AC Milan are going through a difficult period currently in the Serie A season. There are two matches left in order to secure Champions League qualification. The job is not easy, and there has been a lot of tension, reportedly, in the dressing room and also in management level. Meanwhile, Gerry Cardinale has granted an interview to La Gazzetta dello Sport to address some issues.
“As you know, I usually don’t give interviews. I think words mean very little, it’s actions that should speak. But I understand that, at a moment like this, it’s right to send a clear message.”
What is happening to your Milan, now in free fall?
“Max and the team did an excellent job for almost the entire season. We were top of the table, in the title race until the match against Lazio. And then, in the last five matches, we are risking throwing the whole season away. I’ve been in the world of sport for three decades, I know these things happen, but that doesn’t make you feel any better. Right now, we are focused on winning the last two matches. But I have to say, we are operating in a difficult environment: a lot of controversy and a lot of falsehoods. Frankly, I’m a bit disappointed.”
Is there one thing you want to deny immediately?
“For example, the idea that I only care about money and not about winning. It’s absurd. If you look at my life and my career, I’ve always won. So this notion that I would do something without the objective of being number one and winning consistently, and I stress consistently, a concept people always seem to miss, is ridiculous. But results are what must speak, and when performances do not reach their potential, as they are now, I am definitely upset. I don’t coach, I don’t score goals, I don’t defend, but I can do my part: my part is to provide the financial resources so we can continue fielding a winning team, not only in Serie A but, hopefully, also in Europe. That’s my job, and I’m pretty good at it.”
Let’s go back to the disappointing results...
“I’m not happy, obviously. Max isn’t happy, the players aren’t happy. Winning remains the priority and I can assure you that everyone wants to win. Not having won the league title is a disappointment; if we don’t finish in the top four, it’s a failure. We’ve had many injuries, for example Luka (Modrić) is out now: that’s sport. You can’t always win, even though Milan should; when it doesn’t, it’s a failure. But let me add one thing.”
Please do...
"I come from a culture where, when someone stumbles, we help them get back up, we don’t try to erase them. Right now, the team is stumbling, so I’d like to tell everyone who cares about the club to support it rather than demoralise it. There are two matches left to win; let’s stay focused.”
However, the fans are protesting against both the team and the management. How do you experience that? Cardinale said:
“I don’t blame the fans for being angry, I’m angry too. They are as passionate as I am. But let’s try to support our boys instead of tearing them down. I feel an enormous sense of responsibility; when we fall short and I see the reaction of the supporters, I take it very personally, I’m devastated. It gets under my skin and I feel a huge obligation to fix things, with an urgency that nobody should question. I wake up every morning with the desire to win and with a deep sense of disappointment and frustration when we fail.”
Ambition is a crucial point. Many fans fear that financial sustainability or Champions League qualification are becoming ends in themselves, rather than means to compete at the highest levels...
“I’m surprised this even has to be explained. Since I took ownership of Milan, we’ve achieved financial results beyond expectations; for the first time in history, we recorded positive cash flow. Why is that important? Because I’m not taking that money and putting it in my pocket, I’m reinvesting it. But the narrative that financial discipline means not wanting to win makes no sense whatsoever. Over the last three seasons, we’ve spent more than any other Serie A club on the transfer market. Now, perhaps we haven’t spent wisely. I’d give myself a higher mark for the money I invested than for how we spent it. We need to do a better job so there is a direct correlation between spending and winning. We haven’t managed that yet. We haven’t done a good job and we’ll fix it. We need to examine the structure and the football side, and work together with the coaching staff and sporting director to understand how we can work better together.”
So what will happen this summer? Do you believe major changes will be necessary at Milan, at every level? We’re talking about management and the technical area.
“We are always trying to evolve our organisation. So yes, everyone should expect that every season, but especially in seasons where performances fall below expectations, everything will be reassessed, and I will reassess everyone and everything this summer. I’ll dedicate my entire summer to this; you should assume I’m already thinking about it, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing my job. We’ll see how we finish, then I’ll sit down... I’ve already sat down with Max, we’ve discussed many things. We’ll get to work once the season is over; now is not the time to talk about it.”
Can you at least tell us the direction things will take?
“The goal is to improve the organisation and bring it to a level of world-class excellence. The objective here is to win as much as possible every year, but also to make sure that, while doing so, we are laying the foundations to win consistently. We could spend a fortune, signing established players and aiming to win immediately. But then what? You have to do both things. This summer we’ll review the organisation and see what we can do to fill the gaps, because we have not been good enough. It’s not just about replacing people, but about reviewing the organisational structure and making sure we have everything in place, from the coaching staff to player recruitment, from the sporting director to the academies: it’s a holistic ecosystem that needs to improve. When I took over the club, it didn’t exist. Sport, like many industries, is about people. You need the best people, you need to attract the best people in every area. We’re not there yet.”
What have you learned in these four years? Have you made mistakes? Cardinale replied:
“Yes, of course I’ve made mistakes. Many. This is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But I’m a fighter and I won’t stop until I win. One of the biggest lessons has been understanding how different the context is. Unless you live it, as an American you don’t understand the role football and Milan play in the community. However, I wish people would focus more on the crucial issues: the importance of sports infrastructure; how to modernise Italian football; why Italy missed another World Cup, the third in a row. Instead, people focus on controversy. You see, this isn’t just about Serie A. It’s about not showing up in Champions League finals and losing 5–0; it’s about competing seriously in Europe. It’s about the 4-to-1 gap in TV rights revenue between the Premier League and everyone else. The gap in Italian football has widened. But, the way the world works today, you won’t solve it without money. And I have experience with money, but I’ve also spent 30 years in sport. I don’t want to directly transplant the way we do things in America. I’m fully aware that things are different in Italy and that I need to adapt to that, and I need to surround myself with great Italians who can help me with this; it’s part of the learning process.”
In your growth strategy, the stadium plays an essential role: after delays and bureaucracy, are you still optimistic?
“Here too, it’s important to understand why we’re doing it. It’s not a real-estate operation, it’s not an ego project. It’s about improving Milan’s financial profile so we can compete for the best players in the world. It’s also, incidentally, something we should do for the people of Milan. Milan deserves a world-class stadium, to be recognised globally as a home of sport and a celebration of its culture. Right now, that’s not the case.”
Finally, can you tell us something about the NBA Europe project?
“The NBA is probably the only truly international sport originating from the United States. And as we’ve seen, the days of the Dream Team with Michael Jordan, Magic and Larry Bird are long gone. You saw it at the Olympics, and you also saw it in the fact that many of the recent NBA MVPs have come from Europe. So Europe has really become a powerhouse when it comes to basketball, and there’s a huge opportunity for collaboration between America and Europe, which is music to my ears. But even here, I think in terms of: ‘How does this help AC Milan?’ The EuroLeague has existed for 26 years and most teams are not profitable. It’s not sustainable. So I think European football clubs should collaborate with the NBA and bring NBA basketball to Europe. And that’s what I’ll try to do in Milan. The objective is to continue elevating the Milan brand, offer opportunities to the fanbase, and continue improving our financial profile. So it’s all part of an ecosystem in which everyone should benefit from one another.”
