Stefano Pioli insists he was ‘satisfied with the performance’ in the 1-1 draw, noting Milan needed to be ‘less frenetic’ against an Atalanta side that has shifted its philosophy.
Once again, the Rossoneri conceded the first goal and had to fight back, this time only managing a point with their 1-1 draw in Bergamo.
Ismael Bennacer cancelled out the Ruslan Malinovskyi strike from the edge of the box with his left-foot angled drive.
“I am satisfied in the sense that we allowed Atalanta very few chances and played with a spirit of sacrifice, but we should’ve been less frenetic after the break,” Pioli told DAZN.
Gian Piero Gasperini was famously the all-attack coach and they did press high in the first half, but have started to adjust their tactics more this season.
“Atalanta changed their attitude and sat deeper, so we needed to play with more patience to break them down.”
The coach surprisingly replaced all his strikers in the second half, including Rafael Leao.
“I have a lot of strong forwards and we need them to play so they can get into shape. I would like Leao to target goal more, but that’s normal. I put Charles De Ketelaere as the trequartista and we went close to winning it with some clear chances.
“I have to look at the performance, and against a very strong Atalanta side, I liked it.”
Considering De Ketelaere did impress off the bench, should he not be in the starting XI soon?
“He just arrived, he needs to get to know his teammates and for them to get to know him. There’s time for everything.”