AC Milan technical director Paolo Maldini has recalled some of the emotions he felt during the Scudetto win and also spoke about the club’s current project.
After a decorated career as a player, Maldini decided to return to Milan when Elliott Management took control of the club in 2018 and he has installed a project that is beginning to reap rewards after last season’s Scudetto win.
Maldini spoke on stage at the 2022 Sport Festival in Trento and he was asked about a number of different topics as part of the event, having been welcomed to the stage amid chants of ‘C’è solo un capitano!’ (There is only one captain). His comments were relayed by MilanNews.
On winning the league last May, your first title as a director…
“Very important and very different, by not playing you do not discharge the adrenaline you accumulate. You have tension before the match but you do not have the opportunity to play. Look, it’s a completely different job. when I came here in 2018 I still had to have a general vision of what a manager must be. Since then I have had a good experience. It has been three wonderful years, a project that has given great satisfaction to the club and to the fans.”
What are the memories of the season that come to mind?
“When I signed for Milan, the moments of difficulty: I felt neither ready nor adequate, Leonardo really taught me a lot, about football and about life. And then the day of the last match in Sassuolo plus the party in Piazza Duomo.”
You start with a particular advantage, that the players are starstruck when Paolo Maldini calls them…
“I start with this advantage, but it is not given only by the fact that I have been part of the history of Milan. The advantage is precisely being linked to this club, that was great in the 50s-60s, and was great in the late 70s, and was great with Berlusconi. It has a history that doesn’t even need to be presented, it speaks for itself. So when a player is called by this club it’s easier believe what is being told, but then they must be true: this way you gain trust.”
On that famous story of having a coffee in Ibiza with Theo Hernandez…
“My first real purchase was Krunic with whom we already agreed the previous year, it was the first thing I did alone. For Theo we first went to talk with Real, with Theo I used the same words I would use with my son. With my players I feel a bit of a father-son relationship, I know very well what are the difficulties that people face at that age. I say that there are beautiful moments but also moments that are delicate, I try to support these guys before these players.”
On those difficulties…
“Various difficulties, because it is a different project from the winning one of Berlusconi’s golden years. You come from difficult years in which you do not qualify for the Champions League, you must therefore tell the players about a credible and winning project, but reduced in costs.
“I feel a bit of a guarantor of the Rossoneri project, and I feel it. It is normal that in a large club people do not have roots, but I have them. I have them since my dad came to play for Milan over 50 years ago, when I went on trial at Linate, when I brought my children…”
On the memory of his debut…
“Far away, they were wonderful years. Adolescence is a fantastic age, at 16 I found myself being a man in an environment full of men. I know what I suffered, I know my insecurities, I I remember the sacrifices well. If I had had someone who had supported me a little more I would have been better. The will is to support my players.”
How did you find the derby in February?
“Giroud is a champion, full stop. He has won a World Cup, plays for the national team, is an exemplary professional. The main characteristic of a champion is that he is humble and a team man. A champion comes out when needed.
“At the beginning he was limited by a few injuries, but then it came out. But it’s the story of many players who knew that this was the opportunity. Internally we knew that this was the opportunity to arrive at a dream, we felt it, we we believed and the results have arrived.”
On Massara and their relationship…
“First of all, the couple was born from a trio, when Leonardo decides to leave I find myself alone and to stay I ask to be able to set up the management team of Milan. I call Zvone Boban first of all, a great friend of mine and great connoisseur of football, then we also needed a sporting director.
“Knowing that Milan were looking for a sporting director I received many phone calls that spoke well of Ricky. I did not know him, but talking to us we talked about our football past: he had made us goals against Pescara and Pavia.
“We had an interview, I liked him so much and we went from there. He is my age. A different path from mine and a different vision, it is fundamental. He is a great connoisseur of football, a great worker. He shares the basic principles of life, and we are practically a de facto couple, we live in symbiosis most of the week. I liked Kjaer as a player, but I didn’t know him in detail: he insisted a lot.”
On the certainty of being able to win the Scudetto…
“There was an idea to transmit. It happened to me also as a player with the last Champions League. There was a first part of the season that was not so good, we didn’t play well in November. I tried with Carlo to get a reaction and we put around this idea of winning the Champions League. With Zaccheroni the same, when we won the Scudetto.
“I am very realistic, but I am a great dreamer. I believe that dreaming is the basis of many sportsmen and many teams. to reach the maximum result. It is something that I have learned over time and that transmits confidence.
“I was not sure I could win the Scudetto, but I believed it: I know what the team is worth. I said this thing here at Christmas, we didn’t have budget for the transfer market: Juventus signed Vlahovic, Inter Gosens, then a small budget came out. I said: ‘I don’t want it, we’re strong as we are’.
On Pierre Kalulu’s explosion…
“At that moment Kjaer was out, like Romagnoli. Tomori had an operation on his meniscus. We had to face 6-7 games with Kalulu and Gabbia. We had crossed our fingers, but they were fundamental.
“The nice thing about last year’s Scudetto is that they were all protagonists: Tatarusanu with the penalty saved in the derby, my son Daniel with the goal at Spezia. The whole group was involved, also thanks to the management of Mr. Pioli who is really in this fantastic.”
What is Cardinale like?
“When in doubt I told him my story (laughs). He comes from a different continent and is used to seeing different sports… It’s like going to lunch with a baseball legend. I told him my origin, my life.
“Gerry is a person who has energy. He wants to do, listen. I like him very much. The idea that is conveyed is a kind of continuity compared to Elliott, they have taken this club that has been restored economically and which now should be able to climb back towards a slightly larger target.”
So are you aiming for the Champions League? Is there any particular promise?
“There is no promise, I can make the promise to you: that of not going beyond your economic limits. All this goes through a restructuring of all Italian football in general, the difference with English football is almost unbearable: the budget difference puts us in difficulty. We have other weapons, such as history and more ideas. The safe limit for the next few years is that of revenues/investments, we will not go beyond our possibilities.”
Are Milan ready for the great Champions League nights?
“The desire, determination and ambitions are there. I want an ambitious team, we are Milan and history speaks for us. It is not a speech to be made only for Milan but for the whole of Serie A, our TV rights are worth too much little for what we are.”
On De Ketelaere’s arrival…
“First of all, the market is dynamic. We tried to sign Botman before Charles, who would have exhausted what was our budget and we would have turned to other players for that role there. Our ideas in May compared to what it happened in the end there is hardly a common thread.
“At this point of our journey we don’t have to sign average players, but with a very great potential: Charles is one of them. He was born in 2001, he showed important things in the Champions League. Time is needed, I know that the fans and the newspapers do not wait, but we must wait.
“I give the example of Platini who did not do well at Juventus for the first six months, then went back to winning everything. A 2001-born player is not ready to take on many responsibilities in a club like Milan, we have to give this balance. We know the ways to help young people grow. Bets are made on young people, not all of them are won but we have very little on him very doubts.”
On Pioli and his ideas…
“I knew him because I played with him in the U21 many years ago. I didn’t know he had this charge on the pitch which is contagious, he releases energy that is incredible. This energy is truly incredible, he manages to transmit every day something exceptional, he shares our projects, our strategies on the market. He takes no excuses. All things we asked for and that he accepted because he is like this.
“He grew and made us grow, he is a born leader. He was considered a normal one, nowadays being normal is already a great thing. Sometimes there are agents who describe their players to me ‘he always trains, he is always on time’. Normal things are now exceptional. It is a special relationship, we confront, we share, we fight.He has finally found an environment in which he can show what he really is as a man and as a coach.”
How does Pioli behave in the mercato?
“Opinions on strategies, on the future. We do not dwell so much on names but on profiles: at the beginning it was not like that. He told us that many of the guys who arrived he did not know. We share ideas on what is needed. For example on the defender, Botman and Tomori are quite different players. At different times you needed first one and then another, then you change your mind and even change your strategy. “
What do you need in January or June? A young striker?
“We are careful what we think it takes, but we have to see how this season goes. If we do the exercise of remembering what we thought before last season it has completely changed everything: you have to be open minded.”
What phrases does Pioli use at Milanello to motivate?
“There are statistics, phrases from opponents, from former teammates or even from former coaches. Maybe even more than a couple of former team-mates. He is a sensitive person, he understands how to stimulate the group and therefore sometimes hangs up something.”
How is Ibra?
“He also knows that recovery is difficult, but when Ricky and I went to him for the renewal proposal we told him that he must have the aim of returning as a protagonist for the second part of the season.
“He started with this idea, he wants to go back to the last season when the few times he had no pain he was a decisive Zlatan. He must be considered a 100% footballer. For the future he should not worry. He has a little bit of this anxiety about having to quit, but it’s normal. Over time you realize that it’s more of an effort to continue. What will he do in the future? He’ll be Zlatan (laughs).”
On the new stadium…
“I must say that the coexistence in recent years has gone well. We shared trophies, the stadium, the square. It is absolutely not a problem to share the stadium. Then I don’t know what decisions will be made in the future.
“It is a stadium full of memories for all the AC Milan fans. But we want to live with memories or create something new to go and create others. Milan does not end with San Siro, it goes on. We have to create something that makes us competitive and that is the stadium, otherwise we really remain to tell each other the things of the past years and it is not something that excites me very much.”
