Former AC Milan boss Arrigo Sacchi believes that Stefano Pioli will learn the lessons from the two defeats against Chelsea and become a better coach for it.
There was of course plenty of controversy surrounding Tuesday night’s defeat against the Blues at San Siro as the referee Daniel Siebert effectively decided the outcome by giving a very harsh penalty and red card against Fikayo Tomori 18 minutes in for a foul on Mason Mount.
Speaking during his usual column for La Gazzetta dello Sport, Sacchi spoke of the defeat suffered by Milan against Chelsea but also of the choices made by Pioli, with his comments relayed by SempreMilan.it.
“The referee was harsh, but Tomori also made a mistake. I look at the technical aspects. Milan are strong, very strong, when they are a collective. With Chelsea the difference was noticed, especially in the first leg,” he said.
“I am convinced that Pioli would not redo certain moves: Tomori is not a left-back, Hernandez did not understand what he was doing and Gabbia was too isolated. And let’s not forget that he struggled a lot even in the first match of the group in Salzburg.”
Sacchi was also asked for his opinion on how Milan are shaping up in the competition as a whole at the moment and whether they are at the level of being able to go beyond the group stages, having finish bottom of the group last season.
“Not enough, for now. I expect more, I know they can do more and they have already proven it. You can’t play one-on-one with Chelsea forwards, defenders get into trouble if they don’t have help. I think Pioli, very competent, has noticed what needs to be fixed. Two victories in the next two matches are within reach of Milan, but beware of the away match in Zagreb. It will be hell.”
o yeah, the whole Theo in midfield was plain stu*pid. And tomori as half lb. I couldnt believe he was making such an experiment on a so important game. Very naive from Pioli.
Well said!
Pioli somtimes totally naive in his selections of tactics and players, esp in CL. It seems he is somewhat out of depth when facing CL teams.