Some of Stefano Pioli’s selection choices for the 1-1 draw against Sampdoria deserve to come under scrutiny, according to a report.
Milan looked off that pace at home again as they were forced to settle for a point against Claudio Ranieri’s side, who took the lead through Fabio Quagliarella but held on to avoid defeat despite going down to 10 men with the majority of the second half still to play.
Today’s edition of Tuttosport (via MilanNews) focuses on the line-up chosen by Stefano Pioli against Sampdoria and highlights a couple of initial choices that seemed to have a negative impact on Milan’s performance.
Alexis Saelemaekers was chosen as the right-back and therefore Samu Castillejo took a spot on the right wing, when it seems natural to play Pierre Kalulu there and have the Belgian up the field. In addition, Pioli’s decision to play Rade Krunic over Ante Rebic on the left wing seemed bizarre. In the case of the Croatian, Pioli will have had his reasons, but if he didn’t have 90 minutes in his legs it would have been better to play him immediately and then bring him off, or play Hauge instead.