I had some free time due to a delayed plane (with wifi) at an airport and was just looking at some stats about consecutive seasons in which we have done poorly in the League -- generally I think of doing poorly as in finishing the season around or lower than 6th.
Milan's worst consecutive runs of seasons, in chronological order, have been:
- Between 1923 and 1926 (8th, 8th, 7th) in what was a generally not great decade;
- Between 1929 and 1931 (11th and 12th);
- Between 1932 and 1936 (11th, 9th, 10th, 11th);
- Between 1938 and 1940 (9th and 8th, but also a Coppa Semi Final);
- Between 1941 and 1943 (10th and 6th, but also went to Coppa Final);
- Between 1965 and 1967 (7th and 8th but we won the Coppa);
- We were relegated twice, first in 1979-80 and then in 1981-1982, first because of the Totonero Scandal, and then because we sucked. We did win Serie B immediately after each relegation, and then were mediocre-ish between 1983 and 1987 (6th, 5th, 7th, 5th). We did win the Mitropa Cup, at that time not such a big deal, during the second relegation season.
- Between 1996 and 1998 (10th and 11th, but went to a Coppa Final);
- Between 2013 and 2019 (8th, 10th, 7th, 6th, 6th and 5th; went to two Coppa Finals, one of which was a humiliating defeat to Juventus, and won a Super Coppa).
All in all, this obviously is not as bad as our very worst crises, but it's pretty damn bad. We've been there and have come back stronger, and it's actually not that uncommon. At the same time, we actually have not been there that many times; not without winning anything like a Cup at least. We are talking about nine of these crises in more than 110 total seasons; less that one crisis per decade. Of course every time it's different, but it would be interesting to see those periods with more details, for example if there's some kind of pattern of rebuilding after each one, or if they follow a particular kind of event (i.e. Rivera retiring or Baresi getting injured).
Milan's worst consecutive runs of seasons, in chronological order, have been:
- Between 1923 and 1926 (8th, 8th, 7th) in what was a generally not great decade;
- Between 1929 and 1931 (11th and 12th);
- Between 1932 and 1936 (11th, 9th, 10th, 11th);
- Between 1938 and 1940 (9th and 8th, but also a Coppa Semi Final);
- Between 1941 and 1943 (10th and 6th, but also went to Coppa Final);
- Between 1965 and 1967 (7th and 8th but we won the Coppa);
- We were relegated twice, first in 1979-80 and then in 1981-1982, first because of the Totonero Scandal, and then because we sucked. We did win Serie B immediately after each relegation, and then were mediocre-ish between 1983 and 1987 (6th, 5th, 7th, 5th). We did win the Mitropa Cup, at that time not such a big deal, during the second relegation season.
- Between 1996 and 1998 (10th and 11th, but went to a Coppa Final);
- Between 2013 and 2019 (8th, 10th, 7th, 6th, 6th and 5th; went to two Coppa Finals, one of which was a humiliating defeat to Juventus, and won a Super Coppa).
All in all, this obviously is not as bad as our very worst crises, but it's pretty damn bad. We've been there and have come back stronger, and it's actually not that uncommon. At the same time, we actually have not been there that many times; not without winning anything like a Cup at least. We are talking about nine of these crises in more than 110 total seasons; less that one crisis per decade. Of course every time it's different, but it would be interesting to see those periods with more details, for example if there's some kind of pattern of rebuilding after each one, or if they follow a particular kind of event (i.e. Rivera retiring or Baresi getting injured).