AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli has blamed Udinese’s set-up for his side’s difficulties during the 1-1 draw on Wednesday night at San Siro.
It was a sluggish performance in which the Rossoneri struggled to break down the Udinese defence, with the absences of key players like Ibrahimovic and Calhanoglu clearly felt.
Rodrigo Becao’s second half header looked like earning all three points for the away side, however a late penalty allowed Franck Kessie to level from the spot and rescue a point for Milan. The result somewhat undoes all the good work from Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Roma, with a difficult trip to face Hellas Verona on the cards this Sunday.
Pioli was interviewed by DAZN at the end of the game with his words transcribed by MilanNews, and he began by reiterating what Kessie said about it being two points dropped.
“Right, we wanted to win. Sin. We knew that we would find it difficult against a team that puts men behind the ball. I saw determination and lack of clarity. There was a lack of quality and rhythm, not anger and determination,” he said.
On the reaction after the goal: “We start again as always from the next match. Each game has its own story. On Sunday we found an opponent who wanted to play, Udinese instead plays this type of game. We had to find more duels, the only duel we managed to win in the first half is Castillejo’s scoring action ”.
On Leao: “I always expect a lot from my players. Rafa has characteristics more suitable for attacking spaces. When he finds such closed defences he does not yet have the shrewdness to anticipate the defender. Today we lacked the right characteristics to face this type of match, we lacked the two real strikers in the squad. Leao and Rebic have other characteristics.”
On Tonali: “Tonali came out as a precaution because he felt a slightly different flexor than the other.”
On Donnarumma’s error: “We haven’t talked yet. He has saved us many times. Now we must try to resume our run. A half positive result, let’s think about the next race.”
On Ibra being on the bench: “We did not come out satisfied with this game, he like everyone else.”