Milan, Pioli does not risk, Maldini remains in the balance – Corriere.it

The heavy blow hurts even more the next day. Anyone among the Rossoneri fans at the beginning of the season would have signed to reach the top four in Europe, but the elimination with Inter inevitably spoils everything a bit: these are the rules of the game, the rules of the derby, Italy or Europe be it.

The truth is that there was no story in these two matches. The gap between the Rossoneri and the Nerazzurri is too wide, qualification has never really been in the balance. And Paolo Maldini also admitted it, at the end of the game: The gap is too clear, you need to invest, his words, to reiterate a concept already expressed several times. We are not structured to compete since the two competitions, we have also told our owners. Being back at this level must be exploited, also economically by investing to remain among the top four and do well in Italy: the technical director asks for investments in the property. Only in this way, according to the Rossoneri manager, can the level of the squad really be raised and the project progress. Even if the 50 million spent in the summer (plus the 60 of the previous year) were not small: no one in Serie A has had a bigger budget.

The market didn’t pay off: the team wasn’t strengthened as it would have been needed. De Ketelaere the example: at 21 it was right to wait for him, but Milan, which was aiming for the second star, needed something different, more ready. Dybala? It would not have been right for our project and shared by the owner Maldini said yesterday, but the truth is that the no to his Argentine state and not of the property, which instead he had opened up to the hypothesis.

The difficulties in the league were all a consequence of that original sin, of the wrong transfer market, even the injuries of too squeezed players: Leao, Giroud, Bennacer. Next month with the discriminant of the race in fourth place it will be decisive for the future of many, Maldini in primis.

In June, the owner of RedBird, Gerry Cardinale, together with the Rossoneri CEO Giorgio Furlani, will be called to evaluate the present and future project. The vote for the season would be 8, with qualification in the Champions League reiterated the former AC Milan captain. The judgment is a bit broad. Also because it is very unlikely that Milan will finish fourth: to do so we need the (very probable) penalty from Juventus. And getting to the Champions League like this is not considered a great result.

Qualifying for the big cup would bring 50 million euros, very precious resources for those reinforcements Maldini talks about. We need a young center forward, a true Kessie-like midfielder (how underestimated his departure was not replaced), a deputy Hernandez on the left, an offensive right winger. In short: 5-6 players. But that they have a different impact from those that arrived last summer. The sustainable project for young people makes sense and pays well, as seen with the Scudetto. But Pioli (also) needs ready people. The coach not at risk: he has a contract that has just been renewed until 2025 but above all he enjoys the esteem and trust of the owners, who recognize his ability to manage a team without a bench, with only 13-14 players. In a certain sense what is attributed to the sports management, that is to say an unsatisfactory transfer market, is what saves the coach. The harmony between the club and Pioli has never been lacking, unlike what happens with Maldini, with whom there have often been differences of vision.

Even if, for him as for everyone, it’s always and only the results that decide. Samp, Juventus, Verona: three games that are worth the future. The Champions placement is a mission to accomplish. For everyone.