Stefano Pioli acknowledges Milan made ‘too many serious errors that ruined’ their 4-2 defeat to Monza, but defends his squad rotation decisions. ‘Rafael Leao had a calf twinge.’
The prospects were very different going into the U-Power Stadium, as a win would’ve taken them into second place above Juventus.
Instead, they were 2-0 down and then Luka Jovic got himself sent off for slapping Armando Izzo in an off the ball incident.
Still the Rossoneri fought back to 2-2 down to 10 men with Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic goals, but Monza sealed the 4-2 result on the counter in stoppages with Warren Bondo and Milan-owned Lorenzo Colombo.
“We made mistakes that ruined the match. When you concede four goals it feels wrong to say our first half-hour was good, but that is true,” Pioli told DAZN.
“Naturally, going a man down made it even more difficult, then after getting it to 2-2, we should’ve been sharper and calmer to defend better. At that moment, the team felt confident and wanted to go on to win. There were too many errors tonight.”
Pioli will be under fire for excessive squad rotation, changing six players from the side that beat Rennes 3-0 in the Europa League on Thursday.
“We moved the ball around too slowly, but Monza also put everyone behind the ball and waited for us. The game changed, unfortunately for us, with all those incidents going from the interruption to the goals and the card. These are all incidents where a team like ours ought to be sharper, more concentrated and more on their toes.”
The opening goal came from a goal kick by Andrea Sorrentino, who had just replaced injured Michele Di Gregorio due to a head injury.
“It is a painful defeat for the way it developed and the situation we were in. The only one who was meant to start today was Rafael Leao, as he had a slight calf twinge in training this morning and did not want to risk it, but the others were in good shape.
“Pulisic did not train yesterday, as he was tired, and Rafa felt he wasn’t ready. Christian has never played so much in recent years, so he needed some rest.”
Malick Thiaw made his first start since sustaining a serious injury in November and looked very rusty with errors for both first half goals, giving away a penalty.
“When you are on 2-2, you cannot double up the marking, you need to leave it one on one. Bondo scored one of the goals of the weekend, but as I said, we made too many naïve errors for a team at our level. This must make us reflect and learn going forward.”
Was the Jovic red card or the Thiaw penalty a worse mistake?
“These are serious errors, we all should’ve done better. It is a painful defeat, but one that we must learn from, that we need even more concentration and focus, especially away from home.”
The Jovic red card was a devastating moment, but also a recurring one, as it is the sixth dismissal for Milan this season.
It also means he will be suspended for next week’s showdown with fourth-placed Atalanta, while the Rossoneri are now 11 points adrift of leaders Inter – who have a game in hand.
With this in mind, does the Europa League become the big motivation for Milan this term?
“Both competitions must be our big motivation. We stopped after a long unbeaten run in Serie A, third place is not solid yet and second place is also not far away. We must try to get as many points as possible before the end of the season.”
#Milan, #Pioli: “#Leao non se l’è sentita di partire titolare. #Pulisic era stanco” https://t.co/Bwk4D5Zcxg
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) February 18, 2024
Rotation at Center back was completely needless! Especially post keeping two clean sheets!