He was a key player in the greatest Milan side and what he remembers especially are the games of tennis football that began each morning at 9.15, 45 minutes before the start of training.

“Technically, they were unbelievably tough. Van Basten and Rijkaard weren’t able to play in those games. It took me time to learn but, years later at Chelsea, I would take a ball on my chest, volley a pass to a guy 10 yards away, the crowd would go mad and I would think, ‘But that’s nothing’. Those years at Milan were hard, all the time hard.”

He remembers the sound of Silvio Berlusconi’s helicopter landing at the club’s training ground, Milanello. “Che, che, che, che, and he would be there. He was a good motivator, very charismatic. He would say, ‘Okay, we have Inter on Sunday, the European Cup next week, then Palermo, another European Cup, then Juventus, after that Roma. Now if we can win these six games, we’ll be in a good position’.

“It wasn’t enjoyable because it was so pressurised. The fun came when you won but it was only for a brief moment because you had to do it again and again, the next week, the following season.”

Milan had a profound effect on him because he had never experienced anything remotely near the culture that existed at Berlusconi’s club. What distinguishes it from all other clubs, he believes, is the compulsion to win. So ingrained that each individual victory seemed as nothing, except as a forerunner to the next.

He talks about a club that refused to do “hallelujahs”. “When Clarence Seedorf left Inter and went to Milan, I said, ‘You will experience something very different’. He went there and we then spoke. ‘Oh, Ruud. It’s incredible. You walk into this club and everything you breathe is about winning, and you know that you want to be part of it’.”



this was a extract from a interview in the Times...says it all to me and i can't believe things have changed to much.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle2511616.ece
for the rest of the interview

Very nice. Very good read. Milan is made of success minded people. And that's the key component. That's why no matter how much we complain, they don't panic. Because they know better. We are not a failure-minded team, we are just experiencing a momentarily setback. Success is right around the corner and with some better decision makings, we will be back to winning. Even if this season doesn't go as well as we like, we will be back the season after that with new motivation.

I know I always say I want new players, and I still stand by that, but I still have faith in the management and I know they will turn things around if they see they are not achieving their goals.

This post has been edited by pKillerMax: Sep 29 2007, 12:53 AM

That was a nice read. Thanks for posting. (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I caught part of a Sky Sports news broadcast earlier this week (they show them on Fox Soccer Channel). Gullit was on, discussing the whole mess at Chelsea. He was bright, articulate, and funny. Thing is, I'm not sure I'd have recognized him had they not had his name at the bottom of the screen: the dreads are gone! My mental image of him is pretty much frozen in 1992, sad as that is to say.

Thanx mishie (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/king.gif)

Now do you see why I am pro-Milan whether they loose/tie/win (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

Exactly (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

we are part of the same club my friend...never let those who doubt us sway our minds
forza milan per sempre!