Stefano Pioli and his AC Milan failed to end the crisis last night, instead confirming it with a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Udinese. The manager took responsibility for the performance afterwards and also made a strange admission.
It was the worst game of the season by the Rossoneri, who struggled to threaten a low-sitting Udinese and also conceded quite a few chances on the counter. The switch to a 4-4-2 formation, it must be said, didn’t help Pioli’s men either. If anything, it made things worse.
After the game, Pioli spoke to MilanTV (read the full interview) and made the following admission: “The fans were right. They whistled at me because it meant I didn’t prepare the team well. They are used to better performances”.
It doesn’t happen often, but the manager actually admitted to failing in his preparation. In this case, however, failing is simply not acceptable as Milan had more or less a full week to prepare for the game. They faced Napoli on Sunday and Pioli then decided to give the players two days off.
As a result, training resumed on Wednesday and that’s when the preparation for Udinese began, at least for the players. Pioli and his staff, meanwhile, had been working on the matter since after the Napoli game.
The question is, therefore, how did Pioli not get his message across in three days of training? And was it the right decision to give the players two days off rather than one? Pioli’s admission, as such, is rather strange after such a poor game (and almost too honest).
One could also wonder how much preparation you actually need to face Udinese, who were sitting in 17th place before the game.
he’s clueless, became over-confident in his own abilities after we won the scudetto. maybe he assumed he won it due to his tactical prowess. not reality has set it. little wonder it was rumored that maldini wanted him out. maldini aint one to sit down and be content with the status quo.
There is only one thing I agree with Pioli on…and that is that this squad is better than the one that won the Scudetto. The reality is that the current players are wasted on a manager such as him. Throwing pearls to swine comes to mind! They lack belief and any organisation. If it was one or two who were not performing then maybe you could come to the conclusion that the problems were isolated. However, the whole squad looks dysfunctional.
How could the squad be better than the one that won the Scudetto when by definition the squad that won the Scudetto, erm, won the Scudetto, when it won the Scudetto thus was a Scudetto winning squad capable of winning the Scudetto….
I mean isn’t this the exact problem?
Everyone (the owners, the media, fans, even the manager) failed to appreciate that they already had players capable of winning the Scudetto by virtue of the fact that they had in fact won the Scudetto.
All that needed to happen was improve on a Scudetto winning side (not an easy feat given not many sides successfully defend their Scudetto often because new signings destablise a Scudetto winning side).
It’s an incredibly fine balance. Like tuning a car. You don ‘t just rip out the engine and start again every few months because the transfer market is open.
Any dysfunctionality is the product of changing nearly 50% of the first team squad and most of the backroom staff. No organisation could cope with that much change.
The squad could be better but if the coach does not innovate, other coaches will develop the counter.
Pioli is trash. Mid-table coach who had the season of his career two seasons ago. Lucky title. Now he’s being shown up. He’s been here for 4.5 seasons. Time to change.
Fired that clown….
Either fire him now or hire Zlatan to save his ass. And then fire him in the summer. Pioli needs to go. The only question is when. It’s not like good coaches are available in the middle of the season. (Yes, I know Conte is available, but I did mention good coaches – not any coaches).
Lopetegui might be an interesting option. Not WC but not bad either
Zinedine Zidane is available.
Pioli is really trying but jovic was really disgusting and we need Noah Okafor and Geroud to feature in all the rest of the game but Acmilan playing 4-4-2 /4-2-3-1 is good and solid but we just need a complete squad to balance our first eleven. In the 4-4-2 we need Kjaer, Hernandez rejnder,musah, Okafor, chukwueze and leao the problem of Acmilan is the first eleven so Acmilan need the first eleven and implement the 4-2-3-1 to return to winning ways rejnider is trying to adjust to serie a
Been calling out this clown since preseason. ACM fans tend to be in full support when Milan wins. Most almost never look at how they win or draw. No heart, soul, passion…. my concern was always….we got new players, in order to be frustrated by Pioli who doesnt know how to manage modern players. His tactics, courage, dressroom respect are lower than average…been saying it even while winning… milan’s wins were all lucky…scraping up a victory here and there…
Fail to plan is planning to fail.
PIOLI’s abilities are only at that level, Don’t expect more from him, PIOLI is a SHAME, you should just resign,!!!!