In his first press conference as AC Milan tactician, rookie coach Leonardo said that he wanted to see a Rossoneri that in its coming season would put the emphasis on playing entertaining, offensive-minded football.

We all know what happened from there.

The circumstances were anything but ideal. The close to zero activity in the player mercato combined with the lack of real training resulted in a disastrous preseason. On top of that, Leonardo missed the key components to his preferred 4-3-3 system-high quality fullbacks.

The bright start against Siena on the opening matchday was followed by the 4-0 onslaught at the hands of their city rivals, Inter Milan. As the Diavolo followed up with more mediocre performances and goalless stalemates against teams such as newcomers Livorno and Bari, it naturally resulted in the papers calling Leonardo's future into question.

The past season was an end of an era in many ways for AC Milan.

Club legend and icon Paolo Maldini played his last game for the Rossoneri after spending a quarter of a century with the team-captaining the side for more than a decade along the way.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti left the bench after eight years in the Italian fashion capital and headed for London to take charge of the Blues.

Star player Ricardo Kaká was recently sold to Spanish titans Real Madrid in order to balance the sheets.

Next season will bring with it a new captain in Massimo Ambrosini, a new coach in former Milan midfielder Leonardo and most likely a handful of new additions from the summer's mercato.