AC Milan boss, Stefano Pioli, granted an excellent interview to those at The Athletic to talk about the Scudetto:
"Who slept with the Scudetto trophy? I don’t know who slept with it. Honestly, that night was so intense with emotion I’ve got no idea. The players went out and celebrated when we got back from Reggio Emilia so I don’t know if they had it with them or left it at Casa Milan.”
On the celebration scenes at Piazza Duomo:
"It would be reductive to settle on one image. The whole day was just one wonderful feeling after another. To share in it with our fans was the best thing that could have happened to us. To see them all so happy was the most gratifying thing of all."
Pioli on when he accepted the head coach position at Milan:
"The line the club wanted to take was clear. I was informed about it. The club was steadfast. The work we were doing got a lot of support. When you work with a lot of young players, you need time. You need trust. The club gave us that. What I would say is that the executive team didn’t just give me young players. They gave me good young players with so much going for them. In addition to that, I also worked with players of great calibre, players like Olivier Giroud, like Zlatan, like (Simon) Kjaer, players like Alessandro Florenzi and Mike Maignan who already had plenty of experience, experience on national teams, experience of fighting for titles. They were a reference point for me and the young players."
Pioli on his coaching staff:
"I have a coaching staff (featuring 10 or 11 assistants) that allows me to concentrate a lot on man-management, that’s man-management on a technical level and a human level. Stats are important but a coach’s perception, his instincts… It’s hard to imagine picking a player because my analyst tells me he has a high pass completion rate. I trust my feelings a lot. I watch my players. I like to look at them and try to understand what’s going on in their heads when I’m deciding who to play. More generally though for our development, as a team and as individuals, we have a notebook with six or seven stats that we focus on with a view to putting ourselves in a more advantageous position."
On Sandro Tonali:
"If we think about Sandro, last year was his first experience playing for a big club. There was more pressure to deal with. There are going to be moments when you’re not in top form. He suffered a lot last year. Then, a year later, we got to see the real Tonali."
On always believing in the title:
"The key moment was when we got together at Milanello for the first time. It was July 6 last year. We talked about what our goals were. It was to aim high. We weren’t going to be happy with second place again because we’d been there, done that. It was an important moment because I saw an awareness in my players of how good they were — a positivity, a confidence. These kind of feelings are really important for a coach at the start of a new season."
On Simon Kjaer's injury in December:
"It was critical because we lost a really important player — not only from a technical point of view but on a human level too. Simon has real depth of character. He’s a proper leader. Signing a defender when Tomori had surgery? We looked at it this way: either we go get a player at their level — there weren’t any — or we develop and put faith in the lads at our disposal. Once again we were proven right because Kalulu showed himself to be a fantastic player and was the revelation of the season in Serie A."
On the Scudetto race:
"I repeat, we always believed. In my opinion, there are two games on which the title hinged. The comeback in the Madonnina (on February 5). That’s for sure, otherwise the gap to Inter (a prospective seven points) would have made it difficult to reclaim top spot. The other was the last-minute win in Rome against Lazio (on April 24) which came after Inter knocked us out in the cup semi-final in midweek. These moments gave us even more confidence, an even greater sense we could do it. To then win the final six games when we clearly had the toughest run-in of the title contenders showed the ability and mental strength of my players."
Pioli on the Champions League competition next season:
"There’s definitely more substance and depth about us now. We’ll be in pot one too, however, not that it makes things much easier as the Champions League is still the highest level there is. But we’re going into it confident of having a go and making it through to the knock-out stages."
Gazidis to The Athletic: “What’s next for Milan? It’s continued growth”
