with opponents and with himself – Corriere.it

Stefano Pioli also plays a lot: what he starts will probably be the most difficult season of his career. He has a lot to gain, but also a lot to lose. And he is the first to be aware of it. The farewell of Paolo Maldini, who in May had also thought of replacing him with Andrea Pirlo, attributes to him at the same time more honors but also more burdens: an upgrade of powers and responsibilities. Beyond the declarations, from now on the Parma coach will have more weight in the choices on the market, as well as in the overall management of the Milan project.

His work area is no longer limited to the field: it will not be the same, the difficulty coefficient also rises for him, who however has everything to win this double challenge, with his opponents and with himself. In these three and a half years, Milan has grown with him and he with Milan. A few months before Maldini chose him to replace Giampaolo, his appeal was modest. Reliable coach from an average team: this is his label. The 2022 Scudetto and the European climb, in addition to the constant enhancement of the players, have instead placed him in the short list of Italian excellences on the bench.

From Pioli out to Pioli is on fire: a film story. He too made mistakes last season, like when he stuck too long with the three-man defence, which could have worked as an immediate corrective but not in a structural way, even if the truth is that they were above all mistakes caused by a bankruptcy transfer market that forced him to always line up the same players. With the June revolution, his word now has decisive, almost final weight. He wanted
Loftus-Cheek and Pulisic
, which he considers ideal for rebuilding a zeroed midfield. Now he needs a striker to work alongside Giroud. Even there his word will be fundamental. We will change something in our way of playing, he revealed. He also works on the 4-3-3. In this year zero, the certainty Stefano Pioli. Now it’s up to him.