22.04.2024 11.43pm by Antonello Gioia
Source: by the correspondent at San Siro, Antonello Gioia
Stefano Pioli, Milan coach, was not present in the press conference at the end of Milan-Inter, the derby which sealed the victory of the Nerazzurri’s Scudetto. The Rossoneri coach spoke only to DAZN.
PIOLI’S WORDS TO DAZN
The most complicated evening since you coached Milan… Did you speak to the team? “I went to the locker room to try to cheer up, in short it’s a heavy defeat for everything that goes into this defeat. I tried as much as possible to cheer up my players, because we have to finish the championship well and we have another important match on Saturday. Once again we were unable to at least draw this derby.”
The initial choices with the 3-man defense. A move that satisfied you? “Disappointed from a tactical point of view, no, the priority in preparing for the match was to try to remove the numerical parity on the two against two offensive players, not to be too high and to wait for them a little longer and then find spaces for counterattacks. Then we go down… Inter hurt us in the first half with the corner kick and then with the counterattacks, but after that it’s inevitable that they concede something. We had a good situation with Rafa… The reality is that we wanted to defend a little lower so as not to concede what happened in the second half with the second goal conceded. That goal there complicated the match even more for us, even if the team fought with great generosity and will. In the episodes he didn’t have that bit of luck that could have even given us a draw because then we also created the situations.”
Where do we start from to talk about the 17 points away from Inter? “It can be analysed, Inter have only lost one match, and allow me to say ‘by mistake’. He has had the strongest squad in the championship for 3-4 years, I don’t think anyone can have any doubts about this. We were lacking in the month in which we lost two games and drew two, then we were lacking in the continuity of high-level performances. This is reality. If the difference between Inter and the other teams is so notable it means that they are really strong and the others must make steps forward and certainly we too.”
What did you miss against Roma and Inter? “We made a very good start because after 8 days we were first in the standings. Then after the break we had that very difficult month and then we arrived at these games with 7 consecutive victories. The games against Roma were not the ones we wanted and what we needed to do. We were fine and we had all the most important players in great condition. Instead we stalled and performed two times below our capabilities and didn’t achieve an objective we believed in. The derby has arrived at this moment… I can’t blame my players for anything tonight for what they put on the pitch. In the episodes it could have gone better. It was one of the most balanced matches of the last derbies, but it wasn’t enough.”
Is this cycle at Milan over? “I do not know. I first heard your analysis on Simone Inzaghi, who 14 months ago seemed to be in difficulty and then instead did everything he did. I’m fine, I work well, I think the team has room for improvement. Now we have to finish the championship in the best possible way and then the evaluations will be made which will be the best possible.”
