Cannavaro discusses coaching Dinamo Zagreb, Leao ‘bugbear’ and Milan’s big strength | OneFootball

Sergio Conceicao will shake hands with an Italian football icon before AC Milan take on Dinamo Zagreb tomorrow, as they are coached by Fabio Cannavaro.

For Milan the equation is simple: win in the Croatian capital in the final game of the first phase of the Champions League to secure a spot in the top eight. However, Dinamo will go for it too, given they are two points off a potential play-off spot.

This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport has an interview with Cannavaro, who is just getting his teeth into a new experience with Dinamo and seems to be enjoying it, while preparing to face a club he knows well in Milan.

Dinamo-Hajduk in Croatia is like Bayern-Dortmund in Germany and Real Madrid-Barcelona in LaLiga. In essence it is the match and it will be played on March 1st in Split, with Rino Gattuso and Cannavaro facing each other.

How are you approaching the ‘Italian derby’?

“Rino has opened a path and of course I called him when Dinamo offered me a contract. He told me: ‘A great team, it’s nice to be here and you can work’. I didn’t say yes straight away because I was hoping for a call from Italy. But I couldn’t wait forever…”

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Did no Serie A team turn to you after achieving survival with Udinese?

“Someone said I have too little experience, as if playing and coaching in Spain, China, Arabia, Dubai is not important. I love Italy, Serie A is the most difficult tournament after the Premier League, and one day I will return. But I see that even my former teammates have some difficulties.”

What is Zagreb like?

“And who has seen it? I sleep in a hotel, I go to the pitch at 8:30, I leave at 8:30 in the evening with the staff. My wife is looking for a house, I also have a room at the stadium. Like Spalletti in Castelvolturno…”

Why did they call you?

“To win the title: here if you don’t win you have failed. And then to develop young players: there are no big budgets, but we are looking for those with perspective. I have a contract until June 2026, then we will see.”

Who has great potential in this Dinamo squad?

“There’s a lot of talk about Susic, a good midfielder. Baturaina is already in the national team. The young Luka Stojkovic, a promising midfielder. And let’s try to recover Petkovic, he’s important for us.”

What is your style of football?

“A football where it’s not possession that counts, but intensity. The football Klopp talks about, rock and roll, vertical, back and forth.

“A lateral touch is fine, then you have to move forward, otherwise you take refuge on the wing and the ball goes horizontal. For Dinamo the best system is 4-3-3, without references. Balance between dynamism and positional football.”

From theory to practice…

“We can’t compete with the top teams in Europe. The difference is huge. The Champions League can’t be an objective, qualifying for the playoffs would be historic, but we have to win and hope for other results. Milan has the Champions League in its DNA. However, in Zagreb it’s not easy for anyone.”

There were perhaps ‘easier’ debuts than Arsenal…

“My parents were also a bit scared: understandable after the nine goals conceded to Bayern. In Croatia we are aggressive, in the Champions League a bit more conservative. And then Arsenal scored straight away.

“The 2-0 was fair, the 3-0 p*sses me off because we were in a good position except for the last 20 minutes. Give me six months to organise and enjoy ourselves. We are -7 from Rijeka and -5 from Rino’s Hajduk, we can recover. As long as we don’t make any mistakes.”

What is Croatian football like?

“Great school, very technical, Boban, Boksic, Modric. They have to improve physically and tactically, but they have a population of four million and have great results. They are the Brazilians of Europe, but they remind me of Uruguay.”

What do you ask of your defenders?

“Total concentration. Better a poor but focused defender than a good but distracted one.”

You must have studied Conceiçao’s Milan…

“Sergio is a friend and I like one thing about his Milan: he never gives up. It’s a team that alternates moments of great enthusiasm and sudden drops, normal when you ask for expensive, high-level football. For us, no errors on the way out and we manage the ball better: one error and they punish us.”

The number one danger?

“Leao is everyone’s bugbear. If he’s motivated he can always make the difference. If he has plenty of space, with his elegant running, he’ll burn you in one-on-one situations. Maybe in tight spaces you have more chances. I would have struggled with him because as a full-back I was in difficulty.”

As captain, would you tell him two bits of advice?

“But the times when the captain pinned a teammate to the wall who threw himself away are over. Today it’s up to the coach to manage these situations.”