“Maldini can’t be touched”: the Rossoneri fans shot dead by the departure of the manager. On social media: “This is how the history of Milan ends”

There are those (the vast majority) who #Maldininonsite, complete with ad hoc hashtags, and those who “we are waiting to see how the market will go before speaking”, but all, without exception, are confused and disoriented: the Milan fans they had not yet had time to recover from the farewell to football of their idol Zlatan Ibrahimovic and they already find themselves having to deal with the removal from the company of Paolo Maldini, not only the current manager of the technical area but above all the symbol and flag milanist in a football era in which flags are disappearing.

Maldini’s breakup (and sporting director Frédéric Massara) with Gerry Cardinale, the owner of Redbird, Milan’s majority shareholder, has sparked a wave of protest on social media: “Today, together with Paolo Maldini, Milan is being ‘fired’ because he is Milan” someone writes and others point out that “his faults in the eyes of the owners were that he asked for a more ambitious team made up of players who can allow us to compete at high levels”. Bad moods and worries for the future summarized in the hashtag #CardinaleOut that he is depopulating on Twitter.

“A lot of effort to achieve goals and balance, to get back to where we deserve to be and then an American arrives and resets everything in ten seconds” regrets a fan, while another tweet reads: “Another bad awakening: anger, disappointment and confusion are just some of the terms that reflect the state of mind of the Rossoneri people these days.” There are those who try to rationalise, without giving in to panic: “It’s not about how much money to put on the market, but in whose hands to put it – comments a Rossoneri supporter – Cardinale has done only this in his life: take people’s money and increase their value. He assessed that putting them in Maldini’s hands was not technically convenient”.

But it is precisely “this star-spangled way of understanding sport, without looking anyone in the face” that does not go down well with many fans, who clamor for “respect for a great professional and a great man like Paolo Maldini” and hope in “a revolt of footballers” (which, moreover, seems to be already happening). There are also those who invoke glaring objections from the fans: “Those who are from Milan go and preside over Casa Milan” is the appeal launched on the Facebook group “Milan Supporters”, where someone also advises “deserting the stadium for next season “because “subscribing to follow this Milan means hurting Milan”.

However, there are some discordant voices: “Are we sure that the decision to change the management shouldn’t have been taken earlier? Isn’t it true that we failed all our objectives this year?”. If the Maldini/Massara management has brought as many Champions League qualifications, a Scudetto and a European semi-final in the last three years, it is true that this year the Rossoneri have not lifted any trophies. Is it the fault of the market and therefore of the choices of the technical director and the sporting director? Most of the fans are convinced not: “Reducing Maldini’s history with Milan to the latest market choices is a huge mistake” and again “I’ve loved Milan since I was born because I’ve always seen it as a family and not only as a club. Breaking this spell would be a grave mistake. Faith cannot be touched”. While awaiting developments in the story, one certainty remains: “We will always be here – they write on the ‘Il Casciavait’ Facebook page – because those with a Rossoneri heart never give up”.