PLANTAR UNA SEMILLA | Discovering Paolo Montero

Come on, lads! Come on! I'm worried. Go on, Diego! I want everything now. If I get out the wrong side of bed, I'm unbearable. That's how I am. I start here and end here. Ok, Paolo! Now we can spill the beans on everything Paolo did... How long have we got? Sometimes he got out of bed. I'd find you standing there and I'd be like: "What are you doing, Paolo?" We used to room together. Not that we'd do a lot of sleeping! To good health. Cheers! Cheers, lads! To us! Modern footballers drink water. N

o! That's something I cannot accept. I can't have it. I don't trust someone who doesn't drink. I had a good teacher. Who? I can't name names... Surnames? When I joined I didn't drink, smoke or anything. I came here and met the worst kind... Seriously? I'm not talking about you. I came from Serie B when Juve were European champions. The players drank wine... I was like: "How did you become European champions?" "Because we had fun." Then I came here and thought, "When do you have fun?" "You work y

our socks off 24/7. Where's the fun?" "The match on Sunday." "Right. So that's it." That team was... phenomenal because of the bond we created. I think what it was as I always say, was the sense of belonging. Obviously you feel that belonging to the shirt but you have to feel it for your team-mates too. I don't think we miss the playing side so much as the dressing room. Sharing the difficulties, the good things but also the not-so-good times. That's something you never forget. Paolo! Where are

you? Wait a minute. Wait! He's talking. Don't worry. I'll cut you out of the photo. Go on! Take care. Wait! Pesso, you in? Go on, Mark. Where's Pesso? You're behind Mark! - Ok. Move here then. Mark, move your nose. In a split second, it's like being back in the dressing room. It's as if we never split up. The Juve team is the Juve family. Paolo was the dressing room for 10 years. What was he like on the pitch? Paolo? Paolo on the pitch... Paolo wasn't the sort of player to go out and make a snea

ky foul so he didn't get caught. If he wanted to let you know he was there, everyone saw! To win I would do anything. What happens on the pitch ends there. Everything I did I did because something else happened before. Before that punch, I was smashed in the mouth Everyone knows about Totti's four-fingers. I talk to my kids about the importance of fair play in life. Football is a game. When you play cards, you don't play like this. You play like this. You tell lies and try to win. That's how I s

aw it. He's remembered more for his red cards than for the person he was. With him it's... black or white. In every sense. You don't really get shades. But that's something he's learnt as a coach. Because as a coach you can't see everything as black or white. You have to find shades of grey. Ciao. Good. Incoming. This is a good game. Yes! Out! Out! We were thinking about who could be the best person to coach the Primavera, our Under 19s. When we thought of him, the first person we asked to find

out where in the world he might be was Pessotto. When I called him, there was a moment of silence in which I think he bought his ticket to come here! Javi, come over here! They wanted to meet me. I said, give me time because it's a 13-hour flight. You have to see what kind of keeper it is. Then 3-5-2. Ok? Go! Go! Score! Gianluca called me back that evening and said "I've spoken to Paolo. He's getting the plane and will be in Turin tomorrow." Play! Closer! Juve called and he answered. Remember wh

at we've said: we don't look at the league table. This is a big match for us and for our goal. The margin for error is getting smaller. We're into the second half of the season and our objective is the play-offs. That starts now. Right, Fede? Coming back here after 17 years, as I joke with the staff, and going to Vinovo is like therapy. Nice one! No, it was good! Good! Mark your man! To me, Juve is like the Uruguay team. It's feeling. You'd do anything for the shirt. That's what I try to convey.

The shirt and Vinovo is your home and when opponents visit, they can't touch my home. The shirt is sacred. Damn! I don't see Francisco much. I do it so that we can spend some time together otherwise I wouldn't do anything with him. Well done. Well done, Flaco. I liked that one. Francisco is better at golf. He's much better than me. I did it on purpose. It was on purpose. Damn! If I learn that's good but it's mainly to switch off. You're outside in the fresh air. You walk and relax a bit. That's

why I do it. Let's see under pressure. Three. Go! He won. My kids are the same age as my players. One was born in 2004 and the other in 2007. They're the same generation and experience the same things. Say hi! and experience the same things. Say hi! Come on. Now you're washing up! Sandra... I'm not! Sandra, come and see, he's washing up. I wasn't... Yes you were... Just because they’re filming. To a certain extent it falls on us to show them how to deal with life. Often it's the adults' fault.

We're the ones lacking patience. We don't listen enough to the youngsters. People say that they're glued to their phones, which is true. It's true and it's the time they live in. It's not my children's fault that when Atalanta signed me I didn't need a phone. They're not to blame. I'm a big listener and this helps me deal with the Juventus youngsters. How are we doing? Let's discuss. Let's look at this position. The aim is to develop together. I give them an opportunity to speak up. Often during

video analysis meetings they take the lead. As I always joke with them, my contract as a coach doesn't state that I know more than my players. What should we have done here? I wasn't sure about switching. I think we could have done it but at the right time. I noticed that in one game we were struggling to press the opposition. I suggested to the coach that pressing them differently would be a better approach. He used a laser pen to explain his idea. We then put it into practice. First we tried

my idea and then his. His worked better. I said we'd follow Ripani's idea. To be honest, I did feel rather small. Because it's a legend like him taking advice from an 18-year-old lad who's still playing for the Primavera side. It made me realize that I had a long way to go both on and off the pitch. Diego! Humility is crucial. Humility is about looking in the mirror and judging yourself. If you look clearly in the mirror it won't lie to you. It's simple. Life is simple, football is simple. It's

just that we make it complicated. I gleaned this from Lippi. You know what, I'm calling Lippi! Healthy stuff is for the professionals. Let's not ruin the evening, Mark. Let's not ruin it. Hey, Antonio Conte! The coach too! In a training session a pressing drill wasn't working. Ciro and Didier Deschamps explained where we were going wrong and along with the coach told us how we should do it. The coach showed both humility and confidence here. If you do this you need to be sure that you won't lose

your authority or your credibility with the squad. - Paolo! - Hey, coach! Who's paying the bill? Antonio, you come. We'll say goodbye. All the best! Ciao! Let's toast the coach. Marcello, what a legend. He even made Ciro win! You should be forever grateful. He was a coach who was great at listening to his players. I think in this sense Paolo has taken a leaf from his book. Most aren't from Turin and some are foreigners. They live in club accommodation. I explain to them that in the absence of t

heir mum, dad, siblings, their team-mates at Juventus are like their family. This should be cherished and nurtured. It should be fostered. He always says that. I think it's really important, especially with a group of youngsters who need to become leaders and themselves pass on these values. This evening it's champion time. Having a brother in the squad whom I can count on and overcome tough times with is really important. Goal of the month How many new followers? Two less. Two less because I po

sted a story. If you've got a very close relationship with your team-mates on the pitch you go the extra mile for them. Don't show frustration in front of the coach or team-mates if someone makes a mistake. You don't do it. Don't look at your team-mate's wife or girlfriend. Don't do it. Bruno ahead of you and you stay back. It's always the final ball! You have to know about a team-mate’s personal life to know how to treat them in training and matches. We’ve all been gone into a game half asleep.

These things happened in 1920 and they’ll still be here in 2050. You have to play it! These are life codes. You need to get them tattooed. I’ll never forget the night when there was a storm in Turin unlike any other. Easy there... Quiet... Paolo and I joined the club in the same year. We were all single and very young. It was effectively love at first sight because I fell in love with a fantastic person. Can I tell it? - I can’t! - Look how calm he is. Which one was it? Monterito always on his

own! Oh! Paolo didn’t miss anything. He was a “criminal” in terms of the way he’d read the person in front of him immediately. A footballer can see through a person before others can as they can read you and know what you think, as well as you what you need. I’d love to always have a Paolo Montero as my coach. With their eyes, as we say in Uruguay, a player can x-ray me. They see how you treat the best player, the worst player, the starters and the bench players. They’re like dogs. They sniff yo

u! Alfonso is fired up. Yes! There is a chance he could play on Sunday... I try to be as fair as possible given that the other players are watching me. They can see the way I treat my son if he makes mistakes or gets it right, the way I shout at him. The line is here. You need to be here! If you hold the line like this, they can’t get in behind you. During training and matches, I treat him like any other player. At Vinovo, he’s a player and I’m the boss. Off the pitch, he’s my son. I say to my

son, “You’re at Juve, but you haven’t made it and we don’t know if you will”. I need to set the opposite example to him. If it goes wrong in football, I don’t know what I'd do. Football is my life. Come on! Stick it in!. I try to ensure my children are well prepared for the world in the best way. Don’t touch him! Don’t foul him! Well done, Alfo. What a ball! Bravo, Alfo! Football is so cruel that it leaves you. Football leaves you. If you ask me if I want to be a coach or keep playing, I want to

keep playing, but at my age... Football passed me by unfortunately. It’s so great to see you all. Apart from Ciro, so great to see you all. Now we have a golfer. I don’t believe it! - Do you play golf? - No. - We have a golf player who’s coming through. - Not me. I don’t believe it. - How people change! - Not me. He used to destroy us on the PlayStation on training camps. He’d always play on the PlayStation and break it. Golf was a sport that didn’t exist. Other sports didn’t exist and now he’s

a golfer. How you've changed, Paolo! I haven’t changed. I’ve been tweaked. “Tweaked!” Above all, it’s great to feel that love when I meet back up with people I hadn’t seen in many years. Yes, Paolo has changed, but so has his profession. He says he has done his part. Paolo won’t betray you. He’s a real friend. Paolo Montero has every flaw in the book, but he hides them so well that you can’t help but love him and give everything for him. I was lucky enough to play with great men who taught me s

o many things. The most important thing, as we say in Spanish, is to plant a seed, water it every day because when you stop that, the best thing is to be remembered as a great person. I’ve lived like that and I have no regrets. Because I've played and I’ve had fun.