With Pioli talking to The Athletic, there was also Ivan Gazidis who provided some words to the same English outlet. He spoke about the celebrations which went for two days. But the CEO had flown back from his son’s graduation in the United States on the Saturday to be in Reggio Emilia for the Scudetto-clinching game against Sassuolo in the next afternoon:
"I didn’t sleep on the plane and last night obviously went late so I’m not in the best shape", he winked, "So you got to help me out a bit."
On Gerry Cardinale's arrival:
"The people that are interested in the club are interested in it because of what’s been done. This is not a club where somebody is going to come in and say: ‘Listen, we need a radical change of direction’. Frankly, that would be crazy.”
He discusses the club's philosophy:
"These giant clubs are not little speedboats or jet skis that you can turn on a dime. There’s the analogy of a yacht race, and the boat in front of you is ahead of you. If you follow and take all the same tacks and turns, you’re not going to catch up. Different ideas are needed to compete in that environment."
On the obstacles in building this project:
"The difficulty especially in such a high-pressure sport like football at the top level is not the formulation of a plan, it is the execution. The obstacles are not intellectual obstacles but emotional obstacles along the way. The pressure is so intense to think short-term, to imagine there are shortcuts and instant solutions that it’s actually very difficult to stick to the plan that you know intellectually is the right one. You need a lot of strength and unity inside the club to be able to do that. Tension and pressure means unities are difficult to maintain but we managed to do it and I really think that internal strength, that common purpose and understanding of how we are going to do things is really, in the end, what enabled us to deliver on the plan we set out."
Gazidis added:
"We were told this was a young team and the reason they were successful was because the stadiums were empty... There are at least 20 incredible stories here. Every one of them involves an arc through scepticism towards redemption.
What is next for AC Milan?
"It’s continued growth. It’s difficult after a Scudetto-winning season to set goals to improve but that’s what we need to do."
Tomori to The Athletic: “Leao is electric in training. Here’s what I learnt here…”
