DUBAI - These are the declarations of Paolo Maldini during today's press conference:
"We are living the classic period of preparation, therefore I believe that it is normal this serene and relaxed environment. Right now we are free from particular pressures and we can work in the best way. It's useless to deny that for us the resumption of the league will be a very important test. What is happening to us, especially for the home games at San Siro, is a paradox and in my opinion even unexplainable.
"It's difficult to understand how Milan manages to play great games away from home, but instead finds it difficult in its own stadium. There is one fact that everyone can see: at home we score few goals. With the resumption of the league, more than beating the taboo, we shall have to think about beating Napoli where so far they have shown that they are a real team.
"In the Champions League, the encounter against Arsenal is very fascinating and spectacular. From my point of view, the London team has great quality and unpredictability. Surely, from the point of view of the experience, we must not fear anyone, but in any case Arsenal and Manchester are the two teams who play the best football in England.
"Dida and Ronaldo? I don't think that we can talk about a period of crisis for either of them. They are two opposite situations. They also have two completely different characters. Ronaldo is more expansive and more positive from the point of view of the human contact, whereas Dida, is more closed lad and prefers to solve the situations by looking inside him.
"Pato and Ronaldo in this 2008 can surely give us something more from the quality level. Pato is still a young lad who does not fear responsibility. His addition in the team has so far been positive. It is difficult to speak about comparisons with my rise in football, as they are two completely different football experiences. From the technical point of view, I can only affirm that Pato is very strong and extremely quick in the narrow situations.
"On my future after football I can only say what I don't want to do, that is the coach, and there will not be any possibilities in this sense.
"A job in the youth sector? It could be a fascinating adventure, even though I believe that for this type of job you need professional figures of great experience in this sector. I surely could give an input to all the lads who would get in contact with football, teaching them that it is not the objective the main goal of a lad who comes close to football. The experience in the youth sector could have hold great charm at Milan, because in fact it's been a long time that this club does not produce talents of a certain level born at home, and today more than ever, with the new international norms, this resource becomes indispensable.
"My farewell game? Yes, I already thought about it. It will be played in Moscow..."
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oh mio capitano....
well...
