History is rewritten. Less exciting, less addictive and far less successful, but the Milan-Dutch duo is back in fashion at Milanello. Once upon a time there was the Milan of Rijkaard- Van Basten- Gullit, managed by Sacchi and Capello, a team that ruled the roost in Italy and Europe changing the way of understanding football. The images are in colour, the memories are vivid, but the era is far away. The Milan of today has three more Dutch players, Van Bommel, Emanuelson and Seedorf, unparalleled in talent and quality to their predecessors, but are writing the pages of the Rossoneri history.

The former Bayern Monaco, of the three, is the most needed by Allegri, who considers him irreplaceable. Emanuelson has not yet managed to express himself at a high level, but is gaining the confidence of the coach and team mates, more attacking midfielder than internal midfield. Then there is the 35 year old Seedorf, the man of the four Champions League wins, that when the pace is high can still make a difference and score decisive goals, as against Chelsea.


It would be difficult for this ‘orange’ group to do better then the wonderful trio Rijkaard -Van Basten- Gullit, but it is equally unlikely to do worse than Kluivert -Bogarde- Davids, of the season 1997-1998, with Capello on the bench. The three racked up just 34 appearances (27 only Kluivert, with six goals scored), with misunderstandings between coach and staff and unprofessional attitudes off the field.