For the past couple of years, Milan has been in quite the hole. We all know that. I don't need to go into great detail, but during times like this, people always want to point the finger, usually at just one person. The same names keep popping up on who's to blame. First it was Allegri, but now that he's gone, a lot of people are blaming Balotelli while a minority think it is Seedorf. Few mention the man that is at the head of all it, Silvio Berlusconi. I strongly don't believe in blaming one person for a mistake or a bad situation, especially when it is something that is as big as a football club as Milan is. But for me, Silvio is the biggest problem of it all and deserves almost all of the blame. When the economy crashed, did people blame the Senate? No, they blamed President Bush. Even when it wasn't completely his fault. Well, I blame Berlusconi, even though it's not completely his fault, he's about 90% of the problem. There's five main people at Milan that fans like to point the blame finger to: Allegri, Balotelli, Seedorf, Galliani and Berlusconi. Every fan comes up with bizarre reasons for why a certain one of those is the sole culprit of the fall from grace for Milan. Let's break down each one of these.
Allegri
He's not even there anymore. When he was there, just about 100% of Milanisti blamed Allegri for just about everything bad that happened at Milan. If Milan lost, it was Allegri's fault. If a player got injured, it was Allegri's fault. If a gas pipe burst at Milanello, people would probably blame Allegri. Overall, how can you deny Max Allegri had a successful tenure at Milan? He won the Scudetto and had a couple of good runs in the Champions League before being knocked out by Barcelona, who was at the peak of their game at the time. Then, after the 2011/12 season, Allegri was quite literally stripped of almost every single player he had. Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Pippo Inzaghi, Gianluca Zambrotta, Clarence Seedorf, Gennaro Gattuso and many others. The squad was completely depleted and Galliani/Silvio made zero preparations for it. Couldn't they have seen this coming? Didn't they know they were going to lose virtually their entire team and have to rebuild? They should have started bringing in new and young players years ago. But they didn't. And fans just ripped Allegri to shreads when Milan started out very poorly for the 2012/13 season. Even with a depleted squad, Allegri managed to get Milan to 3rd place and into the Champions League with the help of Mario Balotelli, the only good signing Galliani has made since Ibrahimovic. Inevitably, Milan started out awful again in the 2013/14 season, because Galliani/Silvio made almost no signings. They gave Allegri practically the same team he had last season except with Balotelli and higher expectations. Eventually, after fans who were to blind to see the real problems at Milan, Allegri was sacked and Seedorf was hired.
Balotelli
Of all the people to blame at a football club for a downfall, you're going to blame the star striker? A single player? Not even a coach or an executive, but a player... If it wasn't for Mario Balotelli, Milan wouldn't have had the privilege of playing in the Champions League this season. And if it wasn't for Balotelli's goals this season, Milan would be sitting nice and comfy in 15th in Serie A rather than 10th and fighting for a Europa League spot. The main thing people blame Balotelli for is his behavior. But what behavioral issues has he had? Since he has joined, Mario has been nothing but well-behaved and patient with a squad that is just showing no signs of life. The only "outburst" he has had was recently with Sky Sport, which was completely justified. Balotelli simply said that his midfielders are not giving him any service into the box, which is a fact, not an opinion. He is not ripping on his teammates, he is simply answering a question and telling the media exactly what is wrong tactically. Even if Balotelli had a real outburst or behavioral issues, would it even effect Milan's play on the pitch? Would Milan go out the next game and play more poorly than they already are? Personally, the only Balotelli moment I have a problem with was his red card against Napoli after the match had already ended earlier this season. Milan did go out and play worse than they did before, want to know why? They didn't have Balotelli on the pitch! Many fans are also saying that Balotelli is under-performing. Well, yes he is, because he is playing with a very un-creative midfield in a striker position all alone up top by himself. Playing as a striker by yourself in a 4-2-3-1 formation means you have to depend completely on your midfield. Balotelli's midfield simply cannot get him the ball so he has to drop back into the midfield and either create for others or score an absolute golazo to please everyone. How can you expect a player, any player, to perform to his potential when a club like Milan is in one of its darkest eras since the 80s?
Seedorf
This is the one that baffles me the most. The man has been coaching since January. Let me make this very clear, Clarence Seedorf coached his first ever match in January and Milan went on a 5 game winning streak, its longest streak of the season, before losing to a far superior Roma side at the Stadio Olimpico. Clarence has not only been a great coach for Milan, but he's a legend of the club. Firing him would be downright disrespectful, but also idiotic. The club is clearly on the upswing with him and players have rallied around him. He seems like the perfect coach to "fix" Balotelli, whatever there is to fix. Seedorf has handled everything with absolute class. He has constantly been asked if he will be sacked or if he regrets taking the job and Seedorf just says that he does not worry about being sacked and that if he could go back in time, he would still take the role as the manager of Milan. Since Seedorf came in, the team has been playing with new energy, they finally look like they have some life. If he's got this poor of a squad playing this much better, what can he do with an actual decent team? Seedorf is showing some massive managerial potential and firing him would only be another massive mistake and cause more chaos in an already chaotic situation at Casa Milan.
Galliani
I don't really blame Galliani for much, but he hasn't exactly been a solution or comforting piece to the puzzle. He apparently does not support Seedorf and wants him out and during Milan's match against Livorno, he sat stone-faced after every Milan goal while they thrashed the opponent. He's not getting any funds from Berlusconi to make signings, but when he has had the funds, some have been questionable. Buying Matri for 11 million might have been the worst of them yet. However, I think Galliani has made some very good signings such as Rami and Taarabt on loan and also Honda, even though he hasn't turned out the way most people had hoped. Lately, I haven't been too impressed with Galliani's behavior or comments, but I'm still not ready to put a large amount of blame on him just yet.
Berlusconi
Oh Silvio, where do I begin? Where do I begin how much you are at fault for just about all of this mess? Let me start out by saying, Berlusconi has invested next to nothing into Milan the past two seasons, but he has made a profit of 3 billion euros to his personal wealth. Berlusconi is the owner of this club. In the end, every single decision comes down to him. Every signing, every hiring, every firing. Why didn't Silvio recognize Milan were going to lose it's entire team in 2012 and prepare for it? Why didn't he invest before and why isn't he investing now to help his new coach? Why wasn't this incredibly corrupt man thrown in prison years ago? He was an awful prime minister of Italy. He had sex with 18 year old prostitutes, has been in an endless amount of scandals, yet, because he has so much money, he remains safe, comfy and the owner of AC Milan. If you want to put all the blame on one person, put it on Berlusconi. He's the moneymaker, the decision maker and the investor, yet he's done none of those things. He hardly does any interviews and when he does, he doesn't talk about Milan. Where's the leadership? Who's taking responsibility? Why isn't he putting money into the club and where is it going instead?
Seedorf, Balotelli, the two men who have been called out by fans the most to leave recently, they aren't the ones who should go. It's Silvio Berlusconi. It's time for him to sell the club, the Berlusconi era is over. It was fun while it lasted, but good things never last forever. Move on.
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