Cesare Maldini, former AC Milan player, coach and father of club legend Paolo Maldini has laid the blame for the Rossoneri’s current crisis squarely at the feet of vice-president Adriano Galliani.
Galliani, who is responsible for player recruitment and assembled the current squad of playing staff at Milan, has come under increasing pressure from the fans over the quality and composition of the team.
In an interview with Corriere dello Sport, 82-year-old Maldini defended coach Filippo Inzaghi who finds his position increasingly under threat following an extended run of poor results, while he also criticised the club’s hierarchy for the way they have run Milan in recent years.
“Should we exempt Inzaghi from judgement?” pondered Maldini. “For God’s sake, God forbid.”
“You could be the best coach in the world but without quality the team is going nowhere. If you don’t have enough quality then it becomes difficult to play well and win. The club should intervene, discuss problems, address them and remedy them.
“These problems started at the beginning of the season. It’s not right that, before the championship had even started, the bosses came out and claimed that the club would be aiming for third or fourth place as if this were normal.
“In terms of history and prestige, the Diavolo have always been accustomed to aiming high, towards the very top.
“Certain things should not exist, because in the end they affect the mentality and the spirit of the whole environment. But this is only the effect of what is an evident fact: This is a badly built Milan team.”
Milan currently sit 11th in the Serie A table and have yet to win a match in 2015.
