Krzysztof Piatek, who is currently impressing following his loan move to Fiorentina, looked back at why it all ended so poorly in Milan.
The Polish striker joined the Rossoneri in January 2019 following an explosive first half of the season with Genoa, moving in a deal worth €35m. He continued to perform decently in the 2018-19 season in Lombardy, but things quickly dropped off in the following season.
Speaking to DAZN, Piatek discussed where things went wrong for him at Milan.
“The first seven months everything worked. I scored a lot of goals with Gattuso, then coach Giampaolo arrived and changed the formation and the idea.
“It was a system where players didn’t play in their own roles, I played with Castillejo as a striker and Suso as a trequartista, these are not their positions.
“And nothing, in two months I was wrong, the team was wrong, it was difficult. I can’t say he understood me poorly, but I needed time to play with this system because it was the first time I played with the trequartista and the two forwards.”
He then touched on how he needed a little more time to settle in and why he took the number nine shirt.
“I also have to understand what didn’t work. But I think we both needed time, two months is a short time. When I arrived at Milan I wanted to take the number 9 shirt right away, but Gattuso and the club told me to take the 19 or another number but not the 9 because you have to earn it.
“After six months I took the number 9 and I only scored a few goals and all the fans asked me why I changed the number.”
Piatek scored 16 goals in 41 appearances across all competitions for Milan, leaving to Hertha Berlin in January 2020. Things did not turn out great there either, for various reasons, but now he’s enjoying himself following a return to Serie A with Fiorentina.
The Pole has scored six goals in 13 appearances for the Viola and is helping the club move on following the departure of Dusan Vlahovic in January.
#Piatek: '#Milan? Nei primi 7 mesi ha funzionato tutto, poi è arrivato Giampaolo. La numero 9…' https://t.co/srrdCkZC6u pic.twitter.com/gfWKRjfVXm
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) April 21, 2022
Even before hey had had any matches, Giampaolo was saying in the media that scoring goals isn’t enough, he expects more important things from a player. These seemed pointedly aimed at Piatek and it seemed strange that he almost seemed to be looking forward to being able to criticise his performances. Confidence is pretty important for a striker, so it wasn’t a huge surprise when Piatek (and the rest of the team) struggled the next season. I am happy to see him back in Serie A and doing well. I hope he can continue and build on the initial success of his return.