Even Stefano Pioli has realised he is entering his final three months as AC Milan head coach, Franco Ordine claims, but he will keep working hard to try and reverse that presumption.
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Despite the fact that there are many games left and objectives to fight for, there continues to be a lot of speculation suggesting that Milan are planning for a future where Pioli is no longer the manager after what will be nearly five years.
Pioli deserves credit for guiding the Rossoneri back to being one of the top dogs in Serie A, and of course for the 2021-22 Scudetto win as well as the run to the Champions League semi-final last season.
That said, winning the Europa League – where the likes of Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen await as fierce opponents – is the only way to avoid the fact that Milan look set to end Pioli’s almost half-decade tutelage with one trophy to show.
The well-known journalist and Milan inside Franco Ordine spoke in his weekly column for MilanNews and he dedicated the final paragraph to the future of the head coach.
“From how Stefano Pioli now reacts to the rumours about his future being away from Milan, one thing is clearly clear: while at the time of the first rumours about Antonio Conte, he had remained calm and confident for some time – I think after the speech to the Financial Times last Friday – he instead understood that his adventure with the Rossoneri has reached the final lap,” he said.
“But that doesn’t mean he has decreased his intensity of commitment and motivation to try to end the season in the best possible way. It already happened during the time of the Rangnick rumours: we all thought he had reached the end of the line and instead he listened to Ivan Gazidis, held firm and obtained a confirmation that many of us (including myself) considered impossible.
“That Pioli is able to give his best, almost like his Milan, when they seem to be on the edge of the precipice is a characteristic that could come in handy in the coming weeks.”
