Pavlovic discusses why he joined Milan, ‘extremely bad’ season and exit rumours | OneFootball

Strahinja Pavlovic has spoken at length about his time as an AC Milan player so far, responding to the idea that he could have left the club in the winter window.

Pavlovic’s first season with Milan has been one that has seen ups and downs. After signing from Red Bull Salzburg last summer, the expectation was that he might get a starting spot instantly, though he has had to remain patient.

The Serbian has certainly shows many positive flashes, displaying the kind of heart and grinta that Milanisti have become accustomed to from centre-backs over the years. He has also had some growing pains, particularly when it comes to channelling this aggression.

Pavlovic spoke to Mozzart Sport about how he has found life with the Rossoneri. The interview took place at Milanello, and before getting fully underway his compatriot and team-mate Luka Jović wanted to say a few words.

“I’m sorry for interrupting, I have to say something. When we played against Lazio, did you get a red card? We’re playing badly, the whole San Siro whistles for every mistake. The whole atmosphere was sour,” Jovic said.

“Whoever comes off, the stands whistle, I’m embarrassed. My brother [Pavlovic] also got a red card, and the whole stadium applauded as he left the field. Well, that’s it, let me explain it to you, let’s not talk any further.”

How much did the fact that your second game in senior football was the ‘eternal derby’ against Red Star?

“Ugh, that’s enough. There were still a lot of people at the Maracana, 40,000 or more, everything was phenomenal. Normally, I was nervous before the game and all that, but as soon as it started, everything passed and became somehow natural.

“In Partizan and Zvezda, they prepare you for something like that from a young age. But surely when our derby is over at such a young age, everything else will be easier after that, everything will be much easier and that pressure is somehow easier to overcome.”

You’re not afraid of taking risks, including on the ball…

“A-ha-ha. Sometimes I have a clear idea of ​​what I’m going to do, but sometimes… In a match, you simply decide what and how in those fractions of a second, so there’s one and the other. But I know about it, I’m constantly being teased by Mister and the assistant coaches…

“There was even one match, I don’t know who we played against, now in the League of Nations, we did an analysis. And then towards the end of the analysis, they made a part composed only of my dribbling, I don’t know, the one against Switzerland, the pushing through the legs and so on that.

“And they put that in the analysis, like: To see what you should do. So they often make fun of me because of that.”

What do they say in Italy about your style? They don’t like it too much when space is left behind?

“It’s totally different here… Totally the opposite of how I play and how I played in Salzburg: high pressing, high lines, aggressive. Oumar Solet played with me at Salzburg, last week he scored a phenomenal goal for Inter, when he took the ball, passed everything, shot…

“We simply played different football and then you come here where it’s more tactical, where you no longer go forward, but retreat. At the beginning it was honestly difficult for me, until I got the hang of it threads, but there is still a lot, a lot of room for improvement in my case, as far as those tactical things are concerned.”

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

What is the biggest difference?

“You know, when I played in Salzburg and when someone beat me, I know why they got me. They outplayed us and beat us. And here it often happens that the team doesn’t outplay you, but they score two goals and…”

You feel cheated?

“Cheated, literally. And then you wonder: God, how did I lose tonight? That’s a big difference here and it happened many times this season. If we were unlucky, I don’t know. We’re leading and they turn us around or we lose 0-2 and turn it around to 3-2. Totally strange football, totally different.”

There were even rumours that you could leave San Siro for the winter?

“People wrote what they wanted. By the way, I have a really good relationship with our media and when something was needed I always responded, but in that situation I honestly got a little annoyed, because no one asked me: is this something that’s happening?

“All kinds of things were written, and I honestly had no contact with any other club. And the same here, no one told me: You should go. I didn’t play and normally after seven, eight or 10 games in which I didn’t play there is some doubt.

“But really in It wasn’t like that in my case, I was here and training and I didn’t have any specific offers in mind, nor did the club negotiate with anyone.”

There is no better school for defenders than the Italian one…

“Yes, I’ve made a lot of progress in those things, what you say – what an Italian defender should look like. Because I think that defender in Italy are certainly different than someone anywhere else in the world.”

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More specific?

“It often happens here that you don’t notice a defender during the whole game, that the commentator doesn’t say his name five times, and he saves his goal, doesn’t concede a goal, plays a super game for the team.

“But he is inconspicuous. And that’s how it works here. While in England, for example, a ‘stopper’ isn’t a stopper if he doesn’t take someone off the field twice.”

Upon your arrival at Milan, it is no secret that you had other tempting offers. Even from Diego Simeone’s Atlético…

“Well, Milan were the first. There were also clubs from England, let’s not name them now, which have been there for a long time. But then, before the start of the European Championship, I heard from Zlatan Ibrahimović for the first time.

“By chance, I saw him a few days before, when he was saying goodbye in Sweden, and I had no idea that I was on Milan’s radar. When he called me and when I saw how much they wanted me, I didn’t think about any other club.”

Not even about Atlético?

“I didn’t talk to Cholo, nor did I talk to anyone else from the club. I knew about the interest through the agent and through some other people, but even before that I told Zlatan that I wanted to go to Milan.

“And that at that moment Real Madrid came – if I said I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to change my decision. And that was it.”

So Zlatan was convincing, how did that conversation go and why the Rossoneri?

“And because of Zlatan, and because of the size of this club, and because of the Italian League, because of everything. But I had several conversations with him in which he told me that he likes my character, that he likes who I am and that he wants to see me here at any cost.

“It was expected that it would end earlier, but then we had small problems in Salzburg, it didn’t really go as it should, but in the end, thank God, everything ended well and I came here late.”

It is not easy to get used to a new club when you have not gone through preseason preparations with them…

“Individually, I started well, then came that one bad game against Liverpool… I didn’t drop out of the first 11, but I played every other game. Paulo Fonseca liked to change. One will play the Champions League, this Serie A, this Cup and so on.

“Now that I look back, it’s not so bad. There were very good games, but it’s very difficult for an individual to be perfect if the team is not at a good level like we are not now.”

Milan are ninth in Serie A, eliminated by Feyenoord in the Champions League, and in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia. Where did it go wrong?

“An extremely bad season for a club like Milan. We won that Supercoppa when the new coach came. So we beat Roma in the cup, two games at home, we played a draw with Inter and then we had that game in Zagreb against Dinamo and with that 1-2 defeat, everything turned 180 degrees for us.

“If we had won them, we would have secured the top eight, we would not have had those two games against Feyenoord, we would have been relieved for the league where we had Torino, Bologna, Lazio at home…

“But it’s hard when the car goes downhill and to play football. Lately, we play and in the recent period it has felt like there is a lot of cargo on the back [of the car[, it’s not good.”

Despite everything, it was in those moments that Pavlović received the applause from the beginning of the interview, which Jovic mentioned. Does it feel like the fans love you?

“Well, I feel it sometimes. It often happens to me that people tell me openly, to thank me for that approach. I am extremely happy about that.”