So far during his tenure at AC Milan, head coach Stefano Pioli has been apprehensive when it comes to throwing new signings on the field from minute one.
A segment from this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) has relayed the data regarding how much Pioli has used the new signings he has been given in the first season after their arrivals.
Starting with the 2020-21 campaign, Pioli started Diogo Dalot in 38% of games, with Brahim Diaz starting in 40%, Jens Petter Hauge at 11% and Sandro Tonali 43%
Mario Mandzukic was a started in just 8% of matches after he joined in January as a free agent, with Soualiho Meite at 35% and Fikayo Tomori at 83%.
In 2021-22, Fode Ballo-Toure started in 12% of games, Alessandro Florenzi 27%, Olivier Giroud 60%, Junior Messias 35% and Pietro Pellegri 2%. Goalkeepers are excluded from the ranking.
Last season, Yacine Adli started in just 2% of games (once). Charles De Ketelaere started 25%, Sergino Dest 8%, Divock Origi 19%, Tommaso Pobega 19%, Malick Thiaw 35% and Aster Vranckx 6%.
Given that Pioli has been given a bigger say regarding the incoming signings and he has used several of them heavily in preseason, it suggests he might well be ready to reverse the trend of taking a long time to integrate new players.
