This morning’s edition of Tuttosport has likened AC Milan director Paolo Maldini and head coach Stefano Pioli to the characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The paper (via MilanNews) recalls how they were actually the same person but two opposite sides of the same coin in the Robert Louis Stevenson book, and that is also the case with Doctor Maldini and Mr. Pioli.
There are differences between the technical director and the manager as one works behind a desk and the other on the pitch, but together with their collaborators they have brought Milan back to the top of Italy and to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Once upon a time there were Adriano Galliani and Carlo Ancelotti in similar roles, today Maldini and Pioli are the couple of the new Rossoneri era who would like to emulate – or at least get close to – the previous successes.
After years of sporting mediocrity and absence from the Champions League, Pioli was hired as head coach in 2019 and that seemed to kick the current cycle into life. It looked like Ralf Rangnick would arrive in summer 2020 to start another new era, yet Pioli’s work spoke for itself and made him virtually unsackable.
The Scudetto being stitched on the Rossoneri shirt after 11 years was the culmination of a lot of hard work, put it did not stop there as the current team have allowed fans to dream in Europe again for the first time in 16 years.
Of course the strength of individuals like Rafael Leao, Mike Maignan and Theo Hernandez is key, but it is the collective value of the group and many other beautiful qualities that are really behind the resurgence.
For example, one of the strengths of this Milan is the relationship between Maldini and Pioli as they have walked the path together in recent years. They have grown together – Pioli as a coach and Maldini in his new role as technical director – through a relationship based on trust and respect.
The importance of their relationship was seen in Bologna when Maldini supported the decision to rotate 10 players in view of the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Napoli. The notion was simple: fourth place is fine, but when does an opportunity like this come along?
Pioli will continue to be the coach of Milan because, even in the most difficult moments, he has always enjoyed the most complete trust of the club. Perhaps Maldini and Pioli will be able to grow further and get at least a little closer to what the Galliani-Ancelotti pairing achieved.