In defense of Sergej Milinkovic Savic

How we like to judge, talk too much, judge. Establish the forms of right and wrong, and therefore the behaviors others should adopt. This happened in case of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Target of the broadsides of many “sportsmen” in Italy for accepting the Arab court. Athletes who promptly unfolded the usual collection of simple judgements. “He has a loser mentality“, the central thesis, with the judgment to minimize a career cascading: “It’s a shame, he was able to do well within the limits of his possibilities“. This worries thousands of social network users. And then everyone who accuses him of “sold to the Saudis at the age of 28“.

Aside from Savic having no regrets about not joining a big club, it’s not clear why so many other people have to do it. But here, trusting the intellectual honesty of Lazio fans, let’s reflect on one point: because when a player like Milinkovic Savic, one of the potentially strongest midfielders of his generation, He stayed with Lazio for 8 years… well, as good as Lotito is at networking and intrigue, and as much as Lazio is an important club (which has also won several trophies in recent years) There will be a reason.

He certainly had a good time in Rome, growing fond of the club, his team-mates etc. But it’s obvious for Milinkovic Savic, who could easily have started and been decisive at the top international clubs, In fact, winning isn’t the only thing that matters. Obviously, for him, all the charms that the greatest footballers in the world have, namely victories, but above all taking part in the most prestigious continental stages – in those eight years Lazio Roma has qualified for the Champions League groups only once – are none primary stimuli. Therein lies the anti-Mbappé that spoke out a few days ago explained

“I am interested in easy winnot where or with whom”.

In short, let’s be honest: Milinkovic Savic is not such an ambitious player, and in fact he has never aligned his career with the compass of possible victories – but not since today, for years. That’s the thing that really doesn’t go down. Still, not everyone has to have the same priorities: Not everyone has to be obsessed with records, titles, and history. And we really don’t understand why we have to decide what a great player should do with his talent, how he should build his career.

Above all, by giving in to the Arab sirens, Milinkovic sent a clear message: not that he sold himself for money, as the idlers summarize (of course he did, but that’s not the point); The real point, for those who aren’t stuck at 20-30 million a year with a little envy and frustration, is that this is the real news Milinkovic Savic cares little or not at all about the win in Europe and to prove yourself to the best. He has other priorities in life and damn it, it’ll be his business.

With this situationist move, with this exit from the big European football scene, Milinkovic proves that he is a footballer who cannot be analyzed with mathematics And with numbers: for those who want it, for those who see football with eyes that don’t just match those of stats and European gold books, he will remain one of the best midfielders of recent years; one who, if he “only” wanted to, could win trophies and make history; For everyone else it doesn’t matter: he doesn’t have to prove anything to himself or to people. take or go

His own unbearable Serbian beauty, which brings him a little closer to Jokic, and his poetic indifference to all the show business that surrounds him – with the only difference being that Jokic won and wanted to win, although by his own admission it wasn’t a priority Of his life. Sergei, on the other hand, preferred money to famebut not because he is obsessed with money (otherwise he would have made different choices in his career), but because, on the contrary, fame does not move him and he does not care about writing the history of European football.

Want Flirt with your talentscatter it, scatter it a little randomly, in homage to A old Balkan tradition. Perhaps he flees from pressure or fatigue, doesn’t fully believe in it, or only performs when he feels valued.

his business. All of which only makes it more interesting in our eyes. With his sluggish gait, his arrogance on the quiet pitch, that occasional talent that takes so little to decide a game. Milinkovic is and was a champion who didn’t mind being a champion. Even if we understand that it could be annoying for such a player to go to Arabia, especially because Saudi football expansionism is annoying with petrol millions and huge contracts, we at least try to introduce a second layer of interpretation into the matter.

Otherwise, we stick to simple (and somewhat paradoxical) reconstructions a la Lotito: “I don’t know if it’s a stimulus problem if you want to go to Arabia The only incentive is money». The problem is that we now think exclusively in terms of “soli” and in the most hasty and immediate reconstructions. Money is then the finger that everyone sees and no one denies. But behind the finger is the moon in the Milinkovic-Savic question: And the moon is that he doesn’t care about the typical charms of a top player. It’s the story of a career. He will be free to do so without thousands liquidating him for it Alone as losers and mercenaries.