Behind Maldini's dismissal is a contest of cultural clashes in European and American football
The news of Maldini and Marsala's dismissal was officially announced by AC Milan one after another, causing great dissatisfaction among fans.
Caldinale poked the "horse" honeycomb.
As soon as the news of Paolo Maldini's dismissal was revealed by the media, "Cardinale get out" immediately became a hot topic on social media. But any fan who has a little affection for the Milan club will spontaneously stand up for the injustice that Paul has suffered. Who is Paolo Maldini? Milan is the record holder for appearances, a loyal defender representative of three generations of Milan, and his family career is almost tied to the Rossoneri. As a player, he was less than 20 years old for the Rossoneri; As manager, he worked tirelessly during his five-year tenure to lead Milan to their first Serie A title in almost 11 years. Such a figure, who was already almost totemic in Milan, was actually swept away by the Americans with a word?
Attentive fans will look at the official announcement again, and they will be even more angry. Milan's official website announcement is extremely short, and the words are full of perfunctory superficial articles, with few references to Paul's achievements as a manager, and no respect for merit and the team's flag. Unlike the overwhelming farewell propaganda when Eevee left, there is no official farewell or gift publicity for Paul other than this announcement. Milan, which has always regarded warmth and care as the team's culture, has become so cold under the control of the Americans, shouldn't Caldinale be scolded?
The South Stand statement is full of connotations
Within 36 hours, Milan lost two bannermen in quick succession. The Redbirds have questions about the future development of the team.
Don't worry, this is just the beginning. Many fans reacted relatively rationally and restrained to Paul's departure, not in their hearts to Cardinale's decision, but because of the overall situation, they believed that the team needed a relatively quiet cycle for market operations, so they waited and saw what the Redbirds did for the time being. Among them, the voice of the South Stand, the fan organization, is the most interesting: "A large part of Milan's achievements are due to Paolo and his tireless efforts, and his love of red and black is his hallmark. Being fired does not erase his place in Rossoneri history, as he was a great leader and representative of Milanists. We don't delve into the details of management's decisions because it's not our job to evaluate managers, coaches and players. The banner on the last day of the season clearly expresses our thoughts (Milan always comes first). ”
At first glance, this statement respects Cardinale's decision to change personnel from a neutral standpoint, but when read separately, it has multiple meanings: first of all, it expresses solidarity with Paulo and identifies him as a representative of Milanese values. The English version of the statement uses the word "milanism" — milan plus the suffix of ism, which in English usually means a certain doctrine and shared values. This undoubtedly elevated Maldini to the position of leader, implicitly expressing support and recognition for him.
Faced with the fact of Maldini's departure, Milan fans were divided into several factions: the fan organization led by the South Stand chose to wait and see, but more fans directly expressed anger.
But then the conversation changed, and the South Stand said it did not comment on Paul's dismissal. It seems strange not to comment on the fact that a leader who represents Milan's cultural values has been kicked out of management. Since Caldinale paid for the club, in principle, his appointment and transfer of club personnel is not allowed to be ignored by outsiders. What the South Stand wants to express is actually this position.
The last sentence that followed was meaningful again. The South Stand turned the conversation back to club culture: we, as fans, do not interfere with the rights of operators, and the bottom line is that we respect Milan's cultural values and agree that the development of the club comes first. In other words, the South Stand expresses a wait-and-see position. In terms of Paul's appointment, the South Stand can see the dismissal as a normal business decision for Cardinale rather than a disregard for the club's culture. But guess what happens if the Redbirds don't continue with the idea of making Milan better, but instead see the team as a business and a tool for blood sucking, as Glazer did?
Business and cultural clashes
He and Caldinale have differences in many directions such as team building philosophy and investment direction, which is considered to be the root cause of Maldini's dismissal. Before him, former CEO Gazidis left as early as December.
In fact, not only the South Stand, including the players and club staff, everyone did not speak too drastically about Erma's dismissal, all because everyone was not clear about the starting point of the Red Birds' behavior. People are still trying to find everything possible in the grey line of developments that fit the rules of the club's reconstruction, with the idea that "let the Redbirds give it a try, maybe they have better plans and plans".
The cultural clash of European and American football concepts fired the first shot.
In recent years, capital from the United States and the Middle East has continued to pour into Europe, driving the rapid expansion and even expansion of the entire European football market. This kind of ownership is extremely utilitarian: Americans simply fancy the big cake of the football market, and Middle Eastern capital is for the purpose of integrating with the mainstream Western world and looking for future development direction.
According to Italian media, Caldinale intends to bring his experience at the helm of Toulouse to Milan. However, the different cultural backgrounds and philosophies between the two clubs are destined to make such a simple copy difficult to succeed.
Americans have blind confidence in their own sports market investments, and they believe that the reason why the European football market can make money is because most capitalists have a successful investment experience in American sports. Most owners, including Burleigh, completely ignore the profound value of football clubs accumulated in local cultural history, and simply believe that copying the investment experience of American baseball, basketball and other sports can complete the double harvest of sports concept transplantation and economic harvest.
What about the facts? Glazer has been sucking blood for many years at Manchester United, paying the price of his family's infamous countless greetings by Red Devils fans; Burley played live football manager at Chelsea, making the Blue Bridge a gathering place for new terriers in the Premier League, and it may even ruin the Abu era's painstaking establishment of a local youth training system; The most normal Fenway Group is said to have plans to retreat.
Why? Playing football burns too much. If you want to remain competitive in today's environment, market investment is a necessary content, but the cost of the arms race is getting higher and higher, and a Nunez who has not been verified by the five major leagues costs more than 70 million, who can afford to play with ordinary investors? In the long run, let alone make money, thank God that you can keep your assets and not lose money.
Liverpool boss Henry admitted the club was in talks with investors, but the content did not involve the sale of the club. Fenway Group will not be quitting football in the short term, and is still trying to re-emerge in the Premier League.
The Apennines' market and Premier League are weak year-on-year, and the revenue and public opinion environment are much harsher. It is extremely difficult for foreign capital to make a profit in Italy, and Fredericin is a lesson in the past. The Roma boss has been in Rome for 3 years, and has invested more than 51 million in Mourinho's two-year net investment to build a squad, but instead of making much profit, Mourinho ridiculed that the investment is too little and the management is not careful, and the original intention of this American capital to make money in football has long been contrary.
The situation of the Red Bird will not be much better than that of Fredericin. Milan have made more gains in business cooperation under the leadership of Gazidis, but the overall improvement is not large, and the market attractiveness of Serie A determines that it is difficult for the team to improve qualitatively in the business environment that the team can use. The Red Birds are understandably demanding strict control of salary expenditures in order to shrink earnings, but how to strike a balance between market revenue and team improvement is still a big problem. Caldinale hated that Erma had not put his money to good use last summer, and the implication was that Paul was not professional enough. Changing professional teams to run the business is in line with the needs of maximizing the investment interests of the team, and the cultural value naturally has to be sidelined.
For a team that has built its own deep culture over the course of 100 years, feelings are important. How to balance business and culture is fundamental to whether Redbird can truly be recognized by fans.
Capital has gradually shifted football operations to investment specialization, and no one can say whether football is a good thing or a bad thing. Paul's close friend Vieri, who co-founded his clothing brand, is understandably angry at Paul's dismissal. Bobo once made the thesis that "professionalism will ruin football" when he was playing football in his early years, and now he is blind to the cold-blooded and cruel nature of capital, which is in line with his consistent style of thinking. If one day football loses its feelings and becomes a pure show that attracts spectators to pay for it, will the existence of this sport still make sense?