The Gamble: are AC Milan going backwards, or is this a mandatory reset? (Explained)
AC Milan are once again facing a summer of mystery, and what makes it worse for them? They have lost two big proponents of the club: Paolo Maldini and Sandro tonal. Maldini’s departure splits opinions, as he had some critics within the fanbase as well even though he’s an iconic figure in the history of AC Milan. In selling Tonali, they get a record fee for an Italian player to add to their budget, but they do indeed lose a player that was incredibly popular amongst supporters, and who he himself is a life-long Milanista.
So, with the new ownership of Redbird (headed by Gerry Cardinale), what’s the plan here? Are AC Milan taking steps backwards, or is this a much-needed reset for the new ownership?
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Intro: 00:00
What’s happening?: 01:01
Losing Milanismo?: 08:32
Who’s in?: 15:36
Outro: 19:44
Time will tell, but it's looking suspicious for sure in a bad way. The Maldini removal was just stupefying.
Shame on redbird capital. Since the Americans takeover the club, the club went down again
American ownership does not understand futbol. They try to liken it to much to their sports. They just can't fathom literally the x's and o's of what it takes to handle every fcuking aspect of running a club.
@@raungelmarlance8208I’m American and I mean no disrespect to Americans but Football just ain’t our sport and we need to accept that learn to just watch and stay tf away.
Agreed
@@Kami_Ugghhhyour comment screams self hate lol
Gerry Cardinale didn’t even know that Milan has won 7 UCL titles. Says it all.
AC Milan back to their banter era 😔😔
I pray it works out for them and they know what they’re doing but I have major doubts. Always had a soft spot for Milan so I’d hate to see their recent hard work be undone
Cardinale knows What hes doing and so does furlani and moncada. Guys are acting like he has 0 iq, theres a reason hes a billionaire. He knows business
Thanks for having me on again, hopefully next season turns things around!
I remember when the first wave of americans came to AS Roma, they wanted to make everything new, clean, detached from the past. The showed the door to Totti, to de Rossi, the didn't care about the original logo and embarked into ventures that failed terribly. This seems exactly the same and I'm worried for italian football
I always saw Sandro Tonali as one of the four Horsemen of the club with Leao, Maignan and Theo. I think, while an understandable decision was the wrong one. RLC won't replace him, he's likely to replace Kessié (which we missed last year). The Tonali replacement is yet to be seen.
Well, you were wrong to see him like that because he was never on their level. If anyone was a fourth horsemen for Milan, it was Bennacer. Plus, now it looks like we're getting Reijnders, who is better than Tonali IMO.
@@Al-ji4gdyou forget Pobega
@@mrtiesthatbind I'm not a fan of Pobega, but, yes, he is in the team.
@@Al-ji4gd so you don't see him as a proper replacement for Tonali?
@@mrtiesthatbind No way. He's not good enough.
I really don't understand where we are heading towards, I hope their decisions are clear by the time the window closes and the season starts
Cardinale wants to operate the club as “money ball.” The same way clubs like Dortmund and Ajax operate. Buy young players, develop them into stars, then sell for a high price. Sometimes it can bring you trophies, but it’s not easy to do
@@CriusXIthe thing is Ac Milan don't have amazing scouting dept. Sure they signed Tonali, Kessie, Leao, Benancer, Kalulu, Tomori, Maignan, or Theo but outside of that is still a mess/mix bad sigining. Krunic, Conti, and most of foward are underwhelming so we can say we will go "money ball" route if we already have amazing scouting personel but until now they don't.
God people were so emotional about Maldini, they rather let his inexperienced hand lead the team into ruin than do the change that was needed at the time Now you can clearly see why it was done, Redbird arent fools nor are they here to ruin Milan, their methods are far more efficient and prone to success than Maldini's emotion driven approach.
Milan seem to be in a really critical point despite their success the past few seasons. Losing Tonali is huge, I've watched almost every Milan game for the past two years thanks to working in an Italian school and he was crucial in that midfield alongside Bennacer. Hard worker off the ball, excellent passing range, incredible work rate, technically sound, good on set pieces and most importantly young and Italian with room to grow. The loss of Brahim Diaz is another huge blow and De Ketelaere hasn't yet shown that he's ready to produce. But I think most importantly the loss of Ibra to retirement purely for the leadership and the undoubted boost he seemed to give to the entire team is invaluable. So far the players they have been targeting in the transfer market have been bizarre choices to say the least and the club seems to be in a bit of a mess with the sacking of Maldini as technical director. I really hope they end up having a successful transfer window as they're a true giant in European football and their fans deserve to have this successful spell continue after the many years of mediocrity they've had to endure.
not that huge, they can invest with the money they get from Tonali maldini players `buying` kinda gamble..it only work out with Leao (?) the others?not really
@@pp-vf8lsdelusional
Actually, this past season it was the Tonali-Bennecer pairing that was the worst in the double pivot. That’s why Pioli moved Krunic into the double pivot and Bennecer up in the 10 role. It was a genius move. I watched a video that broke down the winter drop in form and at the center of it was Tonali-Bennecer not working well together defensively. Krunic steps in and Bennecer steps up and suddenly they both got to express their strengths. I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Krunic in the midfield again this season and I think he will do even better. Every year he improves. He knows the system. He knows the position. Pioli loves him. Find him a good partner in the midfield, player Bennecer advanced and Milan will do well again this season.
This is how I know you didn't watch Milan. Tonali has excellent passing rage and technically sound? You must be joking. He is anything but that.
@@kylerodd2342 This is only half true. Also, what do you mean ''well again''? We were dreadful last season. Bennacer is one of our best and most important players, yes, but he is absolutely not cut out to play a more advanced role in midfield, especially not as a number 10 or anything like that. Our lack of offensive options in midfield was a large reason why we were so poor for the majority of the season and only barely qualified for the Champions League. Diaz was really the only attacking midfield option we had and he was incredibly inconsistent. CDK basically did nothing in his first season at Milan. There's a reason why we've gone for players like Pulisic and Reijnders in the summer transfer window, who can play in a more advanced role and be more effective than the likes of Diaz and Bennacer in that position.
They making a big mistake and even tho I do really like Milan, I hope they pay the price for that. Disrespecting the biggest legend of your club, one of the greatest icons of the sport and on top of that, forcing your Pirlo ReGen out of the club? Dude, not cool.
*Pirlo/Gattuso hybrid
Pirlo regen? Shows how little you know about football. The guy has nothing in common with Pirlo. He's not even a Gattuso. He's basically an Ambrosini lite.
@@Al-ji4gd I have only used the narrative that has existed since Tonali first appeared in football. I know he is not like Pirlo or anyone else, he is Tonali. But if that's what you need to feel better about yourself, you know so much better than everyone else, you're really great and now f off.
@@therodian96 Don't cry and get upset with me just because you don't know anything about Tonali or Milan.
This is the problem with teams being acquired by PE/investment firms. Their main concern is the balance sheet and they tend to apply the same approach to all businesses. I hope that they are not content with achieving financial success, and invest the proceeds back into the club.
exactly! working in finance myself, working for a PE firm is my dream, but those firms shouldn't be in football. It's the peak of capitalism, they only care about their returns. I know this is really repetitive, but the 50+1 rule used in the Bundesliga should be implemented everywhere else. It would really return football to the passionate, fan-driven experience we all remember and love. It's just really messy to undo everything (massive contracts, massive debt, majority ownerships, etc)
Im a die hard Milan fan, but I dont see them breaking transfer fee record. Cardinale said that Milan has to continue developing players(so buy them for small fee and make them world class), so i dont think that we well get anyone beyond 30M price tag. You see all those names and its a mess. But for their sake i hope that they will bring players like Chukwueze, Scammaca and co. Cause when you see that the MAIN striker target in Thuram signed for city rival in Inter just because they couldnt offer 100k better signing bonus and they negotiated for months but Inter gets it done in a few hours thats something that should worry not only us fans nut above all the managment and Cardinale. #cardinaleout
This has been a heartbreaking month as a Milan Fan. We've taken hit after hit. I only pray it gets better now
Really heartbreaking :(
Bro, we're already a better team after the last few signings, and there are more to come. The players are all that matter, the management is almost irrelevant.
God people were so emotional about Maldini, they rather let his inexperienced hand lead the team into ruin than do the change that was needed at the time Now you can clearly see why it was done, Redbird arent fools nor are they here to ruin Milan, their methods are far more efficient and prone to success than Maldini's emotion driven approach.
I cannot explain how much I hate tais ownership for selling Tonali
Get over it. We're better now.
Milan is headed back down the road that put them in a rebuild situation in the first place
They just get rid of the engine (Tonali) and the map (Maldini). Now see they will lost and can't keep up. It's like swapping Ferrari engine to a Fiat. Cardinale is just doing bad stuffs in general
Agreed
Bullshit
Unfortunately, I think RedBird is looking to invest into the new stadium, then sell the club. They have long since subscribed to the "Moneyball" approach (as can be seen with Toulouse) and this will only get worse as the new stadium project progresses IMO
The fact the let a club legend leave and sold one of the best players who's very happy at Milan is a concern for Milan. Let's hope this does not come back to haunt them and send back to the mediocrity.
I thought beside the big price tag they sold Tonali because Milan needed a defensive midfielder while Tonali is a box to box mid but when they bought RLC I was like what?? This guy is neither a DM who can replace Kessie nor a regista who can replace Bennacer
Culture and Community is key to a clubs success, poor decision making by Milan’s owners in my opinion. Great deep analysis as always Adrian! Inspirational 🙏🏼
still think so? 😂😂😂 Milan look like Napoli of last season now and they havent even gotten started yet
@@Freestyle80 Bologna and Torino wins should be expected. Roma one I was impressed though..... still a long season ahead, we'll see what happens!
Short answer: They are going way backwards
AC Milan`s owners are the new Glazers. They are making a mockery of the club and it`s great legacy, AC Milan is a team that should compete for the Seria A and the Champions League consistently, but instead we sell some of our best players consistently(While we still have Leao selling Tonali is stupid and is a regression of the squad.)
I suggest you Milan fans riot and get them put asap before it's too late. Having American owners is always bad news.
Blame the Americans for ruining our teams and football.
As an avid follower of serie a but not a Milan fan, selling Tonali makes sense. 80M for a player who is a step below world class is a pretty good deal. Milan's 3 world class players are Maignan, Theo, and Leao; Tonali not at that level
U obviously lack some basic Milan knowledge Tonali played almost every game and was only rested if he was tired that's a core you don't sell a core, madness sell players who are easy to replace, you can't replace Tonali sorry Inter didn't sell Barella
I agree. If you look at the data and analytics of Tonali's Champions League performances against high intensity teams/pressing teams(eg. Leipzig or Inter Milan) he lacks speed and intensity. Very technically sound player but is much too slow for the modern game. He lacks natural world class athletic attributes to complement his current tools.
As a Juventus Fan, respect for Milan they made some great deals and built a decent team. But seeing Tonali leave Milan for a midtable english team in the middle of nowhere is kinda sad, it’s a lose for the whole league… Unfortunately the league (I think) we all here love the most gets slowly but surly a feeder league :/ Forza calcio
“leaving for a midtable english team” ? Let me ask you when was the last time you even watched Premier league😂 Newcastle is top 4 dude , atleast watch some game and comment ! They are investing in the right way to compete , much better than Milan who couldn’t afford to keep one of their main player 🤫
@@unknown_8_N Investing the right way? Dude Newcastle is funded by a Country state
@@unknown_8_NBuying the league with Saudi blood money? That's the "right way"? Football has lost its soul
@maestro8195 Newcastle is shit and will be dumped out the UCL in the group stages 😂
To be fair newcastle as a club and the fans suffered immensely since the early to mid 2000s. Time in the 2nd division. No investment. Adequate but defensive managers. Football and the big money left them behind. I think a lot of geordie fans see the shrewd saudi investment (unlike psg) as a welcome change. I think this is something milan fans should understand being in juve's shadow for much of the last decade.
Best thing for Milan is a fan boycott to get RedBird out asap and then reset.
These thumbnails go hard!
Cardinale seems like another Glazer ownership remove the soul of the club and make it into a cash cow just getting top 4 every season.
Right now, Milan has taken like 3-4 steps back. Let's hope RB can make it take at least a couple forward because the project can unravel rather quickly.
Tonali was threatened by the big boss to leave Milan. He was never going to leave Milan. He wanted to finish his career at Milan.
From an economical viewpoint, it makes sense to sell Tonali for that hefty price, but from a football quality and also Fans' Trust, this is like shooting yourself in the foot. Red Bird has to do a whole clean house operation at selling the players that don't work anymore, such as Rebic, Origi, Messias, Adli, Saladmakers, Florenzi, Etc, in order to start to build a competent squad, otherwise, it doesn't work if you bring new players, but the deadwood is still there. I seriously don't think that Milan now will go down to Serie B as some Drama Queens claims, because Red Bird is a company that needs to keep the Club in green numbers, so that UCL money is an absolute must, but... what they are trying to do is VERY bold, this is not like the EPL where selling a loved player by the fans is no big deal, in Serie A, people does have a love and care for those players that shows their worth to the club, so selling players, staff members that are so beloved by fans will generate backlash.
Nope, doesn't even make sense financially. They sell tonali for 70, pay brescia their cut and subtract cost they originally paid brescia for him and then you have 45m left and now they go and sign rlc and musah to replace him and boom that money has been used to essentially swap tonali for rlc and musah. Terrible financially also.
U make a great point but I can’t get over the fact that u said saladmaker hahaha
I don't understand the concern displayed by some fans. As a Milanista, I would've liked Maldini to stay but clearly the disagreements between him and the owners couldn't be overcome and we've already made several signings to replace Tonali and Brahim Diaz. People are forgetting how crap we were last season despite having almost an identical team to the season prior when we won the Scudetto. Personally, Diaz was incosistent and I'm glad he has gone, and though Tonali is a fan favourite, I was never his biggest fan, so I'm not particularly sad that he has gone, either. I think the replacements we have already brought in are a step up in terms of quality, and the ones we are yet to get (but look likely) are also a big positive. Personally, I think the squad will be stronger next season compared to last.
Serie A is the wildest league in the world right now😂
American foitball club owners doing what they do best... ruining a club
To further add insult to injury, the pos decided to make a happy birthday post for maldini like they respect the man. Hello kitty collab here we come
i grew up looking up to him and beyond excited to watch him play and when things went bad it was hard to see i never lost my love and respect towards him but it broke me to pieces reading his fair well letter i’ll always love you jona thank you for the memories and always willing to die for the badge it’s sad to know you didn’t reach your potential but i’m happy to know you’re still the same humble man
Guys Cardinale want only to make moneg with Milan, he don't want to put money in the club and he say thst the victory is not important. We are talking about of 1 of the 3rd biggest club in the Europe in terms of victory ut Cardinale think that the victory is not our gol. Yes beacause to point at the trophey you need to invest money... embarassing. I hope he return in the Usa in 3 or 4 yesrs.
I just pray we don't go back to that era of 2014-2020 where we had no champions league and had mediocre performances in Serie A, the problem right now is that Milan have a small transfer budget and can't seem to recruit the right players.
There are intangible things that make teams like Real Madrid, Milan and Liverpool such european giants with massive following all around the world. These news about Milan go exactly in the opposite direction. I hope they don't end up as another soulless team like PSG because of their owners.
Had to agree with Puccio there. €80mil for 23 years old Tonali, i honestly think it was Milan that fleeced Newcastle.
Now knowing the 10 month ban than Tonali got hit with… Milan dodged a huge problem by selling him. Hoping he comes out of the ban a better player.
Great coverage as always 👊🏿
Aaaayyyyyyy always nice to see Tino on the channel!!!! 🎉
It's not only person that the new owner sacked but the way he did it. That's why most Milan fans didn't agree with it.
Followed this channel for a while and I really like the tone shift of this video. Softer music, face of the presenter and a good vibe. 🙌
My G ❤
I'm really worried about this Season
Things don’t look good at the moment.
Just keeps on disappointing when we’re just getting started. It is so embarrassing when you lead everyone else besides RM in UCL wins to only have them catch you decades later cause you’re over here playing duck duck goose.
You seem so happy doing these kind of videos
Actually Milan is in the verge of failing FFP (as Inter and Roma) and in the last years they spent big (for Italy) and players left for a free. It was time to put order in the balance
Fantastic piece guys. The word that I think summarises Milan right now is tumultuous.
I think the rise of Ac happened after the appointment of maldini. Ac were aweful in 2010s
it 100% did
We have to wait and see what this new ownership will do time will tell
I hope it is a reset for the good.. I just can't believe Tonali was sold..
Adrian is always smiling in these videos!
Very informative video... but the soundtrack in the background seems to be incorrectly tagged. Doesn't sound the same, hey when you follow the tagged song. Thunk it's worth an amendment. 🙂
Off topic but i love how many different photos there are of Ibra smoking cigars on the pitch 😂
Great videos. No surprise though, the dude running the channel is Canadian
How this does not go into banter era 2.0
Only 20 years ago they would marvel me with a squad of depth of pure top, top world class players.
It just hurts to see Origi misused like that. You save Origi for when you really need to use him
Incredible that, as you mentioned, you made a video about Milan's spectacular debacle, finishing 4th (5th if juve hadn't been punished for its crimes again) but not on the actual winner of the league, Napoli
As a Milan fan, this is no gamble. Cause in a gamble there is a small chance to win. The board just want profit and spend the bare minimum.
Tonali, Leao, Theo, Zlatan, Maignan… are the core of Ac Milan how tf were they gonna replace Tonali who was suppose to be there for the long run and Zlatan
Growing up in England , Italian football was the pinacle of the beautiful game , most thanks to golazo . Live games on a Sunday and a brilliant show on the Saturday. I was just a boy back then but in school Italian football was the talk of the school playground. We all supported Middlesbrough FC and no one else! But we had an unbridled passion for serie A . Forza Boro , Forza Football !
Its been downhill since Ibra and Silva left in 2011. Had moments with El Shaarawy and Balo but when it was Baca leading the line it was grim. They also suck in the transfer market.
Good video
Paulo Maldini sacked and Sandro Tonali didnt want to leave yet Milan forced him too, that is all you need to know
Future is not looking for AC Milan after they get rid of Maldini!
Can you make a Napoli transfer video too, after Kim goes to Bayern?
Cardinale is worse than United’s recruit department which is quite an achievement
Milan should replace Tonali with SMS from Lazio, could come cheap and rather to Milan than Juventus
The day rabona tv does one of these deep dives on tottenham hotspur will be the most glorious day to be alive
the best options for developing clubs is having one player stay no matter what there're valued like M. Rues in his early years with Dortmund and Juventus G. Buffon who's an Italian legend and F. Totti at Roma (currently Pellegrini) Lazio S. Milinkovic-Savic Imo I want S. Tonali as captain instead of Theo H. or D. Calabria, I even feel like Alessio Romagnoli should've stayed at the club
I’m trying to stay positive. Napoli basically sold their best players and then took the Serie A by storm. I know, I know, I’m probably being too optimistic.
I think that the fact that the owners promised to give 100million for this transfer market but then sold one of our best and young player for that money says alot about where we are heading. We can’t be a strong club if we buy cheap players and selling our best players for massive sums of money, we need to get better players and that means spending, I’m done seeing players like messias come in for this big club and not do anything and become into a problem for the club…
They brought in some good talent
As an interisti it breaks my heart seeing the serie a in this state. The league truly needs a revival.
As a milan fan from 2006 I think maldini did his job great They never give him enough money and he always did what he could About the donnarumma and kessie case yes he had mistakes like everybody else But we never should forget he was the person who helped us to be back on the road , to play in championsleague
Maldini is going to buy A.C. Milan one day....oh yes...remember vengeance? The man the world icon is a competitor to the bone...he’ll kick Cardinale and Redbird out of Milano.
Gundogan is one of the greatest midfielders of all time. He is absolutely on the KDB level, considering he is the reason KDB got the license to be creative in the first place.
Milan is stuck like all of Italy, the fact they sold Tonali shows the big problem, they are on the same level as Portugal and Spain, they can't compete with state owned clubs or big TV money league, just like Napoli will sadly sell Kvaratskhelia unless the player refuses bigger wages to stay there, money sure ruins everything lol.
I'm watching this as a Utd fan...& I can tell you I feel for Milan. The Elliot group was a poisoned chalice...the same with our US owners the Glazers...their focus is not on football but only investment return. When Elliot sold to Red Bird last season...they threw away a whole summer transfer window & the same is happening at Utd this summer...the Glazers still havent confirmed if they are selling & now the transfer window has been sacrificed. In addition Elliot have confirmed they are happy to provide finance to the Glazers to keep them as owners of Utd. We can see what Elliot's interest is...& it is only about short termism... The US owners of Milan [Red Bird] getting rid of Maldini & now Tonali & Kessie (last season) was pure madness...its killing the legacy & foundation of the club. I fear for Milan just like Utd. US owners 1. don't care about football as a game 2. no interest in building a trophy winning team 3...only aim is to invest as little as possible to maximise their own return. 🤬
The thing is tonali is pretty young, and one fay will be world class
Not to worry, RLC will be fit at Milan, he was injured because he was at Chelsea
God people were so emotional about Maldini, they rather let his inexperienced hand lead the team into ruin than do the change that was needed at the time Now you can clearly see why it was done, Redbird arent fools nor are they here to ruin Milan, their methods are far more efficient and prone to success than Maldini's emotion driven approach. Its AC Milan, we work together to get back to where we want to be not Maldini FC, he was shown to be very single minded. Thanks for playing days but its great to be not get treated as a joke in the transfer market this summer Tonali also overrated af, 80m??? Thanks, we got 3 midfielders of same quality for that amount
It's so funny to see all the doubters from a 1-2 months ago. I was angry for like 1-2 days when Maldini got sacked until I calmed down and looked at the situation objectively, that the management is competent enough to do good in the market. Look at us now, we've actually UPGRADED from last season, and solved a lot of our problems (dead RW department for past 3 seasons, trash depth, midfield issues) along with getting rid of the deadwood, within a single window.
Among the club with tge highest Champions League winner, we are the only one who sold the star player
Let me introduce to you the replacement of Tonali - Loftus Cheek…
I'm getting T.Silva/Ibra ptsd flashbacks from Milan
This is just sad. I can’t help but compare their situation to Barcelona’s. Poor decisions at the cost of the squad. From greats to “will we play champions next season” is horrible.
They can probably milk the win for a few more years. Why invest to win when being top 4 provides better return on capital.
Look how quick the jumped on our gun
AC Milan should be signing the likes of kudus,verratti,frattesi,lukaku...
Second tranferwindow of redbird, and they are yet to make a investment. So far they have only used money from sales, it wont be sustainable in the long run. We'll look like Lille in the next 5 years Elliot at least had the foresight and understanding you need to invest
Shame on redbird! They are taking Milan backward
@6:19 I hate that, so cowardly from the owners. Sacking someone who gets results just because they aren't subservient to you. When what he's saying is actually true too, that makes it indefensible.
AC Milan used to be as Prestigious as Real Madrid, this is so sad.
Ibra retiring, Paolo getting sacked, selling Sandro & the passing of Berlusconi on top of that has been a hard pill to swallow. Cardinale has no idea what being a Milanista means. What the values of the club are. What it means to wear these colors. We are lacking identity and this is only reaffirmed by the current market signings. Pulisic is being marketed as a superstar when in reality, he’s no more than average, brought in to bridge the US market. While Maldini did make a few mistakes in the market, looking at you CDK, he was right about one thing: we need quality reinforcements to take this team to the next level. RLC is a huge step back compared to Sandro Tonali. Is gonna be a rough season. #ForzaMilanPerSempre 👊🏻🔴⚫️
I like how it starts 😂
Supposedly they are going to sign Luka Romero from Lazio, on a four year deal.