Maldini: 'Rangnick not right for Milan'

By Football Italia staff

Paolo Maldini saw Milan’s “best performance in five years” against Inter, prepares for the Coppa Italia semi-final with Juventus and warns Ralf Rangnick is “not the right profile for a club like ours.”

The Rossoneri are still trying to find their feet after several years of disappointment and fumbling a 2-0 lead to lose the derby 4-2 was a further blow to their ambitions.

“If we analyse the game properly, it really was a fantastic first half from us, the best performance in the last five years, in my view,” Maldini told Sky Sport Italia.

“There are some problems, we know that and are working on them. We are not a perfect team and are working to improve, to avoid certain errors so we don’t lose games that we didn’t deserve to.

“These things can happen when you have a young team. It happens to even the most experienced, too. Anyone who has been a player remembers full well those moments when a match changes and you cling to the more experienced members of the team, in this case Simon Kjaer and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, to give a sense of security.”

Ibrahimovic became the oldest player ever to score in the Derby della Madonnina, also proving the assist for Ante Rebic.

“He is surprising me, not because he’s a great player, but in terms of his physical fitness. He trained by himself, yet immediately made an impact on Serie A after two months without a competitive match.”

Milan have the chance to make up for the derby defeat when they host Juventus in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final on Thursday.

“First and foremost, this is a semi-final, so with everything that comes with it. It is one of our two objectives for this season, which gives direct access to the Europa League.

“We are playing against a great team that has dominated Italian football for the last seven-eight years. It’s going to be a packed stadium yet again, and our fans have always stood by our side.”

There are consistent reports in Italy and Germany that Milan want to bring in Red Bull chief Ralf Rangnick as a coach and director next season, almost a Sir Alex Ferguson type figure.

“I read about that,” nodded Maldini. “In all honesty, as director of sport, with all due respect, I don’t think he is the right profile for a club like ours.”

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