/ 15 December 2006

Milan struggle to keep up

”If Milan are what we saw tonight, then it’s total darkness, as we were awful.”

Congratulations to AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti for the most frank assessment of any of the Champions League teams in Friday’s draw for the knockout stage. It sums up their season and even the rossoneri themselves, as well as an overwhelming number of pundits, agree that AC Milan are the team everybody wants to play next. Rarely have top seeds looked such a soft touch.

Ancelotti’s reflections on a 0-2 capitulation at home to Lille in the final group match last week, brought to mind that old standard, elephant-in-the-room question that journalists have been known to employ when they are too embarrassed to ask anything else. ”So, Carlo, can you take any positives from the game?”

Over to Ancelotti: ”We lost in the worst possible way — on home turf, playing badly. We showed little determination. We were slow.

”We only made nine fouls, which says a lot. We have to commit more fouls. We played as individuals, without team play. It was an ugly evening. None of us is going to be pleased over the next few days. The team has to understand who they are.”

Ancelotti’s cigarette supply must be running dangerously low. Winning their Champions League group has to go down as a high point in a campaign that has gone far worse than anyone expected when the punishments from Italy’s calciopoli investigation were handed out in July.

AC Milan’s handicap was generally perceived as lightweight. Avoiding a Champions League ban was a lifeline in terms of keeping their squad intact. As for the eight-point penalty in Serie A, it was not unreasonable to imagine Milan would quickly make that up and push for a top-four place in time for the Christmas break.

Last week’s outburst from the coach was the culmination of months of steadily increasing frustration in the red-and-black half of the San Siro.

An enormous injury list has not helped, but that excuse alone does not mask the wider problems: the team members are too old. The management did not buy particularly wisely in the transfer window. They still miss Andriy Shevchenko and their strikers are suffering a collective drought.

There have been far too many rubbish results, including the ignominy of losing three successive home games in Serie A for the first time in 40 years.

Consequently, the league makes grim reading for Milan. Closer to relegation than a place in Europe, a miraculous turnaround is required to qualify for next season’s Champions League via Serie A. They may well have to win it to be in it this time next year.

There is a cherry on top, too, in the form of Inter Milan, who are top of Serie A, breaking records with an unbeaten spell and who possess a big and healthy enough squad to challenge domestically and in Europe this season.

Inter have not had bragging rights for the best part of two decades but still know things can go wrong. The yin and yang of derby football dictates that the more one suffers, the more the neighbours enjoy it. Role reversal in Italy’s second city has made AC Milan fans deafeningly quiet.

On Sunday the loyalists braved another visit to the San Siro looking for — but not finding — a big response from the players against Torino, another team who are chuffed to have emerged from the shadow of their neighbours, Juventus.

Newly promoted Torino, fresh from winning their last three league games, are settling down reasonably well in Serie A after a rotten start and returned to Turin with a point after a 0-0 draw — the ninth time in 15 league games that Milan have failed to score.

The experienced Cafu was back for Milan, and he brought some leadership despite his ageing legs. ”We can’t and we mustn’t choose which games we’d like to play,” said Cafu of his teammates’ non-performance against Lille.

The missing list still robs them of long-term casualties Dida, Alessandro Nesta, Billy Costacurta, Serginho and Gennaro Gattuso.

The spate of injuries is blamed on the calciopoli problems, as is the fact Milan were ordered to pre-qualify for this season’s Champions League in a World Cup year. The players had to start training hard after only two weeks’ holiday. Because so many are overtired and overplayed, they are constantly picking up niggles. Ancelotti cannot wait for half term in Serie A to give his team time to recuperate.

Will they be a different team by the time European football resumes in February? Everybody knows that the quality of qualification from the group stage counts for little by the time the Champions League restarts after its winter break, which is just as well considering Milan’s record was comfortably the least impressive of all the group winners.

There is speculation it will be a different team, not least because Milan are linked with numerous signings and the rumours their gifted playmaker Kaka will not go away. It may also be a different coach. Frank Rijkaard remains top of the wish list.

”The winter break will be crucial,” says Ancelotti. ”We absolutely need this time out.”

It may not come soon enough to save his job for long. — Â