AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli seemed in a very deflated mood after his side were beaten for the fourth time by Inter in 2023, this time on the biggest stage yet.
It was always going to be tough for Milan to get themselves out of the hole that they dug in the first 11 minutes of the first leg, when goals from Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave Inter supremacy that they never squandered.
The second leg was just as difficult for the Rossoneri as it allowed Simone Inzaghi’s side to manage the game and sit deep to frustrate, which they did successfully before killing to tie off at the other end in the second half with Lautaro Martinez’s strike.
Pioli spoke to Sky after the game to reflect on another disappointing night for his team and a fourth derby defeat in a row without scoring, and his comments were relayed by MilanNews.
“It’s not fair to talk about the desire of the players, Inter deserved it but talking about the desire for players doesn’t seem right to me,” he said.
What was missing?
“The first 15 minutes of the first leg which then affected tonight’s match as well. I think we had a good first half where we created 2-3 chances, we could have changed the momentum of the game. Sadly we got here with great merit, we hoped to go to the final.”
Are you the most disappointed manager in the world?
“Yes, inevitably that is the case. For our path it would have been something exceptional to reach the final, even if it always counts who wins. Not succeeding is a big disappointment. More complicated season than we thought, a season that taught us so much.”
What was Sandro Tonali’s role tonight?
“Tonali changed position in the first leg, because in the first leg we built with two midfielders and therefore we were not very dangerous.
“Today Tonali was more of a midfielder with the ball because we wanted to bring more players into the area, more players to find numerical parity against their five. It was something I wanted”.
Reaching the semi-final is still an extraordinary achievement, correct?
“If one is objective enough and sees the path of this team and this group which was the youngest group to win the Scudetto, it is difficult to speak of a negative path. This year we have tried to be competitive in two very important and difficult competitions.
“We had a great Champions League campaign. Going out in the semi-final and in a derby is normal to be disappointed. We lacked something this year, in the league we weren’t able to have the pace we could have.
“The regrets are for the league season, even if there are three games left and after the game I tried to lift my players’ morale by saying that we have to finish well because we can’t finish the season with negativity.
“I’m sure, at least for my part, that this complicated season has taught us a lot and we will be able to start again with even more certainty because the team’s base is an excellent basis on which to work.”
Please resign. You have done what you could but you are clearly out of your depth. Our struggles in the league is your fault with those strange rotation of 6-10 players. Teams rotate a few you rotate everyone and are suprised by the outcome. And after 3,5 years We stil dont have a style of play.
The base is flawed. Get rid of the deadwood and start from base zero next season. Get players who are willing to die with his shirt on. I don’t see the fire in some of these players eyes. The only lesson from this season is that we have no depth in this team. And the coach is limited technically…
year zero again? hope not!
Don’t get your hope too high if you’re expecting Milan to sack Pioli. He recently renewed is one thing. And the way that management didn’t even question the seemingly odd decisions by the coach recently is a clear message that they’re still backing the project. And we don’t have a ‘crazy’ president anymore who often makes a veto call like Berlusconi and that Palermo’s president.
So bear yourself unless you’re ready to get a replacement with the like of Abate.
Owner have target too, play on CL every season , maybe not winning title . But many source already reported owner will evaluate pioli & maldini if AC Milan fail to secure 1 slot in CL next season. Pioli with maldini & massara have contract till 2025
No one knows Don carletto , untill milan signed him as a head coach. But pioli is not the right man for milan
I think either Xabi Alonso or Julian Nagalsmann would be a good pick. De Zerbi will not leave the Premier league. Luis Enrique and Conte does not suit our club.
Who should be
Like I’ve always said, I appreciate Pioli for the scudetto, but he’s a coach who only gets you ‘almost there’ , never really ‘there’.
Ok who should be should he be from calcio or outsid
Your comment is literally a contradiction. He got us “there”(Scudetto) but he only gets us “almost there”? Smh
Signing Kamada(CAM) is a good move
Milan should go for reiss Nelson- direct/explosive player on both wings, can start on the right & deputize leao on the left.
Messias, diaz, tata, florenzi, dest, ballo-toure, bakayoko & the remaining deadwood should be gone.
Forget giroud & ibra get a reliable striker& a young/future striker like folarin balogun
In my opinion, Pioli made miatake only why he didn’t start rotating players on TIME.
He started when everything fell apart. They should statistical calculate about possible collected points even with frequent usage of bench players.
So Pioli saw already that his second team is very weak. They were weak in trainings and also in games, so he used a lot of minutes only first team players.
So what happened? We had injuries blow with: Florenzi, so they spent 6 million for nothing on Dest, than Calabria, Saelemaekers just started to play good and he got injury, Ibrahimovic started after long recovery, and now his journey in Milan is over. Rebic and Origi had injuries in start of season, Rebic after his lost all abilities… Kjaer had injury and now most important in the end of the season, Leao and unfortunately Bennacer with big injury finishing this season in symbol of injuries. One of the most important injury, where we lost a lot of points is Maignan, where we felt a lot of damage with bench goalkeepers.
So luckily Pioli gains courage to put bench players in strong heat, these last couple of games. Yes he lost many games, but in contrary he would lose more big players, if not rotate. He needs to use many players in next season as well, if the club want to be more competitive in serie a.
And as far for Champions league, Milan must have stronger squad to compete on bigger stage. That will take time.
Perfect analysis.
Even his rotations sucked. What ever happened to Florenzi? He’s 10x better then Messias who should be in Serie C. Pioli hardly featured Pobega. Every time that kid played he either scored or came close. Gabbia could of put in a shift or two, giving Tomori a break to refocus.
I appreciate what he did for Milan but this guy has reached his ceiling and it show s with the players on the pitch. They’re lifeless and have no no joy playing. Give Pioli the heave ho.
” Pioli hardly featured Pobega. Every time that kid played he either scored or came close. Gabbia could of put in a shift or two, giving Tomori a break to refocus.”
Indeed. Pobega. WIth all the scrappy minutes he has played, he’s managed to score more goals than CDK & Origi combined. In a defensive midfielder role. Pause for a second and let that sink in. Pobega. You know the slowest and clumsiest player in the team. More goals in a defensive role. How about that? And yet he sits on the bench and Origi & CDK start in every “rotation match”. FFS, if that’s not on Pioli, I don’t know anything anymore.
Gabbia & Tomori? Yes. Tomori has been awful most season. But not as awful as Kalulu. Yet it’s Gabbia who has been watching on the bench while other play. How many catastrophic mistakes Gabbia made this season? Given the awful season of T&K it’s fair to say that Gabbia should have played more.
Pioli, please leave the San Siro. Your skills are not enough to handle a club as big as Milan, this season Milan has enough squad depth, but you are too MEDIOCRE !!!
If he had quality players I would say Pioli is the problem but he doesn’t so imo he still is doing a great job. There’s only so much you can do with that squad. Our style of play when we’re on our game is nice to see. There was the WC and injuries that really hampered us. It is what it is. I’ll support until I see a true problem
All guys who wanted Pioli leave, do you remember every year with changed of coach?? We need stability for the project. Just lets Origi, Rebic, Dest, Bakayoko, Ibra leave.
$10 gain for semi finals end up $30-40M lost for not making to UCL next season.
Bye bye
Cardinale should break bank for Milan transfer that’s is the solutions
There is only 1 big reason this season is a bit of a disappointed compared to last season and everyone knew it in the beginning of the season but is now trying to find a scapegoat.
We did not get strong enough reinforcements during the summer transfer window and did not make up for it in the winter window.
Yes i see what maldini and massara are doing and one can only state that they are doing well.
Cheap young players that economically and competetively are great investments.
Sadly last window the gamble was a little to big, only investing in CDK who hasn’t found his form.
The team did therefor not have enough depth especially on RW and ST area.
Bad luck and not enough depth lead to injuries in the squat that already was just not strong enough.
If this season maldini and massara are allowed to reach for their wallet and can buy a high profile striker and midfielder/RW we are back on track with a bit of luck.
The team is still growing, 2 years ago we were not playing in Europe and starting over for the 10th time in 10 years.
Now we have 1 scudetto and a half final CL on our names….this is going in the right direction and it is normal that there are ups and downs and mistakes are there to be learned from especially in a young team.
The januari month this year tho was to extreme and I am sure this played a major part in the rest of the season.
If we had a little more luck with the injuries and transfers last season this might not have happend….so time to make up for being a cheapskate last summer and I am sure we are a great contender for next year’s scudetto!