During an event organised by BMW, the Automotive Partner and Premium Partner of AC Milan, coach Stefano Pioli spoke to the media which was not exactly usual, as reported by Milannews.it:
What relationship do you have with this city?
"Milan is a beautiful city, modern, lively, avant-garde. Favorite areas? I really like walking, in the evening I go out for dinner with my wife and we like to walk to the downtown area."
On the BMW which Pioli drives:
"It is beautiful, comfortable and elegant. I like powerful cars not because I go too fast but because I like to know that if I feel like it, then I would go fast.
BMW and Milan are great brands, is driving a BMW car similar to driving AC Milan's football team?
"Absolutely yes, you are aware that you have something prestigious, important at your disposal. It stimulates you, it motivates you to give your best."
Has being a coach and always being on the move changed you?
"Absolutely yes, our way of traveling is special. When we travel in the pre-game we see nothing, we are focused on the game. We have consolidated habits so for example if we go to play in Rome, Naples or Turin I hardly leave the hotel. Luckily my wife is a travel lover, she allowed me not to say to travel all over the world, which is still something we plan to do in the future, but to visit many beautiful places. My wife likes monuments, churches, streets, but I like to travel to see people. Maybe she goes inside the church, I stay outside to look at their habits, what they do, how they dress. I also like to go to little-known places to understand how ordinary people behave."
Does your wife do everything or do you book?
"There is a rule in our family: I do a job where I have to make choices every day, about other things, especially about holidays, she always decides, I never know where she takes me. If it surprises me? Sometimes yes. Most of the time she gives me some clues, but she always chooses. It never happened that she took me to a place I didn't like."
Being a grandparent:
"I've always heard it said that becoming a grandparent is a fantastic emotion, you lose your head a little and that's actually happening. Being a grandparent gives you different awareness. This summer I enjoyed it a lot, cycling on the seat, on the stroller. Now he is two years old, he starts talking and communicating. He has already touched the ball, but now he is in the toy cars moment. My daughter obviously watches all the AC Milan matches, he has learned the name of Kessie and it is wonderful because while we were watching the European matches he would throw himself on the ground and say “What a foul Kessie” (laughs). I have now given him Franck's complete kit."
Which is more difficult, being a football coach or being a father?
"No. Among other things, I train boys who are much younger than my children. Especially we who have many foreign children, who come from other countries and other cultures and are here alone, have figures like me and my collaborators, with whom they can talk about their difficulties, their habits, what they need, I believe that it is also useful for them to have less difficulty in this new experience."
Are there similarities in being a coach and a father, then?
"“In my vision, yes, especially in my players to emphasize behaviors, attitudes… Clearly at 18 you still can't have everything well defined about how you have to behave, as a professional and as a person. Everything they are thinking of doing, I have already done 30 years ago, trying to give them advice on situations they can face I think it can help them grow. Our kids are 20 years old, but if you think about it, our environment makes you grow up quickly and therefore they seem more adults. But then when you go to talk to them they really look like 19-20 year olds, with their thoughts and worries. Then they always seem so bold but that's not always the case. But then working and living this reality like AC Milan and these pressures for a young boy is not so simple."
Can love help a coach become a stronger man?
"Yes. If you are right in your life and in love, your internal balance can help you perform better. I feel good in everything I do, I feel I can give everything I have and more. When something is wrong, your balance is affected and you are unable to express all your potential."
On CEO Ivan Gazidis' courage to announce his illness:
“I was impressed by his serenity, his strength will also be our strength. Seeing him so determined, serene and convinced that he can face this battle and be able to win it is giving us an emotion that we feel. The whole world of Milan is with Ivan because he is one of us and we are a family, he knows that now we are thinking of him. Forza Ivan."
Tell us an anecdote about your mother Marialuisa:
"I know that my brothers and my nephews when they see the game with my mother can't manage it, it's very impulsive and very volcanic."
Mister, am I wrong if I associate your passion and these clear ideas with the figure of your father, Pasquino, who gave you the noble feeling of love for football?
"The best memory, the best feeling is that with my father I always felt safe, he always gave me a strong security. I saw in him a serious and responsible figure. My father had two jobs all his life, his passion for football took us around. My father has always given me the value of being a serious, polite person who tries to do the best to be calm and balanced. My father and my mother shared the tasks. Even if I played badly or made some mistakes for my father there was always some justification, but my mother was and is much tougher in the judgments and that's right."
Giving up something that belongs to you to give it to the group is part of the Milan style, right?
"I must say that the Milan style and the sense of belonging that we breathe and experience every day at Milanello is now within us. It is true that it must always be cultivated, stimulated, rekindled, but there is always this strength and team spirit, even seeing the new guys: Giroud, Maignan… They are all guys who have important values and are people of depth. Then, of course, you can't just have nice people and normal players, we have to combine certain moral values with technical qualities that are always important. It is too early to say where we can go, the important thing is to be ambitious. We have to be, knowing that there will be difficulties, but if you have great ambitions, you can overcome the obstacles. I think this group has a great desire to do well and to honor the jersey we are wearing."
Is there something from Basketball in your way of football?
"I am a lover of high-level sports of any kind. At high levels you can always take something on a motivation level or even on a technical level. A little bit, I tried to take from basketball but they are two very different sports. But maybe on the inactive balls we could take something away."
Sea or mountain?
"My favorite vacation would be half and half. I love the sea, but in the end I don't really like being on the beach cooking in the sun. If I had a month to spare, 15 days at the beach and 15 days in the mountains. The mountains are more relaxing, there are also many things to do. I like cycling. I like to walk, I like to eat, play a game of cards. This year with the joy of the fact that we became grandparents we preferred to stay in Versilia close to our daughter with the opportunity to often see the grandson. We stayed in Versilia except for 5 days when we visited a friend in Formentera."
The mountain inspires you for a nice bike ride, right?
"My other great sporting passion is definitely cycling. I like to practice it and also to see it. I love Magrini's commentary, it thrills me. A few years ago I was stronger and did some good laps. It relaxes me. I like to go with my close friends but also alone when I need to feel comfortable and think. I like it when I can go to the Parma hills where there is no traffic", concluded Pioli.
