Milan, Farioli among the candidates for the post-Pioli period – -

If his chances of staying for the last year of his contract were already in tatters after the Euroelimination at the hands of Roma, now they are even less. And the last appeal that the coach made to the club will be of little use: «I don’t know if my cycle is over, Inzaghi seemed in difficulty twelve months ago and then he did all this, I’m fine, the team has margins of improvement”. The scenario is clear: no decisions will be made until the end of the season, also out of respect for a coach who has done so much and well in these four and a half years. The support, until May 26th, will be total. AND the hug between Pioli and patron Gerry Cardinale the other evening at San Siro was confirmation of this. At the same time, however, it is clear that a twist is completely unlikely.

If it changes, as now seems obvious, the required identikit has already been outlined with precision: young, with an international profile, with a modern gaming proposal, compatible with the company project. A name that has gained popularity in the last few hours is that of Francesco Farioli, 35 years old, Italian, former collaborator of Roberto De Zerbi, now at Nice. Graduated in philosophy, considered a child prodigy of the bench, he is one of the emerging talents on the European scene. His strong point certainly cannot be experience, but he has flair and ideas. The bouquet of candidates is still large, there are also De Zerbi himself, Fonseca and Lopetegui. These are decisive weeks. The decision will be collegial and the final word will be up to Cardinale.

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The coaching issue is the first to be resolved, but one thing is certain: it will not be enough to close the gap with Inter and “try to win again”, as the CEO said bluntly. Giorgio Furlani on Monday eveningafter congratulating the Inter managers.

First of all, it will be necessary to strengthen the squad with three shots that can no longer be postponed: a physically important defender, a strong center forward (from France they assure that Giroud has reached a definitive agreement with Los Angeles FC) who could be one of Bologna’s Zirkzee, Sesko of Leipzig or David of Lille; a running and head midfielder who fills the void left by Kessie and Tonali.

Unfortunately, leadership cannot be bought on the market, but never like this year has the lack of personality been felt in crucial moments, in the matches that count. Especially from the big names, who didn’t make a difference when needed: think of Maignan, Leao, Theo Hernandez. The transfer market starts in a few weeks: faced with offers from top players, no one is untransferable. Also because a sale of 70-100 million would allow us to finance a major purchase.

But first we have to face the present, raising our heads again in these last five games. Starting from the duel with Juventus on Saturday, which was decisive for second place. After the derby saloon, the bill arrived: Calabria, Hernandez and Tomori were disqualified for two days. The defense is in pieces. One more problem for Pioli, in his darkest hour.