According to a report, AC Milan’s management has faith in head coach Stefano Pioli to guide his team through a difficult period.
According to this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), Milan will continue with Pioli, and the club’s post-Paris Thursday made it clear above all that it does not question a coach who has undergone yet another night of disturbance.
Milan have put their belief in Pioli and apply rational reasoning: they could lose in Paris against a team that spends considerably more and is clearly stronger. However, a response against Napoli is likely on Sunday.
The team just had therapy yesterday; today and tomorrow, they will begin to prepare for the third iteration of the Juve-PSG-Napoli triptych, which risks concluding with zero points, zero goals scored, and consequently zero faith from the fans.
Fans have expressed their discontent with the last two results on social media, and some even want Pioli fired as head coach, so the relationship appears to be on a downward spiral, but a win against Napoli may change things.
Pioli chose to attack and defend with a high line against PSG, accepting the risk of having to manage several one-on-ones at the back. PSG feasted while the team was stretched and disorganized.
Was it worth it to take such a risk against Mbappé, Dembélé, and Kolo Muani? Was it appropriate to allow a team with numerous speedy and technical players to beat the press and dash into space?
Pioli made this decision because he has been preparing the team in this manner since July, and a more defensive strategy – low block, systematic doubles, ten players behind the ball – is not in the DNA of many of the players who arrived in the summer.
However, with the advantage of hindsight, it is simple to conclude that it did not work in Paris. And now what? In short, tactics were the topic of the day, and several players even discussed it in the locker room.
They are fully aware that PSG-Milan, while less traumatic than the derby, has re-proposed some Inter-Milan themes: strong aggression, a stretched team, one-on-ones, mezzali insertions, and attacking difficulties, all of which play a role in this story.
Pioli is now tasked with devising a solution that is less severe than last winter’s 3-5-1-1 disaster. Obviously, the players will have to assist him as well. Attackers who are no longer scoring goals. Theo Hernandez, who appears to be lost in his ups and downs (many) in the absence of his guru Maldini and friend Brahim Diaz.
However, the locker room relationships appear to be less relevant. There was a lot of chatter between Wednesday and Thursday night regarding Davide Calabria, the captain’s back and forth.
“We were perhaps so unbalanced, we accepted the one-on-one,” Calabria said on television after the match. Is it a psychological or tactical issue? A little bit of everything. We were perhaps a touch too candid in some circumstances.
“They were better placed on the field tactically than we were.” We’ll battle for it; it’ll be difficult, but those who don’t believe in it can stay at home; we do.
“We have to go to work at Milanello, anyone who doesn’t want to work hard is better off staying at home.”
That sentence irritated Pioli: “Davide was wrong, nobody works at Milanello with little attention or little willingness.”
On Sunday evening, against Napoli, a response is critical, more for the environment than for the standings. Milan are second, one point behind Inter, and will have already played all of the challengers for the Champions League places, with the exception of Atalanta and Fiorentina, on Monday.
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