𝓓. 𝓣.

[Cult Ballers @thecultballers]

Sir Alex Ferguson once said: "That lad must have been born offside."

Jaap Stam called him a diving cheat. Defenders kept insisting he was lucky. Critics said he only scored tap-ins.

He scored 313 career goals and lifted every major trophy in the game.

This is Pippo Inzaghi.

Born in Piacenza, the son of a football coach, the older brother of Simone who would go on to become one of Italy's most successful managers. He grew up idolising Paolo Rossi and Marco van Basten. Two players who were also always there when it mattered most.

He played for Piacenza, Leffe, Verona, Parma, before becoming Serie A top scorer in 1996-97 with 24 goals at Atalanta. Juventus came, he won his first Scudetto alongside Del Piero and Zidane, and scored 89 goals in four seasons in Turin.

Then came Milan in 2001 and everything opened up. He played 300 matches for the Rossoneri and scored 126 goals, Won two Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia, two UEFA Super Cups, a FIFA World Club Cup and two Champions Leagues.

The thing about Inzaghi that his critics never explained was the numbers. 313 career goals. 69 in European competitions, 10 hat-tricks in Serie A, still an all-time record.

His method was simple. He didn't dribble. He rarely shot from outside the box. He simply watched defenders, read where the ball was going before it arrived, and got there first.

The offside trap that caught him 330 times in Serie A also meant that every time he stayed onside, he had a yard on every defender in the box. He used to get furious with wingers in training if they didn't send crosses to exactly the right spot. He had mentally already mapped where he needed to be and needed the ball to meet him there.

He played a crucial role in Milan's 2002-03 Champions League win. Scored 10 goals. But his absolute masterpiece came four years later, in Athens. He scored both goals in the Champions League final against Liverpool.

In between he had also lifted the 2006 World Cup trophy in Berlin. He played only once, coming on as a substitute against Czech Republic. he played 30 minutes and scored. Of course he did.

Ancelotti said of him: "Inzaghi strikes his opponent at the most unexpected moment." What he meant was: the man had no remarkable attributes except being in the right place at the right time, every single time, for twenty-one years.

His younger brother Simone managed Lazio and Inter. Pippo managed Milan, Bologna, Venezia and several others. He was never able to replicate his playing genius in the dugout.

313 goals. Two Champions Leagues. A World Cup. An all-time Serie A hat-trick record.

Born offside, exactly 53 years ago today.

Happy birthday Super Pippo. 🇮🇹

[Realistic Milanista 🖤❤️‍🩹 @RealisticMilan]

And yet the only two things which didnt want you were Ac Milan and Italy

[Italian Football TV @IFTVofficial]

🇮🇹 MALDINI REVEALS ALL.

• Guardiola was already writing down Italy XIs
• Why Pirlo was his choice
• How the project collapsed
• Why he disagreed with bringing back Mancini

Some of the biggest revelations from his first major interview with Corriere dello Sport:

1️⃣ Guardiola was closer than anyone realized

💬 “We spent an entire day with Pep in Barcelona. He was very close to accepting. He was even writing formations on paper.

It’s not true that he asked for €20 million. Money wasn’t even a topic. Pep told us: give me one euro less than the last manager and I’m good.

He ultimately rejected because he was tired. He comes from ten exhausting years in the EPL. He just had back surgery. He wanted to rest.”

2️⃣ Why Pirlo was the choice

💬 “Our idea was focused on the technical side, on attacking play, on changing things.

We wanted a young coach who had a history with the Nazionale.

Along with Pirlo we also thought of De Rossi and Grosso, all world champions.

But Malagò told us one of the conditions from Serie A was that we couldn’t touch their coaches.

Pirlo not being a winner is a personal opinion. Whenever I speak with Pirlo he always seems very prepared.

If he was supported by a technical director, he would be the ideal manager.

What résumé did the last two coaches to win a major international trophy have? Scaloni and De La Fuente.

If you only look at the coach, you’re only thinking of today, not tomorrow.”

3️⃣ Pirlo’s Russian contract

💬 “Pirlo was open to getting out of his contract with the Russian company, he’s a good person that didn’t deserve all this.

If there really was the will to have him as Nazionale manager they would’ve found a way to do it”

4️⃣ On Mancini & Conte

💬 “It’s not like I don’t admire Mancini. Mancini and Conte are two great coaches. It’s not a question of friendship. We simply had a different project.”

5️⃣ The project was bigger than the coach

💬 “Reforming Italian football takes time. Creating talent is a long journey.

We wanted to create a new movement that involved all the federal divisions: Serie A, Serie B, Serie C, amateurs, coaches, referees and players.

We had to prepare for both today and tomorrow.

8-10 years are a lot? This is the only point that Serie A was doubtful about. But that was our estimate based on other nations, not only big nations like England, France, and Spain, but even smaller nations like Switzerland”

6️⃣ The turning point

💬 “The first thing I asked Malagò was who would choose the national team manager. He told us that we would choose the manager and he would back our choice. Then the events happened that led to this changing.”

[Extra Time Indonesia @idextratime]

Bowww! GBK disulap menjadi San Siro oleh Milanisti Indonesia! 🇮🇩🔥

[Milanisti Indonesia @MilanistiOrId]

Bisa-bisanya ditanya: merah-hitam kemana? 😑

#ACMilan #MilanistiIndonesia #SanSirokanGBK

[𝓓. 𝓣. @deltatraktor]

@LambeSahamjja standar ganda banget wkwkwkwk

[𝓓. 𝓣. @deltatraktor]

@SerieA_Lawas lah ngapain mereka beli Como kalo disuruh ngurus sepakbola Indo

[AC Milan @acmilan]

🇮🇩

[Rossonero @GeniusBenna]

Estupiñan and Leao on the same side

[Martino @MartinoPooch]

The manager trying to be smarter than he is, sell some of these bozos. Putting lipstick on a pig and trying to resell these players to the fanbase

[Ismaël Bennacer @IsmaelBennacer]

Grazie di tutto ❤️🖤 @acmilan

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Thiago Motta on Carlo Ancelotti:

"One day at PSG, after training, 11 of us went to a restaurant near the Arc de Triomphe.

Lavezzi suddenly said, 'I'm calling Ancelotti.'

We all told him he was crazy. 'Don't call the coach!'

But he did anyway.

Fifteen minutes later, Carlo walked into the restaurant.

He sat with us, had a drink and started telling stories from his AC Milan days.

Before leaving, he smiled and said:

'I'm off home now. You can stay as long as you like... but on Sunday, I expect a great performance.'

The moment he left, we looked at each other and said:

'How can we not give everything for a manager like that?'

That weekend, we went out and produced one of our best performances.

One of the many reasons why Carlo Ancelotti is loved wherever he goes. ❤️

[Milan Posts @MilanPosts]

🗣️ Maldini spoke to La Repubblica: "I loved him dearly, and I have so many wonderful memories of him. We'd known each other for many years.

Seeing so many of Franco's former teammates again was like reuniting with old friends. We've never really lost touch, but being together again is always something special.

On this occasion, we were all lined up once again behind our captain."

[SempreMilan @SempreMilanCom]

😪 Paolo Maldini was understandably emotion at Tuesday's funeral, and he shed some light on what Franco Baresi meant to him.

➡️ https://t.co/Nf6m1zgz5d

[maxquelloserio @maxquelloserio]

Luka Modric che prende per il culo chalanoglu per il trapianto di capelli piango

[Faisal @AhmadFaisal_12_]

Setali tiga uang dengan Thomas Helveg, Duo bek perancis (Lilian Thuram dan Marcel Desailly) juga berbincang hal yang hampir mirip.

Mereka diajarin, Ronaldo tuh gini, dummies ke kiri dan bolanya dibawa ke kanan.

Desailly malah ketawa. Kata dia, mau bolanya dibawa ke kanan atau ke kiri, percuma! Kita gak liat bolanya! "fus-fus-fus" cemana???

Thuram mengamini, katanya: Tuh orang ya, dia diem doang disitu (depan kita), pas kita nengok ke bawah, Lha anj bolanya ilang 😭

[FC Porto @FCPorto]

Legends.

[My Greatest 11 @MyGreatest11]

Milan 91/92

The Invincible Back 4 ✨

[Alessandro Nesta @Nesta]

Grazie per tutto quello che ci hai donato. Immenso Franco, punto di riferimento eterno, riposa in pace 🙏🏼❤️ #FrancoBaresi

[Gary Lineker @GaryLineker]

Have this weird feeling that Gianni Infantino will pull off his mask to reveal Sepp Blatter.