Stefano Pioli argues he could celebrate a strong Milan performance in the defeat to Napoli, but ultimately he is ‘more bitter at the lack of chances converted. I am not satisfied.’
The Rossoneri saw their 22-match unbeaten Serie A run come to an end, as although Olivier Giroud had temporarily equalised, Napoli came away with the 2-1 result at San Siro thanks to a Matteo Politano penalty and Giovanni Simeone glancing header.
“I am not satisfied at all and neither should my players be. We only scored one goal, which isn’t enough for all that we created,” Pioli told DAZN.
“It’s disappointing, because nights can happen when the opponents play better, but in this case we really shouldn’t have lost. I hope we will learn from this to be more clinical in front of goal, because we did everything right except for errors and a lack of determination in both penalty areas.
“I might come here and say I was very happy because we played better than Napoli and created lots of chances, but seeing as we were the only side unbeaten in Europe’s top five leagues for 22 rounds, longer than Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Real Madrid, it’s a shame to lose it with a performance like that.”
Rafael Leao was ultimately far more missed than Victor Osimhen, as Alexis Saelemaekers was no replacement for the Portuguese winger.
“On Simeone’s goal we had too many players attacking the man with the ball, forcing Messias to sit deeper, which freed up Mario Rui.
“It’s difficult to blame our defensive movements when Napoli only really had that chance. I am more bitter about the lack of chances that we converted. We allowed very little to a side that usually creates and scores a lot of goals. It’s true we are conceding too many at the moment and need to work on that, but my concern is more upfront.”
Pioli substituted Simon Kjaer and Davide Calabria at half-time, who were both booked for fouls on Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, but the coach insists that was not a Simone Inzaghi-style decision.
“I took Kjaer off because he was on a yellow card and with so many spaces behind us the way we play, it’s dangerous against a quick striker like that and Pierre Kalulu has different characteristics.
“I only took Calabria off because he had a muscular issue. I wouldn’t have taken him off otherwise, as he was doing well defending and attacking.”
Charles De Ketelaere is still getting to grips with Serie A after a long summer tug-of-war on the transfer market with Club Brugge.
“I think this was his best performance of the season. He is growing exponentially, he needs time to get to know the new league and team, but I am very happy with his performance. I am sure he’ll score goals and be more effective in the final third, he got into good positions and played with quality.”