Stefano Pioli has named his 24-man squad for the upcoming Europa League knockout phase, with Stade Rennais up first. There are no huge surprises but the youngster Jan-Carlo Simic has not been included.
Pioli was asked about the squad list during his pre-Frosinone press conference on Saturday. He confirmed that Simic would not be included as he cannot be added to ‘List B’, which is reserved for youngsters who have played at least two years in the academy.
At most, a team can include 25 players in the squad but eight of these have to be club/association-trained, with four of each. Thanks to the signings of Marco Sportiello and Filippo Terracciano, Milan were able to name 24 players this time out instead of 23.
List A
Goalkeepers: Maignan, Mirante, Sportiello.
Defenders: Calabria, Gabbia, Florenzi, Kalulu, Kjaer, Theo Hernandez, Thiaw, Terracciano, Tomori.
Midfielders: Adli, Bennacer, Loftus-Cheek, Musah, Pobega, Reijnders.
Forwards: Chukwueze, Giroud, Jovic, Leao, Okafor, Pulisic.
List A (Club-trained)
Calabria, Gabbia; Pobega.
List A (Association-trained)
Mirante, Sportiello; Florenzi, Terracciano.
Malick Thiaw is closing in on a return, and Fikayo Tomori should follow, so it only makes sense to include them in the squad. On the other hand, Kalulu could perhaps have been replaced by Simic instead, as the Frenchman should be back in March/April.
It seems a bit daft to include Kalulu over Simic, with one fit to play and the other out for some time.
Never mind the fact we have two other injured CB on the list
Also Europa league games like the Rennes tie are a lower level and good opportunity to blood young players
Simic is not eligible. He has less than 2 years at the Primavera and UEFA requires at least 2 full years. If he were eligible, of course Pioli would have included him, to make the 25 players. If we only have 24, it means nobody else is eligible.
Honestly sometimes I seriously doubt the competence of Pioli and the Milan management, Simic…??
Honestly sometimes I seriously doubt the competence of Usman YUSUF. Simic is not eligible to play in UEFA competitions yet, given that he has less than two full years with the Primavera, and UEFA requires at least two full years.
Lol he should be doubting the competence of Luigi as well. They are talking about including Simic instead of Kalulu. Kalulu is not association or club trained either.
Pobega is basically out until may. No point in having him on the list. Then again there is nobody else to put on the list anyway. we have 24 names out of 25.
I might be mistaken but Simic does not need to be registered because he is under 21 and club trained at a young age?
Which means he is eligible to play (if this is the case).
Not club trained for requisite amount of time
Pioli is the most useless coach. Why Kalulu? Kalulu is not expected till early April and you don’t expect him to come back to full fitness immediately. So why is inclusion. Simic should have been given that spot
Simic is not eligible. He has played for less than 2 years for Primavera and UEFA requires at least 2 full years. Get informed before mistakenly criticizing the coach.
Pioli included Kalulu because there aren’t any other players who are eligible. We have 24 eligible players. If we did not include Kalulu we’d have a roster of 23. So why not include him? If we keep advancing, Kalulu may be able to play in a late round.