This appears in the Monday March 14, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.
The Seven-Year Itch
by rick olivares
Arsenal left back Kieran Gibbs forlornly walked off the Old Trafford pitch after his side’s 2-0 loss to Manchester United in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.
He cast a glance at the Red Devils Wayne Rooney and Rafael da Silva celebrating their semifinals seat to Wembley Stadium where they have a chance to advance and play for their record 12th FA Cup title. Inside the interview room, Arsenal’s long time head coach Arsene Wenger wondered if their 4-2 aggregate loss to nemesis Barcelona in the UEFA Champions league hovered in the minds of his wards prior to the match. And true enough, the Gunners lacked pace and resoluteness against Manchester United.
The season that began with so much promise for Arsenal looks to be on course for more heartbreak. At the start of the year, the Gunners were in the hunt for a Premier League, Champions League, Carling Cup, and FA Cup quadruple. In the past two weeks, the only bit of silverware left to claim was the Premier League trophy. And even after successive losses by the Red Devils to Chelsea and Liverpool that gave Wenger’s lads a chance to pull abreast, they choked and to date, remain three points behind. At the rate they are playing, it’s looks like a meltdown west of the disaster in Japan is a huge possibility.
Roughly 1000 kilometers southeast of North London (that Arsenal calls home) is Milan. The former capital of the Western Roman Empire is known for its fashion, cultural heritage, and two teams that have divided the city – AC Milan and Internazionale.
For the Rossoneri (or “Red Blacks”) as AC Milan is known, they are coming off a 1-nil ouster by Tottenham in the Round of 16 and disappointment aside, they remain on course for two titles – the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia.
"I am disappointed but it's part of football," said first year head coach Massimiliano Allegri of the ouster that saw them fall short of an eighth European title. "We failed to score but the performance against Tottenham reiterates our current good form. Now we have to concentrate on the domestic competition. All my players are ready for the final 10 games in Serie A and our three matches in the Coppa Italia."
Allegri knows what it’s like to make a comeback. As a midfielder for Delfino Pescara 1936, he helped the Delfini get promoted from Serie B to the Serie A where he partnered with Ottavio Palladini in a stellar 91-92 season (although they were relegated the following year). Now as head coach of AC Milan, his side is ahead by four points 61-57 with closest pursuer Intermilan having played one more match.
Ironically, it has been seven years since both AC Milan and Arsenal won their last division one titles and that was during the 2003-04 season.
That year, Milan won their 17th Scudetto while Arsenal FC won its 13th first division trophy in an incredible season where they went undefeated.
Andriy Shevchenko and Jon Dahl Tomasson led the way for the Rossoneri with 24 and 12 goals respectively that year. Milan finished with a 25-7-2 record en route to scoring 65 goals while giving up 24 for a total of 82 points.
Current Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti, who once donned the red-black of Milan, coached that team which also featured the likes of Dida, Cafu, Paolo Maldini, Genarro Gattuso, Rui Costa, Clarence Seedorf, Andrea Pirlo, Kaka, Massimo Ambrosini, Filippo Inzaghi, and Rivaldo.
“The Invincibles”, as the Gunners were nicknamed for that year where they went undefeated all the way to a portion of the 2004-05 season for a total of 49 matches, won 26 games drew 12 and scored 73 goals while giving up 26 for a total of 90 points. Wenger was in his eighth year coaching the club lined up Jens Lehmann, Thierry Henry, Kolo Toure, Ashley Cole, Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Sylvain Wiltord, Gael Clichy, Cesc Fabregas, and Jermaine Pennant among others.
Of that 03-04 Milan team, only Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Inzaghi, and Seedorf are left with the latter being the only non-Italian (the defensive back is Dutch). And despite being embroiled in the match fixing scandal that saw Milan docked eight points for the 2006-07 season, the Rossoneri won the Champions League that year. But it was the last gasp as the ageing team floundered.
Milan have somewhat addressed their age problems by bringing in three disgruntled football players in forwards Zlatan Ibrahimovic (late of Barcelona), Robinho (Manchester City), and Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria enfant terrible). Their midfield got bigger with the addition of Ghana internationalist Kevin Prince Boateng.
While playing 442 or 433, Milan has found itself utilizing Zambrotta in a more attacking fashion in the midfield to support its new strikers. The strategy has mostly flourished but against 4231 or 4312, the attack from the wings has fizzled out because of the defense’s choke point in the middle.
Setbacks in Europe aside, this current batch of Rossoneri may end Intermilan’s six-year dominance as Serie A champs.
In a huge makeover following the disappointments of succeeding campaigns, Arsenal only has Fabregas left from the Invincibles and it looks more and more likely that after this campaign, he will be headed back to Barcelona where he began his career.
And as the title-chasing Gunners have devolved in Goners, I wonder if the youth and unknown movement that Wenger has espoused has run its course. One would think that it’s about time those young guns got their act together to win a major title but as it is, it isn’t youth but mental toughness and the lack of a pair of commanding center backs to get them going. When you add poor officiating to mix of which they seem to be constant victims of (see the matches against Wigan, Sunderland, Newcastle, and Everton), you throw your hands up and exclaim, “What gives?”
The Gunners are also in a Messi (pun intended for Barcelona’s phenom) situation as they cannot seem to buy a break with all these injuries. The oft-injured skipper Fabregas is not around. And in years past, they have witnessed some horrific injuries (Eduardo) and nagging ones that happen at the worst times (Rob Van Persie, Alex Song, and keepers Manuel Almunia and Wojciech Sczcesny to name a few).
There is a sense that this is a make or break year for Milan and Arsenal. Theoretically, Intermilan is still in the hunt for a seventh straight crown barring a Milan collapse. Conversely, if Arsenal wins its remaining matches, they could salvage the season with a podium finish.
But if things go awry -- as they still painfully can -- then just as the season will change in Europe, maybe it’s time for some of the world’s most decorated football clubs.
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