In recent years, AC Milan have seen themselves fall a little bit and whilst they are fighting back now, they have certainly lost some credibility as a European great.
The Milan situation can be looked at in several ways, which definitely does not help the situation.
In the long term, the fall-off has been terrible. Formerly a dominator of Serie A and Europe, the Rossoneri now can only look to their history to see examples of this, even if the mentality of the club still remains aligned with those memories.
Unfortunately, this argument can also be related back to a more current time. In the past five years, the Diavolo have risen and fallen to a certain extent. Winning the Scudetto and reaching the Champions League semi-final sit enclosed by memories of Europa League disasters and general poor performances in the league.
Today, Johann Vogel, who played in ‘one of the strongest’ Milan teams in history (the 2005/06 team), spoke to Milan News about the fall of the Rossoneri.
Johan Vogel, you are still in football…
“Yes. 14 years ago I started coaching Grasshoppers, from the Under-15s to the Under-18s. I stayed there for seven years and then went to PSV Eindhoven, where I coached the U17s. Among the coaches were Mark van Bommel and Ruud van Nistelrooy, who were my teammates and we got together.
“Then I decided to return to Switzerland, where I coached the national youth teams. Now I’m at Naters, which plays in the fourth division.”
What brought you to the Swiss fourth division?
“The president called me, he needed help and a good coach. He has the financial resources to do a good job and so I accepted. I must say that there is a good atmosphere, it’s a nice club. The level is amateur, the players have their own profession, then they come to train.”
Future plans?
“My contract expires in June, so then we’ll see. Let’s say that evaluating all the experiences I’ve had, I can say that I’d like to go back to work with young people because I have the chance to put my hand in to improve these guys and that’s motivating.”
Are there any players you have launched and for whom you are particularly fond of?
“Ndim Bajrami, formerly of Sassuolo and now at Rangers in Scotland. But also Ulisses Garcia, today of Marseille. I am happy to have contributed to their growth.”
Do you follow Milan?
“I follow them, certainly. I’ve seen some matches, it’s no longer the great team I used to play for and I’m a bit sad about that. When I was there, in 2005, there were only big names, the best in the world. That’s what Milan should always be.”
Is there a player in Milan today who can make a difference like the champions of your time?
“Leao is a player who can make a difference, but he’s too discontinuous and it’s a shame because he could be one of the best ever. Maybe if he was more consistent, if he helped more in defence… It’s not certain yet, though, he has the age to grow more. He just has to want to.”
And Theo Hernandez?
“Mentally, Theo is not a top player.”
Let’s take a few steps back, to your experience at AC Milan. What memories do you have?
“Already in Switzerland, I used to watch Domenica Sportiva, there were the exploits of Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard: they were my idols and Milan the team of my heart. The fact that I was then able to play there was a source of great pride.”
Do you have an anecdote related to the experience?
“Actually the surname should be read as it is spelled, in the French way. But Ancelotti had a way of calling me that sounded embarrassing.”
What way?
“Vögel, with the V being read as an F and the diaeresis in the o. Besides being wrong, in German, there is a similar word. There, it was all very awkward.”
Was there the same pronunciation problem with teammates?
“No, but Vieri used to call me Toblerone, as I’m Swiss. He wanted to be funny but it’s not like he was making me laugh, because I wanted to be called Johann. After he insisted on this nickname I decided one day to have him find a huge Toblerone in the locker room: ‘There, now you have your Toblerone’.
“When he saw it and opened it he came up to me and hugged me. From that day on we became very close friends. And he never called me ‘Toblerone’ again.”
Who did you get on best with?
“Seedorf, Serginho and Nesta. Alessandro above all is a special person, sincere and nice. Just think that when they won the Champions League in 2007, the first thing he did, in Athens, was to call me and say: ‘Only you are missing!’’
You only stayed one year at AC Milan, how come?
“I only stayed one year, it was a devastating team. It could win everything, always. I left because I wanted to play more and I didn’t want my poor performance to condition my career with the national team. Besides, Switzerland was going to host the European Championship in 2008, which was too important for me. That’s why I asked to leave.”
The strongest people you played with?
“Serginho and Seedorf were the strongest. Golden players, an elegance, an incredible agility. They were something exceptional.”
This summer there was talk of Mark van Bommel, a friend of yours, as a possible AC Milan coach…
“We shared a room for six years. Mark is a great guy, passionate and does everything for football, he lives for football. But in his experiences at Wolfsburg, PSV and Antwerp there was some conflict with some players and he should improve in this aspect, to become a great coach.”
A few days ago, AC Milan sold Okafor to Napoli. After a good first year, he did not repeat himself…
“Okafor is very strong, quick with the ball. But he is not mentally strong enough. I happened to coach his brother, the same except that he is slower than Noah.”
Is there a Swiss player you would recommend to Milan?
“An underrated player is Remo Freuler, maximum reliability: out of 34 games he plays 28 well and is the classic element that coaches love. And he knows Italian football very well.”
Would you see yourself back in Italy?
“I’m open to everything, if Milan want to call me I’m here.”
Nah man who does he think he is he is just straight up insulting the club
Yeah, just insulted the club and then says, “I’d come if they called”…lol well you don’t need to worry about that, they won’t. Right now there is only Liverpool and Madrid that have that star power. The modern game doesn’t allow for that anymore. Pulisic is legitimately in the top 5 attackers of Europe right now, if not the top 5 of all players in Europe. Leao, Leao, Leao, not good enough, blah blah, I’m tired of the talk. Leao is who he is and I’m happy to have him, meanwhile, we have an absolute killer in Pulisic who would definitely play in the 2010-2012 team and would play but maybe not start in the 05-06 team. Puli is tied for most assists in Serie A and continues to show that he’s a game changer. On top of that, we have Tiji and Mike which are top in their positions. So again, are we the best team in the world? No, but modern football is like this now, City was the last burst of some kind of total dominance. It’s like the NFL now with parody, we won’t see super teams like the Milan or Madrid greats in the past, it isn’t going to happen and a lot of people have not realized that yet. I credit the management for at least recognizing that, even if the execution left something to be desired until recently. They know, the talent pool, the economy, the rules, are all different now and it’s unrealistic to think you can spend 500 million every 2 years. Milan are doing the right thing in trying to build back the family vibe at the club b/c that, along with the med staff, were typically the tie breaker for most top players when choosing between clubs.
Fr
Milan never spent 500 mill every two years indeed Berlusconi spent shy of 2 bill in over 30 years while Real Madrid spent north of two bill in 20 years and that was said in 2003.
Real Madrid Man City Psg all spend big consistently in terms of world class players and they aren’t going to stop and this is dispite FFP not to mention the others in England Spain ect.
To get the best you pay for it like it or not no hiding place the whole reason Italian football has taken a huge step backwards is the constant fire sale of top talents through one reason or another and not just on the pitch but off it also only Inter seem to have learned this over the last few years and look what they have achieved on a budget with a load of OBSTACLES in there way.
Milan is building a team for the future and maintaining stability. We can’t go on grandiose spending sprees. Even Manchester City is finding this out.
He is right. Milan has not been a big team since 2008. The Great Milan is history now its not even close anymore.
I’d think there are much worse nicknames than Toblerone tbh. Based on the way he answers the questions and gives off such negativity, pr*ck wouldn’t be too far off the mark. Also, if Bobo Vieri called me a ham sandwich, my children and descendants are going by whoever ham sandwich henceforth, end of story!
How time flies. Vogel who we bought so that Man Utd didn’t buy him to strengthen lol. My bro always gives me stick about that one. Man we used to be THAT club. As good as the season he had before he joined us we just had incredible midfielders who were even better. Dude had an insane season btw, all the other big clubs wanted him. That’s how impactful we were around Europe
He is right, bit harsh but everything he said is true.
Vogel spitting 🔥.
“Mentally, Theo is not a top player.”
“Okafor is very strong, quick with the ball. But he is not mentally strong enough. I happened to coach his brother, the same except that he is slower than Noah.”
We need to fire Moncada and hire a chief scout who will incorporate a psychological profile of players when we evaluate them. Time and money is a’wasting.
Wasn’t Maldini given all the credit for signing Theo?
Isn’t Maldini calling Theo his heir?
Or, now someone who played football calls Theo mentality weak and it’s Moncada who needs to be fired because he is scouting mentally weak players?
Milan also started their interest in Okafor while Maldini was in charge after the UCL game where he scored vs Milan.
BTW, most of the players in todays football and sport in general are mentally weak, not just the ones Milan signs.
May not like it but he’s got a very good point. This squad has lost its heart. So many guys just coasting and collecting paychecks, not actually fighting or caring. There was a feeling of unity and drive to this team 3 years ago (feels like 10yrs at this point). There just felt like there was a hunger to become the best again. Now, we’ve seen almost all of that team vanish, and in their place is a cheap imitation. It’s disheartening…
3 years ago we still had players like ibra, giroud and kjaer.
I hope walker can do the same job now with all his experience.
People always talk about signing new young players but forget a team needs a leader especially as the captain, something that calabria, leao or theo never was.
Ooou man 😀 he play just 13 matches in Milan.. I don’t even know he play there 😀 Krunic is more famous then he was… yes 20 years ago Football was different.. Players was loyal to club, Clubs buying players for normal money and players earn also more normal money… today Football is about who you pay more… Loyalty is rare… This is the biggest difference between 05/06 and now
Kurnic more famous? Nope. Had Krunic played when Vogel did, no one would remember him. Unlike Vogel.
It’s what cheap labour and ingredients gets you. Product is there but the quality of it is nowhere near what it used to be. It’s only brand name that’s selling.
We need to sort out the Origi situation. Here’s a dude that earns more than most of the squad and gets away with doing sweet FA for his money. Put him to work in Futuro squad, train his arse off. If it p*sses me off, it must p*ss the whole squad off..
Another Leao hater I see… 🙂