Galliani: ‘Pirlo was always a coach’

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Former Milan CEO Adriano Galliani explains why he was always confident new Juventus boss Andrea Pirlo would become a coach, unlike Ronaldinho, who ‘didn’t even care who we were playing.’

Pirlo has been appointed as the head coach at Juventus, despite having zero managerial experience and not even getting his full coaching badges yet.

“He was already a coach when he was playing,” Galliani told the Corriere dello Sport.

“If I had to use one word to define Andrea, it’d be intelligent. That adjective completely sums him up. He was always studying, too. He studied the opponents, the places we were playing, the situations… I am sure he’ll do very well at Juventus.

“We’ve had so many players come through Milan and become coaches, like Cristian Brocchi, Leonardo, Andriy Shevchenko, Massimo Oddo, Jaap Stam, Giovanni Stroppa, Alessandro Nesta, Roberto Donadoni, I’d even add Roberto De Zerbi and Roberto D’Aversa.

“People just remember Carlo Ancelotti, Clarence Seedorf, Pippo Inzaghi and Gennaro Gattuso, but there have been so many who found Milan to be a real school of football.”

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If there’s a former player who Galliani does not see becoming a coach, then it’s Ronaldinho.

“He didn’t even know or care who were playing against. The day after, he’d forgotten already. It was as if the opposition was entirely irrelevant to him.

“Ronaldo didn’t study either. I remember one day before his second game for us, against Siena, he ate two large plates of pasta and used half a loaf of bread to mop up all the sauce too. Ancelotti and I said to him, Fenomeno, you know we have a game tomorrow, don’t over-do it.

“He replied: ‘The player marking me knows he’ll be dealing with Ronaldo, so it’s his problem.’ Well, he scored two goals. Phenomenal.”

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