Stefano Pioli has admitted that not scoring in the two Champions League games so far this season is AC Milan’s ‘biggest mistake’, but he was happy with the defensive effort.
Milan were forced to settle for another draw in Europe after they also endured a 0-0 stalemate against Newcastle in their first group stage game. Like that match, the Rossoneri had the best chances and will feel that they missed a big chance to win.
It is another point and another clean sheet for the Rossoneri, who now sit third in the group with two points, two behind leaders Newcastle United and one behind PSG who they play away and home in the next two games.
Pioli spoke to the reporters who gathered in the conference room at Signal Iduna Park to answer their questions after the draw last night, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
How do you think the game went?
“The first half we didn’t play an excellent match, we suffered more. In the second half better, with more quality and compactness, not being able to score is very disappointing. Zero goals in two Champions League matches is our biggest mistake, we need to be more clinical.”
How does the group look now?
“Football is unpredictable. All in all we were better than Newcastle and tonight they scored four goals against PSG. Every match has its own story. It won’t be the last surprise of the group which will remain very balanced until the final day.”
You brought Okafor on in the second half…
“Giroud had his chance, he did an excellent job for the team. In the first half, anyone playing up front would have struggled. In the second half we wanted to win, the spaces opened up. We weren’t able to take advantage of the opportunities.”
Milan create a lot of chances but score few goals…
“Many things we do are positive, but we have not been concrete and ruthless. I want to start again from the many positive things we are doing.”
It was another clean sheet in Europe though…
“The performance of the team that never gave up gives me satisfaction, the fact of being solid and attentive is good, the performance of the two central defenders was of the highest level. The boys were disappointed in the dressing room, because we wanted to win.”
Giroud is such a tricky one as he has undoubtedly popped up with some crucial, crucial, CRUCIAL goals over the years but he has also missed some sitters that have cost us games.
He’s missed 1 v 1s in games that ended in defeats and draws. He’s never been a prolific scorer. He’s more a typical sort of Serie A scorer from 90s. He gets a sold double figures and scores some memorable and crucial goals.
But he’s not a 20+ a season striker (he hasn’t scored 20+ league goals since his Montpellier days). A 20+ goal a season striker really can be a difference maker and none of our strikers have managed this in their careers.
It’s a gap.
Yes fully agreed ..get fed up with some of you ungrateful fans …in particular about Olivier Giroud..
He actually did well in the first half and his physical presence was important…He missed a chance ,,,but he was not the only one ..pioli was 100 percent correct to start Olivier ,,,and he hopefully will start against Ginoa …The fact is we should have won this match ,,,the same could be said against Newcastle,,but just look at there result against PSG ..
So don’t count us out ,we still have a chance of qualifying….
Aldi looked very good when he came on …Tomori superb and in my opinion,,man of the match ..
So don’t write Olivier Giroud off ,,,he is a winner .
We can definitely win the scuddeto this season .
I have complete confidence in our team and our manager pioli .
I also have confidence we are on the right path, however we need to be taking advantage of these opportunities, this group is finely balanced, I hope we won’t be regretting the dropped points.
Paris had a bad night but they are still the best team in the group, we have left ourselves a lot to do.
I can see us beating Dortmund at home, Newcastle away will be very, very hard on the last night. Therefore we need to beat PSG at least once.
On Giroud, I know he is your favourite but he really should not be starting these games, he contributes nothing to the build up and rarely scores. Okafor with his pace would have been a much more dangerous focal point against a team who played such a high line. Also he has been showing good poacher instincts with his 2 goals in recent league games, something Giroud is supposed to be expert at and yet he missed an open goal. He should be 3rd choice striker
Pioli supporters are such dangerous liers, and would support everything he does despite the obvious glaring evidence stating otherwise..
Sometimes I suspect they’re inter fans messing with us!
What a fool this manager is. I was happy when Giroud was scoring goals, last few seasons especially, but so far this season the guy has done absolutely nothing. He has been slow, ponderous and totally ineffective. 4 goals, 3 of which were penalties, and he hasn’t scored a goal from open play since the opening day of the season. When we look at the player ratings, the guy hasn’t been awarded more than a 6 since August. We need to move on from having a 37 year-old striker as our main starter and play someone like Okafor or Jovic instead from now on.
Whoever is dependent Pioli is an enemy to Milan Football Club.