Re: Serie A Thread - 2010/11 Season
Gerd said:
I'm sorry to rain on your parade. I have the same image about Maldini as being a class guy.
But that doesn't always guarantees success in the ruthless world of football.
You only have to look at Gianfranco Zola...not exactly the biggest success as a coach.
yup, i perfectly see your point Gerd. but u see, zola actually is a perfect example to make my point more clear. gianfranco is a great man.... i mean, leaving aside his skills as a football player (wich are not relevant to my point), he's a very humble man, he's always so kind and polite and classy. he's truly a stand up guy and i have huge respect for him. but as much as i respect him, i can't honestly say he strikes me as a particularly clever and educated man.... wich is absolutely normal, as, being an ex football player, he never invested much time and resources into his education process (nor did his parents).
but as for Paolo, like i said, if u were to talk with him without knowing who he is, u would NEVER imagine he's "just" a football player (pretty much like platini...... actually even more than platini).
besides, keep in mind we're not talking about coaching here, we're talking about a role in milan's board (as a team director or something like that). coaching is a very peculiar activity, wich doesn't necessarily have much to do with intelligence or culture.... with all due respect i consider myself much more educated and cultured (and probably intelligent too) than most of the coaches out there... but that doesn't mean i'd be a better coach than them. succeding as a coach requires a very peculiar set of skills... if u have those skills, u might aswell be an ignorant buffoon, u will still be a great coach (and vice versa, u might aswell be a university professor and still be terrrible at coaching).
but being a team director is different.... it's a "field position" u get to confront yourself with other players and other ex-players, so "you're never in over your head". the pressure and the mediatic exposure is much more easy to handle than it is for a coach and having a good image can help u a lot. Paolo could certainly handle himself in this world much better than many team directors out there, who don't have his class and image, nor is intelligence and culture....... just think of branca (inter), conti (roma) blanc (former juve gm, now working for psg).
the team director position is really no big challenge. coaching is certainly difficult, being a gm (general manager) is certainly very difficult, but those are completely different kind of positions and paolo always said he didn't wanna become a coach. he could easily occupy position leonardo's position at milan (leo was a great team director, before deciding to become a coach..... very bad call!)
i think zeem nailed it here. not only maldini isn't afraid to speak his mind..... it's absolutely impossible to get him to say in public something he doesn't agree with. he values his dignity over pretty much everything and he's the exact opposite of a bum-licker. like zeem remarked, he's already questioned his own employers (former employers) several times....... he's never performed any cheesy act just to win his fans over (like most football players do).....
he actually had the balls to openly criticize his own fans, whenever he felt "they were not meeting the high standards of class of a proper milanista" (i've never seen a player doing and saying what he did and said on several occasions, like after the CL final with liverpool or on his last match).
so yeah, like zeem, i also believe berlusconi thinks it could be tricky to have an "uncontrollable" open minded guy in the board. wich is something i could also agree with (at least it makes sense from berlusconi's perspective)....... but still, come on, we're talking about paolo maldini here.... this shouldn't even be a choice.... he's has been milan's image for 20 years. he epitomizes the class and elegance that became a trademark of milan over the last 30 years (and he actually is part of the reason why milan gained such a shiny image in terms of style and "savoir faire")....... he
IS milan!.... just like facchetti and is inter and scirea and and del piero are juventus.
PLF said:
Ben and others, we've all discussed how Europa League is NOT a priority for Italian clubs and how they treat it very casually most often in the past.
But how do you think clubs treat their Coppa Italia duties? I think they take it more seriously than Europa League and actually do try but how much? How important is it for clubs to do well in this competition or to win it?
like stef said, italian clubs have changed their approach towards coppa italia over the last 6\7 years. it used to be snubbed just like europa league, but now every club takes it very seriously. top clubs, midclass clubs and relegation contenders, they all try to field their best formations for coppa italia fixtures now.
i remember last season when palermo played the semi-final against milan... i was expecting milan to line up a formation filled with backups, as the rossoneri had much bigger fishes to fry those days (the scudetto), but they came out with their very best 11 and really played their hearts out.
i'm not sure what's the reason of this sudden change of mentality about this cup, but it's evident now everybody cares about coppa italia (and i forn one wellcome this change).
