Paolo Maldini talks about his work with Leonardo, how Boban was better with players and his resignation after Ragnick news.
Diego Guido has published a book about the life of Paolo Maldini, former AC Milan legend and current technical director of the Rossoneri club. Interviewed by Guido, Paolo Maldin has revealed several interesting backstories on what has happened at the club in recent years. “The truth is that after the sacking of Zvone Boban, I was also out. We were very direct between ourselves in telling each other what we didn’t like about each other’s ideas. Then there is the football knowledge. If I know anything about players, he knows a lot. I admit without any problem, he is much better than me at analyzing the game and players. He saw things I didn’t notice. And we complemented each other very well. He watched the midfielders and attacking players more, I focused more on the defenders“.
TIME WITH LEONARDO – The book also talks about Maldini’s relationship with Leonardo: “I felt unfit to accompany him for the first six months. I knew so many things, I already had many ideas. But on a practical level I had to learn a new job. I really started giving my input when Leo told me he was leaving. There I said to myself “what the f*ck is going on now?”. I didn’t feel secure to conduct transfer negotiations. There are specificities of the job that I still had to investigate. Then I started having to do it myself and it became the most natural thing in the world. I understood what to say and what not to say. How to change register based on the agent, those who you need to speak clearly with and those you need to use the most diplomacy. If you’ve always been in this world and you use common sense, these are things that come very easy. And it’s nice to do them“.
RALF RANGNICK – The story of Ralf Rangnick when one year ago he seemed ready to become the new Milan coach. “I remember that we had talked about it here (in his office), me and Boban. I told him that I was tired, that I had to say things. And so I publicly said what I felt was right. He had done the same thing later. Nevertheless, remaining until the end of the season out of ‘sense of responsibility’. Towards the coach and towards the players I always talked to. Towards Milan. I told myself I had to get to the end of the season. At that point, with the agreement with Rangnick completed, I would have left. But then things changed and now I’m here“.
DISCOVERING A PLAYER – “It gives me great satisfaction to follow a player, to choose him, to be able to bring him here and see that he plays well. With young players, perhaps who also come from other countries, there are so many variables. To succeed is very nice. We have brought many young boys for the first team or the Primavera. With them you don’t just meet the boy and the agent, but also the mother, the father, the brothers. The parents ask me to take care of their children. I respond that I too am a father, who will look after their children and they are always welcomed. On a human level I think I am inclined to pass on certain things to children and their families”.
MALDINI’s WORK – Here is how Paolo Maldini carries out his work, in hos own words. “I like to do my job following my principles, without being influenced by the moment, by the low budget available and from the possible decline in the team’s results“. On player signings: “It’s not always possible to reach an agreement. Sometimes you have to leave certain players you wanted to sign and face this in a balanced way. Balance is good for me and good for them, because then the relationship remains. As always, the important things are respect and honesty. When you are honest what can they reproach you for? That you didn’t buy Messi? I never told you I had the means to do it“.
HIS IDEAS – “If I think of my ideas when I arrived, sporting ideas I mean, and what I have now, the world has changed. I have completely different visions. I have changed them also thanks to internal conflicts with ownership, in confrontations with ideas different from mine, with people different from me. I have seen so negative or so positive results that I would have never expected. I had certainties that I had to question and change. Now my vision is different, but probably if you ask me in two years it will still be different“.
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