A Crisis in Milan?

Are AC Milan's glory days coming to an end?

Imagine the scenario, if you will. Silvio Berlusconi has worked hard, all week long, to organise a tantalising Bunga Bunga party come Sunday afternoon. Likely to last into the next morning. Except the party was cut short. You see, AC Milan lost 2-1 to Udinese yesterday, and it's put Silvio off his 'dinner'. It's hard to imagine that Massimo Moratti was enjoying his supper that evening either, after Inter slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Siena at the San Siro. This, after Moratti had to see his club compete in the Europa League, a 2-2 draw with Rubin Kazan, having missed out on Champions League qualification.

Is there a crisis in Milan? It appears so. And both clubs have a history of being rather trigger happy when things are going badly. AC Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri knows his head could well be on a spike, if AC Milan lose their next game (he has been backed by the owners, but what does that really mean?). But is it really a surprise that AC Milan have started so poorly? (They could only muster a stalemate against Anderlecht in the Champions League, and lost to Atlanta the week before). The moment AC Milan decided to become a selling club signalled worrying signs at the club. And has surely seen them surrender the Serie A to the classy Juventus. In the past it was AC Milan that made some of the biggest transfer signings in history (Van Basten, Shevchenko, Rui Costa). 

Now Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have been moved on, to PSG, with little resistance. What's more is that they have not been properly replaced. Nobody is quite willing to admit that AC Milan and probably Inter, are feeling the economic strain. But it seems odd to let Ibrahimovic leave, considering the impressive season he just had, 28 goals in 32 appearances. If AC Milan are indeed cash strapped, then they should surely be looking to their youth, many of the greats have come up the ranks and it is perhaps time for a clear out at AC Milan, to make way for promising future players. Because when the going gets tough, the tough wont get going with AC Milan's current side. Too many mavericks go into their egotistic shells. Robinho, Pato and Boateng are petulant and frustrating at the best of times and certainly wont be enjoying the stick they are receiving, for a dreadful start to the season. 

Allegri has been accused of petulance too. Ex Milan defender Allesandro Nesta has criticised him in the wake of a supposed argument with Fillipo Inzaghi, now coaching the youth team. Perhaps Allegri is not impressed with what he sees coming from the youth set up. If this is the case, then it is concerning times for AC Milan. If there is no cash to spend, then players will move elsewhere, unhappy at being second best to Juventus. With no Maldini's on the horizon, AC Milan could struggle massively this season. Along with Anderlecht, AC Milan have Malaga and Zenit St Petersburg for company, in their Champions League group. Normally, such a draw would be easy pickings for them, however on current form they could seriously struggle to make the knock out rounds. And so far, the annual player swap between the Milan sides has hardly worked either. Cassano swapped stripes, moving to Inter, meanwhile Pazzini went the other way. Both teams desperately need goals from their respective new signings. Robinho and El Shaarawy are too inconsistent, while at Inter, Milito is a shadow of his former self and there is little else offering upfront. 

Mourinho's shadow looms large at Inter.

There is certainly a sense that as far as Inter are concerned, Jose Mourinho has been sorely missed. They wont like to admit it but its true. And the talented and reliable squad he put together, and ruled Europe with, has since disintegrated. Brazilian defender Lucio evidently saw what was coming and jumped ship to Juventus this summer. Meanwhile, Inter have appeared all too happy to allow Julio Caesar and Maicon leave the club. Add the fact that Wesley Sneijder is potentially past it and it looks desperate for Inter. In a managerial sense Inter lack stability. Benitez and Ranieri were given little time and without the chance to built a team, Inter's slump down the table has been set in motion ever since Mourinho left. 

Massimo Moratti is in many's eyes, one of the the guilty culprits. A man who likes to hold the power, he has sliced and diced through numerous coaches, coaches he obviously believed to be the right choices, before complaining at their inefficiency. He has to understand that a manager, coming into the Inter set up, needs a season to repair the damage left by the last man. For too long, at both the Milan sides, the men at the top have been ruining their clubs, becoming too involved in the football side of things. They create problems and let the team rot from inside out. It is long overdue for Moratti and the likes Berlusconi to step aside. They wont though, they are greedy men who have created greedy clubs, in place of great ones,. And now they are suffering. Juventus's resurrection has shown that a reality check is sometimes needed, for the good times to come rolling back.

Expect flares, lots of them.

On the 7th of October, AC Milan host Inter at the San Siro. The atmosphere is never short of hostile but expect this one to be explosive. So much could occur in the two weeks beforehand. It is not out of the question that both Allegri and Andrea Stramaccioni, Inter's manager, could be cast adrift. One things if for sure, this match will kick start one of the Milan's seasons and leave the other with more questions then answers. Someone get the message out to Berlusconi, cancel all future parties, until your house is in order, otherwise some of the most passionate fans in the world might want your head, alongside the managers.