AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli will rotate his team again tonight against Cremonese despite the fact three points are a necessity.
La Gazzetta dello Sport write that there are expected to be as many as six changes compared to the team that drew against Roma and never really got into gear and were forced to rescue a draw late on.
Pierre Kalulu and Malick Thiaw should come into the defence, Aster Vranckx in midfield plus Alexis Saelemaekers, Charles De Ketelaere and Divock Origi in attack.
It was widely conceivable that Olivier Giroud could catch his breath as well as some other key men given that there are games against Lazio and Inter to come after, but previous performances have shown Pioli might be playing with fire.
Milan and Cremonese also met in the middle of the week in the first game they played this season and even then Pioli opted for a mass rotation, which resulted in a 0-0 draw with the Grigiorossi back in November.
Back then Pioli had no pressure from the Champions League as his Milan had just qualified for the round of 16 however this time the competition does heavily, with the Rossoneri being two games away from the final.
The first leg of the semi-final is on 10 May, while Milan will play again before that on Saturday at home against Lazio with a team that will almost entirely resemble that they will play in the Euroderby.
That is why the decision has been taken to rest the protagonists in view of two fiery encounters a few days apart that could shape how the entire season is viewed.
Pioli ?
Will this define Pioli’s tenure after this very important game with Cremonese?
Will Pioli have to leave the club after missing out on Champions League again?
Will AC Milan have to look for another Manager after this game? De Zerbi where are you!
“Will Pioli have to leave the club after missing out on Champions League again?”
Has he missed out on Champions league before or he brought Milan back to the Champions league and also guided Milan to Champions league semis for the first time since 2007?
All this #Pioliout kids
Be reminded that Pioli is the best Milan has had since Carlo Ancelotti prove me wrong if I’m wrong and yet he’s still managing with the mediocre team at his disposal without complaints, if Milan misses out on the Champions league, blame Milan owners and the management for not providing Mr Pioli with a good squad, he’s not gonna kill himself for you.
The rotation is necessary no matter what the result is gonna be, there are a lot of players just one yellow card away from suspension meaning they are at a very high risk of missing Lazio clash at the weekend, every reasonable coach will prefer they sit out this match and play the Lazio match.
Leaving Leao out of this line up is a big mistake
Talk Malda, Talk!!!!
Totally agree here. Pioli has been one of the best managers in AC Milan history
Imo a true Milan fan will put their eggs in the UCL basket
nonsense,win vs lazio will not be important if we lose points vs cremonense and we will
“nonsense,win vs lazio will not be important if we lose points vs cremonense and we will”
Sounds like you really want Milan to lose points today to attack Pioli?
Well weather he starts with the right line-up or not he will be criticises by Milan fans when points are lost but never be appreciated when all points are gained.
It does matter anyway because if this team eventually win today Pioli will never be appreciated for doing what he does with a mediocre team without complaints.
Criticised*
It doesn’t matter*
I dont want us to lose points but i expect it, common sense says so cause we already saw we cant even score a goal with this predicted line up,if u want to rest players you rest them 2 per game,u cant rest half of the team with this shitty backups. Also,why you think i want to “attack pioli” ? I like pioli,we cant find better coach for us right now but some proven mistakes he keep doing cause we are losing points.
Keep repeating the same mistake, doesn’t mean best coach since Anceloti to me ,what about he get nothing at all.
Lol…..
If he leaves Milan today, he won’t be considered or regarded as a Milan flop.
Tell yourself the truth, who is the best coach since Ancelotti? Allegri?
“What about he gets nothing at all”
* well I think you are blind to realise that getting to champions league round of 4 is an achievement for a team like Milan that their highest aim was getting to the champions league round of 16.
* Pioli guided Milan back to champions league qualification, when was the last time? 11/12 season or 12/13 seaso.
* under Pioli, Milan won the scudetto, when was the last time? 11/12 season.
And you are still saying “what if he gets nothing at all” as blind as you are you think he will be regarded as a Milan flop?
Pioli hasn’t done any harm to this team check your owners.
Pioli surely have my support because he has done well as a coach. Will you blame Pioli because Origi, CDK, rebic fails to perform?
Players like leao, giroud, Théo needs to catch their breath. That’s where others need to come in and get the job done. The management haven’t given Pioli good options on the bench… so blame the management and the trash players on the bench
If Haaland can play game in game out why can’t Leao/Theo.
Both of them are similar ages.
And I believe it’s one of you that constantly drag Leao here, calling him a lazy player now I wish you all will realise that he leao is the player with the most impact in this team. Well a lazy player needs to catch his breath.
Mentality
Forza Piolo! We are with you!
Pioli knows what he is doing, the rotation is needed for this game so we avoid injuries and suspension of our top players, we need to give these players a chance to prove them selves. It’s 11v11 they can get 3 points while our best player rest for lazio and inters game. Forza Milan let’s go for 3points
I agree with u guys. We should be able to win today’s match with our second team..What is Rebic , Origi Bakayoko doing if they can not lead the team to win this match???? Leak Hernedez , Giroud, Tonali, Simon Kjer, Bennacer should be benched 100%. Diaz can go in second half.
By advancing to the Champions League semifinals and the way the schedule fell with Lazio sandwiched between the two legs, there is no other alternative than to play a rotated lineup like Pioli is doing today. Anyone who disagrees has no ambition and would rather throw away the chance of winning the UCL or even making the final just for a higher chance of achieving the minimum the season. If Milan were going to take that approach, they would have done it two months ago. At this stage, Pioli has no choice but to prioritize the fixtures as they sit and the reality is that Milan, as a big club competing in many top level competitions, must be able to get 3 points here vs Cremonese with a rotated team. That’s the bottom line.
Pioli is the best for AC Milan now after every year coach changed. No doubt.
Lament that Origi is the rotational alternative to Giroud. I’m fine with the rest but he instills absolutely zero confidence in getting a result.