An in-depth analysis of the causes that led the former Scudetto Champions to fall short of retaining their throne in Serie A
The 2011-12 Serie A has been an absolute roller-coaster ride for almost all the teams in Italy’s top flight. While the dazzle of the speeding cart left many a fans in awe of the game, the canter did not spare the participating
teams from having their fair share of surprises. One of the greatest of these surprises was the fall of the Diavolo, a team that remained the convincing front-runner of the league for most part of the season, only to hand over the Scudetto to the Old Lady.
Although the Rossoneri ranks continue to suggest that their defeat was not a function of their inadequacies, but the result of the numerous injuries throughout the season, one does begins to question whether the alibi of an injured
season stands for a team that mounted a six-point lead over the eventual winners, while suffering the same wounds. Then how can one forget the frequent display of overconfidence of the star-studded Diavolo, or their misplaced belief in self-invincibility,
always raising the question as to the real cause of their fall from the Serie A throne.
AC Milan’s injury woes were mainly underlined by Gennaro Gattuso’s eye problem and their striker Antonio Cassano’s heart-surgery that kept him out for most part of the season. The injury woes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alexandre-Pato-c4901 also did not help
in this regard. Then there were the occasional ruffles from ageing veterans, and the injury of Brazilian Thiago Silva in the final phase of the season.
However, looking at the rest of the squad, we see that with the presence of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robinho-c31382 in the attack, there was no shortage of firepower in the ranks of the Milan outfit. In the same way the midfield and the
defense also had enough juice to prosper with the remaining talent, a fact that was proven by the Rossoneri’s position as the front-runner for most of the season.
On the other hand you cannot count out the blow to the Diavolo’s solidarity in the defense after Thiago Silva was ruled out during a decisive phase of the season. One can conform to a fair bit of sympathy for the Diavolo, for the
little bit of bad fortune that helped to pull them down.
Moreover, AC Milan injury was not just confined to the physical state of players, but extended to their mental state. The Rossoneri’s ego was evidently led to believe through confidence of the Champions as well as due to the smooth
sailing ahead of the pack in Serie A, that they were on road to winning an easy Scudetto. The feeling of over confidence and its decaying effects for the Diavolo was admitted by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thiago-Silva-c34903, who realized in January that Juventus were starting to catch up,
and urged the Milan outfit to pull up their socks. So the factor also undoubtedly weighed on AC Milan, and helped bring them down to the runners-up position.
Long in short, the Rossoneri captured 82 points in the 2010-11 season, while only managed to score 80 in their last campaign. Making space for the injury and complacency issues, the Rossoneri could easily have avoided dropping
a couple of points to take their tally at par with the previous year. However, Juventus scored an amazing 84 points to take the Serie A crown through an unbeaten season, something that is almost unheard of in the topsy-turvy nature of Italian football.
So it can be rightly concluded that while AC Milan could have done better without the complacency and injury issues, it was the sheer quality of the juggernaut Juve that outclassed them to capture the Scudetto. While shaking off
the complacency would have allowed them to give the eventual Champions a tougher time, but when amassing the momentous achievement of the Bianconeri against all odds, it can truly be said that Juventus truly deserved the victory, and the Diavolo more than
just the victims of complacency or injuries, were victims of a great Old Lady.
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