Stefano Pioli identifies where Milan are going wrong after their scraped 1-1 draw away to Udinese. ‘We concede silly goals because we lose the ball and make wrong decisions.’
Beto had made the most of a defensive error and lucky ricochet to put the Friulani in front, but just as hope was running out for the Rossoneri after a poor performance with few chances, Zlatan Ibrahimovic came up with the acrobatic goods in stoppages.
“We struggled to play our style of football and didn’t have the sharpness to make the decisions that would pick apart such a well-organised defence,” Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.
“When you concede, that also makes it even more complicated against a side that counter-attacks so well. We didn’t create many scoring opportunities, but we got to the final third so many times and should’ve equalised earlier.”
Opta calculate that since November 2021, Milan made the most errors leading to goals in the big five European leagues, giving away four goals.
That’s not including the Champions League, where there were also some very costly mistakes in the 2-1 home defeat to Liverpool this week.
“We are conceding really silly goals that are because we lose the ball, because we make the wrong decisions and play too centrally rather than spread it. I don’t know if it’s a lack of confidence, but it’s certainly a lack of sharpness and we must be far more careful with the ball at our feet.
“My lads are well aware when they aren’t playing at the best of their abilities. We certainly need to do better and I am convinced we will do, because there is ambition here, but also the ability to understand our errors and work on them.
“I think we lost a little solidity in defence over the last few games, we are not sharp when playing out from defence and that opens up spaces. It’s a tactical issue we need to work on and I’m sure the lads will be ready for that.”
Pioli knew something was wrong in the first half, because he changed the entire midfield during the break.
“I don’t think it’s an individual issue, it’s just we are making the wrong decisions with our passes. It was also our seventh game in 20 days, so playing in the Champions League saps you both physically and mentally.
“We need more focus and quality, because otherwise our style of football will run risks.”