Stefano Pioli, from Milan to Milan / Serie A / J12 / Milan-Inter / SOFOOT.com
While the Madonnina Derby This Sunday evening will see Stefano Pioli once again find Inter, the Italian technician advances at the head of the leading Serie A team, he who has just celebrated his second birthday on the bench rossonero. And the least we can say is that the path has been taken for the Italian technician in four and a half years.
Style and training
Undesired by the supporters, author of the first six mixed months at the head of the Red and Black after taking over from Marco Giampaolo, Stefano was even on the verge of packing up in the summer of 2020: at the end of the Covid truce- 19, Ivan Gazidi had indeed planned very strongly on a place of the architect Ralf Rangnick. But after the end of the gun season for Pioli and his troops (nine wins, three draws and no setback between the end of June and August to grab sixth place), there was no longer any reason to cut heads. The result is a brilliant second place last season (best ranking since 2011-2012), 27 games in a row without defeat in Serie A over the year 2020, a Lombard monument brought back to the Champions League eight years later – with the symbolism that this implies – and a great start in 2021-2022. While he finds his former employer for the fourth time since taking up his quarters in Milanello, the former center-back is currently Serie A leader with his Milan (tied with Napoli).
All while having put the reigning champion interiorist at seven points in the retro, with an (almost) faultless (ten successes out of eleven possible), no defeat and authoritative victories against Lazio (2-0), in Bergamo (2-3) or at Roma (1-2). So much so that we even meet to evoke the title. “The next step is to go all the way, released Pioli two weeks ago, at a press conference. Last year we were missing something when it comes to consistency. ”
Long term, finally!
The fifty-something, his white polo shirts and his ten-day beard have made their home in the Rossoneri, regaining a lost stability since the adventures in Bologna (October 2011-January 2014) and Lazio (June 2014-April 2016) and thus erasing the bad memories accumulated at Inter or Fiorentina. With the means at hand, the Italian landed his 4-2-3-1 – which Milan have not left since February 2020 – and the red and black formation has gradually regained its splendor by relying on several good moves. Examples ? The explosion of Theo Hernández, the price dimension by Franck Kessié, the return of Zlatan Ibrahimović, the loans of Brahim Díaz, the arrivals of Simon Kjær, Fikayo Tomori or Mike Maignan … The technician is not, moreover, no stranger to the success of to recover from Zlatan to San Siro.
10/11 – AC Milan became the 4th team in Serie A history to win 10 of the season’s opening 11 games, after Roma, Juventus (twice) and Napoli (twice). Frantic.#RomaMilan pic.twitter.com/MlztrrPQdx
– OptaPaolo? (@OptaPaolo) October 31, 2021
The only downside is on the side of the C1, where Milan is currently figuring (last of its group, with only one point in four games). “He was a coach who was already excellent on tactics, but who did not convey identity to his teams. Today, he has passed a milestone, his team has a style ” , analyzed the icon Arrigo Sacchi for AFP about Pioli “The game at the heart of the project” . To take root on this bench seemed to represent a sacred challenge when we remember that since Massimiliano Allegri, no one had stayed too long in this position. Whether Clarence Seedorf (January to June 2014), Marco Giampaolo (seven months in 2019), Pippo Inzaghi (2014-2015), Siniša Mihajlović (2015-2016), Vincenzo Montella (2016-2017) or even Gennaro Gattuso (82 matches between 2017 and 2019). The Lombard instability at this level was glaring, and to see Pioli officiating his 104e match at the reins of this team this Sunday is not insignificant. On the black and blue side of Milan, he had not even passed the milestone of … 28.
By Jérémie Baron