Milan, Cardinal harsh: “Something must change, Ibrahimovic and I are not satisfied”

Milan wants to win. And to do this we may need to change, even on the pitch. “We will look at change in every aspect of society” says Gerry Cardinale, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic sitting next to him, from the stage of the Business of Football Summit in London. It’s a general idea, but one that also concerns the field. “I relied on Zlatan to gather opinions, perspectives and advice on the idea of ​​a change on the pitch – he continues -. Everything around Milan must change, even if I prefer to use the word evolve. We will look at what we have done so far, at the many injuries we have had. But neither Zlatan nor I are satisfied with the fact that we are not number one in Serie A. We are trying: we have a young team, and if we consider how young it is and how new it is we are not doing badly. But it’s not enough for us not to do harm: we still have a lot of work to do. And therefore it is reasonable to expect a change.”

THE COUPLE – Cardinale and Ibrahimovic are a magnetic couple. If the Swede approaches the challenge of being an entrepreneur with the same confidence with which he took to the pitch, the owner of the Rossoneri has charisma and clear ideas on how to manage the team, after taking a period of apprenticeship “so as not to enter a world I don’t know with guns blazing, like a typical American.” Cardinale explains that the choice to transform Zlatan into his voice in the locker room is the same as the one he made when he invested in Hollywood by relying on Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. “Zlatan allows me to live in the USA but to be in Milan – explains Cardinale -. I hired him at Red Bird for this very reason: we talk several times a day and he has the authority to speak on my behalf with everyone at Milan. And he does it with legitimacy and credibility. The way he behaves, the way he talks to the players as a former footballer but with the voice of the owners is unique. I don’t want to go into the locker room and talk to my players, I want Ibra to do it for me. I want to win, but asking someone like Zlatan to be my voice, allowing me to detach myself from the emotional side of things, is part of my way of doing it.” “Gerry made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse – says Ibra, after saying he felt free as a former player -. Many of the players I speak to 8 months ago were my teammates and there is respect between us, but in my current role I have to think about the future of the club and think about it differently than I did before. The team is growing, and we have created others around the group of players. Because you win with hard work even off the pitch.” The ideas are there, now it’s a matter of turning them into successes. Perhaps bringing into play that revolution of ideas that Cardinale and Ibra have already brought out.