Pioli discusses external pressures, ‘lightning rod’ tag and finishing the season well | OneFootball

AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli has insisted that he and the team are simply focused on finishing the season in the best possible way amid external noise about his future and fan protests.

As the season draws towards its conclusion, Pioli’s time at Milan appears to be coming to a close too and it is in far from ideal circumstances. The Rossoneri have gone six games without a win, and the only thing left to fight for is second place.

On Saturday night Cagliari arrive at San Siro fighting to remain in the top flight, knowing that one more win might be enough to seal their Serie A status for another year, so they will be very much fired up for it.

Pioli spoke to reporters present at Milanello on the eve of the game for his pre-match press conference, and his comments were transcribed by MilanNews.

Mister all of us, all the fans really want to see Milan win again after the home match against Genoa. Will we do it tomorrow?

“It’s like this. It’s what we want too, for many reasons, because the period in which we have gone without a victory is too long. Because I believe that second place is an important objective in any case and is not completely achieved, and therefore because we are professionals, out of pride and respect for our club, for our fans and all the motivations that go into this match.”

A couple of curiosities, the first going back a few days: Florenzi’s interview was very nice. Speaking about your work he often said that you seemed to be almost a lightning rod for the team, you took too much criticism, and that only those who know you well know how much you are suffering in this period. So I ask you, do you want to tell us something more, if you want to make public how you are feeling after the recent period?

“The only thing that would bother me – and nothing bothers me anymore – is if the team didn’t have the right motivation to finish the season well. This is the only thing I care about and am worried about.

“How I am doesn’t count, in the sense that I’m focused on these last matches, then at the end of the season I’ll meet the club and we’ll decide what our future will be. But I believe that in the figure of the coach, my role also includes being a lightning rod, protecting the team, protecting the club because the responsibilities are all there and this has never been a problem for me.”

Is the team ready for this season finale? And then Giroud, Jovic, can you give us some indication, who is better?

“The team is doing well. It’s clear that we are at the end of a long, demanding and complicated season, and there may be those who have a little more energy, those who have a little less, those who are a little better, some a little less, so I will try to choose those players who I believe have the energy, the best possible condition to try to put on a fair match, with quality concentration to try to win tomorrow’s match.”

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“We’re talking about a great team, a coach that I was lucky to have as a player. I had three masters. Trapattoni, Bagnoli and Claudio is top of the line, in terms of style, ability to motivate, and ability to coach gone has always done a very good job, he has always achieved great results, so he knows how much I respect him, but he also knows that tomorrow’s match will be important for them but it is also very important for us so we expect to do well.”

Do you share this concern of the fans who will continue to strike tomorrow? And what do you feel like saying? Does seeing that empty section have any effect on you?

“I believe that the club has demonstrated in recent years that it knows how to work and can be ambitious. Then I repeat, I believe that all together we must try to finish in the this season in the best possible way, then the club will try to give the right answers at the right time.”

Paolo Ladini spoke about managing everyday life, even difficult moments. I still refer to the term used by Florenzi ‘lightning rod’. Has it been more difficult this year to have less support from that point of view? On Wednesday we experienced some very touching moments between Leao and the fans. To see Leao smiling like this even on the pitch, what is needed?

“As regards Paolo’s statements, I don’t think I should be the one to comment on his statements. I believe that in general the merits and demerits of a season are always shared between the coach, the club, the players, between those who are the creators of the positive and negative results. As for Leao, to be smiling, I think he wants to do well, score and help the team score goals.”

You mentioned earlier that it would bother you if some players weren’t 100% connected in these last few games. We know that many will have international competitions, Copa America and also the European Championship. Is there some who will go into management or perhaps have some private chat, especially for those of a slightly advanced age, I’m thinking of Giroud, or those who have many physical problems, I’m thinking of Maignan. Has there been any chat about preservation, always with respect for Milan which comes first?

“No. In fact I gave them the opportunity, they know where my office is. At the beginning of the week I said that my office is always there, and therefore who, without making any further speeches, those who feel they have already given everything, those who feel a little tired, less energetic, those who don’t feel they are able to help the team the office was open, but no one showed up.

“So I saw things that I wanted to see during the week, then after tomorrow I will field the team that I think is the best. I’ll start with the best changes and then be able to improve them during the game.”

Having seen the Europa League matches yesterday, very sincerely speaking – given that you were made fun of a bit for that comparison to Real Madrid and City – in your opinion are Milan, objectively, are not far from those heights that they have reached, in addition to Roma, also Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta?

“I was also made fun of because I said that Atalanta was one of the favourites to win the Europa League. I was referring to the fact that only a year ago we were reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, and then the fact of being eliminated by Inter had diminished the importance of having reached such an important goal.

“If you talk to me about this year, this year we have shown that we are clearly far from them teams, but I believe that Milan in the future, based on the investments they can make, I believe that this is a good team, but I don’t want to talk about the future because I think it’s more important for me to be focused on tomorrow’s match, we’ll see about the season finale and then about the future.

“However, we are not far from Atalanta. Our regret this year was the two matches against Roma, absolutely, because we too could have gone to the semi-final against Bayer Leverkusen. The fact that I then said that these two reached the final was because the quality of the team and the coaches are high.”

Atalanta have officially announced that they will buy out De Ketelaere. Is there an explanation for last year’s poor performance and this year’s very positive performance?

“I think there could be two, as far as I can tell. Last year, Charles was in his first season in a different, difficult, very competitive league. He certainly suffered from this. So this year he found himself with a superior experience, in a role that is probably more suited to his characteristics.”

Had you never thought about changing his role?

“No because we had other plans.”

In your opinion, has a sort of mental knot been created that is difficult to untie at this point of the season or can you still work on the players’ heads?

“Fortunately we are human beings and we too live with emotions, positive and negative. It is clear that the exit from the Europa League and having lost yet another derby certainly weighed heavily on our morale.

“However, I don’t think that there wasn’t a reaction, honestly. We didn’t play top games, yes, but I disagree that there was no reaction because otherwise we wouldn’t have drawn with Juve, we wouldn’t have recovered from a difficult result, with a difficult start against Genoa. So In my opinion, the reaction was there. It’s clear that we were all hoping for something more.”

In these last three games are you thinking of maybe giving the chance to those who have played less?

“It’s clear that those who have played more may be less bright, those who have played a little less may be a little more bright. Physically and also mentally, but not in terms of motivation, because mentally, having played less you suffer less in other situations. It can be anything. The coach always puts in place the team that can guarantee him the results.”