For Pioli it’s time to pack his bags.
Milan has lost its charm lately. They failed to break through to the Champions League playoffs, allowing Inter and Juventus to compete for the scudetto. They themselves make mistakes too often to assert anything serious. The next one happened in the 17th round of Serie A.
There are some injured people, but Pioli could compensate for the losses
It’s not just that the Rossoneri have conducted a large-scale transfer campaign. The Italian coach earned the credit by reaching the semi-finals with the club Champions League last season. He attributed the stagnation of the championship after the championship to inexperience and asked for reinforcements.
And they met him halfway. In the off-season the Milanese spent 116 million euros, the highest figure in Italy. Pulisic and Chukwueze are added to the attacking group, while the central axis has been strengthened by Musa, Reynders and Loftus-Cheek. At the front there is strong competition between Okafor, Jovic and Giroud.
Yes, many are injured now (Okafor himself, centre-backs Pobega and Musa, central defenders Kalulyu, Tiaw and Pellegrino). But Pioli still had strong players as starters.
Against Salernitana the optimal combinations came out: Giroud on the front line, Pulisic and Leau on the wings. In midfield, Ismael Bennacer returned to the starting lineup: he played alongside Reynders and Loftus-Cheek. Even in defense there is room for the center pair Tomori-Kjaer and the flanks Hernandez and Calabria.
The outsider forced to recover
The opponents scored one goal each from set pieces. Milan’s was a little more sophisticated: after Reynders’ pass, Kjaer sent the ball to the far post, where Leau crossed with Giroud’s adjustment, and Fikayo Tomori scored at the end. This happened in the 17th minute.
Just before half-time the home team scored a corner. For Salernitana everything is more brutal: Federico Fazio inserts himself among the guests and despite this he prevails. We went into halftime with the score 1:1.
But in the second half Filippo Inzaghi’s men took the lead, this time thanks to an error by Mick Maignan. Antonio Candreva shoots from distance. The blow itself is not strong. Only the midfielder scored against the Swede, so the ball flew on a difficult trajectory: the French goalkeeper unsuccessfully saved.
For the remaining almost 30 minutes the Rossoneri try to launch a massive attack, but the hosts are quite close to the third goal. The guests created the only strong moment towards the end of regular time. After a cross from the right flank, Giroud catches the ball and throws it to Jovic in free space. All that was left for him was to break through without resistance. Point blank, from the goal line, and the ball is in the net.
This is already the third goal of the championship for the Serbian: he has scored them all in the last three matches in which he appeared on the pitch. But the most important is the goal against Salernitana.
Competitors are moving forward
The draw should absolutely not be a reason for joy for Milan. Yes, because we haven’t played with Inter, nor with Juve, nor with Napoli, nor with Atalanta. This is not to mention the tournament component. Stefano Pioli notes:
We can only regret it, and for the umpteenth time this season. Perhaps the most difficult thing was opening the defense, but we did it and controlled the game.
Then we showed distraction: things like that are not forgiven at this level. We managed to react and took a point, but obviously this is not the result we wanted.
The Rossoneri are trying to hang on to the Scudetto race. Originally they were supposed to play for the Scudetto with Inter, but they have no budget for football. Juve came in hot pursuit: in the direct clash the Turin team took 3 points. Then – another 3 games without a win, which further distanced Milan from the race for the Scudetto.
This is because Juve and Inter make mistakes much less often at this stage. While the Pioli gang failed to win, the Turin side beat Verona, Fiorentina and Cagliari, took points from Inter and did not allow them to break away. Then – 2 more victories and a draw with Genoa. The same goes for Inter: the Nerazzurri have only lost points in their last 10 Serie A games against Juve and Bologna.
So the gap between the competitors is corresponding: Milan is 4 points behind the Bianconeri, 8 points from their neighbors, and at the same time neither of them has yet played the match of the 17th round.
Stefano risks resigning
The Italian was already in danger last spring, then managed to stay in his place thanks to successes in the European Cup. Now it is more difficult to evaluate the work of a coach. On the one hand the withdrawal is insignificant: it was not possible to stay Champions League, but there is a ticket to the Europa League playoffs. And there is progress in the league: after 5th place at the end of last season, the Rossoneri are now 3rd.
After all, everything is learned by comparing. The penultimate season, Milan won the world title: in this context, even climbing to third place does not seem like a success. More stagnation in European competitions.
After the defeat against Borussia and before the final stage of the group stage, an insider appeared: Pioli’s fate will be determined by his performance in Champions League. If you fail to qualify for the tournament playoffs, resignation will follow. This is because the hosts have invested a lot of money in the project and relegation from the main European Cup will hit the finances: 160 million euros will be missing. The result was a victory over Newcastle, but a ticket for THE.
From match to match there are fewer and fewer reasons to leave Pioli at the helm of Milan. Thanks to him the Rossoneri have returned to the elite of Serie A and are fighting for medals. But the search for the best makes separation inevitable.
