Arrigo Sacchi has joined the crowd of people suggesting that AC Milan received an offer that they simply could not reject for midfielder Sandro Tonali.
Sacchi was interviewed by La Gazzetta dello Sport about a number of different topics related to Milan, and he began by making an overall assessment of the club’s start to the 2022 summer transfer window.
“I’m being honest: Loftus-Cheek I don’t know much about, maybe he’ll impress me and I hope so, but from what I’ve seen he’s not a player who enchanted me,” he said.
“But I hear too many foreign names associated with Milan. Let me give you some advice: take some Italians, trust what I tell you. Foreigners always have difficulty acclimatising in Italy, only my Dutch trio were immediately wonderful.
“You always have to take into account that it takes time to wait for players who come from abroad.”
Tonali has officially joined Newcastle United in a deal that not only makes him a club-record sale for Milan but also the most expensive Italian player of all time. Would Sacchi have sold him?
“How can you say no to those figures? And then also the player, who was given an salary offer equal to double or perhaps more than what he perceived, probably expressed a desire to leave. He’s human.”
Without Tonali and with Ismael Bennacer injured until potentially the end of the calendar year, the midfield now needs to be rebuild.
“That’s right, and the midfield is usually the most important sector of a team because it has to keep the defence and attack linked,” Sacchi added.
“It won’t be a simple task, that of the Rossoneri management, because astronomical prices run on the market. Milan, if they want to be successful without spending a lot, have only one way: clear ideas for their game.”
Sacchi often talks about having a strong identity and how that goes above anything for a side, but what does it mean?
“Thanks to the overall game, and not to individual players, Milan won the Scudetto last year and Napoli this year. Only the game can remedy the difference in financial power that exists with other clubs.
“It is therefore a matter of knowing what you want to do and choosing the right players. Reliable players. May they have collective ethics and work ethics. They must be suitable for teamwork, which is particularly complicated in our country where everyone goes their own way.
“So Pioli must give precise indications on who he wants, first evaluating the men, first their minds and then their feet. To make choices of this kind you need to have a complete vision of the panorama, you need to know the players well and know how to evaluate them from a human point of view.
“You shouldn’t be afraid to deprive yourself of someone if this is not in line with the project. Pioli must take players who are functional to his idea of football. If he wants to play rhythm and speed, you need fast players.
“And pay attention to those players who, perhaps, feel they have already arrived because they wear the Milan shirt and think they are at the finish line.”
Sacchi was asked for a specific example of a player he worked with who made the mistake of presuming he had achieved enough already by being at Milan.
“A player, whose name I won’t name, had mistaken day for night. He was good, but he wasn’t reliable. I asked for his transfer. Berlusconi wanted to keep him and I opposed him.
“I said to him: ‘Would you want an unreliable collaborator?’. So I convinced him. And I simply replaced that player with his reserve who, over the years, became a champion.”
Pioli, without Maldini, will have greater responsibilities both in terms of galvanising the collective spirit of the squad and convincing players to join.
“He’s a smart guy and knows what he’s getting into. He takes risks, and he knows it. Americans don’t wait if they don’t see results. But he is a good coach and he showed it especially in the Scudetto season.
“I hope that he is more and more a strategist and less and less tactical. Sometimes, especially in the last championship, he acted as a tactician. Instead, if he wants to go far, he must have a clear game idea and propose it to the players until they accept it.
“Short team, very short, minimum distances between departments, pressing, ball possession, low shots. Now that would be a European style. Difficult to achieve all this after a revolution, because what Milan are doing is a real revolution.
“Risk is at the heart of every business. The revolution is not simple, but this path can be pursued. When I arrived at Parma, I confirmed only three players out of twenty-three. We had a young team, we started in the lead and ended up in the lead.”
The schedule doesn’t help Milan, who have five games against the other top seven clubs in Serie A in the first ten rounds of the season.
“It means that Pioli will have to start strong and to do so he will have to have maximum availability from the players. That is why it is even more important to choose the right men.
“If there is no great quality, there must be a sense of belonging, incredible motivations and a temperament that goes beyond the norm.”
Come back to milano from retirement and manage the team.. We need you A. Sacchi