After the defeat to Udinese, Stefano Pioli spoke to the media and he had some difficult questions to answer. AC Milan have struggled big time in 2023 and a top-four finish is now at risk.
The Rossoneri have won just four of the 12 games in 2023 and the issues are evident. Up front, they can’t seem to find the back of the net and the defence has been too inconsistent, being especially poor this evening.
Speaking to Sky Italia, as cited by MilanNews, Pioli admitted that such a poor performance can only be blamed on the manager. He said that Milan simply weren’t prepared enough for the clash and that’s certainly true.
On the game…
“Bad game. When a team plays a match like this, only halfway, we weren’t precise or attentive or intense, it means the manager has done a bad job in preparing for the match. A performance that was too poor for our level.”
The difficulties of the double commitment…
“It would be serious if we are already thinking about the quarter-finals. Reaching top four is essential for us, in the last few league games we’ve dropped too much, and when you go down you risk having these matches.”
Disappointed or worried?
“Definitely disappointed with our work, we achieved too little in the league. There are always worries, we have to take advantage of the break to raise our level. We didn’t interpret the match well tonight.”
Is there a connection between the change of formation and the offensive drought of the last few weeks?
“I believe that in the other games, we have conceded little and created more. Tonight we struggled, it was difficult to be dangerous. With Rebic and Krunic we moved back to 4-2-3-1, but too many times we talk about formations when it comes to intensity and many other things that we haven’t been able to put on the field.”
On Leao…
“I asked him to be incisive, to be a striker. Sometimes he’s been too far from the goal. It’s not a question of struggling, it’s just that when he gets few balls he tends to lower himself: he can’t take the ball so far from the goal and then dribble past 5-6 players. We try to put him closer to the goal. We must all do better.”
Do you evaluate a return to the past and to the 4-2-3-1 during the break?
“We can go back, we will evaluate everything. It will also depend on our conditions and the positions of the opponents. We will do whatever it takes to get back to playing the football we like best and are capable of playing. Too many things didn’t work tonight.”
Did you expect these steps backwards?
“No, absolutely no. Because there were no signs of a drop in tensions or other difficult technical-tactical situations. We prepare the game to always have advantages in certain situations. We started poorly and ended up worse. We must and I will have to work better to keep my players more concentrated.”
However, the decline comes after qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Champions League…
“If we think like this, then it becomes difficult to play in the league. It’s clear that we cannot win the league again, but we want to win this mini championship of the teams fighting for a place in the Champions League. I train a very responsible team, we will be able to analyze the mistakes and we will field different performances because we certainly want to do better in the league.”
Milan are currently in 4th place with 48 points but could drop out of the Champions League zone tomorrow. If Roma were to win the derby against Lazio, then that will become reality. It’s a tough time for Pioli’s men, in other words.
