Milan, Pioli’s motivational phrases in the San Siro tunnel

Pioli in total black is unprecedented only in appearance: the soul is the same as always. Fair, pugnacious. “Be a warrior, not a worrier”, be a warrior, do not be afraid: this is the sentence printed in the tunnel that leads from the changing rooms to the San Siro lawn. On the red wall, the (huge) characters are written in black and white. The English stands out the assonance and so had thought Hayley L Silk, a life coach who made it the title of a book.

Which on the cover adds: “An enlightening approach to overcoming 12 daily worries”: a motivational reading that offers practical solutions, coaching tools and personal experiences. Pioli drew inspiration from it, so much so that it became the slogan that accompanies the team on the pitch. On the character he built the climb to success: “My parents were hungrier than all”.

full belly

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The start on Saturday showed that Milan do not have a full stomach yet. Appetite comes with eating and everyone is ready to sit at the table: who was there and who just arrived. Pioli wants an enlarged starting group and seems to have already found it: Diaz and Rebic, theoretically out of the typical line-up, gave him the victory on his debut. De Ketelaere and Origi entered with determination. Krunic did not make Tonali regret it, Saelemaekers plays with Messias. And so on. A management job on which Pioli could write a book of his own. Resource manager, coach on the pitch, psychologist off: Pioli carries on his method. Even in a completely new guise: yesterday he showed up at the stadium in pants and a black T-shirt. While waiting for the new official uniform, he prefers to avoid the suit and keep a certain style even on the bench.

pressing

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At Milan he has already made a tailor-made suit, taking advantage of the enthusiasm of young people and the experience of the elderly. His warriors exhaust the opponent by pressing: they attack everywhere, even in the offensive area. And with the ball between their feet they recite the score by heart. After the victory over Udinese, Pioli recalled his players to Milanello yesterday, leaving the August 15th to rest: for him a few hours of relaxation in Forte dei Marmi, before the appointment at the sports center scheduled for tomorrow. Saturday opened the afternoon with the homage of the fans: “Pioli is on fire”, was the catchphrase that greeted the entry into the field. And he closed the evening with compliments in the locker room from the management: “Well so Mister, now there are only 37 more …”. In the middle, Pioli reiterated the management: “We take away a lot of positive things and a lot to work on, as is normal given the period. We have a good season ahead of us, we started well, we have to work because also in this match we did some mistakes and we will make others. We cannot think of being perfect but we must think of being as perfect as possible “. Too long to print on the locker room walls. But the coach, manager, psychologist will never tire of repeating it.