In a week, the coach will gather the Rossoneri team at Milanello. He won’t find Maldini, Massara, Ibra and Tonali who helped him win. Even more involved in the project, but without umbrellas in case of showers…
Last summer, during the Sicilian holiday, the Carabinieri were needed to get him out of the shops and free him from the siege of Milan fans who sang, grateful: “Pioli is on fire!”. This summer, after a passage to the Maldives, Stefano Pioli has chosen the sun of Crete, in a very private location. He has met very few people and, knowing his nature, he probably enjoyed it much more this year, even without a fresh Scudetto in his belly. A very metaphorical summer, if you will. A lot of silence around, Maldini, Massara, Ibrahimovic, Tonali disappeared… In Crete, in the labyrinth of Knossos, to try to solve the tactical enigma of the Milan to come. And from Crete to Forte dei Marmi, where Galliani was once the market for Milan and where today Carnevali, sporting director of Sassuolo, responds to requests for Frattesi who Pioli likes very much. In a week, Pioli will begin to shape the new Milan. Perhaps the most complicated season of his career begins, but also the most intriguing.
Departure against the wind
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Losing two flags (Maldini, Tonali) for the price of one didn’t seem like a special offer to the Milan fans. Pioli knows that he will have to pedal against this wind of disappointment from the first km. He also knows that, on the social media, someone reproached him for lukewarm solidarity at the time of the torpedoing of Maldini and Massara. Certainly not the two interested parties who joined him in Versilia to end the professional relationship with a no less cordial lunch than the previous ones. Integral personal relationships. But beyond the digital grumbling, the bulk of the Milan world does not forget the merits of the coach for a scudetto expected for 11 years and a Champions League semi-final that has been missing for 16. The 2021-22 title belongs to Pioli more than any other. He designed the team, endowed it with a quality game, infused it with courage, created group empathy that later turned out to be decisive, held the helm even when it had already been immolated on Rangnick’s altar, made it grow decisive talents such as Leao and Tonali.
More accountability
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However, in the moment of maximum confusion, Ibra nailed the CEO Gazidis in front of the team: “You have to tell us what future awaits us. Should we renew the rental of the houses?”. Ibra helped Leao and Tonali get a thick soul. Maldini and Massara, with a meager budget, have identified Scudetto-worthy profiles. Pioli, Maldini and Massara, in the most critical moments, in the gaps in ownership, were one. It was Milan. Maldini, Massara and Ibra will not be at Milanello next Monday. It does not mean that there will be a Cretan void around Pioli. The feeling between the coach and the CEO Giorgio Furlani, for example, is very good. Gerry Cardinale, owner of the club, has always valued the competence and, in particular, the style with which Pioli dealt with the toughest passes. The technician enjoys the utmost confidence, also testified by the official statement with which RedBird torpedoed Maldini. There was talk of a working group that would work “in close contact with the coach of the first team”. That Coach with a capital letter seems to allude to tasks beyond those of a simple executive coach. More involvement, more responsibility. In this sense, we said, the challenge promises to be difficult, but also rewarding on a professional level.
Without umbrella
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But since even the most beautiful medal has its reverse, Stefano Pioli, who has been coaching for over 20 years, knows the trend well. He is the first to know that, if his new Milan were to start slowly, in September, during the harvest period, the discontent with the summer departures of Tonali and Maldini would ferment like must, and those who had reproached him for not having left the mark sufficiently by Maldini’s executioners, it would come back to the surface. Pioli knows very well that, if lightning started to strike, there would no longer be the lightning rod Paolo to discharge it to the ground. From 8 January to 5 February, Milan went through a terrible storm: 7 games, no wins, 5 defeats, 18 goals conceded. Maldini and Massara, also aware of their responsibilities for an imperfect market, teamed up with the team and coach, opened the umbrella and Pioli was able to devote himself to reconstruction. He overturned the team even at the cost of distorting it with the 3-man defense, but he found a defensive impermeability that was the basis for his recovery. Slowly he gave the Devil back form, game and courage until he dragged him to a Champions League semi-final. A half masterpiece, given the staff. To find the Scudetto-Champions semi-final pairing, you have to go back about twenty years, to Ancelotti 2004-2006. The feeling is that in the event of similar storms, Pioli would now be much more exposed to lightning than the property. Others would remain under the umbrellas.
Ductile medians
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But Pioli naturally does not think about possible autumn storms. In the summer, he thinks about how to get out of the technical-tactical labyrinth, how to design the new Milan. He needs three things, more than others. Before: physically powerful and tactically flexible midfielders. The 4 derbies lost in 2023, beyond episodes and poisons, have left a clear sensation: Inter won by lining up on the pitch. For superior solidity, strength and impact. It is here that Milan must recover. Loftus-Cheek is a good first brick. The Dutch Reijnders would be a very welcome second from Pioli. Line at 2 or at 3? False problem. Milan also set at one. Pioli is looking for powerful and ductile midfielders, as was the regretted Tonali who could have made the last one in front of the defense or gone up alongside Diaz and scored goals for the Scudetto. Bennacer has the same wide range. Pioli is looking for powerful and quality midfielders to move inside the pitch for a tactically liquid and always unpredictable Milan.
Dribbling and goals
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Second thing: offensive creativity, further impoverished by Diaz’s departure. Too many times Milan have found themselves depending on Leao alone who is already suffering from closed defences. Was Saelemekers’ Maradonian goal present in the 4-0 win in Naples? Pioli is looking for people, especially on the right, who do things like this on a regular basis. Chukwueze would be fine. And, finally, a first striker (Scamacca? Morata?) that doesn’t force Giroud to turn around forever. Not easy negotiations. But to get out of the labyrinth, Pioli needs profiles of true Milan. Ariadne’s thread is no longer enough.
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