Stefano Pioli is prepared for a tough home match against Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli tomorrow evening.
Second place Milan will face fourth place Napoli in a game that could be crucial in the title race this season, with both teams only trailing Simone Inzaghi’s Inter by a handful of points.
Speaking to gathered reporters in a press conference earlier today, Pioli started by discussing how teams have been playing with a high defence against the Rossoneri recently. “We’re up against capable opponents who prepare their games carefully, we’ll have to be focused to make the right choices at the right time.”
He was unaware of his poor record against Spalletti. “I honestly didn’t know these things. Milan helped me to overcome many steps, maybe they’ll help me tomorrow too”
Commenting on Milan’s recent form, Pioli said “We’re doing very well in the first half of the season, there are still two games left. I’d like to go past last year’s total of 43 points. Tomorrow’s opponent has great quality and a great coach, we must raise the level of our performance.
“I don’t think we can talk about a breakaway yet. I don’t think you win the league in December. Last year we were ahead for a long time, then we know how it ended. We must aim to do better than last year. The first year we scored 66 points, the second year we scored 79 points and the aim is to do better, especially in the second half of the season.”
The Rossoneri coach was confident that Sandro Tonali can continue growing and improving. “I’m absolutely convinced that he can still grow a lot in his reading of the game, both offensively and defensively. We don’t have a player who can dictate things, our focus is on the team.”
Speaking about the risk of a drop of form, Pioli noted that “we ran in an exaggerated way, then they did things the same way as us. We don’t do the path against anyone, only with ourselves. The last two performances were not optimal, we have to try again to put our qualities on the field with strength and conviction.”
The Italian coach was optimistic regarding the injury situation at the club. “I’m optimistic, we’re working to find solutions. It’s been a difficult month for us, we’ve tried to increase recovery and prevention work, stimulating the players to be more careful and precise in their daily work. Playing so much often makes a player lose many games easily.”
Touching on the reaction to the match against Udinese, the Rossoneri coach said “the team’s reaction is the same as we’ve always had, to throw ourselves into our work with even more enthusiasm. In these days I’ve seen things done well. If you talk about individuals, except for Theo who had some problems, everyone trained with the right intensity and quality.”
Pioli looked ahead to the type of work that’ll be carried out during the winter break, ”If we hadn’t had all the injuries last year, I think we would have won the Scudetto. In our path of growth it’s normal to have ups and downs.
“The break doesn’t allow you to do any work other than recover and prepare for the Roma game. We’ll have a few days off after Empoli, then we’ll prepare for the Roma game and the other commitments in January. I expect to be more like last year’s first half and score more points than last year’s second half.”
He provided an update on the physical conditions of Theo Hernandez and Brahim Diaz, “Theo has had problems, a flu syndrome, he has never been out on the pitch. At the moment it’s more of a no than a yes, tomorrow we’ll talk to the player and decide.
“For Brahim it’s possible that COVID has taken something away from him, at the moment it’s not a physical problem. He needs to rediscover the technical skills he has. It may be that he feels a bit of pressure, this year he has more responsibility. They are young players, it’s normal that they have difficulties.”
The Milan coach spoke about the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, “I’m always in favour of the health of my players. The club will make the best decision based on the situation that arises.”
He did not want to discuss Inter’s midfield, “I don’t understand why people keep talking about another team. We have our players and I’m happy with mine. In the last two matches we did something less in terms of quality, if you drop in quality then it’s more difficult to win games.”
Pioli did not think that Napoli’s disappointing result against Empoli would have an impact on tomorrow’s match, saying “Napoli’s faux pas against Empoli is only because of the result, Napoli put in a good performance. We both know how important this challenge is, it’s a direct clash. I expect Napoli to be as intense and attentive as I expect Milan to be.”
Speaking about which players will start or be on the bench, he noted “the difficulties lie in choosing the best players to start the game, then having good alternatives with different characteristics to change situations that are not going as we would like.”
The Italian coach touched on the physical condition of Theo Hernandez, highlighting that “from a physical point of view he might be better, it hasn’t been a good week. From a psychological point of view he is very aware, he knows he can do better than in recent weeks.”
The Milan coach discussed whether he is working with realism or optimism. “The term realism has been accompanying us for a couple of years. We are not positive because we hope something will happen. We have our certainties, our qualities.
“A few half-steps are certainly there, but I have such an intelligent group that knows what to do to stay at the top. We have all the qualities and all the support we can get from our fans to keep doing well.”
Pioli thought that the midfield may be the key area in tomorrow’s match, noting that “they have a very dynamic midfield. The tactical key is the quality in the movement and the choice at the right moment. We have to focus on our style of play, we’re among the first in Italy to recover more high balls, as long as the advantages are greater than the risks we have to continue like this.”
Finally, Pioli spoke about the progress of the Primavera squad, saying “I know the guys well, they train with us. We use them as sparring partners. We follow them with the hope that they can make it to the first team.”