At the start of this season, Davide Calabria and Franck Kessie have been two important players for Stefano Pioli’s side. However, this hasn’t always been the case for the duo, especially if we rewind the tape to earlier this year.
The right-back, who has started most games under Marco Giampaolo, lost his spot to Andrea Conti and the midfielder didn’t live up to his potential. So much that, in fact, both were linked with an exit in January.
However, in the post-lockdown period, especially Kessie started to shine and Calabria eventually grew into the team. Both are now starters for Pioli, who admitted that he did indeed experience a rough start with the duo when he arrived.
“When you don’t know each other well yet, it happens. We had different ideas about certain aspects of daily work and play. It’s not always easy to impose your methods, your work culture, your game ideas and how to act on the pitch straight away.
“Especially when you take over mid-season, you have little time to straighten things out and therefore, you expect others to understand you faster. When it doesn’t happen, there is a discussion, but it’s part of a normal growth process. The result is the Kessie and Calabria you see today,” he told Sportweek (via MilanLive).
As Pioli concluded, the two are very important for Milan these days as the tables certainly have turned. Both are expected to play from the first minute against Parma tomorrow, which will be another chance to show off their quality.
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