The next 11 days will reveal a lot about how AC Milan’s season will be judged and what the future might hold for Stefano Pioli, according to a report.
As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) this morning, the next 11 days containes the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals at San Siro against Roma , the away match against Sassuolo on Sunday, the return leg in Roma and finally the derby against Inter on 22 April.
You can then add the match against Juventus the following weekend and the mosaic is complete: in about twenty days the Rossoneri will have a strong indication regarding how their 2023-24 campaign will be judged.
Another turnaround
Speaking on stage at a Financial Times event in London at the end of February, Gerry Cardinale, sitting next to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, made it clear that he wasn’t happy with how things were going in that moment.
From that moment on, a mechanism was triggered that the Rossoneri fans have come to know very well over the last four and a half years: the resurgence of the team under Pioli.
On several occasions during his Milan tenure, in the moments of greatest difficulty, when he was called into question and even when names of possible replacements were put forward, the coach always found a way to react forcefully.
He has also done it in this recent period too: after a fluctuating first part of the season and a more convincing start to 2024, the month of March was perfect with all wins being racked up.
Milan have now obtained seven victories in a row, a streak that not only allowed the Rossoneri to almost secure second place and access the quarter-finals of the European competition, but also to reunite some of their top players or discover new ones.
Europe decisive
However, the feeling is that, in a season burdened by Inter’s incredible run, Pioli’s future could be decided by his path in Europe.
The continental tournament is the last trophy that the Diavolo can lift in the season and historically it is the only one the club have never put on their honours board.
Milan, in their current form, knows they can go toe to toe with anyone, even if Liverpool would potentially await in the final in Dublin.
For now the team and Pioli have to think about Roma: an unexpected shock in the Europa League quarter-finals, the derby and Juventus could put the coach back in question for next season.
Its always the same. Pioli needs to be evaluated with a decent squad with good depth.
After this good run will come challenge of Inter, and other big clubs in the Europa league and that is what the evaluation point is.
I have said this before, give him 2024/25 season with a good squad with depth. Then evaluate, if not then just get a better coach with a proven record like Conte/Klopp. New coach will like a team with their likened squad not the squad which Pioli is building up.
Pioli is likened by the Milan management only, because he works with what he has and not what he wants and thats a plus for the management, but it cannot guarantee championships, believe that
There has been a lot of talk about a decline in form in October/December, but we have to remember in that window we faced Inter, Juve, Dortmund and PSG which were our strongest opponents this season and we only managed to win a single game out of 6 while losing 4.
You could say that the team has improved since 2024 (that and our infirmery is almost empty now), but this April and possibly May will probably test if we indeed truely improved or not.
From mid-December till now, the 2 strongest teams we’ve faced were Atalanta and Bologna and we didn’t win a single game (though we’ve been unlucky against Bologna).
Since 2024, the team seems confident, Pioli has settled for a 4-2-3-1 which seems to work with our squad, the players are enjoying themselves and there seems to be some trust between the management, the staff and the players, but this is a fragile equilibrium.
In the first 3 games of the season the team also looked solid with many promising players before totally crumbling. Another bad loss (especially against Inter) can jeopardize all of what has been accomplished and an atmosphere of distrust and doubt can emerge again.
Personally I won’t necessarly ask for specific results, but the coach has to show that he knows what he is doing and that he has control over the situation, otherwise we will always be target practise for more tactical coaches. Since the mid-fifties, there hasn’t been many Milan coaches who lead the team for 4 seasons and all of them have on the UCL/EC. Pioli has to show that he is a coach worthy of leading a club like AC Milan for half a decade.
I’m not that worried about Roma. We do better against Italian opposition. We beat Napoli last season in stellar form with a lesser team. (of course we did lose to Inter but that’s a whole different can of worms).
DeRossi brings a lot of enthusiasm to Roma, but tactically he is untested…. Their victories have been a lot of 1-0’s with some scoreless draws here & there.
I do think we get the better of them. Bomb them with pace down both flanks.