Stefano Pioli acknowledges ‘it is only fair that the fans jeer’ after Milan lost at home to Udinese in their worst performance of the season, but insists the squad is complete.
The Rossoneri were already struggling after the defeats to Juventus and PSG, then fumbling a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 away to Napoli.
However, this home defeat to an Udinese side that had not won a single Serie A game all season is the lowest point of the campaign and they were jeered off the pitch.
“What happened was that we didn’t play the game we could and wanted to do. The more we pushed, the more we lost clarity and quality. Even in the weeks when the results did not come, at least there was a good performance. Today we did not play well and we were too chaotic,” Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.
“We must be worried by the results and the performance. We knew it could be tricky, as Udinese don’t let you get a rhythm going, but the whole performance was just not up to our standards.
“Now this must give us the motivation to push forward and do much better in many situations.”
Considering the desperate need to play well, it is perhaps better for Milan to be up against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League next, as there can be no risk of underestimating the challenge.
“We know there is only one result we can afford and we need a great game in every area, technical, tactical and physical. After a disappointment like this, perhaps it is better to prepare for a fixture like that.”
The injury crisis got even worse with Theo Hernandez ruled out, then Rade Krunic went off at half-time with an adductor issue, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek made his comeback as a substitute after a month on the treatment table.
The 4-4-2 experiment did not last long either, abandoned at half-time with Luka Jovic entirely anonymous, but Pioli does not agree that Milan need another centre-forward in January.
“Jovic is a centre-forward who is good at receiving the ball and spreading it to his teammates. It is his first start with us, we wanted to use two strikers to get the ball to feet, but the more the game went on, the more we lost our confidence, positivity and things didn’t go the way we wanted.
“I am sure that I have important characteristics at my disposal. I made a different choice today because Pulisic and Chukwueze were unavailable, otherwise we know how we want to attack and approach the games.
“We must do much better, it is only fair that the fans jeer and especially that they jeer me, because this was not the performance we wanted.”
This is the first time Milan have lost two home league games in a row without finding the net since September 2012, when they fell to Sampdoria and Atalanta.
Since the break for international duty, they picked up just one point from four matches in all competition, failing to find the net in three of them.
There have been suggestions that Pioli needs a figure like Zlatan Ibrahimovic to unite the locker room and act as a leader representing the club.
“Until 10 days ago, nobody said that someone was missing in the club or that the coach was left alone. Against PSG, Juventus and Napoli, the team did put in a performance, even if the results weren’t there. That is what we must build on,” concluded Pioli.
“You know how I feel about Zlatan, about how the club is letting me work, I do not feel that I need anything else, I just have to make it work better.”