Cristian Brocchi was presented to the press and spoke about his relationship with Silvio Berlusconi and claimed that he wants to see an attacking Milan as he hopes to do enough to convince the club to keep him for next year.

It was in the air but in a sense also surprising due to the timing, as Milan decided to sack coach Sinisa Mihajlovic yesterday and appointed Primavera boss Cristian Brocchi, who has signed a contract until the end of the season.

Arrigo Sacchi has revealed that Brocchi has been Silvio Berlusconi’s choice since last year and finally the former midfielder will have a chance to coach the first team but he’s taking over in an objectively bad time as there are only 7 matches left with one of them being the Coppa Italia final against Juve.

Brocchi, who grew up in Milan’s youth sector and also has 135 appearances with the club, spoke to the press today, for the first time as a first team coach, and he hopes that his future won’t be the same as the one of Clarence Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi, who were sacked by Berlusconi.

“I want to continue the culture of work that this group definitely has,” Brocchi, 40-years-old, stated in the press room in training ground Milanello. “I’ve had numerous chances to see them at work, and I always saw players who wanted to graft and Sinisa and his staff should be acknowledged for that. I really want to bring in my methodology and way of coaching, that could be different to that of other coaches. Not better, but different, because I’ve studied a certain path and I want to enable the lads to apply it on the pitch.

“The impact Mihajlovic’s sack had on the team? It’s normal that there was a certain atmosphere, the players were used to seeing the same people for several months. It was still a good impact, perhaps because I’m known at Milanello, so it’s less of a sense of finding a new and different person. On the pitch I’m starting to do something of my own, and trying to get them to understand how I want to coach them.

“Am I afraid of having my fingers burned? In recent months this term has been used exponentially more. It’s about making the most of your opportunity, it’s natural that risk exists when you have such a big opportunity. Of course, you need to have the humility to understand that if things don’t go well you’ve had the opportunity to walk this road without thinking about a big chance that went wrong.

“I have no negative thoughts, I’m playing for this opportunity with the great desire and spirit which have always distinguished me. I’m not afraid, I know what I can do. That’s not to say that I’m 100 per cent certain that Milan will win seven games out of seven, but I’ll give 100 per cent.

“The fact that I only have a contract until the end of the season? It’s not a contract which allows you to be more or less calm. If I had a contract for two years of more but I did badly I’d be replaced anyway, and the only I’d have is that my back is covered by a contract.

“It’s not my priority, the important thing is the good of Milan. If it doesn’t go well I’ll have the humility to recognize that. How my relationship with Berlusconi was born? I honestly don’t know. The President, despite his many activities, has always expressed the desire to follow Milan at every level. I think the fact he’s spoken well of my style of play over the years means he was intrigued & started getting information.

“If the interferences of Berlusconi scare me? I want you to know one thing: I’m not offended and I’ll never be offended if you ask me questions like that. It’s not about being a ‘yes man’, it’s about respect. I’ve always respected my superiors for my entire life. The sharing of ideas is fundamental, I think part of growth is comparing ideas with other people. The relationship I have with the President is this: it’s about exchanging views, and it will stay that way, as with Mr. Galliani and everyone at Milanello.

“You can learn from everyone. How I plan to replace Miha? Maybe my past experience as a player can help me with that. I had a good relationship with Sinisa, I spoke to him yesterday. He was a gentleman, as he always is. I don’t want to put the relationship they had with him out of the players’ heads.

“But of course since yesterday I have to form a strong bond of my own with every member of the squad to achieve something beautiful and important. In my career I was lucky enough to have been trained by the best coaches. The two that left their mark however, were Cesare Prandelli and Carlo Ancelotti.

“I have adopted some of their characteristics and this will help me. We have a short time and it’s a bigger risk than starting from the beginning but this is the situation and we have to cope with it. If I feel distrust [from the fans] towards me? I’m calm, I know it exists. I know that, and I can understand it too.

“But at the same time what am I supposed to do? Should I stop because a lot of people think I’m not the right choice? Absolutely not. Everyone is free to express their opinions, I’ve never looked for help or cheerleaders. Many of you know that I never did that. I always conduct myself as a Coach the way I did when I was a player. I don’t think I’m smarter or more stupid than anyone else.

“What’s missing in the dressing room? I can’t tell you that yet because I only entered it yesterday. I will try and bring the serenity to the locker room that existed under Ancelotti. He had a friendly relationship with players and he brought in some important valued and they applied for everyone in the squad. Everyone respected him and gave their all. I hope I can also be as well liked by my player as Ancelotti was.

“I have limited time available? At a time like this you need to have the balance and the intelligence to know how to do many things. Don’t forget that in the teams I’ve coached [in the youth sector], the players have often all been changed. I want my team to play like in training. We don’t have much time, so we must ensure that every day we’re taking steps forward. The mental aspect is crucial.

“I always ask my teams to attack and not be passive. It’s a journey, it’s normal that you can’t get everything right straight away, but I started talking about it with the lads yesterday. It won’t be easy, it’ll be a tough task, but it’s exciting for me and I hope it will be for the players too.

“For me this squad is definitely of a good level, and I’ve said that to them. The thing I’ll do is try to give awareness to every player and make them feel stronger than they do now. That’s not because of Sinisa, I want to stress that, but personally speaking I think some haven’t made it as far as they could. They must believe more in their ability as a group, rather than trying to change games single-handedly.

“If we’re working towards next season or the final with Juventus [which takes place on the 21st of May]? Before that there’s a crucial place in Europe to be won. You can’t think about the final straightaway, we have to prepare the matches before that in the best way. In those games it’s normal that we’ll try to build for the match with Juventus, trying to establish a strong relationship with the team. We’ve been trying to do that since yesterday. It’s normal that we can’t put everything in place in two days, but we can put one or two things across every day, both on the pitch and off it.

“If it will be an aggressive Milan? Absolutely yes. It’s part of my belief and the goal should be to have an attacking mentality, and keep the ball as much as possible. It’s normal that to do this we need the whole team. The formation we’ll use? In my career, I’ve used that and 4-3-3. I like to have a back four and a midfield three, then with the three attacking players I like to have different options. With the Primavera I used a trequartista in the second half of the season. This team has players who can play as a trident. We can play with a trequartista, but also a front-three. These will definitely be the formations I’ll use.

“Why the 4-3-1-2 didn’t work for Milan this season? I can’t go back in time but I can say that I’d like to play with this game system or extend the front three in a 4-3-3 formation. We have players who can play in the attacking midfielder role and one of these is Bonaventura and the other is Honda.

“The key thing however will be the desire and commitment as well as the interpretation of the role that the players bring to the team. If I’m fascinated by the challenge that is Mario Balotelli? I’m fascinated and stimulated by the opportunity I have The hope is for the team to work to get the best out of individuals, that includes Balotelli. He’s a player I like a lot, and if we can get him to play like he did in the last game [against Juventus], even if I think he can do even more, then he’ll definitely be important for the team. I saw in Mario’s eyes – and those of the other lads – that he wants to finish the season at a certain level.

“If I will promote players from the Primavera? We don’t have many matches left this season, but if there is a chance and opportunity, we have lots of interesting players from the youth sector and we already have some in the squad. Manuel Locatelli is ready to play after a period in which he was appropriately managed in so many points of few because the gap between the Primavera and the first team is big.

“The fact that there are so few youngsters in Italy? For so many years we’ve been talking about putting young players in Italian teams but in practice there are very few. I think we should try to enhance the Primavera league and have ‘second teams’. This would also bring positive results for the national team.

“Comparison with Capello? Perhaps it will go like with Capello (smiles).” To convince the fans, and more importantly the management, Brocchi will have to win straight away against Sampdoria.