Whats happend to the great AC Milan?

In my younger years I thought of AC Milan as this giant mythical football club that would always have a special place within in football. They were European giants but their light seems to have dimmed in recent years.

In the shadow of Inter

If you would of said that AC would be in the shadow of their city rivals Inter ten years ago you would of been locked up. Inter hadn’t won a league title since 1989 with AC claiming  five titles in the nineties.

However Inter have dominated Serie A in recent history winning the last four titles and their rivals haven’t came close to them. Milan have had to content themselves with  two Champions League trophies in 2003 and 2007. Their domestic form has been awful though and they have tended to concentrate on Europe as a distraction from their horrible league performances.

Legends not replaced

The problem lies with the fact that they have failed to replace their aging stars. In recent times we have seen Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta play in to their late thirties and early forties. Now people might argue that both players were in good shape and wanted to carry on but they needed to have players waiting to replace them and simply put they haven’t been replaced.

A sad sight

There is nothing worse than seeing one of the best players of his generation suffer on the field. Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho has struggled with personal demons and a drop of form which saw him discarded by Barcelona and Pep Guardiola.

When he moved to AC Milan I thought it could be a new dawn for both AC and the mercurial Brazilian. Both needed a shot in the arm and they looked like a match made in heaven. Unfortunately it hasn’t worked out and it seems at 29 years-old his career is petering out. He has even struggled to make it in to his national side and could miss out on next years World Cup in South Africa.

Poor start to season

Milan have made a poor start to this season and are currently 12th in Serie A. They don’t look anywhere near challenging city rivals Inter at the top of the table. The side have lacked confidence and belief in themselves. They recently suffered possibly their most embarrassing defeat ever against FC Zurich in the Champions League. The 1-0 defeat shows how low the club has fallen since those glory days of the nineties.

Manager with nothing to work with

You have to feel for Milan legend and boss Leonardo. He lost one of the best players in the world Kaka to Real Madrid and has hardly spent any money. His only big acquisition was Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Real Madrid. This was disastrous as his aging squad were badly in need of reinforcements. No doubt if his team continue to struggle then he will get sacked and the club will ignore the major problems they have on the pitch.

New start needed

The likes of Huntelaar, Brazilian Alexandre Pato and new Brazilian defender Thiago Silva are players who are at the right end of the age spectrum and could be players to build a future on. Unfortunately the rest of the squad needs a complete rebuild from back to front. Its just a shame that the fans and directors of the club won’t accept that it takes time to rebuild. However if Milan want a return to the glory days then it will take time and money. I fear Leonardo will get neither.