AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli criticised his team for the many errors that they made during the 4-2 defeat to Monza, but defended his decision to rotate.
The kindest thing to say from a Milan perspective would be that it was an entertaining game at the U-Power Stadium as Monza led by two goals before the Rossoneri roared back and then were stung again right at the end.
Pessina’s penalty and a deflected Mota shot put the hosts 2-0 up at the break then Luka Jovic’s red card seemed to end the contest, yet substitutes Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic both scored to drag Milan level.
The parity was short-lived as Bondo put Palladino’s men back in front with an excellent finish and then to add some final salt to the wound Colombo – on loan from Milan – scored his first goal in a while to make sure of the victory.
Pioli spoke to DAZN after the game to try and pick apart a very tough night for his side, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
What can you reproach the team for?
“We made some mistakes that cost us the match. But when you concede four goals it is also wrong to say that we did the first half hour as we should have done. That’s the reality, then you make mistakes…
“However, the game is still long and we have shown that we have the qualities to be able to get back into it. The numerical inferiority created discomfort for us.
“After the 2-2 we had to be more clear-headed but at that moment the team even wanted to try to win it. An evening in which we made too many mistakes, that’s for sure.”
Did the team drop below the required pace in the first half?
“It should have been faster, Monza waited for us and got behind us: it takes two to give pace. But the ball certainly could have traveled faster but we had found some good situations without being able to make an impact.
“The match changed a lot for the worse for us from the interruption to the red card. All those incidents in which a team like ours had to be more attentive and clear-headed. A defeat that hurts.
“There was a rotation, Rafa was supposed to play but yesterday he stopped during finishing and this morning he didn’t feel like starting from the beginning because he still had a calf problem, and the others were fine. Really bad evening.”
Would you change your choices if you went back?
“Yesterday Pulisic didn’t train because he was still tired and Rafa had to play but he stopped finishing and this morning he kept saying that he didn’t feel free with his calf.
“Rafa has always played, Pulisic the same. I thought it was right like this. Christian has never played so much in recent years, then he came in very well.”
What about the third goal conceded?
“We were missing a midfielder in that situation, but once you’re tied you don’t have to double the lead and you have to leave the one-on-one here.”
Is Thiaw’s mistake or Jovic’s more difficult to explain?
“These are serious mistakes, we all should have done better. A defeat that hurts us, which must make us work better.”
Milan have the fourth-worst defence away from home…
“We have shown that when we work well as a team we can also defend well. Their goal even came from a clearance by the opposing goalkeeper, these are errors that we must try to work on. The too many goals conceded away from home is something that needs to be improved.”
Is it right that now only the Europa League remains?
“Both competitions must be our motivation. We stopped in the league and it shouldn’t have happened. Third place isn’t that solid yet, second place isn’t that far away. We have to redeem ourselves after this bad performance.”
