After the big 5-1 win against Sampdoria, AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli spoke to the media and shared his thoughts on the must-needed win. Understandably so, he was happy about breaking the goal drought.
Milan were in dire need of three points after losing their last league game (against Spezia) and getting knocked out of the Champions League by Inter. Taking on the already-relegated Sampdoria, the Rossoneri got just the response they needed.
Speaking to Sky Italia, as cited by SempreMilan.it, Pioli shared his thoughts on the game and why everything worked out perfectly for his side. He was also asked about the upcoming transfer window and what Milan need to invest in.
You reacted well…
“It was good to play again, we had to let go of the disappointment suffered on Tuesday in the Champions League. We played a good game, scored many goals and this can only do us good for the final two league games.”
Games like these make the regrets grow?
“Let’s wait and see after the next two games, we’ll make the evaluations at the end. In the Champions League, we went beyond expectations, in the league we didn’t have enough continuity, this was our limit. Sunday against Juventus will be very important, when we play good football we have good qualities.”
On the route…
“It’s clear that the route we’ve taken has given us a lot of satisfaction, with a young group and an ownership that has kept the balance sheets in a profit. We are Milan, we want to be competitive in Italy and in Europe. However, I am proud of what the club, managers and players have done, I know how hard we are working to grow. I’m sure that from this season we will learn much more than the one in which we won the Scudetto.”
Ideal striker: replacement for Giroud, a young player to develop, or an already experienced one who can be a starter?
“A strong player. I think the goal this summer will be to improve the squad. The base is solid, the club has done well in developing the players who have allowed us to take this path. We have seen that there are no starters or reserves, players worthy of Milan are needed. Names? I don’t know anything.”
On his work…
“I am proud of the work we are all doing together. In a journey like this, there are moments of happiness and strong disappointments. We know what we want to do and who we are, we will try to continue to grow and give satisfaction to our fans: we have had ups and down.”
Will those who have struggled the most this year be sent on loan or will they still have your confidence?
“I can’t tell you, we forget too quickly the journey we’ve made and how our young players, who are great players today, have had difficulties: Tonali, Leao, all the young players arriving at Milan must have the time necessary to understand what it means to play in such an environment. Then the important thing is that they are of quality. The goal will be to improve the team together with the club.”
On De Ketelaere, have you already thought about loaning him out?
“I don’t know, we haven’t gone into that much detail yet. There are two important games left and we will evaluate everything at the end of the season.”
Milan will take on Juventus away from home next week and it’s a key game in the top-four race. Lazio, who are now just one point ahead of the Rossoneri, will face Udinese away from home tomorrow evening.
Pioli’s answer on the CDK question about loaning him out or not says everything about what he thinks of CDK.
If you actually rate your big signing and you believe that he will come thru much better next season, you don’t say “I don’t know”. Even if you gotta lie you say he is definitely staying and we have the utmost confidence in his abilities and him coming through after a year of adaptation and a whole pre-season with the team.
Doesn’t look good for CDK
Well even his answer about a new striker. Thought he would say he trust what he has right now but he pretty much said he needed a new one..Very much deviated from his normal middle of the road answer. Interesting 🤔
He say he need strong striker. Thats a sign to get rid origoat & rebic . I hope maldini dont messed again in striker signing . If they can get Dusan or JD with cut price , Dusan available 40-50 m euro because he is unhappy with alegri tactic defensive while JD we have good relationship with lille . The cheap option & more realistic are arnautovic 34 years, cannot blame them if they choose cheap option because they need money for build new stadium
Dusan or Duvan? I think we can’t afford Dusan and no way Juve selling him to us for peanuts lol. Dvan Zapata, sure we might have a chance. JD might be too expensive too though
Juve cannot keep too much striker. Moise kean , milik ,dusan . Dusan asking to leave. Maybe we can try our luck by offer 40-50m euro because juve consider him flop this season ( juve buy him 75m euro spread payment for 3 years ) . But thats depend on owner too, Zlatan reconended dusan as his successor to AC Milan management.
Imagine you’re CDK and your coach is saying this in public. His (already) fragile mentality would be shattered..
Some people thrive under constant pressure, and most of the GOATs are these. However, there are some ‘softies’ too, who should thrive under backings from the right coach, most probably the case with CDK.
As a man knowing for his (usually) warm, protective and being such a father figure towards his players; I’m actually surprised that he said that.
One might wonder now, does Pioli even want him in the first place??? Or he did want him but the CDK who arrived disappointed him greatly?
Same questions could be asked about Adli.
I don’t know what his problem is with Adli but CDK has been a complete disappointment. He SHOULD be loaned out unless Pioli gets fired (I’d love it but very unlikely) and we get a better manager who can actually improve CDK.
Big question : when maldini splash 35m euro for CDK ,did he discuss with pioli ? Did pioli agree with false nine/second striker like CDK ? . More question why CDK get more minute play than adili, is this because maldini forcing pioli play CDK ? It is already clear CDK have no contribution this season
Entire season everybody was protecting little poor kid Charles. Is that improved him at least in a bit? I don’t think so. Maybe instead of saying how good he is on trainings and how much they believe in him he should get ass kicked so he can finally get to work? I mean he is getting 25 minutes in game which we need to trun over (Spezia) – the most simple task, give as much as you can from yourself, show a bit of agression, chasing the ball at least and after few minutes Pioli shouting from bench “Charles wake up!”. If he needs “extra motivation” in this circumstances then something is wrong with his approach not with entire environment. He need to take resposobility for his poor form. Zlatan would say “I don’t need protective words from Pioli, I was shit, but I’ll improve, and I will proof being worthy of my price tag and this t-shirt”. If CDK can’t develop this kind of attitiude he will never become good player. He was protected at Brugge, now is time to grow up.
Big question : when maldini splash 35m euro for CDK ,did he discuss with pioli ? Did pioli agree with false nine/second striker like CDK ? . More question why CDK get more minute play than adili, is this because maldini forcing pioli play CDK ? It is already clear CDK have no contribution this season
Milan needs to return to a twin strike force if we wanted to progress further.
Replace the coach, we cant stay like this.. the team perform based on inconcistency and luck.. its a good time to start searching for a new coach..