AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli has revealed that he gave Sergino Dest some advice about how to find his form again.
Dest had a mixed start to life with Milan after joining on a season-long loan from Barcelona as he initially struggled to get up to speed with the rhythms required and his defensive capabilities in particular came under scrutiny after tough outings against Napoli and Chelsea.
However, he came back from the World Cup after a good tournament with the USA and showed promising signs playing in an unfamiliar left wing-back role against Torino in midweek, eventually shifting to the right side.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s match against Lecce, Pioli was asked about Dest and what he thought of his performance against Torino in the Coppa Italia defeat on Wednesday.
“He played a good game against Torino. I told him that his problem is mentality. He must remain focused every day because he has important characteristics. I don’t think starting in an attacking position is good for him. He has excellent intensity and dynamism and has the qualities to help defensively,” he said (via MilanNews).
His problem is that he has a coach who plays him on the left when his true position is the right. Pioli should learn from the coach of the USA team.