AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli admitted that he is not satisfied with the result that followed the performance in the defeat against Napoli, and it must become a fire inside to motivate the squad.
MilanNews recall the comments that Pioli made during an interview with DAZN after the game in which he was asked to reflect on a first league loss since January.
“I’m not satisfied and neither should the players be. If you play like this you can’t lose. We only scored one goal, too little for what we created. There is disappointment, we shouldn’t have lost. But that’s how football is, we will learn also from this evening. The performance was there from all points of view,” he said.
Napoli did many things right to run out winners at San Siro such as utilising the 1v1 situations, getting the ball into dangerous areas and producing moments of quality like for Simeone’s winner, and yet the feeling is that Milan deserved at least a draw.
After the Scudetto victory, the Rossoneri have very high expectations towards themselves and the mood at Milanello this morning – having disposed of a little of the anger from last night – is calm and determined, because the performance shown against a strong opponent has positives.
What made the difference yesterday was some key details, but the general picture is very healthy. Pioli went with two midfielders and the wingers which generated control in the midfield and dangerous chances generated from outside.
The last quarter of the field was the problem though at both ends, as chances were squandered in both halves while some inattentiveness from Sergino Dest and Fikayo Tomori led to Napoli’s two goals.
The first round of matches before the international break is over and there are bright signs as the team have proven to be strong in the league and in the Champions League. They reacted well to the absences and are assimilating new ways of attacking and defending with the new-look squad.
However, it is important to stress that Milan are by no means the finished article but rather a constantly evolving group, with some blips along the way to be expected and most importantly learned from.