Management chaos + record collapse + fan rebellion! How did AC Milan fall from heaven to hell?

AC Milan is the kind of team that reminds people of the tradition of football when mentioned, including classic red and black jerseys, many legendary stars, and the 7 Champions League trophys. However, since 2010, Milan has been like Manchester United's situation after Ferguson retired in 2013 - falling from its peak and struggling to pursue the glory of the past. Let’s learn about their story together.

Part 1: The Beginning of the Recession (2010–2020)

2010/11 season, Milan won the 18th Serie A championship trophy. The lineup was full of stars at that time: Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Seedorf and others. But they ranked second in the next season and failed to defend their title, which became the starting point for the decline. The decline has become more and more obvious since 2012. After two seasons of the top ranking, Milan fell to eighth in the 2014/15 season.

Since then, fans have called this period of the team the "laughing stock era". From the 2014/15 season to the 2018/19 season, Milan failed to enter the top four for five consecutive years. The 2014/15 season ended in tenth place, setting the worst record in recent years. This ranking also deeply reflects the degree of Milan's degeneration.

In 2017, Montera was fired for a poor record and the club legend Gattuso was appointed as head coach. After taking office, Gattuso brought some stability to the team. Milan finished sixth and qualified for the 2018/19 Europa League.

2018/19 season, Gattuso completed his first full season, and the team finally ranked fifth, missing the Champions League qualification. Despite some improvements, Gattuso resigned after the end of the season. The club then signed a two-year contract with Jam Paul, but he lost four of his first seven games, quickly losing support from fans and was fired after just four months of coaching.

Then Pioli took office. When he first took office, the team played the effect of "changing coaches and rebounding" - unbeaten in ten consecutive games (7 wins and 3 draws). Pioli was given a two-year contract extension as a result. He led the team to second place in the 2020/21 season, which is Milan's best result since the 2010/11 season and also marks the team's first return to the Champions League since the 2013/14 season. In the 2021/22 season, Pioli did what no Milan coach had done in the past ten years - leading the team to win the championship. The team won the 19th Serie A championship and set a club single-season record of 86 points. It seemed like everything was back on track, but the problem quickly surfaced.

Part 2: The cracks behind the revival (2022–2023)

2022/23 season, Napoli won the championship with Spaletti. Although Milan is still in the top four, the gap with the top is as high as 20 points. By the 2023/24 season, Milan returned to second place, but the gap with champion Inter Milan was still 19 points.

At the end of the 2023/24 season, Pioli reached a breakup agreement with the club and left with a decent departure. As the most successful Milan coach in the past decade, his departure also means the beginning of a new round of turmoil.

Part 3: The change of ownership storm, Maldini's fire, Ibrahimovic's rise to power

To understand how Milan fell into chaos again from the championship, it is necessary to understand the ownership structure behind it. In 2016, when Chinese capital entered the football market in a large number, AC Milan was sold to China-Europe Sports Investment Company.

In April 2017, Rosneri Sports Investment Company became the new parent company. Although it is nominally controlled by a consortium, most of the transactions are actually completed by Li Yonghong personally. He did not have the ability to continue supporting Milan operations, so he borrowed a huge loan from the US hedge fund Elliott Management to complete the transaction. In July 2018, he failed to pay €32 million in installments on schedule, and the Elliott Fund eventually took over the club.

As a capitalist who specializes in acquiring loss-making assets, Elliot's goal is not to be his love for Milan's history, but to make profits. The fund manager Paul Singer is an Arsenal fan and a calculating businessman. He introduced Gazidis, Masala, Amstadt, and Moncada, and the most important thing was Paul Martini.

In July 2022, Hongniao Capital acquired AC Milan for US$1.3 billion, and Elliot retained a small amount of shares. The first season after the Red Birds took over (2022/23) was poor, followed by the beginning of turmoil.

CEO Gazidis resigned in December 2022, and Maldini, who helped rebuild the team, was fired. The real reason is that Maldini is unwilling to be the "sound tube" of the club and publicly criticizes the management. His last important signing was De Catrare - a failed performance in Milan, but rejuvenated in Atlanta.

Ibrahimovic was appointed as a club consultant after retirement. He had a conflict with sports director Dotavio, who was eventually fired. Ibrahimovic said in an interview: "My duty is to bring results, improve value, and improve everything with the goal of winning." This posture is completely different from Maldini. The latter has always played the role of a bridge between fans and the board, while Ibrahimovic publicly stated that he was working for the Red Birds, not for AC Milan itself, which deepened the gap between the club and the fans.

Part 4: Fan rebellion, transfer failure, Fonseca's collapse, and Concesan's chaos

Red Bird Capital's management method further angered the fans. Cardinal said in an interview: "In the United States, whoever pays for it owns the club; but in Italy, fans think that the club belongs to them."

These words completely ignited the anger of the fans. In the 125th anniversary of Milan and Genoa, fans played a banner to protest: "The players have no fighting spirit and no dignity, you just represent these bosses. The management is incompetent, the club has no ambitions, you are not worthy of our history. ”

In terms of management, Fulani replaced Gazidis as CEO. Fulani is better at finance than football. There are rumors that he once asked the club's legend Shevchenko if he played for Milan. In addition, he was also the person in charge of the dismissal of Maldini. On the court, the lineup was extremely fierce. The starter of the 2021/22 Serie A championship lineup, only 4 people remained in the team. After Maldini left, the club performed disastrously in signings.

coach, after Pioli left, the club hired Portuguese coach Fonseca.

Fonseca received support from Ibrahimovic, but did not win the trust of the fans and lost control of the locker room.

His successor Concesan started a good start and defeated Yu Wen and Inter Milan, held the Italian Super Cup.

But the honeymoon period did not last long. Milan was tied by Cagliari a few days later. After Morata left the team, the team's form declined again. In the Champions League, they were eliminated by Feyenoord. In the Italian Cup final, Milan lost to Bologna. What's more ironic is that the former Milan captain Da Calabria, who was loaned to Bologna.

Part 5: Finance wins, football loses - is AC Milan entering another "laughing stock era"?

Milan achieved profitability for two consecutive seasons - this is the first time since the 2006/07 season. The surplus that year mainly comes from the transaction of transferring Shevchenko to Chelsea for 45 million euros. In other words The club has been in a loss state for almost 20 years.

The profits in the past two years are largely dependent on players' sales. The most eye-catching deal is Tonali's transfer to Newcastle United for 70 million euros, which was recorded as net profit on the books.

However, this short-term financial gain is at the cost of the team's long-term strength. An imminent problem is emerging: Milan's current financial model relies heavily on three factors - Champions League qualification, high player sales, and record home attendance.

However, in the just-concluded 2024/25 season, Milan ranked eighth in the league and will miss the European game next season. This is not only a competitive failure, but also a major financial blow .

Today's AC Milan is very similar to Manchester United: a club with a brilliant history is dominated by a management that is out of reality, pays too much attention to business growth, lacks clear football plans, frequently changes coaches, and encounters general dissatisfaction from fans...

At the moment when the qualifications for European competitions, core players begin to question the project direction, and the future development path is unclear, Milan is at a crossroads.

Or the management of Red Bird Capital has made a strategic turn and takes the construction of the competitive level as a priority. Or the club will enter the "second laughing stock era", a period of no longer aiming for reconstruction, but is in a period of stagnation, temporary repair and long-term corruption.

Finally, when do you think Milan can achieve revival?