GdS: Maldini, Tonali and the derbies – Milan’s 30-month decline since the Scudetto | OneFootball

Since AC Milan lifted the Scudetto, the club has been on a downward path. Today, a report has attempted to look at the reasons for this.

If you offered anyone a chance to undo the past 30 months, any Milan fan would bite your hand off. It is an opportunity to go back to a moment far superior than the one that the Rossoneri find themselves stuck in at present.

But how was have got here?

As Gazzetta dello Sport reports, in the past two and a half years, the Diavolo have changed a lot, which has caused a rift between the two stages, a rift to a Milan that ‘no longer exists’.

Summer 2022

First, we go back to the summer after the Scudetto. A summer which was supposed to build upon the Scudetto foundations, but instead became a summer of undoing. Sven Botman was the big idea of the mercato, but as the report states, there was no budget for 2-3 top-level signings, which Paolo Maldini requested.

The tension between the two parties then grew as a strong Rossoneri became a short one – a squad with no depth and this was the beginning of the end of the project as it was.

Summer 2023

Just 12 months later, the Diavolo shot themselves in the foot. Tension was already there, but this worsened with the departures of Maldini and Sandro Tonali whilst retaining Stefano Pioli. For the fans, they had lost two huge symbols of the club and this once again damaged the club and the attempted repair is still ongoing, albeit unsuccessfully.

Six Milan derby defeats

We then move to the derby defeats – six in a row – a feat which is embarrassing for any club, let alone between two of the biggest rivals in World football. The losses were finished by a Scudetto win at San Siro, a feat which had never been done before, a feat which damaged the club immeasurably.

This season so far

The faults do not end there. Instead, they continue into this season. Firstly, the decision to not get Antonio Conte baffled the fans and with the coach leading Napoli to a title race so far, the decision has only backfired.

Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images

Following this decision, choosing to limit the mercato affected the trust in the management further. Dreams of a new number nine were in the clouds, but the club ended the season with two sub-par options in the minds of the supporters, another blow and protests followed.

Things came to a head against Genoa, a celebration of the club headlined by a 0-0 draw. Protests followed after the game and continued into the celebrations away from the stadium last night. A clear split between the fans and management.

For the fans, nothing works and the club has fallen far below its goals. Whilst there is a chance for a restart – against Verona, Roma and then in the Supercoppa Italiana, there is a lack of hope about whether this will come to fruition.

Restarting, as Gazzetta writes, is not impossible, but signs of it must be shown soon.