Whoa. What the Hell Happened to Maldini?
By: Martha | September 20th, 2007
Paolo Maldini, normally among the calmest men on earth, is really, really pissed off today. And it’s not at, say, Ronaldo for being fat, or Gila for being useless. Instead, he’s furious with Milan supporters, who he feels don’t actually live up to that whole “support” thing.
The immediate motivation for his mini-rant was apparently the relative silence at the San Siro during the Benfica match (it better be only that, and not the ovation they gave Rui Costa), but Maldini’s statement is very broad, taking in pretty much ALL home matches, and actually blames the fans for the team’s failure to win the the home leg of the Milan derby last season. Damn. Basically, this is Roy Keane’s rant against Man U fans — without the prawn sandwiches, perhaps, but with the same amount of intense anger. Maldini’s pissed at everyone, from the Ultras in the Curva to the folks in the boxes: Everyone who sings “We have Milan in our hearts” and then settles down to quietly take in match, making the San Siro feel like “a neutral pitch.”
Wow. Something we don’t know about much have gone down to motivate this — I mean, Maldini’s not made a rash, thoughtless move in 20 years, and he’s sure not going to start now. And It’s not as if this was a post-match press conference in which he was super amped up or something: He went to the press to put it out there, so the whole thing was clearly very calculated. Thoughts, Milan fans?
Also: Milan host Parma on Saturday. Do you think this rant will be enough to sell the San Siro out? That’s a lotta seats, and a not particularly exciting opponent.
Edit: For what it’s worth, those in the know suggest this is connected to the Ultra leaders who were arrested ahead of last year’s Champions League final and not allowed to travel to Athens. Their reaction has apparently been to stop leading chants, trying to punish the club for having the nerve to want “just football.” It’s so rare for teams to publicly contradict their major fan groups that it’ll be interesting to see how they respond to this (clearly very authorized) confrontation.
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Comments
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As has been mentioned elsewhere, some shit must have hit some fan somewhere, because Maldini does not say things unnecessarily. Nor would the Mighty Milan Media Machine let him.
I am simply curious as to what particular shit and what particular fan are involved, and how much of the action of hitting the public will be allowed to see. (Did I take that metaphor too far?)
Posted from
United States
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If fan´s reaction was less impassioned than what it could have been ( and they were brilliant, marvelous at welcoming back Rui Costa), I wonder if that has anything to do with the weekend´s tie and scudetto hopes. Because an european champion resting its main players like Kaka who is 25 or so, for the very first CL match in SEPTEMBER, at home against Benfica who is full of injuries and whose main squad had played on the weekend does look fainthearted to me.
Posted from
Portugal -
a lot of it has to do with the boos gila gets.. its hard to say that booing one player on your team does not affect the rest of your team’s morale… things like that dont usually happen at milan… its not like we are real madrid, where madrid players get booed on a regular basis by the santiago bernabeau (doubt thats the right spelling but who cares..).. maldini is obviously trying to protect gila.. and its probably a good move..
i think or i hope the reaction will be positive… whatever maldini wants… maldini usually gets.. i dont think there are many fans out there who would go against il capitano..
Posted from
United States -
BC — I don’t think they rested Kaká entirely because of the midweek CL tie. Kaká had flown home from the Brazil games in the States on Thursday, and was undoubtedly more tired than usual from the time difference and the long plane ride. As a Werder Bremen fan, I watched Diego play for Werder on Friday, and he was an absolute disaster. Kaká Diego is not, and Kaká did have an extra day to rest, but I can’t imagine that his game would have been spectacular, or that it would have been good for his health.
Similarly with the other players Ancelotti rested for the Sienna game — it was not merely because there was a CL match coming up, but also because they were all coming back from a midweek game for their national sides. (And Pirlo had a calf strain and couldn’t play, and you know how Milan plays without Pirlo.)
Milan is suffering from the curse that all really good teams are under — too many good players and you have half your team out for internationals, and then you have to play in two or three competitions outside the usual league games. It’s not healthy for anyone to play that often, no matter what they say in the EPL, so you have to decide when you can rest your players. Milan decided they were going to sacrifice a game against Sienna (which wasn’t much of a sacrifice, considering it was Sienna and they were probably pretty confident they could walk away with at least a draw) in order to not exhaust their players.
It is times like these that, as a Milan fan but not an Italy fan, I am grateful to Nesta for making the decision to retire from country to last longer for club.
Posted from
United States -
Friends, i appreciate all the support everyone shares in the offsides comments page. And now i am in need of your support.
I have planned a trip to Milan from the states in late april to see some matches at the meazza. I am wondering if there is any place were people like myself can find out EXACT match days. I was in Italy last spring and was shocked at how many matches were scheduled on different days than those on espnsoccernt etc.
Can anyone provide help for me? I would be extremely grateful.
ROSSO NERI PER SEMPRE
Michael
Michael
Posted from
United States -
Michael: Try the official Lega Calcio site. My general expierience is that times and exact days are let out when coming up to the match. For example the match that is the late evening match on Sunday is known after the all the last weeks fixtures are completed. Another thing to factor the fixtures is if the team is playing in Europe.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
Michael - I too, have fallen foul of this and believe the main reason for changes to schedules at the last minute is due to which matches are to be shown on the television. The only thing for it is to keep checking the Lega Calcio site as above, or use the Milan website. I’ve found that the only way to avoid disappointment is to plan a trip to ensure that I am in Milan for all of Saturday & Sunday which covers all eventualities.
As Maldini … the great man has spoken. Take heed!!!!
Posted from
United States -
Benfica had the same problem regarding international break and injuries, most teams do. And injury problem was much worse, you ust need to consider they played two debutantes for central defenders. But Benfica still had to play its best players for the league before travelling out, Benfica fans would not understand if Benfica was already giving up on the league. I guess to me, it seems strange to see Milan, of all teams, already focusing on just one competition in September.
Posted from
Portugal -
this isnt the first time a milan player/official has complained about the crowd.
I think this is an on going problem as its become routine for the curva in particular to protest against the club by not cheering and Dida has been pretty routinely booed if Milan lose
Posted from
Australia
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