Zvonimir Boban's Stinging, Deserved Criticism Heightens Scrutiny on AC Milan

The truth is never far from Zvonimir Boban.

He played with AC Milan for 11 seasons. But he is not afraid to rip up the team he loves.

He is a television pundit now, with the benefit of distance. His voice has strengthened over the past couple of years, just as Milan's struggles have worsened. 

He's like any true friend, telling Milan and their fans not what they want to hear but what they may not. "I love Milan so the situation saddens me," he told Il Corriere della Sera (h/t Rossoneri Blog). "The fans feel cheated."

His honesty is brutal. He has called them mediocre, a team without any fight or character and, in one word, a disgrace.  

A 1-1 draw against Sampdoria last Sunday set off Boban again. 

"[Filippo] Inzaghi does not have a great game plan," the Croatian told Sky (h/t Goal.com). "But it's hard to get them to run together. There's a bit of anarchy. It's very tough."

LUCA BRUNO/Associated Press

Anarchy is the perfect description. Milan tend to line up in a 4-3-3 formation, but they don't really play with that system in mind. Jeremy Menez is usually doing his own thing, while Alessio Cerci makes his runs on the right wing and Mattia Destro waits in no man's land for the ball.

There is no link between midfield and attack. Everything on the field just happens—often by accident, like the own goal that tied up the game against Sampdoria.

"I have realised the value of the Milan squad," Boban said. "It's very difficult to be satisfied after a game like that."

The club does not look so bad on paper. A midfielder like Nigel de Jong or a winger like Cerci would start on Sampdoria and Torino—two squads ahead of Milan in the standings. This team is not simply mediocre: They are poorly managed.

At the same time, they are not Milan quality. They don't carry the tradition of winning. They don't always go hard for a full 90 minutes or impose their game on their opponents. The fact that they have dropped 21 points in Serie A this season only proves that this team has the wrong attitude.

"It's almost impossible to create a team with these players," Boban said. "I don't understand what they offer."

They don't offer much hope to their fans, who have protested the past two home games with banners and chants. 

"

#SAVEACMILAN pic.twitter.com/2tD8QZcthA

— AC Milan Club NYC (@ACMilanNYC) April 12, 2015"

If Milan had put in the kind of effort that Boban gave every game, maybe the results would not hurt so much. More concerning than the defeats and the draws and the lost points is the style of play—or lack thereof. Milan concede more shots (14.2) than they attempt (12.8) per game, according to Whoscored.com. Their average possession hovers just above 50 per cent. They are truly unspectacular. 

Joint CEO Adriano Galliani will spin it every which way. He'll repeat just how much the great president Silvio Berlusconi has done for the fans, how he saved the team from bankruptcy, how the fans should be "forever grateful," per Football Italia. It's all about resting on laurels at this point.

Boban cuts through all the bluster and tells it like it is.