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As in certain songs, the refrain starts from the title: two withdrawals in 15 days, after Eindhoven and after Turin, are proof that something is wrong for Pioli. Hunger goes hand in hand with attention and concentration, in sport, even if they don’t always constitute the certainty of the result. Just Pioli, some will say, guilty of the substitutions against Roma who sent the team the signal that the game was over. Maybe, I have neither counter-proofs nor arguments. In the final minutes against the Giallorossi, 3 points of reference came out such as Bennacer (at risk of a second yellow card, moreover), Saelemakers and above all Giroud. Right, fine. Yet the opposite happened against Turin: the starters entered later, in numerical superiority, and did worse than those lined up from the start. So I’m left with doubts and no certainty, except for the feeling that “how” substitutes enter, even before “who” enters, often affects foreign exchange. Salerno teach. In any case, everyone keeps their opinion, even the many who think like the “Gazzetta” when questioning whether Pioli is a false magician or a real flop: 10′ out of 180′ of 2 of the best games of the season were enough to cancel 3 years of work. I apologize and I give up. The evening with Torino brought me to my knees and gave the gazzettari breath with that opinion.
The problem of those 10′ between Salernitana and Roma is serious and needs to be analysed: 3 goals were conceded and 2 points lost. Repeating the same equation against Tottenham would mean leaving the Champions League. Form at 3? Rome’s 2 goals came from kicks placed with the defense deployed, but it’s true that Milan in the meantime had lowered themselves a bit too much, returning the field to Rome, not received until then. The attention and concentration of the players come back to mind, but in this gloomy climate of global bankruptcy and after apologizing, I’m not looking for an alibi or official defense being – as you know – an unshakable businessman. Dear Pioli, if you’re stuck on just one module you’re a short-sighted conservative, if you try other solutions you’re foolish. It all depends on the result, which is what matters most. And the result between the last league match and the Italian Cup is depressing even for someone like me who isn’t depressed at all. Not even today.
A year ago everyone was calling for a defender as the only therapy to stay alive, but that defender didn’t arrive. After that, not being able to dream of Haaland or Neymar, everyone yearned for Belotti, first choice. Or Petagna, or Pavoletti, or the return of Columbus, or the explosion of Lazetic. Instead, while the others take Correa and Vlahovic, Pogba and DiMaria, only a certain Origi from Liverpool has arrived at Milanello and he is not standing. Rebic is now a character of Molière, the imaginary patient, amen. Kessie has never been replaced, except by Bennacer or Tonali who were already there, on the contrary they have taken DeKetelaere which is the sketch of a project of a hypothesis of a bet by a player. Then Krunic, Messias, Kjaer, Florenzi also stop, while it is useless even to ask questions about Ibra and Maignan. But these were to be the first changes: Origi, Rebic, Florenzi, Kjaer, Krunic, Messias himself but Saelemakers was also stopped. Then came Dest, Thiaw, Vranckx, Adli, etc., but the 2022 summer transfer market is currently the failure of failures, so Pioli just has to play with those 12-13s. The future is now, there’s no time to wait. The disaster is certified, those who never believed it were right.
The company collects between sales, marketing and box office, 70,000 people at each match, 60,000 in the Coppa Italia, the Champions rediscovered, the Scudetto, but the budget remains tight and Paolo Maldini, who spoke of sporting ambitions, aligned himself with the philosophy of accounts in place and budgets in order waiting for the stadium. Up front in the standings, in mid-January, there’s only Napoli but don’t be under any illusions: the ass is finished. On the club, the coach, the team and the market, some Serafini too many were wrong: it is a global failure. The Super Cup can be just a sop, the championship is gone and the Champions League a mirage. Hardened business enthusiasts like me (I consider myself someone who has judged to date what has objectively and objectively happened since the 2014-2017 agony to date, but I was obviously wrong on this too) apologize.
I think of San Siro cheering and singing even after the final whistle of Milan-Roma and Milan-Turin, at the Rossoneri stadium that applauds and supports, but they pay and I am paid instead. So I don’t make headlines, like the Curva Sud and the rest of the unshakable public. I continue to think that the main responsibilities lie with too many back-heels and inattentiveness of the players, their attitude and their satiety, but I’m not sure. I note that after the withdrawal that followed the tremendous friendly in Eindhoven, the 2 best games of the season in the league arrived and I hope it is the same against Lecce, Inter and Lazio in the next rounds between the league and the Super Cup, because if I’m not mistaken ( but I no longer have any certainty, not even statistics) Milan have not missed 2 games in a row for 3 years for their attitude. But I don’t think even this is enough to justify the fact that he is still second in the league with a final projection of 80 points, in the round of 16 of the Champions League and in a few days the Super Cup (if he wins it) or the Super Cup (if he loses it) will be played Italian. Without the market, you go nowhere. Bennacer’s renewal for many is just “a duty”, if nothing else it is the tangible demonstration that “whoever wants to stay”.
My fingertips remain clinging to Gerry Cardinale who writes a check, to the stadium alone in Sesto, to the trust placed in these 3 years in Maldini and Massara who have already used up their credits, in Pioli who has already used up his ass, in the players who are already full, in some of the newcomers who will perhaps explode thanks to the grace received. Because, as Albert Einstein said, it is better to be optimistic and be wrong than to be pessimistic and be right. But Albert Einstein didn’t have a social account, he didn’t write in the “Gazzetta” and above all he was a free man, with a straight back. Not a businessman paid to keep quiet and not criticize this Brancaleone army in disarray. God help us.