AC Milan will take to the field for the final time in the 2022-23 season tonight, hoping to end the campaign with a win against Hellas Verona.
As Tuttosport (via MilanNews) reports today, Stefano Pioli admitted in his pre-match press conference that he was not a genius at school, but gave a rating of 7 out of 10 to Milan’s season, stating that Paolo Maldini’s 8 had been a bit generous.
The reason for his rating was that it is an average between 8 in the Champions League and 6 in the league, which is essentially the opposite of what happened last year with the Scudetto win but group stage elimination in Europe.
Milan also lost against Torino in the Coppa Italia and Inter in the Supercoppa, adding to the domestic struggles with a title defence bid that never really got going. A great quality of Pioli, however, is that of not feeling sorry for himself and to immediately look to the future with optimism.
Pioli was even able to grasp the beauty that even such a fluctuating season can bring: “We will have to be good at learning from this complicated year. I haven’t made one single mistake, I’ve certainly made more. I’m already very, perhaps too much, self-critical with myself.”
The first error was that the summer transfer window last year did not bring the necessary reinforcements. Only Malick Thiaw managed to carve out a leading role in the Rossoneri squad with De Ketelaere, Origi and Dest disappointing on several occasions.
The foundations of Milan’s future are being laid as early as this summer by trying to adequately reinforce a squad which, this season, has shown all its limitations in trying to battle on two fronts.
In this sense, Pioli did not let names slip but in fact provided a sort of identikit of those who would be the players he would like to have in the squad.
“That they are strong and above all intelligent. I am not interested in being right or left-footed, tall or small, whether he is 18, 25 or 30 years old, I am interested in him being intelligent and able to play at certain levels,” he said.
The one name that was brought up by journalists yesterday – that of Daichi Kamada – drew an interesting response from the Milan boss: “I know he is intelligent.”