And here I am, Italian football

Get used to it: Ibrahimovic is presented as a PSG player

It has been a long time since my last post.  The Euro2012 Final was not exactly heartbreaking as it was sobering, and the disappointment of losing a Final disappeared quickly thereafter.   So, I can't attribute a five-month absence to a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of the best team in the world.

No, the reason I had no will to write about Italian football for so long was because of Italian football--not its performances on the field, but more off it.  Two things encapsulate my displeasure.  Let's take a  look.

First, and acutely for me, there was a hideous denouement to the whole Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva affair.  Selling them to PSG was a capitulation to the most vulgar truth of modern football: the nouveau riche are not simply upstarts but ones who can goad the slightly willing into selling half their team overnight.  That is precisely what happened, if not in number then in quality, when Milan sold Silva and Ibrahimovic.

In selling Silva, one of the best defenders in the world, Milan pioneered a market manoeuver of shocking duplicity, which stands alone in its callousness towards fans.  When PSG got serious about Silva and were tantalizingly close to getting him, in stepped, predictably, Silvio Berlusconi for the colpo di scena, sparing fans and Silva alike from the indignity of selling their team's foundation to a team that flashed a little cash.  I am being reductive here, as there was more to it than Berlusconi, but it was he who headlined the rescue.  

Silva renewed his contract, and Milan fans could breathe a sigh of relief at least for the 2012-13 season.  However, a few weeks later, Silva was sold remorselessly to PSG.  It was cruel even by Milan's recent standards.  The fans least suspected it because a contract renewal has been a time-honoured gesture of the player and the club to continue their relationship at least for the subsequent year.  But Milan relinquished tradition a long time ago. 

And then there was Ibrahimovic who was hastily and gracelessly shown the exit as part of the package deal. The Swede is not generally known for his retreating disposition, but he has every right to despise the suits at Milan, and by all accounts he does (he and Galliani don't talk now).  Milan didn't spare him any indignity.  They wanted him gone if Silva was gone, which is not a very edifying approach to dealing with a player who had allowed Milan to stand on his shoulders and grab a Scudetto in the two seasons he was there.   

The protest and response in Italy was surprisingly muted, leading to speculation that Galliani had perhaps promised something to the hard core of the Milan contingent, the Curva Sud.  This cadre has always been at the forefront of Milan mirth, madness, and melancholy over the years, but their protests were tame by their standards and they have, to their credit, supported the team through a disastrous start to the season.  Lest we forget, Milan's season is now recovering, unlike my faith in the men leading my club.   We are at the whim of Berlusconi until he decides to sell. 

Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio

Secondly, and more succinctly, Legge Crimi, the stadium law that I have written extensively about has still not been ratified. In its jarring absence, there have been some promises by Roma and Inter for a new stadium, but those projects are slated for 2016.  The toxicity of the legislative bodies, local councils, and politicians in Italy is staggering. Vested interests have once again trumped broader utility.  The law that would allow teams to refurbish their dilapidated homes is still on standby, and so are the potential revenues that could be realized by these clubs on matchdays.

This event and non-event are symptomatic of what is totally rotten in Italy.  The suits lie and dither, and Italian football suffers.  But that is why I'm back.  I have to write about Italian football even when it is lurching from one crisis to the next.  I have been for a while now, so why not continue?  At the very least, the textual trace will give the chaos and hopelessness some form and geometry.  

And of course, there are some plus points.  On the field, Italian football is showing signs of hale. In Europe, five teams are still alive.  Juventus emphatically announced their return to the big time by flattening the reigning European Champions Chelsea 3-0, a victory that allowed the spectator to anatomize how effective Juventus really are.  A midfield of Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo could even play behind invisible men and still make inroads into the opposition half at will.  Speaking of invisibility, even in Antonio Conte's conspicuous absence (he is serving a harsh ban), Juventus are still at the summit of Serie A (though they have lost to Inter and Milan this season), and have just finished top of their Champions League group.

Lazio, Napoli and Fiorentina have been impressive as have been Inter.  Milan started the season poorly, but Stephan El Sharaawy, Riccardo Montolivo and at times Bojan have shown that Milan can predicate a revival of fortune and spirit on these younger players (Montolivo at 27 being the geriatric among the three). There is hope because Italian football, as I have written about countless times, as a philosophy, as a way of playing, is still powerful and effective.  Italy just went to the Final of Euro2012, humiliating England and soundly beating Germany on the way, and this year's football in Serie A has been compelling, even exciting.

Considering the cynical bureaucrats running the game are disinclined to bring about real change, the coaches and players deserve immense credit for their effort.

Forza Italia!

A Vital Win, A Vital Loss

Zlatan Ibrahimovic guides Milan to another win

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's transcendent skill to decide today's game against Roma almost succeeded in making me forget that Milan have to play, on somewhat equal terms, Barcelona on Wednesday.  The goal was astonishingly skillful, and another finger in the eye of the peculiarly committed anti-Ibra brigade.  Milan were 1-0 down before Ibra scored a penalty and the winner. Milan are now seven points ahead of Juventus, who play Inter tomorrow.

Yet, it was when the Milan-Roma game was young, only at nine minutes, still emerging and taking shape, that Milan fans witnessed an injury to Thiago Silva, an injury that can potentially have a devastating impact on their Champions League campaign.  Coach Massimiliano Allegri has to take a generous portion of the blame here.  Silva was risked in a Coppa Italia semi-final mid-week clash against Juventus.  It was all in vain as well as Milan were eliminated, but, more crucially, Silva was injured.  Today he went through a tentative warm-up before the game.  Ten minutes in, his pre-game diffidence turned into total despair.  He was taken off, and Allegri has confirmed he will not be available for Barcelona.

"I took a risk with Silva, and we paid dearly for it." said Allegri. "He has a problem with his hip flexor, and he will certainly not play on Wednesday."

Philippe Mexes has been unwilling to concede even an inch, and Daniele Bonera is probably playing some of his best football, so Milan can be optimistic.  Further, Alessandro Nesta, who contained Lionel Messi so well during the Champions League group stage clash at the Camp Nou, also returns.  However, Silva's injury, at such a crucial point of the season, redounds to the bafflement at the medical attention Milan players are receiving from the much vaunted Milan Lab.  As Gazzetta reported, Milan have had the most injuries this season (Juventus the least), and were it not for a capable squad, they would have disintegrated a long time ago.

Those discussions, however, will not be the prevalent ones on Wednesday.  There is the small matter of Lionel Messi, and defying the smothering, near unanimous expectation of a Barcelona win.

Forza Milan!

La Gazzetta dello Sport reveals how many matches each club's players have missed through injury this season

Milan's and Ibra's Timely Triumph

Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimović roars at and through the competition

Palermo 0-4 Milan.  It was the kind of game that you wouldn't really expect after a week of acrimony and apologies that reminded us how fragile the diplomatic equilibrium is in Serie A between Italy's two biggest clubs, Juventus and Milan.

Sulley Ali Muntari's goal that was not given--sorry, that was taken away after being given--last weekend against Juventus urged Milan's no. 2 Adriano Galliani to leave the San Siro because of high blood pressure.  Not before, however, him making sure that his precarious systolic and diastolic balance was upset completely.

"Look what happens when you cry," he is reported to have said to Juventus coach Antonio Conte in the tunnel. "It clearly works."

"What a pulpit--you people are the mafia of football," was Conte's response.

Galliani was referring to Juventus's sustained self-victimization before the game last weekend, which everyone is guilty of is in Serie A at one point or the other. Conte was referring to the perceived influence Milan have had in Italian football, the kind of influence that Juventus have also had, and the kind that Juventus have exerted shamefully in the past (Calciopoli and all that).  The notorious, erstwhile duopoly of Italian football arguing over injustices is not a very edifying moment, and not a moment that the Catanias and the Chievos should have any time for.

Comically, the 1-1 draw last weekend, during which Milan outplayed Juventus for most of the time, sobered Conte.  After realizing how undeserved the draw was (even considering Alessandro Matri's goal that was perhaps disallowed correctly), the Juventus coach spoke of a need for sensibility all around when talking about officiating.  It was a bit like being lectured on safe environmental practices by a suit at British Petroleum.

However, mainly for the better of public appearances, Galliani and Juventus president Andrea Agnelli made up over the phone.

Against such a backdrop, Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri deemed the trip to Palermo yesterday as being critical to the season.  It was a game that would show what Milan are made of.  The sense of injustice in the Milan camp was feverish--and poor Palermo were incinerated.

I haven't seen Milan play that kind of football since 2005.  Palermo were marginalized to the point of being spectators.  The Milan defence and midfield got to every ball first, and Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimović did the rest.  Ibra's hat-trick in the space of fourteen devastating minutes underlined Milan's rage and the Swede's centrality to this Rossoneri side.  Really, it seems pathological to deny how vital Ibra is to this team, and there are many out there who think he is a liability due to his disciplinary problems.  But surely he more than makes up for it, and perhaps we can see the time he spends suspended as well-deserved rest.

Returning after serving a harsh three-match ban, Ibrahimović  went to work, dismantling Palermo.  The hat-trick came from both feet, and was a display of precision and understated power.  He was unplayable, unstoppable, and unforgiving.

"I still think about that Juventus game," he said after the match.  Clearly.  Like a Bollywood hero driven by revenge and a soundtrack, Ibra smashed his way through Palermo, flaying pink flamingos at the Renzo Barbera, which is not the happiest hunting ground for Milan.

Chievo celebrate as Juventus deflate

Robinho was exquisite too, providing assists to Ibra, but it was the giant's night.  He is now tied with Antonio Di Natale at the top of the scoring table on 18 goals.  And he shows no signs of stopping.

Of course, sometimes perceived injustice can be the best spur.  There is no conspiracy against anyone, and I say that even after the lurid scandal of 2006.  However, what Conte has lost in the last week is his ability to moralize, and his team have lost the ability to win.

 Almost three hours after Milan's proclamations of power, Juventus dropped two valuable points against Chievo in a 1-1 draw. At home.  They have picked up just seven points out of the last fifteen on offer.  And they have all sorts of tough games ahead, while Milan have a much easier schedule.  The Bianconeri are undefeated this season, but they have drawn 12 games, one less than the amount they have won.

"People forget where we came from," said Conte after the draw yesterday.  "Last summer there was talk of us ending up sixth, and now look where we are."

That won't cut it with the jeering Juventus fans, who whistled the team after the game yesterday.  As for  Milan fans, they can thank Boukary Dramè for the late drama yesterday.  At 1-0 Juventus looked like they would see a win through to the end, but then Dramè shot past Gianluigi Buffon, and Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci did the rest by deflecting the ball in the goal.

Milan are now three points ahead of Juventus, who have a game in hand against Bologna.  After a week of talking about officials and phantom goals, it was heartening to be reminded that the players can still boss this Scudetto showdown.  And there is no bigger boss than Ibra.