Football Season Guide

The last two campaigns were utterly embarrassing for a club as glorious as Milan, as in both occasions they failed to reach the qualification to the European competitions while both players and coaches came and go, often unnoticed. In order to make it back to the elite of football, the President, Berlusconi, decided to give almost half of the ownership to some Asian entrepreneurs and to invest diffusely during the transfer campaign. Thus, heavy money was spent all over Europe in order to strengthen a squad that in the course of the years had aged too quickly and that had been massively depleted of whatever real talent. Coach Mihajlovic, whose experiences at Catania and Sampdoria were deemed positive, was thus trusted with a group of new players and the task of rebuilding Milan from the foundations. Bacca, from Sevilla, Bertolacci, from Genoa, Romagnoli, from Roma, Luiz Adriano, from Shakhtar Donetsk, and Jose Mauri, one of the few ones to shine while Parma were sinking, all joined the Devils. At the same time, worn-out players like Robinho, Muntari and Essien, never-expressed talents, like Destro, El Shaarawy and Pazzini, were all let go without too many regrets. The new Milan, whose preseason was quite two-faced, should be fielded in a 4-3-1-2 formation with Diego Lopez confirmed in goals. Abate, Antonelli and De Sciglio should still be the full-backs with Mexes, Romagnoli, Zapata and, unless he is sold before, Paletta rotating in the heart of the defence. Montolivo, whose past season was plagued by injuries, De Jong and Bertolacci should be the undisputable protagonists in the middle of the park with Jose Mauri, Poli and Nocerino as their alternatives. Bonaventura, with Honda as backup, could be the attacking midfielder while the attack should be formed by Bacca and Luiz Adriano. Cerci, Niang and Menez should thus be starting on the bench.