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Disregarding any controversy that a political leader’s ownership of a football team may provoke, the situation concerning Silvio Berlusconi’s tenure at Milan is intriguing to say the least.
The first thing to say is that Berlusconi has been President of Milan for a very long time. He was elected in 1986, a full eight years before his first stint as Italy’s Prime Minister, so any grumblings about his methods are sure to have been raised previously.
But just because the 72-year-old has become a permanent fixture in the Rossoneri boardroom, it doesn’t mean his leadership should go unquestioned.
One contentious issue that encapsulates Berlusconi’s influence at Milan is the role of Ronaldinho at the club. Earlier this month, Berlusconi stated that the transfer market was closed for Milan and that the 2005 Ballon d’Or winner would source the inspiration for a Scudetto challenge.
Berlusconi even offered some tactical advice, suggesting [or should that be ordering?] that if Ronaldinho “was playing on the edge of the area, he would be able to punish the opposition more and score more goals.”
Whilst a fit and hungry Ronaldinho could tear apart the most miserly of defences, the reality is the toothy playmaker has been well short of his best for two years now.
It’s fine to back your players, but to publicly single out one individual puts pressure on the Coach to pick him, undermining his managerial nous. And how well did Ronaldinho play on Saturday night in the derby? Well enough to be replaced just past the hour mark by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
Some may say it’s unfair to point the finger at Berlusconi for Milan’s failings – the players and the Coach must take the brunt of the wrath of the media and fans alike. But when Berlusconi pipes up with another gem to headline the newspapers, it certainly doesn’t help.
“We lost the title because of Carlo Ancelotti...many times we did not use the right tactics,” Berlusconi reflected on last season. With class-less comments like that, the question shouldn’t be why did Ancelotti leave Milan, but why didn’t he leave sooner?
Nonetheless, Berlusconi should take some credit for Milan’s success – particularly on the European stage – and, to be fair, Ancelotti’s reign of eight years at San Siro is practically unheard of in Italy. One just hopes that Leonardo’s surprising appointment was based on his merits as a Coach rather than as a yes man to Italy’s most powerful politician.
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Great blog Tom, an accurate briefing on the role of Berlusconi. It does make you wonder how powerful a role the ‘Presidents’ of certain clubs play. Was Leonardo appointed based on the success of his coaching abilities? For me, yes but to a certain extent, I feel that Berlusconi had a certain agenda when choosing his next leader.
Perhaps it is time Berlusconi moved onto another club as he does have a lot to offer to football and he has been at the forefront of Milan’s success since 86. Perhaps a smaller club with the need for some cash injection and a club where they perhaps do not have a clear ambition of where they want to go? Berlusconi has proved that he can turn a club’s fortunes around and at a smaller club, his business acumen would be greatly welcomed.
I respect Berlusconi for what he has done for Milan and for Italian football as a whole, however sometimes I do not agree with his strategies or comments. All I can say is that any team would be at an advantage with someone like him at the helm. I just wish sometimes he would think about what he says before publicly commenting on a result or a tactic that the Coach has deployed.
Antony Howard, Southend
I despair of Milan, we have been a circus for the last two to three years. Berlusconi and Galliani need to leave whilst there is some dignity attached to the history of AC Milan, but it seems that even if Silvio and his yes man leave they are going to make a complete mockery of the club by handing it over to Gaddafi. Politics and football should have nothing to do with each other at the best of times, but the prospect of the new owner being such a controversial figure just keeps the Rossoneri circus act running. The chief clowns are Clarence Seedorf, who wears the number 10 as if he deserves it, Dida whose mystery is why he still appears in the squad and Ronaldinho, the Prime Minister’s favourite ball juggling clown.
Despite what Berlusconi says it seems there is only one way to get Ronaldinho to even put half the effort into a game, put him in a yellow shirt with blue shorts against a significantly lesser talented team who will give him the space to perform yoga bonito, complete with step-overs and little flicks, then take him off around sixty minutes.
It is frustrating to watch such a great club lurch from mistake to mistake without any desire and/or knowledge to improve things. 56m Euros is a lot of money, but our transfer campaign was laughable, we signed Cissokho, then we didn't, we wanted Luis Fabiano, he wanted us but 18m is apparently too much for a player coming into his prime off the back of a good Confederations Cup run and with enough physicality and instinct to do very well in Serie A. As for the other blunders, they seem even worse in comparison to our rivals... We got Onyewu Oguchi? Inter got Lucio. Juve sign Diego and Melo. We sell Kaka and Gourcuff.
Football is not and never has been complicated. Building a successful team is possible with a clear defined plan, but Berlusconi doesn't seem to have had that since the last days of Capello.
As a loyal Milanista, it hurts to see Inter on course for five titles in five years, equalling our own Scudetto haul last year and no response coming back except a big grin on an orange face telling us that Ronaldinho will save us.
Lello, Cardiff
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