Stefano Pioli underlined the expectations ahead of Milan’s Europa League campaign and the threats posed by their upcoming opponents Napoli.
The Rossoneri have only lost once in their last 12 Serie A outings, but despite that the pressure is high on the coach and his players. The team still sit eight points behind league leaders Inter and their poor Champions League campaign has soured the mood around San Siro.
Napoli were incredibly active in the January transfer window in an attempt to resolve their issues this term and they picked up a tense win over Hellas Verona in their last outing, giving them a slight boost after their recent loss to Inter and draw with Lazio.
Speaking in a press conference via TMW, Pioli first discussed what’s changed at Napoli over the last 12 months.
“Their qualities haven’t changed, the numbers of the performances and the matches. With Mazzarri something has changed tactically, we don’t know if he will play with three or four in defence, but they are a quality opponent to be faced with a lot of attention and a lot of respect.”
He was asked if he was amazed by Napoli’s position in the league table.
“It’s difficult for everyone to repeat themselves, it was difficult for us too. The season is still very long, and Napoli are not far from fourth place. They have great quality, great attacking players, we will have to pay a lot of attention.”
The Rossoneri coach wasn’t interested in discussing rotations.
“The staff and I have already seen Rennes, but we’re only thinking about tomorrow. There’s the time needed to prepare for Rennes. Now it’s too important to focus on the league.”
Pioli spoke about the battle in midfield between Milan and Napoli.
“In many matches it is key, even if, especially tomorrow, both teams have great attacking players in one-on-one situations who I believe could be decisive. We will have to be very compact in the middle of the pitch, messing up their plays as much as possible.”
He confirmed that Ismael Bennacer is fit enough to start.
“He’s fine, he’s available to play from the first minute.”
The Milan coach touched on the importance of finding victory.
“Being at Milan means winning something, we have to aim for that, then it’s difficult, both in the league and in the Europa League. We shouldn’t aim too far, we have to build ourselves brick by brick.”
He was asked about the recent criticisms of Mike Maignan.
“We are not interested in criticism, because we are very self-critical of ourselves. People like Maignan never lose, either they win or they learn and he will come out of this period better than before.”
He weighed in on the ‘blue card’ debate.
“I like pace, I don’t like interruptions and I think this would be another reason for interruptions.”
Pioli discussed the growth of Charles De Ketelaere at Atalanta.
“Here, due to his characteristics and what we needed as an attacking midfielder, it was the right role for him to play in. He is doing very well in Bergamo after a year of experience in which he has grown.”
He provided an update on the injured defenders.
“The recoveries are all going very well, but they need to be analysed week by week. Malick forced himself, today he was totally in the squad and tomorrow he won’t be called up, he should be back in the Europa League. Kalulu and Tomori will be important next week.”
The Milan coach commented on how he manages criticism.
“I do what I love, what I like, coaching is my passion. When you have a role of such responsibility you have pressures, expectations, criticisms, compliments, but there is so much pleasure in working with my players every day that other things come in a lesser way than working with the players.
“Everything can’t be perfect anyway, for me it’s about working that matters a lot. I’ve always been lucky enough to coach a group of special people, rather than special players, and this gratifies me a lot and it makes me feel good… until Sunday.
“We all know what it means to coach Milan, the emotions I feel are truly profound.”
He was proposed the idea of starting Olivier Giroud and Luka Jovic together.
“Jovic is a reality of this team, important, he can play from the start, but with Giroud together from the start we’ll see.”
He discussed the idea of using Bennacer as an attacking midfielder.
“I don’t think it can be an idea for tomorrow, he will start a little lower. Then I like not having players with fixed positions.”
The Milan coach spoke about the team’s need to always score more than their opponents due to their defence.
“So, we are inclined to attack, because we don’t like to defend, or rather, because we are inclined to play offensively, both due to the characteristics of my players and my ideas.
“We are working on it, but I think we must insist a lot on our aspects positive, eliminating situations where we are not so attentive in the defensive phase.”
Finally, Pioli commented on Salernitana’s decision to sack Filippo Inzaghi.
“I wish him the best, it happens to everyone or almost everyone. I took advantage of my dismissals, not immediately, because immediately there is a bit of disappointment…
“I took advantage of them a little later over time to try to understand what to improve on. Dismissals don’t mean that you didn’t necessarily do a good job.”