Dear Gramellini, I think you exaggerated about Ancelotti

Dearest Gramellini,
when we take inspiration from the words of someone who leads us to intervene on a topic, in my opinion it is always a good habit to evaluate from which pulpit they come. This is to adjust to the “color” and “warmth” of the possible reply. Since his is a pulpit that I like and that I always willingly listen to, in writing or on TV, I was struck by reading his reflections on Carlo Ancelotti.

The Real Madrid coachin the press conference on the eve of the Champions League match against Milan, expressed sincere embarrassment at having to play, while Valencia, torn apart by the sea of ​​mud who suffocated her, counts her dead, in a shocked Spain. Then adding that the choice to have the match played did not depend on him or on the players, who would not have wanted to play, but on those “who are above” and that the team had nothing left but to adapt. She did not like this conclusion, hoping for concrete actions in line with certain ethical positions, and not mere statements of principle, commenting harshly at the end: «Complaining and getting indignant without ever following the complaint with a concrete gesture is the typical attitude of the victims. There are circumstances in which you also need to know how to pull out “los cojones”. Otherwise it is better to be silent than to bleat».

Ecco, I really didn't expect this closure from her. What has been argued so far, i.e. the importance of disobedience to injusticeof being interested in the things of the world seemed like music to me, bringing to mind theI care of Don Milani, which the priest of Barbiana pedagogically opposed to the fascist “I don't care”. Your reasoning on the mobilization and commitment of those with power, especially in the media, to give voice and carry out gestures of disruption that are precluded to weak. However, I fear that the kind of problems, of selfishness, of indifference, of anti-politics, reached in these difficult times concern each of us and there is a need for much more balls of a coach, even if it is Ancelotti.

I'll tell you, Gramellini. Mine is not benevolentism, rather a call for solidarity effective and to the mobilization of everyone. Football will have to do its part but before football I see prairies of whitewashed tombs and faces turned away… And in the face of wars, of genocides in progress, I shouldn't need a call to mobilize a football ace. I believe that the rider who delivered pizzas on the night of the last flood in Bologna, without receiving a euro tip, could contribute well to the debate.

Finally, for those who use them for work, words are even more important. I know that you know this well, for the care and intelligence with which you use them every day. I'm sorry about this, that he didn't give discounts to a man like Ancelottidespite having broadened the discussion. Carlo's has always been a pulpit from which measured and honest words have come, an example of humanity always maintained even at the extraordinary professional level achieved. How honest was his face the other day when he confessed his inner mourning and his helplessness. Of course, in this world of wolves, or rather, of hyenas, it didn't seem bleak to me. With unchanged esteem,
Renzo Ulivieri
President of the Italian football coaches association

Dear Ulivieri,
I thank you for your kind reply and I recognize that I let myself be carried away by passion and of having raged in the last lines on perhaps the least guilty target, Ancelotti being a mild and respectable man.
However, I am struck by the fact that you wrote to me to defend one of your colleagues. He will tell me that it is his duty, as president of the Coaches Association, but I see it as confirmation that even the best, in this country of corporationsthey feel called into question only when one of their tribe is touched.
With great respect and sympathy,
Massimo Gramellini

November 5, 2024 (changed November 5, 2024 | 7:30 pm)

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