An Interview with Montolivo

New Milan signing Ricardo Montolivo speaks about Milanello, Firenze and his good buddy Nocerino.

“Where there are new things to build,there are also great opportunities. I just stepped onto the Milan train and there’s always room for those who are motivated.”

“Milan were in my destiny. I could’ve gone into their youth academy when I was 6 years old but my parents thought I was too young and that it was better to stay close to home. So I grew up in Atalanta, even though my father is a Milanista. My brother is also a Milanista.”

“I believe that I’ve made the right choice now, and I’m proud of the career that I had at Fiorentina.”

“If it’s better to be the no. 1 at Fiorentina or just one of the many at Milan? I’m ambitious so I’ve decided to raise the bar. In any case, I don’t just want to be one of the many at Milan.”

“I was angry with Fiorentina because they hadn’t found a solution for me, whereas Palermo helped Nocerino out. It allowed Nocerino to join Milan and get the chance to play in the CL.”

“I didn’t want to offend Nocerino. I called Nocerino and the episode was cleared up. The media had extrapolated a sentence out of context. On top of that it was a private conversation. I was badmouthed by a person who I thought was a gentleman.”

“I have no problems with Nocerino. He’s a friend and we’ve known each other since we were 15. It annoys me that the media made me look presumptuous and arrogant. I’m not like that. It was one of the many attempts that aim at making me look bad.”

“I had 7 wonderful years at Fiorentina, 5 of them with great football. I take a sense of recognition with me ,for the Della Valle family. They allowed me to reach the highest level and also make it to the Italian nation team. And I of course also take with me the relationship that I had with the fans

“I don’t know if the fans will boo at me when I return. They booed me the entire season, so maybe they’re tired of doing it. I refer to only what happened at the stadium in Firenze. Nobody has ever annoyed me in my private life”

“Firenze is a special city. There’s an instinctual relationship with the squad and when you lose all hell breaks loose.Even Delio Rossi who is a balanced and calm type of person became another person when he was at Fiorentina.The renewal of my contract with Fiorentina wasn’t related to Milan’s interest in me. My journey with Fiorentina was over.”

“It doesn’t seem to me that Milan are struggling. Of course we have lost 2 phenomenal players, but the club was strong before Thiago and Ibra as well, so we will get back to the top even without them.”

“Where do I see myself at Milan? I can say where I don’t see myself – as a trequartista maybe. I’ve played as a trequartista for Italy, but that was a unorthodox way of playing as a trequartista.However, I can play in 3 positions in the midfield. It doesn’t make a difference to me which one of them i play. I believe that being versatile is an advantage and a must when you’re at a great club.”

“I like the familiar atmosphere around Milanello. I immediately felt at home. And it was also thanks to the teammates, the staff and everyone who works at Milanello.I’m very motivated. I would have begun training on the 3rd of July if I could.That’s how much i desire to start this new chapter of my career.”

“If Kakà arrives, he would be a very important player for us.He is a fantastic player and also seems like a great guy, even though I only know him as an opponent.”

“In these difficult moments, there are also great opportunities.Perhaps now we can count on young Italians and return to the top.Perhaps certain economic situations lead us to make choices that we normally would not have made.”

“I don’t know what I would have done if I had become a footballer. I have a diploma in accounting but honestly, I gave my everything to become a footballer and fortunately I made it.”

“It had a great value for me to wear the captain’s armband. It wasn’t good when I got degraded at Fiorentina. It was the squad that decided I should wear the captain’s armband, but it wasn’t the squad who took it away from me.There are still some leaders left at Milan, but the best system is to make the squad the leader.”

“Juve should know that we will still be there at the top, despite the players that we’ve sold.I believe that our squad is still competitive enough for the Serie A.If Galliani says that Milan will be strengthened then I believe the squad will be even stronger, also in the CL”

“With all the scandals in Italian football, we aren’t giving a good image. We need to clean up Italian football again and this time we really need to clean up Italian football; clean it deeply and thoroughly.”

“When it comes to the technical values of Italian football then I don’t think that we’re inferior to others. The only problem in Italian football is the structure, and that perhaps leads to the financial problems in the clubs.”

“Is it going to be a horrible season for Milan? Who knows… I’m optimistic.”

Sumber: Dailymilan.com