Milan's Season Hopes Rest On Ronaldinho

To get straight to the point, Milan need Ronaldinho back in form by this weekend and, in particular, by next Tuesday if Milan’s season is to not end up being a huge disappointment. If Ronaldinho does not get back into his smiling groove, then Milan will struggle to beat Udinese, a game they must win, and Milan will be up against it when they take on Manchester United in the Champions League.

With no major arrivals in the summer before this season’s campaign and with many Milan fans, myself included, not expecting too much as a result, especially after a dismal preseason campaign, the Milan hierarchy talked up the team’s chances and pinned their hopes of success on a player that seemed well and truly passed his best. This player of course being Ronaldinho.

Despite Ronaldinho’s dramatic decline from the football stratosphere, the Milan board pinned their hopes of success this season on Ronaldinho in what was no less a highly risky strategy. Sure, we all know Ronaldinho has phenomenal talent and in his prime he truly mesmerised all fans with his array of tricks, dinks, flicks, and passes. Ronaldinho at his best was capable of winning titles and trophies single handedly. But Ronaldinho had not been at his best for some time and relying on the re-emergence of a star was risky, to say the least.

However, after a poor start to the season for both Ronaldinho and Milan, Ronaldinho did eventually become good and consequently Milan’s results improved dramatically. It was the game against Roma when Ronaldinho and Milan started to turn things around. After going down a goal, Milan came back to win largely due to Ronaldinho, who converted his spot kick before sending Pato through to score the winning goal.

From this match on, Milan entered a great period of the season where they would go on to record 12 victories, four draws, and only one loss. Milan’s upswing in form was largely due to the re-emergence of Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho started to enjoy his football again and established himself as Milan’s new talisman. He started to display all the tricks, dinks, flicks, and passes that he used to mesmerise the football world week in, week out during his days in Catalunya.

Most importantly, Ronaldinho was scoring and creating goals again as he went on to collect a total of nine goals and eight assists during this golden patch for both player and club. When Ronaldinho is on song, not only does he help the team to score goals, but he inspires the team to greater heights. For watching Ronaldinho on song is a truly joyful experience. It is the epitome of everything that is beautiful about the game and it is nothing short of inspirational.

However, the fairytale run all came to an end in the Milan derby in a match that Ronaldinho failed to make a mark. Since the derby, Ronaldinho’s form has dropped off and through no coincidence Milan’s results have suffered.

With Ronaldinho on form, Milan are a completely different outfit. But when he is not, the team seems lost for ideas in the attacking third, as the match against Bologna highlighted.

Unless Ronaldinho gets back into form, the outlook for both the player and club are not good. Ronaldinho will most likely miss out on the World Cup and Milan will struggle to make a challenge for the Scudetto or make it past Manchester United in the Champions League. That is why it is of the utmost importance that Ronaldinho finds his form again, for Milan’s season depends on it.