On the eve of the Derby della Madonnina, Stefano Pioli spoke to the media at the usual press conference and shared his thoughts on the tough task ahead. Indeed, AC Milan’s goal is to spoil the Scudetto party for Inter.
Inter need just one win to clinch the Scudetto and doing it in the derby would be very special. Especially since it will take their tally up to 20 Scudetti, while Milan will remain at 19. In short, the Rossoneri will want to prevent this at all costs.
Speaking live during today’s press conference, as cited by MilanNews, Pioli was asked about the disappointing performances against Roma. He also shared his thoughts on what will be needed to beat the Nerazzurri tomorrow.
Should the pride of the Rossoneri fans be represented tomorrow?
“We can use all the terms we want: pride, responsibility, belonging. For the league standings, after Thursday’s elimination, and for Inter’s Scudetto, it’s an opportunity for redemption, for pride.”
How have the last few days been?
“These have been days of work. It’s over now, we worked to prepare as best we could for the derby. We can’t be happy, but we worked in view of the next match.”
What derby will it be tomorrow?
“It will be very important for the meaning of the clash and the standings. There has been too much talk about me for too long: I think this hasn’t done anyone any good.”
What do you ask of your Milan?
“To win tomorrow. We were coming off seven victories in a row and then came elimination. Milan can still give a lot.”
Too much criticism?
“My Milan can still give a lot. I’m not interested in criticism. You journalists and the fans can criticize and judge, there are those who have done it with more respect and those who have done it with less respect.”
What do you think of Curva Sud’s stance?
“The most important thing is that there will be 70 thousand fans who will cheer for Milan tomorrow, the rest is of little interest. The latest on Pioli doesn’t matter, but what Milan will do tomorrow. We will need the best Milan possible.”
Coming from the elimination in the Europa League…
“Difficult. If the team has been going through a difficult moment for a long time, then stamina and quality can be lacking, but this wasn’t the case for us. We weren’t able to play at our level, in terms of quality and energy. The past is history, even if it’s not positive that we didn’t advance.”
Do you have any regrets? What rating do you give the season?
“I will not make any evaluations or ratings now, only at the end of the season.”
Coming from five defeats in a row in the derby…
“The players know everything, they know the importance, then we have to show it on the pitch.”
How do you prepare for a game like this?
“It’s impossible not to prepare well for a match like this. Every player will be preparing to be at their best. Tactical choices? I could change everything or nothing. I’m open to anything.”
Is there a lesson you take away?
“At the end of the year, I will make my assessments, I will definitely take something away with me.”
What do you expect tomorrow?
“The team must not play for me, but for itself, for the shirt, for the fans. I expect a performance from a real team. Tomorrow the result matters, not Pioli.”
What more can you give to this team?
“I have always given everything and received a lot. I feel like I can still give a lot to this team.”
Can Milan prove that they aren’t so inferior to Inter?
“We can demonstrate this in tomorrow’s match, perhaps by not going behind in the first few minutes and understanding that we can be on par with our opponents. We arrived in the first leg with very high expectations, only to then encounter difficulties that we were unable to stem.”
Did the match against Roma remind you of the two Champions League derbies?
“Perhaps when we arrive too convinced we don’t know how to react to difficulties. We perhaps sinned a little by being presumptuous, thinking that Roma might not score on us, this could be true…”
Have you thought about the February 2023 derby?
“We know our opponents and our characteristics. I have set myself one priority, tomorrow after the match I will tell you what it is.”
Would you be surprised by a great match?
“I wouldn’t be surprised, I have a lot of faith in my players. Then it will be a game in which I will suffer a lot, but I believe in my players and I believe we can win.”
Pellegatti says he isn’t a Piolist, but simply a Milan supporter…
“Not many have been this year, Milan fans I mean…”
Will your potential successor do a better job?
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves with certain judgments and certain comments, they are not my concern at this moment. In the end, we will draw conclusions. Then I will tell you what I think of the season, why and how certain things happened, both positive and negative. If you agree, fine, otherwise I’ll get over it.”
It’s the first derby ever to be played on a Monday night and it remains to be seen how Milan will respond. Per the latest reports, Pioli will rely on the usual starters for the big game, with Tijjani Reijnders back in the eleven.
He sounds defeated already. I think Gaiter would be a good replacement. All other options are not good enough.
I don’t think he sounds defeated, but he’s trying to deflect any talks of a new coach which at this point is not productive. Some ‘journalists’ are interested only in creating controversy.
Many coaches would do a good job if motivated and supported properly by the rest of management,
‘We were coming off seven victories in a row and then came elimination.’
That’s exactly where the problem is. The volatility of this Milan is just too high. When we’re good, we’re extremely good. But when we’re bad, we’re extremely bad. We just can’t seem to keep the momentum on the mean to higher side of curve. And to get that high curve winning momentum again it’d take some times. Just like we’ve been witnessing these last couple of years.
“When we are good, we are extremely good.”
Barely winning vs. mediocre teams or needing red cards to win is extremely good?
Let’s see the 7 wins.
Vs Lazio being dominated until a red card.
Vs Prague at home, very poor until a red card and still gave up 2 goals while playing 11 against 10.
Vs Empoli, barely scraped a 1:0 win.
Vs Prague, poor until a red card and then still gave up a goal in 11 vs 10.
Vs, Verona scraped a win vs another relegation team.
Vs Fiorentina, only win vs a decent team but was holding for dear life in the last half our of that game.
Vs Lecce, the only comfortable win but still played a whole half 11 vs 10 because of a red card.
Where is this extremely good?
At no point over the last 2 years Milan was ever extremely good.
Vs. Napoli last season.
Quite true! That was an amazing game!
So, from 2 years you can only come up with 1 game when Milan was extremely good?
That’s an exception.
Sassuolo can also say that when they are good they are extremely good because they are the only team to beat inter this season in serie A, on the road too, but they are about to be relegated.
go cry in your grandma’s pants
Of course not. It’s just the first come to mind. Thru our Scudetto season, of course we’re extremely good. Started with that vital win in derby. And the we went straight 14 matches without any single lost (with only 5 goals conceded) in the league till the very end and got us that Scudetto. Thru those 14 matches we also won against the likes of Napoli, Lazio (yes, any Milan fan will remember this match), and Atalanta.
When I said extremely good, it’s not only from the technical pov. But also about the mentality, which sometimes a more important factor.
I simply give credit when it’s due. It’s a great Milan that sadly doesn’t last. Don’t get me wrong, from the start of the season, I was also the one who complained most when it comes to Pioli. For several reasons I had already posted in the other topic.
Forza Pioli.
I’ll do my best to support the next coach (Conte will be the hardest for me to support) even though I don’t agree with the change.
But Pioli’s Milan has been the most exciting Milan to watch since Ancelotti’s three Brazilian forwards Milan. Also the best Milan since a long time but…
Shit happens.
Forza Pioli.
I’ll do my best to support the next coach (Conte will be the hardest for me to support) even though I don’t agree with the change.
But Pioli’s Milan has been the most exciting Milan to watch since Ancelotti’s three Brazilian forwards Milan. Also the best Milan since a long time but…
“We can demonstrate this in tomorrow’s match, perhaps by not going behind in the first few minutes and understanding that we can be on par with our opponents…”
Is it now allowed to go behind later in the match? his words inspire no confidence at all. he is saying the players should play for the shirt, not him. he cannot even inspire confidence in his abilities or our tradition.
I hope we are not mauled tomorrow.
Such a hard interview, like he is on bbc’s hardtalk, so much entitlement nowadays, the guy is clearly on his way out, the writing is on the wall, such straight questions are they necessary? Then we continue even to bash the responses lol, modern human beings
Quite true. That game was magnificent.
So the players didn’t show up for Roma after similar pressers. But against Inter will be a different story is what we’re supposed to take from this?
Poor Pioli. It would help if he focuses on his job without the pressure, but this is reality man. I would advice he goes for a break before taking another job. It will do him a lot of good (discover his mistakes, where he improved, etc).
As for tomorrow’s game, I really hope this Milan wakes up and we win the game. It will either be a soothing to a wound, or a knife twisting to a season blow.
One would argue, there is no pressure since he understands he won’t be staying past the summer. So at this point go balls out, get crazy. What’s the worst that can happen? Get fired? He’s already there 🙂