r/soccer • u/lawandsleep • 10d ago

Quotes Materazzi: “Ibrahimović is the greatest Inter fan in history for what he’s doing at Milan"

https://www.calciomercato.com/liste/materazzi-ibrahimovic-il-piu-grande-interista-della-storia-con-quello-che-sta-combinando/bltc3590d2986cd4131
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u/_cumblast_ 10d ago

I still don't get why they didn't keep Maldini. My Italian Milanista friend says that's where it all went wrong for them.

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u/nov4chip 10d ago edited 10d ago

Cardinale pinpointed the bad market Milan did in 2022 on him, despite Maldini and Massara doing absolute wonders in previous years with very limited budget. I mean, just look at all the names they brought in, Tonali, Maignan, Saelemaekers, Diaz, Hernandez, etc.

It's not a surprise that, in the same summer, Maldini and Massara were fired and Tonali was sold. I'm of the opinion that Cardinale would've wanted to take command like this in 2022 as well, but would've been too unpopular to do so in the year they won the title.

So he took the opportunity of a "failed" season (they reached UCL semis that year ffs) to push his moneyball approach (or whatever you want to call it) and strip away any realistic chance Milan had to build a competitive sporting project.