Arsenal v AC Milan: recent history and today’s line up

 

 

 

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By Tony Attwood

So it is Arsenal v Milan at 1230 today to start the round of friendlies.   

Between 2020/21 and 2023/24 Milan came 2nd, 1st, 4th and 2nd in the Italian league, and in two of those seasons scored over 70 goals.  They were also semi-finalists in the Champions League in 2022 when they won the Italian League.  Their biggest defeat was against Liverpool 1-3 at home in September in the Champions League 

But then they came eighth last season, 19 points behind the leaders – their lowest position since 2014/15.  And that is surprising since it was their first season since 1998–99 in which the club did not participate in any European competitions.  So there could be no excuses in terms of being distracted by other matters.

Now, 2014/15 is not something Milan likes to be reminded of since that was their worst finish in over 15 years and a time of internal power struggles.

And yet despite everything their average home gate was still huge  at over 71,000 but it did drop dramatically as with just over 31,000 for a home Copapa Italia match in December.  In Europe they went out in the knock-out stage play offs.

During the course of the campaign, they managed to change their manager (out went  Paulo Fonseca and in came Sérgio Conceição) and they managed to lose to Roma for the first time in 11 games in the League.  As in England, managerial changes work far fewer times than they don’t.

Meanwhile, they even allowed Bolgna to win their first major trophy in over half a century by beating them in the Coppa Italia final just after they went out of Europe.   It was not a very good season.   A bit like Tottenham Hot but without winning a little cup in Europe.

And worse, the management position of the club has become known in the Italian media as a “poisoned chalice” as a club that is expected by its fans to win things has only won the league three times since the turn of the century.   “Terminal decline” is another phrase donig the rounds – and this for the team that historically is the third most successful team in Italy in terms of league titles.

As ever, finance seems to be at the heart of the decline since Silvio Berlusconi (who you might recall as Italian prime minister) left the job.   The club was then owned by Eliott Investment Management who took on the job of trying to collect the money the club was owed, but eventually they sold out to RedBird Capital Partners, and since then, the money for transfers has been modest.   They even took on Kyle Walker although he’s now back with Manchester City.

So the overall chitchat in the papers is of a club losing its identity, losing its sense of direction, and losing the support of its supporters.   Put another way this is a club in a financial mess, meandering from one manager to another, and with no real sense of direction and not even a Europa win to help them pretend everything is all right.  Sort of Manchester United in Italy.

And really, one has to wonder, if Arsenal want to play a team like this, why don’t they just stay at home and play Manu?  Or Tottenham?   After all, as one report on the club in recent times put it, of late Milan have looked like “like a bunch of headless chickens without a clue.”

To see overall how they have been improving or not we can look at their last 14 games of the 2024/25 season.     They won exactly half of these, they lost six and they drew one.  Not exactly a total recovery.

Sports Mole have very obligingly given us a possible line up

Raya;

White, Saliba, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly;

Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice;

Saka, Havertz, Martinelli

Of the newcomers they note that “All of Kepa, Norgaard and Zubimendi boarded the Arsenal flight bound for Singapore, but Madueke will have to wait a little while longer for his debut owing to his Club World Cup exploits with Chelsea.”   

After this game Milan have a series of other friendlies against Liverpool, Leeds United and Chelsea.  They obviously like English clubs.   Maybe they think the games will toughen their players up.

Overall, the results against Milan have been in Arsenal’s favour four wins for Arsenal, two defeats and two draws…   Details are from 11v11.

 

 

Not to win would be somewhat disappointing.

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