Instead of restoring their three-point lead at the top, AC Milan dropped two important points last night and are thus just one point ahead of Napoli. It has given Stefano Pioli a lot to think about.
On more than one occasion this season, Pioli has used Franck Kessie in the attacking midfielder role. He didn’t do it against Cagliari, though, and he decided to give Brahim Diaz the nod yesterday as well.
As explained by the journalist Mario Sconcerti, in his column for Calciomercato.com, the manager was in too much of a hurry last night. He started the game with four forwards and two of them (Diaz and Messias) didn’t contribute much to the team.
This left Bologna with a numerical superiority in midfield and that made things necessarily difficult for Milan. The decision to not start Kessie resulted in the opposite of what Pioli wanted: to overwhelm Bologna, instead the latter handed it well.
Pioli rarely makes these mistakes with the starting XI but perhaps a little pressure is getting to him at this stage of the season, as the journalist concludes. Milan will take on Torino on Sunday this weekend and it remains to be seen what decision he will make then.
