Newsgroup: it.sport.calcio.milan
Titolo: Intervista a Flaminchia

Per chi è interessato:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1363969/Mathieu-Flamini-I-m-Arsenal-man-I-love-duel-Spurs.html

 
copincolli?

 copincolli?
Mathieu Flamini: I'm an Arsenal man, I love to duel with Spurs. I'm just like Napoleon...
EXCLUSIVE
By MATT LAWTON 
Last updated at 11:18 AM on 8th March 2011
Read more: 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1363969/Mathieu-Flamini-I-m-Arsenal-man-I-love-duel-Spurs.html#ixzz1G0iqrndu
According to a much-respected member of the French media, Mathieu Flamini is a typical Corsican. Cultured and yet combative is roughly how he describes him. 'Like Napoleon,' he says. 
It feels like dangerous territory. A sweeping generalisation that might actually offend the former Arsenal midfielder now relaxing on a sofa at AC Milan's famous Milanello training ground. You can imagine the reaction. 'Napoleon? You serious?' 
Eye to eye: Mathieu Flamini talks to Sportsmail about THAT tackle
But Flamini is comfortable with the comparison. Delighted in fact. 'Napoleon is part of our history,' he says, his eyes lighting up. 'It is very important and I am proud of that. I grew up in the south of France but I had a Corsican education. My roots are there and I spent a lot of time there as a child. You know you can still go to Napoleon's house in Ajaccio.' 
So cultured yet combative is about right then? 'I guess that's true,' he says. 'There are two different people. The person I am on the pitch and the person I am off it. When I am on the pitch I play in midfield and I like to play hard. I am an aggressive player. But off the pitch I have my hobbies. I like art, I like music. Away from the pitch I am much quieter.'
He knows where this is going. To San Siro, of course, and that moment during the first leg of Milan's Champions League last-16 tie against Tottenham when he appeared to launch himself, two-footed, at Vedran Corluka. He says he went for the ball. Corluka and Spurs manager Harry Redknapp thought otherwise. Not least because of the way he then turned to the Milan crowd to celebrate a tackle that earned him a yellow card but was more than worthy of a red. 
'They said I should go to jail!' he says. 'I have never been in trouble in my life and I can assure you there was no intent in the challenge. I deserved the booking because I did injure the player. But I went to see him afterwards in the dressing room to check he was OK.' 
Flying Flamini: the Milan midfielder clatters into Vedran Corluka before squaring up to Spurs players (below)
 
He says he was somewhat surprised by the reaction. 'What made me smile was that English people, English newspapers, talk a lot about that tackle,' says the 27-year-old. 'I spent four years at Arsenal and I grew up with English football. I come from an English school. I was educated in England. At Arsenal we played a passing game but it was a tough game with passing. 
'Everybody knows that the English league is the hardest, the most physical. In the Premier League you can see tackles like that every week. 
'Of course, it is important to always play the ball. It's important to play with the right spirit. But I went for the ball. In four years in England I don't think I was ever sent off straight away. It's not like I have a reputation for bad tackles. I have never really had any problem of discipline. Most of the time at Arsenal we were the team that was kicked.' 
He does, however, admit that he was particularly pumped up for that game. 'Arsenal is still in my heart and it was Spurs,' says the player who left north London for Milan in 2008. 'It was special for me. Games with Spurs were always big battles. 
'Like I said, on the pitch I am a different person. I am feeling everything, full commitment. I then turned to the fans because at that moment I felt I had won my, how do you say, duel? Yes. I had won my duel. I had won the tackle. 
Flashback: Flamini, at Arsenal in 2006, battles Spurs' Aaron Lennon
'There is so much adrenaline, so much passion, and I turned to the fans. It is important to win those tackles and have character in the team. But after that I went to see the player. At that moment I didn't realise I had hurt him.' 
Such a lack of remorse might be fuelled, perhaps understandably, by the sheer hostility between the two teams ahead of tomorrow's second leg. Caused initially by that volatile clash between Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso and Spurs coach Joe Jordan, and then fuelled further by Redknapp's comments in the wake of Tottenham's 1-0 win. 
Redknapp sat in the San Siro afterwards and declared that the Barclays Premier League is superior to Serie A, having questioned whether Milan's players were good enough, individually, to secure a place in his team. 
It seems it did not go down terribly well in Milan. Particularly among the more successful members of a dressing room, multi-European Cup winners among them, who do not take too kindly to being written off by the Champions League new boys. 
'Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect his opinion, but I don't think he's right to say that,' says Flamini. 
'It was only last season that Inter Milan won the Champions League. And this is a club with great history, great success and some great players. 
Bad feeling: Harry Redknapp's post-match comments at the San Siro didn't go down well with Milan players
'I have played in both England and Italy and the football is different. The Premier League is fast and furious from the first minute to the last. It is very strong, very quick. The Italian league is slower but more tactical. There is less space, and because of that it is harder to score goals. It is easier to beat the teams at the bottom of the league in England than it is in Italy. The Italian league is strong too.
'We lost 1-0 to Tottenham but I don't think we deserved to lose that game. We will go there and fight for the place in the quarter-finals and I am very confident we can do that. 
'Like I said, I respect him (Redknapp) as a manager and as a person. Everyone has his opinion. But I have mine and, from what I have seen from the first leg, I am very confident we can win the game.
'We knew Tottenham were a good team. We had seen their games against Inter and I had watched them against Arsenal. They had a good first half but in the second half we were bossing the game in the middle. We were much the better team after the interval.' 
Milan are a team in transition. Maybe even in decline. Paolo Maldini has finally retired and others would appear to be fast approaching that point in their careers. But they sit at the summit of Serie A and there is something that says it would be foolish to write them off just yet. 
One only has to sit in the bar at Milanello where journalists and players mingle in a way Sir Alex Ferguson would never allow. You want a sandwich from the staff canteen? No problem. Coffee? Beer even? This is a classy football club. Incredibly hospitable. 
French general: Flamini talks to Sportsmail's Chief Football Correspondent Matt Lawton at the Milanello training complex
Players come and go, always saying hello. Alexandre Pato, dare it be said with what looks suspiciously like a second chin, wanders through. Then Clarence Seedorf, Filippo Inzaghi, Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Sadly there is no sign of the snarling Gattuso or Barbara Berlusconi, the beautiful daughter of Silvio and someone who now works at the club. 
Carlo Ancelotti might have recently declared that there is 'no gratitude' in football but they remember him fondly here. Only the aforementioned Maldini can match him for the number of appearances in the many photographs that adorn the walls. Chelsea's manager is everywhere. 
Rather than daunting, Flamini finds it all inspiring. 'My father is Italian,' he says. 'So I am half Italian. To come to Italy, to one of the biggest clubs in the world, to be part of this, to train and play with these players, is a dream for me. I enjoyed my time at Arsenal and I still have great friends there. Cesc, Tomas, Robin. But my family were very proud when I came here. 
'To play with Maldini, Ronaldinho, Dida, Seedorf, Ambrosini. Legends. For my career but also for my personal experience it is fantastic. 
'It is a team in transition. There are younger players coming into a team with players who have won everything. But there is still the same ambition. At Milan you are expected to win titles and trophies - win every game.' 
AC Milan legends: Carlo Ancelotti and Paolo Maldini
Milanello enjoys a stunning rural setting but it is the bit outsiders can't see that impresses Flamini most: the subterranean MilanLab. 'It is completely different to anything I saw in England,' he says. 'The lab is underground and it is very impressive, full of technology. 
'After every game they will do tests to check our physical condition, how we feel. And it is done individually. Everyone has different work. It is adapted to your age, your form and your physical condition. You can see how some of the older players keep going.' 
Many of the methods were introduced by Ancelotti. 'He signed me,' says Flamini. 'I only worked with him for a year but I enjoyed a good relationship with him. He's a great person as well as a great coach and the chance to know him was a real privilege. He is very honest, someone very close to his players.' 
He might even agree that Flamini is a bit like Napoleon.
Read more: 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1363969/Mathieu-Flamini-I-m-Arsenal-man-I-love-duel-Spurs.html#ixzz1G0iidkzo

 I deserved the booking because I did injure the player. 
LOL non ha idea di come funzioni il regolamento
grazie capitan!