Stefano Pioli is ‘a little bored’ by rumours linking Antonio Conte with the Milan job and explains why the Rossoneri didn’t sign a second-centre back in the January transfer window after Matteo Gabbia’s return.
The Rossoneri are preparing to face Frosinone away on Saturday, so Pioli held a pre-match press conference on the eve of the game.
There are growing reports that Conte will replace the Parma-born coach next season so the current Rossoneri boss was asked what he feels when he hears these transfer rumours.
“It doesn’t bother me; maybe it bores me a little, but that’s how it works in today’s football,” he replied, as quoted by Milannews.
“What matters is that the footballers and I want to do our best until the end of the season, the rest doesn’t count.
“It’s clear that Juventus and Inter are getting better results than us,” Pioli continued when replying to a question about this season’s results.
“I am upset because we didn’t win on Sunday due to a collective error. It’s fair to have high expectations and we know that we must work harder when we don’t show our best.”
Milan signed Filippo Terracciano and brought back Matteo Gabbia from his loan at Villarreal in the January transfer window, but failed to get a second centre-back.
“The opportunities we had did not match our needs,” insisted Pioli.
“We wanted somebody who was ready, it’s not that we wanted to sign nobody
“We needed somebody who knew the league, then we’ll think about next summer. We did evaluate all options, but we considered them not up to the task, so we’ll rely on Simic.”
Bennacer has been training with the team, so he will be available in Frosinone, and Pioli explained how the Rossoneri will cope with Tommaso Pobega’s absence in the second part of the campaign.
“With Bennacer’s return, we’ll trust Zeroli, who becomes the sixth midfielder in place of Pobega,” he said.
The Parma-born coach also explained why Marco Pellegrino left on loan to join Salernitana.
“He needs to play, and I believe that he may struggle with us right now.”
The next round will see Inter and Juventus meet at the Stadio Meazza, but Pioli is only focused on Milan’s away game at Frosinone.
“We should only focus on this game,” he insisted. “Frosinone play well and we’ll need a good performance to return to win.”
How about the potential penalty kick taker at the Stadio Stirpe?
“I’ve already decided, I will say it to the team tomorrow,” he replied.
Lastly, Pioli answered a question on Milan’s poor defensive record this term.
“It’s not a matter of men, it’s about intensity and being focused. We have players with different characteristics from last season. We keep possession for a longer time, and we create more chances, but we have conceded fewer goals than last season at the same stage. We must try to score one goal more than our opponents,” he concluded.