Stefano Pioli admits Milan were ‘too hasty and lacked quality’ in their Coppa Italia exit to 10-man Torino, failing to make the most of ‘an undoubted advantage.’
The Rossoneri are feeling the strain amid their injury crisis, as after fumbling a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Roma in Serie A at the weekend, they crashed out of the Coppa Italia Round of 16.
Despite Koffi Djidji’s red card at the 69th minute, Milan still failed to break down the Granata and were caught on the counter-attack in extra time by Michel Adopo.
“We played aggressively, determined against a tough side, but without the necessary quality and sharpness to make the most of the undoubted advantage,” Pioli told Sport Mediaset.
“We were hasty, trying to get shots away and crosses rather than open up the defence. It’s a big disappointment, there’s no denying it, we wanted to go through.”
This is the second time this season that Ivan Juric has got the better of Pioli after a 2-1 Serie A victory in October at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.
“We allowed only one chance to Toro in the first 90 minutes. I made changes to add different characteristics and attacking options, but as I said, we lacked sharpness and calm. We should’ve made the most of the situation, but instead we conceded on the counter-attack.
“We didn’t move the ball around quickly enough over the 90 minutes, then were missing precision in our passing, again because we were hasty. The regrets are after the red card, as we had so many shots when we could’ve set up a teammate in a better position.
“Clearly, we need more quality and it’s an area we need to improve quickly.”
Milan started with a 3-5-1-1 formation, using Brahim Diaz in support of False 9 Charles De Ketelaere, but again the Belgian was unlucky with a header that came off the post.
“I played him because he is an important player. It’s not his most natural role, but Giroud just returned from the World Cup and we can’t expect these lads to play every three days,” explained the coach.
“I think he moved well, did some good things, but clearly everyone expects him to be decisive and make an impact, we all should’ve done better this evening.”
Milan are out of the Coppa Italia, but are still joint second in Serie A, are in the Champions League Round of 16 against Tottenham and on January 18 will face Inter in the Supercoppa Italiana.
“Now we have to start again with great determination, because Serie A and the Supercup won’t wait for us, it’s up to us now to step up and do more. Everyone plays a packed fixture list, everyone has to deal with it.”
The amount of pathetic attempts from outside the box was laughable. If you want to give the result to Torino to ease your schedule, give it away in 90 minutes instead of an already tired squad wasting another 30 minutes
If indeed you want to qualify to the next round why should you rest most of your regular player’s with the excuse or rotation or resting them and later brought them to play when you could have started them get the results then substitute them to rest. Milan lack good bench, and the coach also need to be careful with his selection and substitution