What was it like developing as a player during one of the most successful eras at one of soccer’s great institutions—which also happened to be your hometown club?

DC: When you grow up in an environment like that and you get to the first team, you don’t realize how many great players you’ve been surrounded by. For me, it was a natural step. I had been breathing these things since I was very young. We were ball boys, and then all of a sudden you’re sitting on the bench from time to time. Then I played in the Coppa Italia. You train every day with Marco van Basten, with Ruud Gullit and Frankie Rijkaard, and other amazing players that were very close to young players like me. They were trying to give me insights about the way I should live and develop.

But it wasn’t easy. That was one of the most successful teams in the world. As a young player, I didn’t find enough space. Usually clubs like AC Milan send you on a loan to live your own experience and then see if you’re ready to come back eventually. That’s what happened to me.

Apart from your Coppa Italia appearance, what’s a favorite memory of your days as part of that Milan squad?

DC: In 1991, I was part of the tour that AC Milan took to the United States. We flew to the United States and one of our games was in Chicago against the United States national team. I was part of the team that kind of started what everyone is doing now [with foreign tours], but actually we did it at the end of our season. Now, most of the teams are flying over to get ready with preseason friendly games.

That was my first time in America. We were in Chicago, and I was astonished by the skyscrapers because we didn’t have those high buildings in Europe. And then we had the chance to go to Niagara Falls. That was another amazing day. And of course, when you go with a team like that, there’s a lot of journalists and people connected with the media. I had Lotto as a sponsor. So I was sitting at the table with other players during a press conference, presenting some new shoes. It was really interesting.

Following your retirement in 2005, you spent 12 years with AC Milan as a scout, youth coach and technical director. How did all those years in the Milan system, both as a young player and then a coach, shape your philosophy?

DC: I always consider myself lucky having some of the coaches that I had when I was very young, because those people were only focused on making each one of us better and developing. They were not focused on winning with the team. They were trying to develop each one of us as a human being and as a professional player the best way that they could. So the details of soccer that I’ve learned with those coaches are still within me, and I always tried to teach those details.

When your knowledge of soccer, your technique, is fully developed, and you play against 11 players and [alongside] the 10 players on your own team, you need to pay attention to a lot of things that happen very quickly. If you can control your technique the best that you can, and if you master these techniques, you can make any kind of decision you want to make during the game. You’re not afraid of losing the ball, or of controlling the ball with the thigh or the chest or with the outside of the foot. But you need to know those small details. So I’m a kind of coach that really likes the details, and hopefully those small details are going to make the difference in the way that we can build the team.

In 2017, you moved to New Jersey and spent four years working with Cedar Stars and New Jersey Rush, not far from where you’ll be managing the Cosmos in Paterson. Why did you make that move, and what were your impressions of American youth soccer while you were here?

DC: My main focus in moving to United States was about trying to create an environment like you would find at a European club, because European clubs usually work with one methodology across all age groups. So what I was trying to do with Cedar Stars was implant some of the knowledge that each coach needs to have if they want to work with the kids—at every age. So I was coaching the coaches [of players] from eight years old to 19 years old, trying to explain to them the steps they need to take throughout all the age groups because the brain develops year after year.

So, don’t fill up the brain of the players with information because you want to play 11 v. 11, because that’s what most of the coaches want to do—show how good they are through their players. I have a different thought. I want to help the players to show how good they are, trying to bring out their own talent. It’s about them. It’s not about me. It’s about helping them to bring out their talent.

My impression has always been good. It’s a big country, and there’s a lot of different cultures in coaching as well. So you need to be lucky sometimes to have a coach that helps you and sacrifices himself. Because for each one of the players, if you skip any step in your own education, when you become a pro, you’ll limp a little bit.

What did you observe about American soccer at higher levels?

DC: At the 2022 World Cup that recently happened, I think that supporters and soccer people saw that there is a different speed to the game. When I was in the United States, the game had just one speed—back and forth, back and forth. It’s like the quarterback that is throwing the ball, and we all go to the [end zone] and then we try to score. And if we don’t score, then we all come back.

If the American players learn, I would say the tactical moments of the game—where to save your energy and when to hold the ball without being too stressed about scoring goals—the time will come to score. Because if you move the ball, you move the defenders and you move the team. This is what you need to do: keeping the ball, not just chasing the ball. If you chase, you waste your energy. If you hold the ball and you move the player out of their own position, you find the space to go. They just need to be a little bit more patient.

You returned to Italy in 2021 to work in women’s soccer, coaching Milan’s U-19s and then the Serie A teams at Milan and Sampdoria. How did the experience of managing women at the professional level impact your coaching?

DC: The women gave me the chance to be a better coach and a better person, in that I focused on some of those details that mattered more to them. You need to be more sensitive about everything you say. You need to weigh the words that you say, to be positive. And don’t get me wrong, there were times when I went really hard on some of the players—but in a way that it is not taken personally. So I guess that I became more sensitive, much more focused on the details, on the explanation.

Players—women and men—once they understand that you work for them, they start embracing everything that you bring onto the field, everything that will help them to develop something that they don’t already know. And these are some of the details that I will carry with me, whether I’m coaching men or women in the future. Players can be impacted by the words that you say to them.

What appealed to you about the Cosmos opportunity?

DC: The Cosmos were the first American club that we started talking about in Europe. This club has a history of promoting soccer, and it was amazing that some of the best players went there to play and promote the game and help it reach the level that it’s at now

But it’s not just about the name. I believe the people who are part of this project are really going to make the difference. I see the passion they already putting into it, making arrangements to start from the ashes, because the Cosmos have been out of competition for a few years. It’s a big challenge, and I like challenges. Second, I really like the people. And then the name ‘Cosmos’ is something that really excites me. I would like to bring my effort and personal experience to this project so we can bring the Cosmos back to the level they deserve.

When I spoke with some of my colleagues [in Italy], and they heard that I’d been hired to be the head coach of Cosmos, they were like, “Really, is that the Cosmos? The New York Cosmos? The real team?” And I said, “Yes! Pelé is not around anymore unfortunately but yes, that’s the Cosmos.”

So everybody knew about the Cosmos because of the popularity of that team back in the days, and we really loved the players that moved from Europe and came to play for the Cosmos. Like [Franz] Beckenbauer—when you fall in love with a player because of the way that he plays, you follow him. You want to know what he’s doing, where he plays, and what he does in his life.

When speaking with Head of Soccer Giuseppe Rossi, what sense did you get about his plans for the club?

DC: My sense was that he wants to establish something that lasts. He wants to start from the foundation. So the wider the foundation, the higher you can actually go. It’s funny, because this is what we believe when we work with players: the broader your knowledge, the higher you can go and the more you develop. So his target, his goal, is to create something that feels like a family—to create an environment where people feel like they’re part of something. And a place where there is the sort of soccer education that really fits his way of seeing the game.

Signing and relying on young players can require patience, and it’s not uncommon to hear about coaches trying to balance long-term development with the pressure to win now. How will you and Giuseppe handle this?

DC: I’m going to make a decision about the formation and the lineup because it’s my responsibility, but having somebody beside me that can help with some hints, some insights or feedback—of course it’s going to be very helpful and it’s something that is not very common at most clubs. Of course, it’s going be important to be successful and get some results. When development is connected to results, it works in a better way.

Sometimes the way that I coach takes a little bit longer to seed and blossom. But then it stays longer, so I know for sure that the club doesn’t want to chase results that aren’t attached to full development. You can win, or you can be lucky, but if you don’t develop at the same time, those results are going to fail eventually.

Ever since I was involved during those four years in the development of players in New Jersey, I always believed that there’s a lot of talent. There’s a lot of talent. If you work with more patience and with love of teaching what each one of them needs, instead of sacrificing them for your own career and your own results, the United States has an opportunity to be successful in the World Cup, probably soon. But there’s a lot of talent. There’s a lot of great players.

Do you have a style of play or an approach you think will be effective in USL League One? Or are you looking for players first, with the belief that the style will follow?

DC: The idea is to find very good technical players, and Giuseppe and I have been on the same page on that since we met. We both feel that technique is the communication that happens on the field. If you have good technique, you can communicate whether I pass to you between your feet—that has a meaning—or I whether pass the ball ahead of you. There’s another meaning. So technique, I think would be the first thing that we look at with players that we’re going to bring into the team.

I don’t believe in one system of play. I believe that the system of play is made by players that are running and who can play in different positions on the field. So multi-functional players will be probably a focus—to look at players in a sense that if I’m a right back and I find myself positioned as a winger, I need to know exactly what a winger needs to do. On the field, sometimes there’s going to be specific position play, and sometimes there will be non-specific position play.