Marcel Desailly reflects on his successful spell with Milan, why he left the club for Chelsea and his thoughts on Stefano Pioli’s squad in an exclusive interview with Football Italia.
The former French defender spent five years with the Rossoneri from 1993 to 1998 following his move from Olympique Marseille, being a key figure at the club across his five years in Italy.
Desailly won two Scudetti, a UEFA Super Cup and the Champions League title with Milan, taking part in 186 total games before he left for Chelsea in the summer of 1998.
Internationally, the former defender won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship with France, taking part in wins over Italy in both tournaments.
Speaking to Football Italia on behalf of Gambling Zone, Desailly first reflects on his move to Milan in 1993 and how he formed a strong working relationship with then-coach Fabio Capello.
“Yes, remember it was the olden days at the time, only three foreigners could play in the team, whilst Milan had seven before I arrived,” he says.
“To go to Milan, you had to be a Ballon d’Or winner at the time, and luckily Ariedo Brada identified my capabilities when Zvonimir Boban got injured, they wanted to have that eighth foreigner come into the system.
“Berlusconi wasn’t too happy because he was entering politics at the time to try and protect his TV things, through Mediaset, so Brada forced him a little bit because he was sure that I was the correct player to integrate into the system.
“At the time, it was the 4-4-2 with the midfield pressing on the opponents, the entire team plus the defence doing the rotations. So, I was the correct player for that.
“Sometimes you enter a place where you initially weren’t willing to be, but suddenly everything fits correctly. Everything went well with Capello, when he was doing the tactical pressing over and over, the training sessions, everything was good.
“I was the perfect player to bring them a boost. They had a nice series of victories, we had the 56th undefeated match in a row.
“But later on, when I spoke with Capello, you had stubborn top players, Brian Laudrup, Van Basten, Dejan Savicevic, Boban, Giovane Elber, Jean-Pierre Papin, I asked why me?
“He said, ‘Marcel I’m sorry, every time I would line up my team, Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi and you were the first ones I put on my list’, because I was good on the tactical side of things. It was important already at the time.”
The former defender explains why he decided to leave after five years to join Chelsea in 1998.
- Read more – Exclusive – Desailly talks life at Chelsea, Vialli impact and Italy’s 2006 World Cup win
“Milan were just amazing, I adapted, we won leagues, we won the Champions League. We had the correct players every time to come and boost us to the goal. We had George Weah, I came, I hope I was one of the players who boosted Milan for the opportunity to win,” he recalls.
“Afterwards, Weah came, and suddenly we won the league that year also, and then there was a little drop, we had Roberto Baggio – an amazing player – but he wasn’t at his best, his knee was hurting him, so we didn’t have a great season.
“After that, after we had the Dutch players who came, Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids, Michael Reiziger, Winston Bogarde, and they needed to adapt to the system of Milan and Italian football.
“Same thing, a second year where we didn’t perform to the highest level. After that, we had Christophe Dugarry who came into the system, he had a knee injury, so he couldn’t really perform.
“So, the team were a bit affected in their performances and I was suffering from the criticism, you know, people were criticising the players, the team.
“So, I felt it was my time eventually to have a new experience, I could identify that the Premier League was doing really well. It was growing and I wanted to experience the fighting spirit.
“In Italy, I learnt a lot tactically and the technical side of the game, the smartness, I wanted to go in a different league to experience the physical part of it and the intensity of the game.”
Finally, Desailly gives his thoughts on the current project at Milan and the team’s capabilities under Pioli.
“It takes time for the club to build up. I do believe that we anticipated too much on the potential of the team. Two years ago, they won the league, but I’m not sure the foundation was really there for them to continue performing,” he says.
“You see, there’s been a drop in leadership with some players, to be able to handle and have a second consecutive top-class season. Probably, they didn’t bring in players in the system who had enough experience to handle a second consecutive season to allow Milan to win.
“All the time it’s a hope with Milan, last year they did very well in the Champions League quarterfinals against Napoli, who were really flying. We thought that Milan were really the team of the moment when we saw them play, but it was just one game where they played well and showed great ability, great understanding of the game.
“So, I still do believe that they’re a team who still have to build up knowledge and capability. Like when you see Leao is inconsistent, he doesn’t have that consistency in the game, they still have to learn.
“Christian Pulisic also needs time to understand and accept the leadership that we’re asking of him. He wasn’t playing all the time at Chelsea and coming into Milan, he needs to understand and absorb the history of the club.
“San Siro is a magnificent garden where you have to digest the intensity of what is required every weekend. So, they don’t have the foundation yet.
“Yes, we have consistency with players like Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernandez – the back four are very solid and understand the game, but it takes time and unfortunately Milan don’t have time because all the time the crowd, the fans, the media are asking Milan to be the Milan either of my generation or the one you remember with Andriy Shevchenko, Kaka and Alessandro Nesta, where they won all these trophies.
“People are expecting Milan to be at the level of these two generations of players, it’s difficult, you need international players, to need to have the foundation. At the time, the base of the foundation were Italian players.
“You need to have local players who bring that spirit, that dedication to the club, now it’s not the same anymore, the era is different. You need now to also have foreigners who identify as part of the identity of the club, to bring the team to another level.”