AC Milan - Europe's Box of Chocolates

"My mom always said life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." -Forrest Gump.

If you like your football with a pinch of the unpredictable and a hint of the haphazard then you could do worse right now than to head over to Italy and get yourself a season ticket at AC Milan. That is because post-Ancelotti, Milan have transformed into one of the most brilliantly inconsistent and therefore fiendishly entertaining teams to be found anywhere in Europe this season.

Seriously. In 2009/2010 thus far, if Leonardo's men aren't off claiming historic Champions League victories in iconic stadia around Europe or pulling out dramatic, rabbit-out-of-the-hat late winners, then you'll surely find them somewhere wilting under the pressure faster than a racist on Question Time. No happy mediums, no comfortable routine and certainly never a dull moment.

A thrilling 2-2 draw against Napoli in Milan's most recent game merely proves the state of flux in which the Rossoneri currently find themselves. 2-0 up and cruising inside six minutes through goals from Pippo Inzaghi and the in-form Alexandre Pato, AC Milan held out until stoppage time at the Stadio San Paolo before caving in spectacularly and conceding two last minute goals to hand Napoli a 2-2 draw.

And that is only the tip of the iceberg. This latest collapse merely exemplifies a running trend for AC Milan at the moment, namely an impressive, increasing ability to turn the sublime into the ridiculous (and vice-versa) with each passing match. Witness the results from Milan's last eight matches:

Napoli 2-2 AC Milan (d)
Chievo 1-2 AC Milan (w)
Real Madrid 2-3 AC Milan (w)
AC Milan 2-1 AS Roma (w)
Atalanta 1-1 AC Milan (d)
AC Milan 0-1 FC Zurich (l)
AC Milan 0-0 Bari (d)
Udinese 1-0 AC Milan (l)

The results are topsy-turvy enough, but mentioned alone they fail to convey even half the story. Consider then that four of Milan's last five games have involved result-changing goals in the last ten minutes, two goals in the cases of Chievo and Napoli. With Milan, like a drunk's standards on the pull at a nightclub, everything changes late on.

Against Napoli they were winning comfortably and drew. Against Chievo they were losing and won. At the Santiago Bernabeu Milan were losing, then winning, then drawing, then finally won. They had to come back from a losing position again to beat Roma (though they managed to spare their fans at least part of their fingernails in that one, turning the game on it's head around the 66th minute mark). And the pattern holds firm in the Atalanta game, which required an 83rd minute Ronaldinho equaliser to rescue the Rossoneri from defeat.

Hopeless then brilliant, brilliant then hopeless

Such unpredictability is the result of a Milan side that has become a drama-inducing melange of slapstick defending mixed with the occasional moment of attacking genius. Dida is hopeless one minute (i.e. his mistake for Raul's goal in the Champions League), brilliant the next (i.e. his match-winning point blank save in the dying moments against Chievo). The full backs Zambrotta and Oddo are about as solid as the contents of a swimming pool. The midfield is unreliable, but with players like Seedorf, Pirlo and Ronaldinho around, capable of magic whenever so inclined. And the strikers - Inzaghi, Pato, Borriello and Huntelaar, are either very good (Pato vs Madrid/Inzaghi vs Napoli) or very bad (Huntelaar vs just about anyone).

For Leonardo the pressure that comes with such fluctuating fortunes rarely appears to impact on his altogether suave demeanour, but internally he must be experiencing a hell of an emotional rollercoaster.

The rookie Brazilian coach has so far managed to cram a managerial lifetime's worth of career highs and lows into a matter of months. Humiliated by Milan's great rivals Inter 4-0 one minute, beating his chest in triumph at the Bernabeu the next - all sandwiched between the contrasting bleak reportage of rumoured replacements and warm declarations of support from Milanello's higher powers.

Where previously Leonardo has flitted tactically between a 4-4-2 and a 4-3-3 formation, he seems to finally be settling on a 4-3-3 that allows flair players like Ronaldinho and Pato slightly more space and time on the ball as prongs in an attacking trident either side of the main striker (usually Inzaghi). But a final decision on formations is needed as soon as possible if Milan are to gather any consistency to take forward into the winter months.

As things stand right now, AC Milan lie 5th in the table after 10 games, 6 points behind league leaders Inter who have a game in hand. Their record reads played 10, won 4, drawn 4, lost 2. Are Leonardo's men capable of mounting a serious title challenge? If not do they at least have enough to qualify for the Champions League again?

The way the team is playing, and with the purse strings apparently being tightened by Silvio Berlusconi and the men at the top, it is almost impossible to tell which way the Rossoneri are heading next. What we do know however is that to watch and find out will be thrilling enough. Like Forrest said, you never know what you're gonna get.