AC Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali released a lengthy interview to those at 'Undici' as he talked about his career and the Rossoneri team. Here are his statements:
"My talent? We realised it immediately. I trained at the beginning with my brother who is 3 years older than me, and with all his teammates. I was the only one from 2000, the only one so small. Then after having some time with them I went back with those of my age and there we understood something. From there to the end of the year I always stayed in Sant'Angelo to live but to play I moved to Lomabrdia Uno in Milan. There was much more work there than in my hometown."
On the steps he took before becoming a midfielder:
"As a child everyone wants to be an attacker and I too started as a striker. And then as time went by it wasn't like I was bored, but I wanted to try new things around the pitch. Then I tried only once, because I became a midfielder and stopped there. It was good."
If he had only football in his mind:
"Everyone starts with the idea of wanting to become footballers as children, but it is difficult to have an idea and be able to carry it to the end. You have to be lucky, you have to be good, and you have to dedicate as much time as possible to football. And a lot of luck, again. It is difficult to say: 'I want to play in Serie A' and then succeed. Many things must suit you."
On what helped him the most:
"I was lucky enough to play in Brescia and to have a president who makes young players play. This is luck more than a quality. Cellino in Brescia gave me this opportunity in the first league game, and I immediately got on the train. It is difficult to see 17-year-olds from the youth sector making their debut in Serie B", said Tonali.
On the early difficulties:
"Up to the age of 13 I did a lot of back and forth: first in Milan, then in Piacenza, finally in Brescia. Then at the age of 14 I stopped in a boarding school for the first time and everything changed there, my whole way of life. I no longer had my parents every day, and even if they called me it wasn't the same thing. Another life has begun. Even waking up in the morning and knowing that you have to fend for yourself during the day, to go to school, then from school to training, maybe organize a dinner out: those are all little things that at 14 you already have to know how to manage. And it's not easy."
What was Tonali like as a child?
"I was a type who spoke little and who always worked hard. I just liked playing."
He added:
"In Brescia I found people and friends who helped me. The first year in boarding school we were six boys, three of whom from the same team and this was important. Spending weeks alone in a boarding school is difficult, and the first days we were only two or three, after training you felt boredom and then the desire to go home, to give up. How I coped? With hours of phone calls: to the friends you will see on the weekend, to the parents who are the basis of everything. And try not to think that you are far from home and that you are 14 and that there is nothing to do apart from school and football."
If it is right to call this destiny:
"More than predestined, since I don't find it a right adjective, in the end I have always been humble. Having played 80 games with Brescia also helped me in the path I have had and since I joined Milan. Even off the pitch, because Serie B gives you experience. I'm not saying it's an experience to be done, but for those who can't play in Serie A right away, it's something they do well because you understand the steps that will be there."
Tonali on if it's better to start from the bottom?
"Yes, we have seen that in recent years a young player tries for the first time in Serie A from the Primavera, after maybe half a season at the top, then there is the risk of speeches such as: 'he is still not ready...' There is no desire to wait for a boy, a team today wants players and people who are ready, who are at the level of the others."
On how he managed his first two years at AC Milan:
"At the beginning, it was difficult. I came at a time when the team was going at 2000 per hour, everything was fine, the results were perfect, so I had to get in carefully. It was a slow process. Then as time went by, Mr. Pioli was important, who came to meet me a lot during the year, it was nice to find very young guys, and very experienced guys like Ibra, who helped me a lot both on and off the pitch, more off the pitch."
On talking a lot with Zlatan Ibrahimovic:
"Yes, he is one who understands immediately if you have half a problem. He is a person who talks a lot and who helps you in any aspect."
What changed this summer for Tonali?
"It happens that a year and a summer have passed, and I had time to rest, take my head off, reset and start again. In football this is something that can give you a second chance, as it happened to me. I had time to think: knowing that Milan still counted on me, that was the fundamental thing, the basis of everything. Then on the pitch I can't tell you what has changed, because something has changed in the head. But from there it was a way that the coach and I always tried to keep this way. Because it was very easy to do well two or three games and then go back to last year's average, so that was the difficult thing."
On What changed in terms of support:
"I think that from last year to this year, playing behind closed doors and playing with the fans are two opposite experiences. Watching the match at the stadium for a fan is another thing, you see two parts of the pitch at the same time, you can see what your goalkeeper and the opposing goalkeeper are doing at the same time. And then the warmth of the fans, for us, this year gave us something more. In my opinion, nothing has changed, only that the fans are back and are watching the matches and are happier. That's what football was missing", declared Sandro Tonali.
On the AC Milan team:
"A nice thing is that we are young and we understand each other in a split second in any aspect. In football, the time you have to really disconnect is short, you can only do it during a summer vacation at the end of the season. It can give you energy and an extra boost."
On the difficult matches:
"Those are the games you play just to win, otherwise we wouldn't be here. The one against Napoli was fundamental for us, for morale and for the classification. And also the one with Inter. You find the charge on your own, you don't need any other motivation. In a certain sense, it is easier to play those than other low-paced games."
Tonali added:
"I grew up watching Milan and going to the stadium. The club gives me a sense of happiness, of serenity. And also knowing people like Maldini and Massara… they give you the feeling of being serene, happy, and of having immense love for Milan. Being together with them facilitates everyone's journey."
On having free time:
"This year compared to the last two years I have changed a lot. Diet. Hobbies, which are different and fewer because living in a city like Milan allows you certain things and doesn't allow you others. So maybe go out once less and stay home a lot more often, or go out to dinner with my girlfriend. These are all things you can do but you have to be careful about those too."
Tonali on his girlfriend:
"She's important. Besides being engaged, we are very good friends. We have been together for more than 2 years but before we were together we were friends. Then now everything has changed."
On the responsibility of being strong:
"I don't have any, or rather not yet. It's my second year in Milan, my third in Serie A, so I'd say it's still early. The responsibility comes by itself, after several games, a long time in a team, having the trust of all the people in a club. Now there is no need to feel a responsibility to carry around."
Does football make you grow faster?
"Yes. Because how I lived it starting from the first steps that at 14 you go to live alone, it changes you. At 18, you already become a man and your other friends with the same age have a different life, they are still in home, and then the moment you come home in the summer or on vacation days it also makes you weird. So it makes you grow up fast and the bad thing is that it ends early."
