Shot From Distance 4.29.2010: Silvio Berlusconi knows nothing about football.

In the words of famous Onion columnist Jim Anchower: "I know it's been awhile since I last rapped at ya."

I have tried in my time to either inform, vent, or both about the happenings in football across the pond. My favorite team is Milan. Win, lose, draw, I'll die with the colors of the Rossoneri in my heart. I've done my best to keep this particular blog from being too Milan-slanted. Yet I find myself having to address a potential disaster.

There has been much discussion of late regarding first-year manager Leonardo's future with the club at Milanello. Some discussion was going on that he would take over for Dunga as Brazil National team coach after the World Cup. Nonetheless, as the Rossoneri are assure of yet another trophy-less season, the rumors are circulating.

Let me take you back 10 years. Just a day or so removed from Euro 2000, Silvio Berlusconi (Italian PM and Milan Owner) criticizes Italy manager Dino Zoff for his tactics in the final against France, that Italy came within seconds of winning. Zoff reacted by handing in his resignation. Basically a "piss off" gesture to someone of power running his mouth.

To the present, where I jump onto an article from http://www.football365.com/, a British-slanted football website that has time to present us with this article, via Corriere Dello Sport:

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_6123052,00.html

In that bit of journalism, the man who is wearing two hats, and a bunch of facelifts, drops this gem on the Italian paper:

Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi is reported to have told the Corriere dello Sport newspaper: "Yes he will leave, we are working on a new coach.
"The new coach? There are talks in place with others. Leonardo has been too tough headed and the team has played badly this season."

Thank you Mr. Berlusconi. You have proven that, in the span of 10 years, you know absolutely NOTHING about football. But since you are the Italian Prime Minister, you feel you have a license to just run your mouth, that has likely been repaired multiple times.

The Italy team from 2000 had almost no business getting to the Euro 2000 final, and further had no business coming within seconds of beating World Champion France. France won 2-1 in extra time if you recall. If Fabio Cannavaro was approximately 6 inches taller, Sylvain Wiltord doesn't get that last-gasp equalizer. Zoff constructed a brilliant tactical approach, and is the only manager to have gotten the maximum out of Stefano Fiore (you tell me what Fiore had done as a footballer since then......... don't worry I'll wait..........). He also was successful in ignoring the calls for Del Piero to be a regular starter in favor of a rising star by the name of Francesco Totti. Totti was brilliant in the Euro 2000 tournament. Just have a look at those two point blank misses from Del Piero in the final that would have sealed it, and it proves my point. He might have had to resort to anti-football (better referred to as catenaccio) in the semifinal against host Holland (a heavy favorite after dumping Yugoslavia 6-1), but what would you have done on 10 men when Gianluca Zambrotta was sent off in the 35th minute. Blame Holland for missing not one, but two penalties in regulation that match. Berlusconi's biggest beef about the final was that Zoff failed to recognize that Zinedine Zidane needed to be man-marked. Uhhh, so Demetrio Albertini was just spending that final chasing butterflies, right mister Prime Minister? Zidane was not much of a factor that night.

Flash forward to now. It should surprise no one that Leonardo, despite keeping this team glued together all season long, was just going to be a glorified patsy. The problem with upper management at AC Milan is that they take absolutely no accountability for their actions. You hand the keys to a Ferrari over to an inexperienced manager, and then you essentially remove the engine (Maldini) and transmission (Kaka) from it. You replace the engine with one that's fit for a Pinto (Maldini for Ambrosini), and while the new transmission is okay (Ronaldinho), it's not symbolic of the face of the team for the last five-plus years. The parts are old and worn out (Ambrosini, Gattuso, Inzaghi, Favalli, Oddo, Kaladze, Beckham, Jankulovski, Dida, Zambrotta, Seedorf, and Pirlo) but you still expect Leo to drive it at its optimum.

To complicate matters, arguably the two best players on the team, Alessandro Nesta and Pato, have been injured and out since March. So what do you expect when players like Guiseppe Favalli and Massimo Oddo have to play in the center of defense out of necessity? At that point, you can't do anything else except try and hang on to your Champions League place for next season.

I gave the AC Milan preview on World Soccer Daily back in August (look for the podcast on itunes, somewhere in the middle of August 2009, maybe the 12th or 13th). I had NO expectations for the team to win anything this season. My prediction was for them to finish 3rd (which they currently hold but are even in danger of losing that) and reach the knockouts of the Champions League. That was about as much as you could expect with this roster. The only thing you could expect Leonardo to do this year was keep this thing glued together, and maintain a place in next season's Champions League.

Give this guy a chance to manage a team with younger talent. Look at what he has done with Ignazio Abate for example. Taking a player who has been a winger and training him to be a full back. Abate might have made a couple mistakes out of lack of experience, but overall you have to give him a passing grade for the job he has done. Thiago Silva has matured into a world-class center half. Luca Antonini has been at least serviceable (and proved to be a far better option than Jankulovski). Klaas Jan Huntelaar might have been a fish out of water for most of this season, but give the guy a chance, he has proven he can score goals.

Mr. Berlusconi needs to take a closer look at the team he has invested in over the years. There is no doubt he has been the financial principal of Milan's most successful period in history, but his and Adriano Galliani's penchant for living in the past is the result of the perceived failures for the Milan of today. Leonardo has been pure class in a trying season for anyone who is managing for the first time, he is the least of this clubs problems.

Some of the old parts to the Ferrari, though, need to be replaced. That's where it has to start, and to a point where someone who cares about this team and knows his football can step in and fix what has been a beautiful machine.