Official: Stefano Pioli Thread

KujaIX

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Love him.

He has carried himself with grace and decorum throughout the season. Extremely impressive job to finish 2nd - nobody predicted that genuinely.
 

Goodfella

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The only Lazio coach to make top 3 in the last 20 years.

The only Milan coach to make top 2 in the last 9 years.

The last Fiorentina coach to finish in the top half of the table...or even spend a few rounds there.
 

melanman

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I think a lot people genuinely owe pioli an apology.

He has set new records for Milan, how can he not be the right man for the job.
 

Pingu

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<---- Pioli #1 fan since day one (and Calabria #2 fan after nonsonoqui) :)
 

Ronin

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<---- Pioli #1 fan since day one (and Calabria #2 fan after nonsonoqui) :)

:star:

I dare to challenge you for the Calabria one :D
 

yonggoh

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He is limited with the weapons provided to him.
All things considered, job done. Finishing 2nd in league is an overachievement if you look at our rivals
 

Sven

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I'm so happy with this not because I think Pioli is the best coach in the World or something. Thing is he's good enough and I look forward to some stability. Milan can finally leave behind that stupid cycle of rebuilding. Manager does enough to secure a contract, start the next season and the team play like shit. Sack and repeat. Get to the transfer window with no money and in need of 7 players. This is what destroy clubs and companies and has kept Milan in the mud for so many years.

Time to stop with the revolving door for coaches and players. We have a good team and good coach. The base is here and it's all about building up now. We can even focus resources in a few spots...


All things considered 79 points is a very good achievement. This a relatively inexperienced team and it showed in some games. The star of the teams only has half a season in his legs. The injuries took a heavy, heavy tool in most stars of the team.
79 would easily get you to the CL with a few games in hand almost every season. But this was a crazy one at the top 5. Napoli made 77 points and is out of CL.


I will say it again though that the fitness and physio aspects need to be reviewed and changed for next season. Every team in Europe had to deal with a packed schedule, covid and a shorter preseason but few clubs got hit so hard. Players injured, out of the team for more time than announced, coming back really unfit, some injuring again in a game or 2... and it took a heavy tool on the team. Milan in April was a much slower, weaker and tired version of 2020 Milan. This was no bad luck, this was at best bad planning.
 

MilanMB

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I'm so happy with this not because I think Pioli is the best coach in the World or something. Thing is he's good enough and I look forward to some stability. Milan can finally leave behind that stupid cycle of rebuilding. Manager does enough to secure a contract, start the next season and the team play like shit. Sack and repeat. Get to the transfer window with no money and in need of 7 players. This is what destroy clubs and companies and has kept Milan in the mud for so many years.

Time to stop with the revolving door for coaches and players. We have a good team and good coach. The base is here and it's all about building up now. We can even focus resources in a few spots...


All things considered 79 points is a very good achievement. This a relatively inexperienced team and it showed in some games. The star of the teams only has half a season in his legs. The injuries took a heavy, heavy tool in most stars of the team.
79 would easily get you to the CL with a few games in hand almost every season. But this was a crazy one at the top 5. Napoli made 77 points and is out of CL.


I will say it again though that the fitness and physio aspects need to be reviewed and changed for next season. Every team in Europe had to deal with a packed schedule, covid and a shorter preseason but few clubs got hit so hard. Players injured, out of the team for more time than announced, coming back really unfit, some injuring again in a game or 2... and it took a heavy tool on the team. Milan in April was a much slower, weaker and tired version of 2020 Milan. This was no bad luck, this was at best bad planning.

This is very true and should be read by everyone who wants to fire Pioli.

People needs to understand how important continuity is for a team, I've been asking for continuity on the coach area since Allegri, but I understand that coaches like Montella, Mihajlovic, Pippo, Brocchi and Rino have gotten fired simply because they're not good enough or very inexperienced and they should not have been appointed to begin with. But with Pioli it's different because he's an experienced coach who just needed a chance to prove himself on the big stage.

I've also been frustrated with him during the season, but all in all he's done a great job and firing him with or without CL would have been a big mistake. We're building something here, and Pioli have been instrumental in that process since he's managed to create a TEAM - the most important thing in football. Now, Pioli needs to grow with the rest of the players and take it to the next level, but at the moment there's absolutely nothing that suggests that he should be sacked.
 

Shadow47

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tactically he's still flawed but a coach's job is more than that anyway

seeing the whole players, even Ibra, all happy with him is definitely a good direction for the team
 

Jivara

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He isn't even bad tactically.. its a weird thing that people keep repeating but it has no basis.

He needed little time to figure out the best formation for this group of players and every player seems to know what they must do. You even have players who have adapted to new positions.

Even last night, he made the correct substitutions by bringing on Krunic and Meite. With Krunic the team played with 3 men in the middle which won us the midfield battle and the two added more physicality whereas Bennacer and Diaz became less necessary.

You don't need to reinvent the wheel to be a good tactician.
 

Pingu

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The way I like to see it is the Pioli perspective.

- Sat top of the league for a long time, ended up 2nd. Our best achievement in 9 years equal.

- He managed to reach R16 in EL where Manchester United won perhaps because a legit Kessie goal was ruled out. If not for that, we may have gotten much further. And, let's not forget the line-ups we had to start in those two matches.

- We started from EL qualifiers, before any other Serie A team. That fatigue builds up, coupled with injuries, he managed to pull it out of the bag. Some of the fringe players were better than the starters at times when they returned, and he wasn't afraid to play them. Same with benching Romagnoli. He did what needs to be done at times.

- He was aware enough to change formation when needed - albeit maybe a couple weeks too late. What we know recently from Montella, Gattuso et al would've just been sticking with the boring same shit and losing.

Put any other Serie A coach into the conditions we had - would they fare as well? Key player missed 50% of the rounds, other players missed countless games through injury. The machine still ran to the best of its ability. Sure we hit a rut, but every time we had a poor result, we seemed to bounce right back. Mentality was always there except maybe that Cagliari game when we were clueless. The Spezia one I say is more down to rushing players back way too soon. Those two were the biggest disappointments to me.

As people have said, he's not the best tactician. But he understands the players, and they love him. He knows where they belong on the pitch, and fits them into the team. The whole squad (well mostly, see: Hauge) is involved. He may not be the one to lead us to CL final or whatever, but he can certainly be the stepping stone for the next couple years to get us there. Stability is what we need right now, and he brings it, and serenity with it. After this season, I've no doubt we can challenge the Scudetto if the summer market addresses our needs.
 

VooDooDoll

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milan attack this season:
- ibra played less than 2000 minutes (~22 games) without real sub for cf
- mandzu even hard to mention
- saele is average attacker
- samu from average became pretty useless
- leao didnt really develop as everyone would wish
- rebic/hakan sometimes great sometimes terrible - not players you can rely on whole season
- hauge/diaz had some moments but hard to rely on them.

no matter if we rate pioli, true is we are sooooo average in attack....
 

dcfcfan1

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Anyone who wanted pioli out can bend over and suck his big D
 

kevin_dk

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gtGCSH6

He is the only manager at Milan who is able to relax at the moment.
 

Sasha

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I trust him. Give him that CL money Maldini and watch us flourish.
 

vB9

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?It will be a good championship. [Jose ]Mourinho is back, [Simone] Inzaghi is at Inter, [Luciano] Spalletti at Napoli. And Juventus have restarted from a certainty: Allegri.?

Barzagli spoke about his experience with Allegri

Nobody gives a shit abt pioli.
 

Goodfella

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Barzagli is a Pioli respecter.
He named the coaching changes.

I'd say it was a dig at Sarri.
 

Blade of Faith

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This Pioli’s Milan roaster reminds me a lot of Capello’s Juve.
Basically, this team can play 4-4-2 with that kind of Capello’s strategy, very similar in player composition. I don’t mind if we play ugly, as long as we get the Scudetto and 8th CL’s Trophy

GK: Buffon -> Maignan (Well, let’s just say a solid GK)
Defensive fullback: Zebina – Calabria
Solid CB: Thuram-Cannavaro -> Tomori, Kjaer (Strong Physically and Commanding CB)
Attacking fullback: Zambrotta -> Theo
Steel doube-pivot: Vieria, Emerson -> Kessie, Bennacer
Classic Right Winger: Camoranesi -> Saelemaekers
Playmaking winger: Nedved -> Brahim (Nedved was something else, not a fair comparison)
SS: Zlatan -> Zlatan
Targetman: Trezeguet -> Giroud (French ;) )

The big difference is the level of match fitness, while our indispensable player could easily get injured and loss a lot of minutes. Big problem if we can’t manage to play our winning team week-in week-out.
 

vB9

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Barzagli & Di Natale... always wanted them for our bench.
 

vB9

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Solid CB: Thuram-Cannavaro -> Tomori, Kjaer (Strong Physically and

Playmaking winger: Nedved -> Brahim (Nedved was something else, not a fair comparison)

This new forum upgrade... cud we have a masked subsection where old guys can chill... this quoted text... its not for me.
 

kevin_dk

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This Pioli?s Milan roaster reminds me a lot of Capello?s Juve.
Basically, this team can play 4-4-2 with that kind of Capello?s strategy, very similar in player composition. I don?t mind if we play ugly, as long as we get the Scudetto and 8th CL?s Trophy

GK: Buffon -> Maignan (Well, let?s just say a solid GK)
Defensive fullback: Zebina ? Calabria
Solid CB: Thuram-Cannavaro -> Tomori, Kjaer (Strong Physically and Commanding CB)
Attacking fullback: Zambrotta -> Theo
Steel doube-pivot: Vieria, Emerson -> Kessie, Bennacer
Classic Right Winger: Camoranesi -> Saelemaekers
Playmaking winger: Nedved -> Brahim (Nedved was something else, not a fair comparison)
SS: Zlatan -> Zlatan
Targetman: Trezeguet -> Giroud (French ;) )

The big difference is the level of match fitness, while our indispensable player could easily get injured and loss a lot of minutes. Big problem if we can?t manage to play our winning team week-in week-out.
But where are the Italian players? Why are we being Internazionale?
 

Pingu

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Because lately Italian players suck or cost way too much from other Serie A teams. Better quality for cheaper elsewhere. You rather win or pay more just for an Italian? We already have a few core IT players. That should be enough in this modern era.
 
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