AC Milan earned a vital victory against Empoli on Sunday, even if it was not their best performance of the season. However, results like Sunday’s will be appreciated by the club’s executives and could play a part in Stefano Pioli’s future.
Since Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s return to Milan, the rumour mill regarding managers has continued to spin, and there have been several reports suggesting that the Swede will be heavily involved with the decision regarding a manager at the end of the season, whether that be continuation under Pioli, or moving to a new coach.
As Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews) states, on Friday, Zlatan offered some thoughts on Pioli’s situation, stating that the club are happy with him and that he is doing a good job, and Sunday’s result is another showing of Pioli doing a good job, by no means was the game pretty, but the outcome was.
After the game, Pioli replied to Ibrahimovic’s comments, stating that he wanted to ‘stay at Milan for as long as possible‘. However, all parties know the situation.
There are no guarantees for next season regarding the head coach position, especially given the Diavolo’s European performances are set to influence the decision – nothing will be confirmed until the season’s conclusion.
However, as the report states, the road with Pioli is right. Aside from Inter, no team has performed better than the Rossoneri in 2024. Against Empoli, his side proved that they can grind out results, and they kept another clean sheet in Serie A, which can only be appreciated.
