Stefano Pioli admits Milan ‘could’ve done more’ against a Slavia Praha side that was down to 10 men for over an hour, but 4-2 is ‘a good advantage’ in the Europa League.
The Rossoneri will be grateful for the 4-2 result going into the second leg, but also well aware they should’ve done much better considering El Hadji Malick Diouf was sent off just 26 minutes in for a studs-up tackle on Christian Pulisic’s ankle.
Despite that situation, Slavia Praha still got back into the game twice for 3-2 and threatened an equaliser, prompting jeers from the San Siro crowd, until a moment of Rafael Leao magic set up Pulisic to prod in from a yard and create a better cushion for next week.
“Honestly, yes, we could’ve done more and I think going into the break with a two-goal advantage, I expected a better tempo,” Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.
“It is a good victory, Slavia Praha are a very solid, energetic team, so we still have it all to do in order to earn qualification for the next phase, even with this good advantage.”
The moment when it went to 3-2 was tense in the stadium, as they risked throwing it all away against 10 men.
“We had slight distractions on the two goals, not massive errors. I think we should’ve created more going forward, as they played well with 11 men, but then closed the spaces more when going down to 10. We needed to speed up the tempo and we didn’t always do that.
“Slavia Praha are a very good side, but the tactical aspects will be different in the second leg. They need to score two goals, so cannot just sit back and wait for us on home turf.
“They are very dangerous on the counter and we need to be wary against them, they proved what they can do this evening.”
Most of the goals this evening were from set play situations and Pioli acknowledges the defending was an issue on these dead-ball routines.
“We got it wrong, because the goalkeeper sets the line on that situation, but the players decided to push forward and I think we were also unlucky on the third goal, as it came off Tomori. Our initial positions were wrong, we tend to sit a little deeper. Even with the corner kick, we had men outside the area, but they still managed to score a great goal.
“I think we made the same mistake with the Jovic penalty against Rennes, so these are situations we really need to work on and analyse.
“Fortunately, we were able to take a two-goal advantage, but naturally Slavia Praha will put in the performance of a lifetime in the second leg.”
There was also a tactical issue that Pioli recognised when attacking against 10 men that made Milan inefficient.
“I think we filled the spaces too much, pushed the full-backs too far forward with the wide attackers, whereas we should’ve tightened them up and left that space for the forwards.”
Pioli chose to go down the tunnel instead of shaking his opposite number’s hand at the end of the game 🤦🏻♂️
When a man keeps repeating the same alibi, on the team you manage and oversee.. then it’s not the players that has problem, it’s the coach.
He knows his time is up. The question is what team he will manage after Milan. Salernitana in Serie B? He’s lost the plot.