During his pre-match press conference on the eve of a Serie A game against Fiorentina, Milan coach Stefano Pioli revealed the Rossoneri’s biggest problem in the last four games and what he thinks about the injury crisis that has hit the team.
Milan prepare to host Fiorentina at the Stadio Meazza on Saturday, hoping to end a four-game winless run.
During his pre-match press conference, Pioli revealed Milan’s biggest problem over the last few games.
“It’s the first time since I’ve been coaching Milan that the second halves are affecting us. Games do not finish after 50 minutes,” he said.
“The error, for me, is to decrease the level of determination and focus and not follow the game plan which had granted control of the game. Even if we concede a goal, we must continue playing. We haven’t been consistent enough and we’ve been too much affected by adverse incidents.”
Pioli also spoke about the Rossoneri’s injury crisis and what he and his staff are doing to improve the situation.
“Just for clarity, the only concern I have is that we haven’t managed to lower the number of injuries over these seasons,” he claimed.
“When a player gets injured, we suffer at Milanello. We’ve always tried to change something and we are doing anything to improve this situation. We have analysed all injuries, each player has their own history. Somebody got injured because he played too much, others didn’t play enough. National teams are not helping us either. Many other clubs are facing the same situation but of course, the numbers are not positive. We are all working to improve and lower the number of injuries. Pulisic, Calabria and Loftus-Cheek will be back, Leao, Kjaer and Okafor won’t be available.”
During the break, Okafor played three games in six days with his national team, but Pioli refused to blame the Swiss coach.
“I’ve never called national team coaches because I respect their work and they know what to do. I think the fixture list is a problem everyone must face with great responsibility. There are too many games which are not good for the players’ health and for the show.”
Read Pioli’s full press conference HERE