Paolo Maldini’s explosive interview has been described as a ‘pipe bomb’ which actually served to take the pressure away from the team before Saturday’s game against Frosinone, a journalist has claimed.
Maldini was sacked from his role as technical director – as was Ricky Massara from his position as sporting director – not long after the end of the 2022-23 season as RedBird Capital and Gerry Cardinale opted to go in a different direction.
A period of uncertainty followed in which the reasons for the fall-out between Maldini and RedBird were debated, while CEO Giorgio Furlani, chief scout Geoffrey Moncada and sporting director Antonio D’Ottavio took over the reins.
The former defender decided to break his silence on exactly what happened in early June when he gave a lengthy an interview with La Repubblica regarding the split, sharing details on the motive and his reactions.
You can read the full interview with Maldini here, while Pietro Mazzara spoke during his column for MilanNews about the ramifications of his comments and how it might actually have helped the squad.
“Paolo Maldini’s ‘Pipe Bomb’ in Repubblica (which recalled that of CM Punk against WWE on 27 June 2011), paradoxically, took the media attention away from the team and from the preparation for the match against Frosinone, with the former technical director who – like a river in flood – fired on everything and everyone,” he said.
“From Elliott and RedBird through Gazidis, Furlani, Moncada (although never named) but he was careful not to take responsibility for the choices made completely independently, or by turning the issue of the summer budget on his own (the current management had the same money budgeted for him to which was added that of the sale of Tonali) or having gone beyond the objectives set in the budget (no one ever puts victory as the first option).
“It fits, he told the truth about himself, and this interview goes hand in hand with the interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport a few days after the Scudetto, where – in fact – he put an end to the festive atmosphere by speaking publicly about his contract which had not yet been renewed.
“Everyone is free to think as they want, Maldini gave his insight into the situation after being fired at the end of five years of work where, however, he contributed to the Scudetto. It would have been interesting if Paolo had called a wide-ranging press conference. It probably would have been something even more explosive.”
