Stefano Pioli suggested his Milan have shown ‘the will to overcome difficulties’ and felt that ‘you have to congratulate Napoli’ for their incredible season under Luciano Spalletti.
The Rossoneri coach was awarded Serie A’s Panchina d’Oro at the 31st edition of the ceremony today, celebrating his work bringing the Scudetto back to Milan for the first time in over a decade.
Things have been a little more difficult for Milan this season and the team are far off league leaders Napoli, sitting 18 points behind in fourth place.
Speaking at the Panchina d’Oro ceremony, Pioli first discussed which elements of Milan’s Scudetto success he’d like to see again this season.
“The cohesion and compactness. It’s easy to be a team when things are going well, it was much less easy to overcome those three or four difficult weeks. We have shown that we’re a group that has the will to overcome difficulties and we have come out even stronger.
“Obviously there is still a season to play, and judgements are limited to the first part of the season, we still have a lot of satisfaction to take away.
“And then not only was the team cohesive, but this year especially our fans have shown what a united environment means. They could have created difficulties for us, but with their passion they helped the team in a special moment.”
He was asked if the Rossoneri had exited their run of poor form now.
“It can be said with certainty that Milan want to win every game from here to the end. Now let’s talk about the next difficult challenge with Atalanta, which is as complicated as last year’s.”
The Milan coach commented on if his team can show their Scudetto spirit in the final 15 league games this season.
“The team must score a lot of points, we are fighting for the top four places in the league which is an important goal.
“We have seen how good it is to play in the Champions League, we want to play in it again next year. We have to do our best from here to the end.”
Pioli was asked about Milan’s failure to stay in the title race this season.
“We were in line until our famous period of decline. And then we would still be in the running if Napoli weren’t having the season they’re having.
“You have to be honest in saying that Napoli is doing something exceptional, you have to congratulate them.
“Otherwise, all the other teams of our level would be there playing for the title within a few points of each other, as it was last season.”
He explained his usage of a three-man defence.
“It’s an extra solution. We had to try to find solutions and solve problems. In this week many things have worked, others we have to improve, we will insist on trying to work as best we can.”
He dedicated his Panchina d’Oro award to his various collaborators.
“All the people who have worked with me, alone you can’t do anything.”
Finally, Pioli was asked if Malick Thiaw could experience a similar growth path to Fikayo Tomori or Pierre Kalulu.
“We hope so, he is a focused boy with good characteristics to be a modern defender. He is only at the beginning, but I believe he has the qualities to establish himself.”