Will Pioli be able to save AC Milan from disaster?

Published on: 11 October 2019

It didn’t matter all that much who AC Milan decided to bring in as coach after deciding to scratch their itchy trigger finger by jumping the gun and  firing Marco Giampaolo.

Stefano Pioli has ultimately won out over Luciano Spalletti after the Rossoneri couldn’t agree to terms with Inter on releasing their former coach from his contract.

So they have plumped for another man who was recently in the employ of their city rivals but with the club in the sorry state it is in, expectations won’t and shouldn’t be high.

This is a mess of a side who swap from one failed project to another under different coaches and senior management on what seems like an annual basis these days.

Giampaolo probably should never have been hired for Milan’s latest shake-up in their bid to finally return to the Champions League as his underlying numbers at both Empoli and Sampdoria weren’t overly spectacular.

But after Milan decided to give him an ill-advised opportunity, it is utterly ludicrous to part ways with him so quickly after failing to equip with the best tools possible to assist him in his role.

That was something Giampaolo pointed too immediately after his opening game, a meek surrender at Udinese, by hinting that some of the players being purchased were not suited to his system and not who he would have chosen.

Although he didn’t help himself in setting up his side (who were devoid any kind of creative spark and frighteningly passive) or how he utilised some of the summer acquisitions, he deserved time to get things right.

Zvonimir Boban, Paolo Maldini and co. didn’t agree with that assessment and after just seven games and a win over Genoa last time out, the axe came down on the ex-Ascoli boss’ time in charge.

Which leads us to the man who has replaced him in the form of a self-confessed Inter fan Pioli.

This just screams of another short-term fix for Milan, attempting to quickly put a plaster on a gunshot wound and while it may provide some stability in the coming months, it seems like a marriage of convenience for both.

Milan just wanted to quickly end the Giampaolo nightmare and pretend it had never happened, while it offers the former Bologna boss the chance to get back into work after leaving Fiorentina earlier this year.

Neither party is probably thinking beyond the end of the 2021 expiry date of his contract, which is just the latest show of ineptitude from those making the big decisions at San Siro.

So many such calls have been embarrassingly wrong at the club of late that it is no real surprise anymore.

They thought continually hiring club legends with no real top level coaching experience as their coach was a bright idea, believed Massimiliano Mirabelli was the bright mind they needed as a sporting director and spent massive fees on the likes of Leonardo Bonucci, Andre Silva, Samu Castillejo and Nikola Kalinic.

With all of that said, Pioli is a good tactician and has perhaps been one of the most underrated coaches working in Serie A over the past decade, given his achievements in relatively unglamorous environments.

But he is working for a club which is rudderless from top to bottom and no coach would find it easy to deliver what is expected in such conditions.

Those at boardroom level appear unsuited and unprepared for the task, while the playing squad is inflated with players who lack the quality required for a club who have enjoyed great glories in the past and are intent on achieving them again.

Pioli has performed reasonably in the past in squads with a limited ability in the past and should be able to inject some enthusiasm into a grey dressing room if nothing else.

“Intensity and a willingness to take risks,” have already been promised by the new man in his first press conference and that would certainly be a start as both things have been non-existent this year.

But Pioli doesn’t look built or set for any kind of long-term success and is just the latest hired hand the club hope will provide a quick fix without any real thought to a plan for the future.

After all, it has worked so well of late hasn’t it?

Source: forzaitalianfootball.com

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