Sacchi explains why Milan must choose sporting director and coach together | OneFootball

Arrigo Sacchi has urged the AC Milan management to not make the mistake of hiring a sporting director and a head coach who aren’t on the same page.

It has been a rollercoaster last few days regarding Milan’s planning for the future. Earlier in the week, numerous sources claimed that a verbal agreement had been reached with Fabio Paratici who was all set to then become the new director.

However, on Friday everything took a step backwards. It emerged that Milan had put the brakes on things because of concerns over Paratici’s availability to operate between now and the end of his suspension (July 20), with the upcoming Prisma trial an additional worry.

Sacchi spoke in a column for La Gazzetta dello Sport and he implored those on charge to pick the coach and director together, in order to have the best possible chance of succeeding in their summer reboot.

“Experience suggests that you should be careful when making choices: it is better to dedicate a few more days to reflection rather than do everything in a hurry without being truly convinced,” he began.

“I am talking about the situation at Milan, an environment that I have known quite well for quite some time: the sporting director and coach of the future need to be chosen.

“At first it seemed that there was a basic agreement with a manager, then there was a slowdown. I have no idea of ​​the reasons that led to this situation and I do not judge the professionalism of this or that person, their skill and their reliability.

“Of course not. I say, however, that before building a project that will finally bring Milan back to the top, and before identifying the right men to place in their respective boxes, it is necessary to study the current situation carefully, to avoid the usual mistakes, and have ideas to develop in the future. Therefore, it takes time. And patience. A lot of patience.

“First of all, I think it’s right to explain what, in my opinion, the strategy to follow is. I have always thought that the club, with its history and its ideas, comes before the coach and the coach comes before the players.

“This means that the decisive role in this affair must be that of the ownership. It is essential, for everything to work and the engine to run smoothly, that there is perfect harmony between the various components of the club.

“I’ll give you an example, so you can understand me better: Berlusconi was the man who gave the line, Galliani was responsible for ensuring that this line was followed, and Braida did the same. And then there was me, that is, the coach, who in perfect harmony with the managers, had the task of transforming these ideas into a style of play.

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“When Berlusconi told me that he wanted to win and convince, that for him football was a show, and that his goal was to entertain the public, it was immediately clear to me what I had to do: propose an innovative, beautiful, engaging and captivating game.

“Milan in 1989, the one that won the Champions Cup in Barcelona against Steaua Bucharest, was judged by FIFA (not by me…) to be the best club team in history, so it means that the project conceived by Berlusconi and carried forward by his collaborators was successful.

“And this success was possible because there was full sharing of views between the directors and the coach, between the CEO (Galliani) and the sporting director (Braida), between the coach and the players.

“Milan’s problems this season are the result of mistakes made last summer, and by saying this we don’t reveal any secrets. Evidently there was no chemistry between those who were supposed to work together, so much so that Fonseca, at the first difficulties, was fired.

“I, on the other hand, at the first difficulties, was defended by Berlusconi in front of the whole team, (‘I have faith in Arrigo. Whoever follows him, will stay. Whoever doesn’t follow him will go’) and from that day on we never lost another match. Here lies the difference between the glorious past and the too grey present.

“I would like to underline a detail. It is important that in these days of reflection, the Milan management think about who to choose as sporting director without forgetting, however, who will sit on the bench. Let me explain: the sporting director must be identified together with the coach, and this choice must be shared.

“Why? Simple: the two must work closely together, one must be the support of the other. If I, the coach, need a midfielder, I must be able to trust the sporting director who goes to buy him for me. Am I clear?

“And to trust, it is necessary that I, the coach, also participated in the choice of the sporting director, otherwise the chain of errors continues and nothing good is achieved. I go back to the past again to insist on this subject: after the victory of the title, I wanted Rijkaard, Berlusconi instead preferred that I insert the Argentine Borghi into the group.

“I worked very hard to convince Galliani to intervene with the president, and the thing went well. The people who are part of a club must row in the same direction with the aim of reaching the finish line before the opponents. If instead everyone goes their own way and tries to save only themselves, it ends up that we will not get anywhere.

“Here, precisely because I love Milan so much, I hope that now, in this period that is crucial for the definition of the project for next season, the mistakes of the very recent past are not made and, above all, that we focus on reliable men: the sporting director, the coach and the players. All united, and with a clear idea that comes from the top of the club, we can think of returning to greatness.”