Building the best AC Milan lineup since the 90s

Let’s have some fun creating a Milan top 11, taking into consideration only the players who have worn the Rossoneri shirt starting from 1990. What will come out of this will surely be a stellar team, but certain choices are nearly impossible to make: Tassotti or Cafu? Nesta or Costacurta? Shevchenko or Inzaghi? For this reason, I decided to pick two players for each position, turning Milan’s top 11 into a “top 22.” However, some luxury exclusions will still be present, since in the Berlusconi era many champions wore the Rossoneri shirt.

The formation chosen is a 4-3-1-2

Milan’s strongest goalkeepers of the last 30 years

Let’s start with the pair of goalkeepers chosen for Milan’s top 11: Dida and Sebastiano Rossi. The former, although not completely reliable, was loved by fans for his moments of grace in the early 2000s. A few too many blunders, yes, but also several miraculous saves that contributed greatly to the successes of the Ancelotti era. Sebastiano Rossi, Milan’s goalkeeper of the '90s, was just as much a winning goalkeeper as Dida. His résumé includes an unbeaten streak record that lasted for 22 years: he kept a clean sheet for 929 consecutive minutes.

Excluded: Donnarumma, who has good chances of making this lineup in a few years, and Abbiati, another solid goalkeeper who made club history.

Milan’s strongest defenders of the last 30 years

Center backs: In our 4-3-1-2, having to choose two players for each position, we’ve included 4 central defenders. Franco Baresi, one of the strongest defenders in football history, is obviously a must. We continue with his long-time partner Billy Costacurta, a defender as strong as he was successful. The remaining two spots go to Nesta and Thiago Silva, who were also a duo, albeit for only a few years. Probably the last two great champions Milan had in this role.

Among the luxury exclusions: the Dutch giant Jaap Stam and current captain Alessio Romagnoli.

Fullbacks:

This one is fairly simple. First of all, Paolo Maldini, who needs no introduction. In his same position we also find Serginho, an attacking left-back from the 2000s. On the right, his teammate and fellow national team player Cafu, who found a second youth at Milan after spending much of his career at Roma. Mauro Tassotti completes the missing defensive slot in Milan’s top 11 — a player who dedicated his entire career to Milan, both on the pitch and after retirement as an assistant coach.

Not included, among others: Theo Hernandez, Panucci, and Helveg.

Milan’s strongest midfielders of the last 30 years

Here the choices start getting trickier. Let’s begin with the central players of our diamond midfield.

Central midfielders: At the core of the midfield we have two great champions from two different eras and with different characteristics. We’re talking about Andrea Pirlo and Frank Rijkaard. The former, under Ancelotti’s guidance, was one of the greatest playmakers in the history of Italian and international football. The Dutchman, on the other hand, was a ball-winning midfielder with high quality as well. He remains one of the icons of Sacchi’s magnificent Milan.
Mezzali (side midfielders): Let’s start with the two great players in this role from Ancelotti’s Milan: Clarence Seedorf and Gattuso. Together with Pirlo, they formed for years a midfield of incredible quality and quantity. For the other two positions, I had to allow myself a bit of tactical flexibility. In any case, they are players who, at least at some point in their careers, played as mezzali. On the other hand, it would be impossible to leave out Gullit and Savicevic from Milan’s top 11. The Dutchman was a true force of nature and another symbolic player from Sacchi’s Milan. Savicevic, a player who was inconsistent but immensely talented, was the absolute star of the 4–0 victory in 1994 that brought Milan their fifth Champions League title.

Many great names are excluded: Evani, Albertini, Donadoni, Ancelotti, and Desailly among them.

Attacking midfielders (Trequartisti): Kaká definitely deserves a place in Milan’s top 11. Ballon d’Or winner in 2007 and a central figure of that era. For the second slot, it’s a tight race between Rui Costa and Boban. I choose the Portuguese due to his extraordinary technique.

Besides the already mentioned Boban, Leonardo is also excluded.

Milan’s strongest forwards of the last 30 years

Here too, like with the midfield, the choices are truly difficult. Today’s Milan, which struggles so much to find a high-level striker, when looking back, finds a series of goal scorers who made football history.

Forwards:

Let’s start right away with Marco Van Basten. The Swan of Utrecht, despite having had an unlucky career plagued by serious injuries, was probably the strongest center forward in Milan’s history and one of the best players in football history. We continue with Shevchenko, another phenomenon. European champion in 2003 and Ballon d’Or winner in 2004. A spot is then reserved for the beloved Pippo Inzaghi, technically inferior to the first two but just as prolific in front of goal. The night in Athens in 2007 is the cherry on top of a magnificent career. To complete the team comes the hardest face-off of all: George Weah or Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It’s hard to say who was better between the two. Ibra is Ibra, but I choose Weah because of the bigger mark he left on Rossoneri history. And then that coast-to-coast against Verona…

Among the luxury exclusions, therefore, we find Ibra despite his unique talent, but not only him. Also left out is Baggio, who didn’t leave a major mark at Milan as he did with other clubs. The same goes for Ronaldinho. Also excluded are Bierhoff and Pato. But by the way, the Rossoneri still have some firing power in attack, even in the season that has just ended which saw them finish mid-table. In fact, there are AC Milan players among the top scorers in the Serie A such as Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic.