May 24, 2009 was a searing hot day in Milan. The
mercury had risen to around 36 degrees celcius by
kick-off time on the day Paolo Maldini played at
San Siro for the last time, with vendors outside
doing a roaring trade in iced water. It seemed the
picture-perfect scenario for the final farewell to a
footballing legend.
But 25 years of service at AC Milan apparently
counted for nothing. Five Champions League wins
meant squat. Seven Scudetti were now forgotten.
Nine other trophies had also been cast aside in the
minds of fans as banners were held aloft after the
game to greet their captain on his solo lap of
honour not with compliments, but instead with
castigation.
"Grazie capitano. On the pitch you were an
undying champion but you had no respect for
those who made you rich," said one. "For your 25
years of glorious service you have the thanks of
those you called mercenaries and misers," read
another.
His retirement press conference was postponed by
a week, and it was Fiorentina’s supporters rather
than Milan’s who gave the number three a fond
farewell.
The fans’ ire had been raised largely by Maldini’s
refusal to pander to the influential Curva Sud. Their
decision to vent their anger at the Milan squad
upon their return to Malpensa airport following the
2005 Champions League final defeat to Liverpool in
Istanbul was met with the captain’s disgust.
It was
then that he allegedly muttered the incriminating
“mercenaries and misers” comment that would be
used against him upon his retirement, while there
had been other occasions when his words about
the hardcore fans had been considered less than
complimentary.
The imperfect goodbye | Maldini's farewell was
marred by the Curva Sud's insults
“The Ultras claimed on TV at the time that it was
not a direct protest against Maldini, but obviously.
“They
demand respect from the players for their
dedication and support, and they believed that
Paolo had not given them that. It is difficult to say
they were right, but they weren’t entirely without
justification. They love to have their favourites, but
Maldini is just not one of them as a result of what
he said about them.”
That sunny May afternoon remains the last time
Maldini attended San Siro in an official capacity,
but it is not only his sketchy relationship with the
fans which has provided a stumbling block to a
return.
When Adriano Galliani announced his intention to
resign from the position of CEO and vice-president
last week, it was extremely predictable that the
next news to come out of Milanello would involve
Maldini.
True to form, Sky Italia was soon reporting
that Barbara Berlusconi’s first act from her pending
position of increased responsibility would be to
bring in the club legend as a technical director.
The subsequent decision by father Silvio to play
peace-maker and ensure Galliani’s continued
presence at the club, though, has resulted in
Maldini remaining on the outside looking in for the
time being.
When the famed full-back had first announced his
intention to retire from playing, it was considered a
natural next step for him to be offered a new role
at the club in a bid to extend his affinity with the
shirt he had first worn as a junior at the age of 10.
Instead Milan have kept their distance, thanks to a
stand-off which has developed between Maldini
and Galliani.
Leonardo wanted Maldini back to act as a director
of sport, passing on his experience at training
sessions, but Galliani told the pair that no such
role was necessary in modern football.
Massimiliano Allegri later suggested Maldini could
join his staff to act as an advisor and a conduit
between the coach and players, but the former full-
back was again made to feel unwelcome.
“I can destroy this myth that I am 'one of the
family' at Milan,” blasted Maldini to La Repubblica
in 2012 when asked about Galliani’s approach.
“They don’t particularly want me there. I feel bitter,
not just for me but also for everything we created
together that has fallen apart. It’s the same
sensation many of my ex-teammates have.”
Corriere della Sera ’s Alberto Costa tells Goal ’s
Gaia Brunelli that it is the former skipper’s
outspokenness that sparked the stand-off in the
first place.
“He is paying for his lack of diplomacy on the
grandest scale,” says Costa. “His difficult
relationship with the die-hard tifosi is notorious,
and at his farewell press conference he was very
critical about Galliani, saying: 'I’ve never seen a
football club who is ruled by just one person'.
“This was interpreted as a personal attack on
Galliani, and had a huge say in his ongoing exile
from Milan.”
While Maldini has spoken in glowing terms about
his experiences as a Milan player, his refusal to
cite Galliani as a key factor has been telling, as
was his claim last year that nobody currently in
power can take any credit for the club’s successes
of the past.
“I was fortunate to be with Milan for 25 years.
Silvio Berlusconi arrived and taught us to think
big,” said Maldini. “Arrigo Sacchi gave us the
mentality that we’d become the symbol for a style
of football. It was magical.
“But slowly the magic was lost and Milan
transformed into an absolutely normal club. There
is nobody in the current Milan set-up who wrote
history, other than those in marginal roles.
At
Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, the magic is still
being continued by Beckenbauer, Hoeness,
Rummenigge, Butragueno, Gallego and Valdano.
Milan had the magic for 25 years, but then lost it.”
Only a change of leadership at the club is likely to
bring about a return for Maldini, but Galliani’s stay
of execution means that Barbara Berlusconi will
not have the autonomy she’d hoped for when
considering a role for Maldini.
But if Barbara does want the 45-year-old back at
the club, it can’t be in a token position, as Maldini
himself has previously warned.
“I have never considered being a coach, and I
don’t want to be a director because I don’t like
politics.
If I were to remain in football, it would be
in bringing my knowledge to the table. I am not
interested in a role just for the prestige of it.”
For now there is no role at all for him. He has
been linked in the past with Chelsea and Paris
Saint-Germain. There was talk, too, that he could
assist Cesare Prandelli with the Italian national
side. Instead it is Milan that remains his only
focus, but the call has still not arrived.
Football continues to wait for one of its greats to
return to the game.
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