Andrea Pirlo has admitted that his time at AC Milan did not end the way he would have liked, which left him heading for Juventus with a desire for ‘revenge’.
Pirlo made 401 appearances for Milan, scoring 41 goals and winning a number of trophies, including two Serie A titles in 2004 and 2011, as well as two Champions League titles in 2003 and 2007. He also won a Coppa Italia in 2003, a Supercoppa Italiana in 2004, and two UEFA Super Cups in 2003 and 2007 and the FIFA Club World Cup title in 2007.
He was part of Milan’s big resurgence after the dominance of the 1990s and yet when it came to renewing his deal in 2011, the offer for a multi-year contract was not forthcoming largely because of his age.
The Italian left with the best wishes of the club and CEO Adriano Galliani as long as he didn’t sign for a rival, and yet a few weeks later he put pen to paper on a three-year contract with Juventus where he would go on to win seven trophies before departing in 2015.
Pirlo gave a long interview to Radio TV Serie A reflecting on what was an illustrious playing career and a coaching career that is still in its infancy, with his comments relayed by Calciomercato.com.
“With Milan I won everything, but the best victory was the first Champions League. Almost all of us were having our first experience and had been waiting to reach this goal since the beginning of the season, after a semi-final win against Inter,” he said.
“I had way of experiencing wonderful emotions over the years also thanks to my team-mates who made every moment beautiful. The wound from the final in Istanbul is difficult to heal, we won the next one, but in that moment you don’t think about future opportunities and on occasion I even thought about quitting.
“My adventure with Milan didn’t end as I dreamed, I hoped I could stay and still be useful. When I realised that I was no longer seen as an important player, I didn’t hesitate to change teams. At that time there was a policy whereby those over 30 were only offered a one-year contract. I was still young and unable to find an agreement I went in another direction.
“Juventus? This was a revenge for me. I had a great desire to demonstrate to everyone that I was still a strong player and capable of still playing at a high level and with Juve I won four league titles and we reached a final of Champions League.
“The journey that led us to win the first Scudetto without losing and then the following ones began with Conte, I have a very good relationship with him. He was the first to start making me analyse situations on the pitch, I thought almost as a coach.
“He was a great teacher on the pitch and in football. In the way I handle certain situations and the training sessions of my boys, I take my example from him.”
And here i thought that their winning cycle started with Muntaris disallowed goal. I also remember an interview where it was made clear that he wanted to leave us long before to join real madrid but berlsoni prevented him from doing so. When that is said it was a bad move to let him leave as they should at least have offered him a bit longer contract.
If there is one club I would not fault a Milan players wanting to leave us for, it would be Madrid, the club of clubs. I think it was absolute folly not to have offered a champion like Pirlo a multi-year deal. It just goes to show that even successful and experienced owners/directors make mistakes, and Berlusconi and Galliani made a few.
only idiots here still worships Pirlo after the crap he wrote in his book lmao
Hates half the current squad but still in love with Pirlo jesus christ
Sometimes a c#unt like Boulden can also write reasonable stuff. For those who don’t know, Pirlo always hated his time at Milan, thought of it as an inferior club. He was a self-proclaimed Madridista and thought Madrid was a far superior club than Milan, and he faked being happy at Milan as his heart belonged to Madrid. So, basically glorifying Madrid and talking $hit about the club which made him what he is.
Well, ok, I haven’t read the book. I don’t read books written by footballers, they tend to be self-serving. Regardless, I’m talking about a player as a player, not his favorite club, favorite ice cream flavor or favorite color. We’ve had lots of players play for us who I’m sure were fans of other clubs, not all of them write books.
Only idiots call people idiots for stating facts. Pirlo is a champion, fact. He was considered one of the best midfielders of his generation, fact. He was an integral part of one of the best squads of all time, fact. We were stupid to let him go when we did, fact. His political views, favorite club, and everything else outside the pitch are irrelevant to what he does on the pitch. Fact. And none of this is “worship”. I don’t worship any human, to be sure.
@Vero I agree with you on everything. You must have seen me, I always defend our ex-players/legends. I said this because I always see this guy saying loads of bullcrap and he made a quite decent statement. It’s not you but I have seen people agreeing with Pirlo’s sentiments/ his feelings for the club that made him into one of the greatest midfielders of all time.
It was already back in 2005 so i would at least. finally though i do agree because nobody is infallible.
Top 5 Italian player I have seen.
A pure genius on the pitch. Neither can run fast nor he was strong, but touch, control, technique, vision second to none.
Also, good for him for proving those who thought he was done wrong and not allowing them to dictate his decisions. If you didn’t want him anymore, you have no business telling him where to go next.
Maestro Pirlo always a Milan legend.
I have read his book. It definitely put me off. He is very very arrogant. People forget he wasn’t cutting it and allegri preferred van bommel who was key to that scudetto team.
The new challenge reinvigorated him and good on him. I think if he stayed we wouldn’t have seen the juve Pirlo.