An Open Letter to President Berlusconi 4 hours ago Dear Mr Berlusconi, We are Milan. We are the mighty AC Milan. We have pride, courage and history to our name. We honour the badge and we wear the red and black with pride in our hearts and determination in our minds. We are the Rossoneri. As Milan fans, we have come to expect the best. The best of Italy playing alongside the best international footballers around. We challenge any who dare say we are not champions and we crush them. We are Milan. But of late, we are not feeling like true Milan fans. The team we support is riddled with instability and players undeserving of the mighty jersey. A bounty of players unfit to call themselves Rossoneri in any other generation make up part of our team and we are unhappy. Milan deserves true quality. We are Milan. The signings of Robinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho, Thiago Silva, Stephan El Shaarawy, Alexandre Pato and Mario Balotelli made us proud to belong to a team that brought in these players to reward the dedication of the fans that we were. Though some of these players are no longer Rossoneri, we wear their names on the back of our shirts still to remind us of what Milan was once capable of. We are Milan. The names of Valter Birsa, Michael Essien, Cristian Zaccardo, Sulley Muntari, Matias Silvestre and Kevin Constant may be present on our kits, but they are not Milan. We expect the best from our players, for them to give it their all in the name of all things Milan. We have pride in those who bleed for Milan. We are Milan. Since the start of this season, amidst a so called youth project, this season, we have failed in that endeavour. The average age of our squad has risen 1.5 years and the average age of those transferred into the club was 27. Even the two players given the chance in the first team this season have only made 6 appearances between them only two of them starts and both being for Bryan Cristante. We are Milan. Instead of challenging for the title, we are challenging to stay away from relegation. We are being beaten by Torino, Parma, Verona and Atalanta, barely holding off Sampdoria and Genoa, and we are lying closer to relegation than we are to fifth place. This team is not Milan. We are Milan. Mr Berlusconi, we do not ask for Messi. We do not ask for a team of Ronaldos. All we ask is that instead of letting Pirlo go for free, we renew. Instead of selling Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to PSG, we keep them for their benefits outweigh any monetary assets. Instead of borrowing the likes of Matias Silvestre, we promote a youth academy player and give him a chance. We do not ask for the world. We are Milan. As Milan, we look to you Mr Berlusconi, to either invest in this team or allow those who can to do so. Instead of Bonera, let’s have Thiago Silva. Instead of Essien, lets have Jorginho. Instead of wasting our time with players who cost us scraps, let’s assemble a team which can take on Europe once more. We are Milan. It was only seven years ago we were European champions. We fought hard and we got the results. We can get back just as quickly if not sooner. We have a former champion to guide us. Something we are incredibly grateful for. But how can a world class sculpture, make a work of art, when his clay is useless? We want Milan to the masterpiece of Europe. We are Milan. So please Mr Berlusconi, think about this. You are not Milan, Kaka is not Milan, Seedorf is not Milan and the fans are not Milan. We are Milan. WE. All of us together make up the greatest club ever to be assembled. We need a push in the right direction and we know that it is possible to achieve greatness. We are Milan. I can only hope, that Milan makes me fall in love all over again, Sincerely, We are Milan.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 16:49:16 +0000