AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni has suggested that recent results are strengthening the club’s confidence in head coach Stefano Pioli, while he also spoke on the stadium and Rafael Leao’s form.
Milan made it back to back wins in the league last night by beating Napoli 1-0 at San Siro thanks to Theo Hernandez’s goal, pulling one point behind Juventus who have played a game less.
Despite the fact there are a few months left of the current season yet, there continues to be speculation about Pioli’s future and a possible change in manager heading into a new season.
However, results continue to arrive when he is most under pressure which certainly leaves the leadership with a decision to make, especially given that Pioli has another year of contract and has been at the club nearly half a decade.
Scaroni spoke on Radio Anch’io Sport on Rai Radio 1 and spoke about various topics, starting with Pioli’s future as the head coach. His comments were relayed by MilanNews.
What can you tell us about Pioli’s future?
“I borrow the words of our CEO Furlani both of Ibra: we have total trust in Pioli and the results are strengthening this trust. So for the moment there is calm on this front.”
And the new stadium project?
“We bought the land, we had a favourable preliminary decision from the Council of San Donato, we have a whole series of steps that concern the region and other local authorities. We are relatively optimistic, even if in Italy being optimistic about the construction of stadiums is a rather difficult task.
“Let’s move forward, we need a new stadium. The Mayor of Milan has asked us to make one last attempt to see if it is possible to renovate, perhaps lightly, the San Siro stadium.
“From this point of view I am rather negative, I cannot understand how important works can be carried out in a stadium which 70,000 people enter every week.
“Technically it is a difficult issue to address. But the mayor asks us to do so and we are respectful of his wishes.”
Your thoughts on Leao’s moment, given he hasn’t scored since September in the league but continues to give assists?
“I like his goals crazy, but if he continues to make assists like the one yesterday, I’m also very happy with that.”
What are your thoughts on the state of Serie A?
“We see two misalignments between the institutions and the interests of the clubs. The first is between the League as a whole and the federation. We in the Lega Serie A who finance the entire game of Italian football have 12% of power within the Federation.
“This is an anomaly, the result of the Melandri law, which creates a sense of perpetual frustration. Our voice within the FIGC is weak when it should be strong, very strong, given that we pay all the accounts of Italian football.
“The second misalignment has been improperly defined between small and large teams. In reality, we clubs who play international competitions, who have many players called up by the national teams, complain about too many matches.
“The players play the European competitions, the national team, the Coppa Italia and the league. All this leads to a load of matches that becomes unbearable and which is the cause of many injuries.”
Would you like an 18-team Serie A?
“I hope a solution is reached. We have already had the league with 18 teams, in fact I also remember it with 16. We want to avoid too many games. We play too much, it is also an issue for the protection of our players, which are our heritage.
“I don’t believe that one misalignment affects the other, they are two different issues. The League must count more within the FIGC, it is an issue that concerns everyone and that must be corrected.”
You can conclude if you look back to Serie A, currently EPL, or La Liga vs currently Serie A.
In general, laws invoced to protect certain interests are protecting those of few and as a result that was the start of the decline of the league, while we went back others learned from us and are light years ahead now.
Competition is healthy for everyone and this includes domestic Italian players.
Back then you had world-class Italian iconic players, today Italy fails to produce the same class they were once able to when they had to compete against the very best.
My opinion only and the way I see it.
20 teams in a league is normal for top league in the world. English, Spain, German, France use 20 teams format for their domestic league.
So when it is too hectic for international players, so don’t use him. Use the academy players more.
That hectic schedule can be mitigate by high-level youngster. And youngsters are very late bloom in Italy because they lacking senior playing-time.
Italy went backward after winning the 2006 World-cup because didn’t improve their youth sector. Always use the experienced players to make sure the win, even if he was too old.