Alessandro Nesta insists Milan were right to celebrate sixth-place – “it’s an important step and a great milestone”.
The Rossoneri sealed Europa League qualification last weekend, but their celebrations were criticised in some quarters, given they’ve won 18 Scudetti and seven European Cups.
“I was on the side of those who celebrated,” Nesta told Gazzetta dello Sport.
Alessandro Nesta insists Milan were right to celebrate sixth-place – “it’s an important step and a great milestone”.
The Rossoneri sealed Europa League qualification last weekend, but their celebrations were criticised in some quarters, given they’ve won 18 Scudetti and seven European Cups.
“I was on the side of those who celebrated,” Nesta told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“It’s right to do it when you reach a goal, and Milan did that. Obviously compared to my time they’ve dropped a lot, but this is what Milan is now.
“So, from that perspective, it’s an important step and a great milestone. And then, if you think about it for a moment, Inter would bite your hand off to be where Milan are now…
“They just need to have humility and stop thinking about [Silvio] Berlusconi’s Milan, because that Milan is gone.
“Humility is the key word, it’s with that you have to face a trip to somewhere you barely know at the end of July.”
Nesta also discussed the final days of the Berlusconi era, and the new Chinese ownership.
“In recent years there was a lot of chaos and the club wasn’t used to operating in emergency conditions. “There was confusion about roles in the club, and the Coaches were changed so many times. It was always them who paid, unfairly.
“I wonder, if the fourth or fifth Coach doesn’t work, maybe you should think that it’s not always the fault of the person on the bench?
“Now they have to change gears from the past. I don’t know [the Chinese owners], to judge them we first need to understand how they work.
“I still have a feeling of perplexity though, it seems to me that Inter’s owners are more active. It’ll certainly be tough to return Milan to the Champions League, they’ll have to spend a lot.
“I’d build from a group of mentally strong Italians, and whoever comes in lines up behind them. That’s how it was in my time, and that’s how it is at Juve now.
“The secret of that Milan was mentality, more than technique. We were always ready to play big games like Athens. We were always ready for the highest tension and knew how to handle it.
“What changed? It’s simple: players age and you need to have the strength to replace them with players of the same level.
“If you can’t afford them, you start losing ground. A bad signal, for example, was the transfer of Ibra [Zlatan Ibrahimovic] and Thiago Silva.
“I and many others stopped for personal reasons, they left because of the club’s financial choices. A sign of weakness.”