the players wages posted on the blog by Meytar, I was surprised at how players like Flamini getting 4.5 million a year, while Prince makes about half as much. So B&G talk about spending as little as possible to buy, but waste money on salaries for players who aren’t even in the starting line-up.  The thing that really annoys me is that we don’t even sell players; they send them out on loan or let them go for free. I think their biggest mistake was letting Pirlo leave, especially for free; we could’ve gotten a good 10 million at least for him.

My complaints will go unheard by the naïve bosses, so what I’m going to do is entertain my fellows with what I believe they should do to win Serie A next year; not just contend. Berlusconi talked about overhauling most of team, well here’s my opinion on who should go:

• Flavio Roma
• Pippo Inzaghi
• Zambrotta
• Aquilani
• Van Bommel
• Taiwo
• Gattuso
• Pato
• Yepes
• Amelia

Flavio Roma and Inzaghi are useless in the squad, they are basically being paid to look pretty because they aren’t even on the bench 90% of the time. Zambrotta is old and slow, and just helping the age average stay above 30. We all know Aquilani is not going to be bought so I just have his name there for show, which is just like his status on the team. Van Bommel is not as consistent as he was last year, and is barely able to keep up with his opposition. Taiwo was a waste of salary and time, he should be sold to QPR, might get 3 million for him. With all due respect to Gattuso, like I said last year I think it’s time to separate with the bulldog. Pato should either be sent out on loan to see if can get his form back, or sold to PSG who would pay 30+ for him. Yepes is a hard worker, but is too old and not up to the task that Milan asks of him. Amelia in my opinion is a joke, the goal from Maicon and Vucinic are enough to make me want to shoot him in the knee caps. The problem with this is that most of these players are old and will be sold for pennies or nothing at all.

Now I want to share with you who I believe we should get in the next mercato:

• Montolivo
• Criscito
• Astori
• Giovinco
• Lloris
• Hamsik
• Acerbi
• Merkel

Montolivo has shown in the past few weeks that he is capable of leading his team, and at 27 years old, his rise to a major team is long overdue. He is creative, has great vision and can play anywhere in midfield. We need versatile players like him. Criscito could be the solution to our left back problems. He’s quick, agile and has great defensive abilities; maybe a move to Milan is just what he needs to move to the next level. We are all aware of Astori’s talent; I believe he would make a great partner to our brick wall Thiago. Giovinco is basically a fantasy; his arrival at Milan is highly unlikely, but Milan needs a player like him as a trequartista. Lloris is a goalkeeper that we should have bought years ago, he is way better than Abbiati and Amelia, especially Amelia. Hamsik is like Montolivo; versatile, decisive and a bit more talented. Acerbi would make a good addition to the club, granted I’ve only seen him play against Milan, but he can fight for a spot in the starting line-up with Astori. Merkel is in our squad but is here on loan; Milan should sign him fully this summer and give him the chance that he deserves to shine as a product of Milan’s youth system. If you haven’t heard already, Milan signed Bakaye Traore, whom like Nocerino can improve and become one of the best in the league.

If the players who are likely to come to Milan arrive this summer, this is what the starting could look like next season:

Lloris

Abate Thiago Astori Criscito

Montolivo Muntari Nocerino

Prince

Cassano Ibrahimovic

Some of you might not agree with the formation, but this will help reduce the average age by at least 4 years. Plus I would like to see Milan having a starting line-up that consists of Italian players. As you can see I placed them in Max Allegri favorite (and only) formation, but they will have more versatile players in case some of the players get injured; which with Milan’s luck will happen.

Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoyed my article. If you want to discuss football with me follow me on twitter (@Bais24)