The well-known journalist Michele Criscitiello has written a lengthy editorial, spoke about Paolo Maldini's recent interview and said these words in an editorial piece to SportItalia:
"It's a matter of style. Not how you wear a coat or what you say. Style is measured by actions, timing, and manners. Appearance often deceives people; some sell themselves better, others worse. We're used to form rather than substance. We judge appearances without knowing facts and characters. With this premise, I judge what I see. I don't know Paolo Maldini, but over these years, I've carefully evaluated his moves both as a manager and as a former manager. The interview released last week seems to have been conducted before Milan's Champions League challenge and published afterward. Maldini is free to speak as and when he wants. A newspaper is free to publish as and when it wants."
He added:
"Maldini, however, doesn't come out of it very well. If I read an interview two days after the almost elimination of the Rossoneri from the Champions League, a couple of questions come to mind. The first: didn't you expect anything else? Granted that whoever bites the hand that fed them always loses before starting to play or speak. You might be thinking, 'With all the mess he had to put up with, can't he even express some discontent?' No. I'm sorry. There are ways and timings. One must accept the decisions of ownership, even if they're wrong. The field, for now, seems to justify Maldini, and it would have been better if only that spoke. Saying that Scaroni used to leave Milan when they lost because of traffic is low-level gossip. Saying that he only talked to Cardinale once or didn't get along with Furlani are things that don't interest the average fan."
Michele Criscitiello continued to analyse Maldini's words:
"He should have, though not required, given football explanations. But in that 'divorce', there isn't a football explanation as we've always been told. Maldini wanted to lead as if he were the owner, and Cardinale wanted just a technical director. Nobody ousted Maldini for 2-3 wrong purchases, of course not, but he was distanced for his modus operandi. An owner is free to make these kinds of decisions, and only time will tell if it was a right or wrong move. We'd be fools to say that Maldini didn't work well. A league title and a Champions League semifinal: hats off. The handling of the surroundings was never liked. The attitudes. The same ones that didn't let him in earlier in the Milan world, in the times of Silvio and Galliani, and the same ones that will hardly give him another big opportunity. Nobody judges Maldini, but surely taking shots at the only club and ownership that gave you a huge opportunity clashes with the character's class."
READ MORE | AC Milan’s Rafael Leao unlikely to start against Atalanta
