Milan Obsession

After a very encouraging summer, Milan are haunted again by ghosts of the past. Curva Sud protesting, a terrible third kit, more mediocre Genoa players and free transfers, and reverting to poor performances are just a few things haunting the club now. With the mercato closing and an International break underway, it gives us a little time to reflect on where Milan is and place more realistic expectations on the season.

For this podcast, only one guest would do, and that guest is David Swan. You can find out why by following him on Twitter @DavidLSwan and checking out his fantastic acmilanfinance.com site with all things having to do with Milan finances conveniently translated into English for us. In this epic conversation, we talked about:

• News of the Week: Milan baby, Argentinian barbecue, hideous third kit, free kick dreams, Curva Sud flexing their power

• Mercato: updates on what has happened in the transfer market

• Match Roundups: Coppa Italia, Fiorentina-Milan, and Milan-Empoli

• International Break: Who is travelling where

• The Return of Balotelli: worship or else

• Saved by the Bee? discussing the Mr. Bee deal

• Coming Up: mark your calendar for the upcoming matches

Thanks again to David for a fantastic conversation and staying up late for this podcast. Follow his fantastic Twitter account @DavidLSwan and go to his acmilanfinance.com site NOW.

For three years now, we as fans were promised that it was Year Zero, that Milan was rebuilding, and that success was in the near future. Only it was never true, and “Year Zero” became like a curse word. But this year, it finally feels like it really is Year Zero, the one we were originally promised. And instead of making us curse, it feels like a party.

For the Serie A season preview, I needed some serious star power, so I used my connections to secure the amazing Steve from Red Card Weekly. You can follow him on Twitter @RedCardWeekly, and since he is humble despite his fame, you may even be able to interact with him there.

• News of the Week: heartbreaking injury, the unbelievable Mr. Bee, Roma fan douchebaggery

• Mercato: updates on what has happened in the transfer market

• Serie A News: new card accumulation rule change, Serie A anthem

• Friendlies: Audi Cup and Trofeo TIM

• Season Predictions: our picks for Milan and the best and worst in the league

• Coming Up: mark your calendar for the upcoming matches

Thanks again to Steve for taking time out of his busy celebrity lifestyle to bless us with his wisdom. And if you are not following him on Twitter @RedCardWeekly, then you are dead to me.

For the past couple of seasons, success has seemed less plausible than someone holding onto the outside of a plane taking off. But that didn’t stop management from claiming that we were contending for the Scudetto or a Champions League spot. However, this summer, they acquired a smart coach, kicked out some players who were at least two years past their expiration date, and brought in players with quality who have a nice combination of youth and experience. And looking at how things are coming together so far, despite being premature, for the first time in a few years, reaching a top three spot finally seems like Mission Possible.

A new season, a new coach, and new players calls for a new guest. So in searching the globe for a world class guest, I ended up in Norway and found Kristian. He has contributed to the comments section of the blog and is a great fan with a very strong knowledge of both football and Milan. This time we talked about:

• News of the Week: Primavera tournament, new sponsor, Muntari making it rain, Galliani speaks, Serie A anthem, Milan’s season fixtures, FIFA presidency, Zaccardo news, mercato update

• Friendly: Real Madrid 0 (10), Milan 0 (9)

• On the pitch: discussing strengths & weakness, our starting lineups

• Coming Up: mark your calendar for upcoming friendlies

Thanks again to Kristian for some fantastic conversation and for being a bleeding in red and black Milan fan. Check out his comments on the blog under the screenname Kriskor.

With so many mercato changes in place and four friendlies under our belts, the bizarre concept of optimism is beginning settle in amongst Milan fans. How long has it been since we could truly be optimistic about an upcoming season? And have some foundation for said optimism? While trying not to drown ourselves in the Kool-Aid, there certainly are a lot of signs that things are starting to look up. It’s hard not to have great expectations for the upcoming season.

For this conversation, I invited Milan Obsession’s favorite longstanding guest, Francesco. You can follow him on Twitter @FrancescoPetra8 or check out the comments section on the blog, where he is our no. 10 and captain. We talked about:

• News of the Week: Serie A schedule, team dinner, Pazzini bitches, Darmian facepalm, players left behind, Coppa Italia

• International News: Tavecchio and Conte love affair, big changes at FIFA, World Cup draw, soulless Suarez

• Friendlies: Milan 5, Alcione 1; Milan 5, Legnano 1; Lyon 2, Milan 1; and Milan 1, Inter 0

• Mercato: players in and out

• Mercato Gossip: tossing transfer rumors around

• Coming Up: mark your calendar for upcoming friendlies

Thanks again to Francesco for repping Mauri for us and being on the podcast. Follow him on Twitter @FrancescoPetra8 and check out the comments section on the blog to see why he’s our captain and no. 10.

There is always some level of hope as a fan, but for Milan fans, all hope was nearly beaten out of us this past three years. However what has transpired so far this summer took everyone by surprise. In fact events of the last ten days make it seem like some kind of Bizarro World, and I haven’t heard any fans complaining about the change of location. With Milan doing basically the opposite of what they have done the past several years, it is refreshing to see the changes on paper, even if we haven’t seen anything to speak of on the pitch just yet. And I know I for one am loving the change of scenery.

On my tour of Bizarro World, I invited a favorite recurring guest, Pete. If you follow him on Twitter @PDAcquaviva, you can catch great comments, wit, and news of his podcasts. And possibly even news of some future blogposts from his fantastic pdacquaviva.com. We talked about:

• News of the Week: Ritiro, What happened here?, Lotito’s excuse, Tassotti renews, Stadium news, #RetireBonera25

• Press Conference with Mihajlovic: recapping the entertainment

• Mercato: new players, renewals, players out, Signing of the Season, Galliani accountability

• Coming Up: mark your calendar for upcoming friendlies

*This podcast was recorded B.M. (Before Mexes) And no, it’s not a coincidence that those initials also stand for Bowel Movement.

Thanks again to Pete for a fantastic conversation. Follow him on Twitter @PDAcquaviva for wit, wisdom, and his fantastic “Podcast without a Plan.” Also check out his blog pdacquaviva.com for upcoming posts this season.

1986 was an important year for Milan’s history. It was the year that Silvio Berlusconi bought the club, beginning the years of big spending and no accountability. It was also the beginning of Sinisa Mihajlovic’ senior playing career. And it’s the year that seems to keep on giving, as Galliani seems stuck in the year 1986 as far as his transfer dealings, and now we have Mihajlovic, former Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio, and Inter player as the coach who is supposed to pull us out of a slump that is actually worse than where we were in 1986. So there’s nothing to celebrate, but for this podcast, we’re going to party like it’s 1986.

I invited Jovan to this party, my former Milan Obsession co-blogger and the genius behind fantasyseriea.com and his other fantasy football sites. We talked about:

• News of the Week: Serie A promotions, Mastour’s choice, Menez’ surgery, Abate’s wedding, Lyon friendly, Milan’s ticket campaign

• Mercato: deals that are done

• Galliani: living in 1986

• New Coach: looking at Mihajlovic

Thanks again to Jovan for a great discussion and for sharing his valuable time with us. Check out fantasyseriea.com for the upcoming season for fun and a chance to choose your own players instead of just settling for Galliani’s free transfers.

It was difficult to find much to laugh about this past season, but there were plenty of tears. Tears and pain and frustration and drinking… lots of drinking. But if you’re listening to this podcast, you probably survived, one way or the other. So trying to add a little laughter, but unwittingly causing tears, we got together to try to make some sense of what just happened this year.

For this conversation, I needed a couple of people who have bled red and black with me throughout Milan’s demise. From Argentina, we were joined by Francesco, aka the President of the Curva Sud America. He can be followed on Twitter @FrancescoPetra8. Joining us from Florida was Derwuin, of @ToePokePod fame. You can follow him @D_Mendez3, if you dare. We discussed:

• News of the Week: NT callups, Ancelotti declines, Essien out, Zapata speaks out, Cerci robbed of his manhood and more, Abate to tie the knot, Blatter steps down

• Champions League Final: looking from the outside in

• Bee Taechaubol: update on the agreement to purchase a minority share

• The Golden Matri Awards™: 2015 winners (see also 2014 winners)

• Squad Assessment: talking about players who might leave, and some that should

• Farewell: Saying goodbye to legends

Thanks again to Francesco and Derwuin for celebrating the tragedy that is Milan this season. Follow Francesco on Twitter @FrancescoPetra8. Also follow Derwuin @D_Mendez3 and check out his podcast by following @ToePokePod on Twitter.

Finally the torture is over. I’ve never been so relieved for Serie A to end. Between the poor performances, worse results, Curva’s lame boycotts, and Galliani being in denial and bringing in players by the dozens, this season couldn’t end soon enough. But what’s next? Based on the things we know and the things we’ve heard and the great unknown, we talked about the state of Milan, with the focus being on management.

For an epic discussion, I needed epic guests. So joining me this time was Pete of pdacquaviva.com. You can follow him on Twitter @PDAcquaviva. Also joining me was David of acmilanfinance.com. You can follow him on Twitter @DavidLSwan. We discussed:

• News of the Week: Audi Cup, cryogenic chambers, Rami meltdown, FIFA meltdown, Paletta, @Milanello returns

• Season to Date: our final results from Serie A

• The State of Milan: Berlusconi, Galliani, Inzaghi, Ancelotti, the Squad, Barbara Berlusconi

Thanks again to David and Pete for some epic Milan conversation Be sure to follow them on Twitter @DavidLSwan and @PDAcquaviva. And checkout acmilanfinance.com and listen to the “Podcast without a Plan” at pdacquaviva.com and checkout.

After three losses in a row, Milan won one match. And it wasn’t just any match, it was against second place Roma. And they also launched the sleek new kits, perhaps the best thing they’ve done all year. Not to lose our heads, but a lot of us were happy for this one win and the great new kits, putting us in a better mood to evaluate Milan present and speculate on Milan’s future. And to vent some frustration.

For this podcast, I asked Montreal native and lifelong Milanista Vinny to join me. He is one half of the notorious Red Card Weekly, the amazing show that was another casualty of this season. But you can still follow him on Twitter @RedCardWeekly. We had a lot of great conversation about all things Milan, including:

• News of the Week: New kit launch, ICC tournament, Galliani’s seventh place, Milan are #10, Bonera’s 200th, management restructuring

• Season to Date: our results from Serie A

• The Mister: who should coach Milan going forward

• The Cost of Rebuilding: a discussion of FFP and Milan’s moves going forward

• Coming Up: Upcoming matches and what to look for

Thanks again to Vinny for some fantastic Milan conversation Be sure to follow the seriously entertaining and underfollowed @RedCardWeekly on Twitter.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse at Milan, we lost to Udinese with a performance that would make Mary Poppins depressed. With rumors of a full-blown meltdown and Inzaghi ordering the team into ritiro until our Genoa match, there hasn’t been much to smile about this week. But maybe that is something we need to start to wrap our heads around. Even if the rumors of Berlusconi selling a majority share of the club come true, it will take more than money tor rebuild this Milan. We need to start being realistic about the future of Milan.

This time I was joined by my Milan Obsession co-founder Jovan. After his brief foray into blogging, he went on to have lots more fun by creating and developing fantasyseriea.com and three other Fantasy Football sites. But he still has time for his lifelong club Milan, as evidenced in our conversation:

• News of the Week: Meet the Mayor, Primavera success, Slumber Party at Milanello, massive losses for 2014

• Season to Date: our results from Serie A

• The Current State of Milan: how we got here, where we are

• The Future of Milan: trying to be realistic about the speculation and rumors, especially for fans who are waiting for a miracle.

• Coming Up: Upcoming matches and what to look for

Thanks once again to Jovan for sharing his passion and wisdom about Milan. Please check out his suite of Fantasy Football games: Fantasy Serie A, Fantasy Premier League, Fantasy Liga, and Fantasy Bundesliga. You can jump in at any time and get some good practice for next season, just like Milan should.