Arrigo Sacchi spoke through the newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport to comment about AC Milan's current moment. Here are his words:
"When they don't play collectively, that is, when they are not a team, Milan loses. Lately, this has happened from time to time. I think of the defeats against Juve and PSG, but also the previous one against Inter. Something needs to be corrected. Pioli? The coach is always responsible, he knows this too. The point is that Pioli needs to clarify what he wants to do. He needs to explain to the players how they should be on the field, how they should move. Milan must be a single block, not longer than thirty meters. This way there can be collaboration between the departments. If they want to stay long instead, worse for them."
On defensive mistakes, Sacchi said:
"They act on their own. Against Juve, during Thiaw's expulsion, no one provided cover. It was Thiaw against Kean. But then you're not playing zone, you're doing one-on-one... Since Franco Baresi is still in the club, they should ask him how to handle situations like this. There is no coordination among the defenders, there are no double markings, you need to draw good diagonals that are effective. And the distances, which are crucial, are not respected. Pioli needs to work a lot on this area, starting from a basic principle: defenders, first and foremost, should act like defenders and be in correct positions. Giving one-on-ones to Mbappe? Absurd. That's exactly what the Frenchman wanted, he has technique and speed. Where was the double marking? Yet I remember last season, against Napoli, they had doubled and pressed well on Kvaratskhelia. The problem is that sometimes the Rossoneri do the right things and then forget them."
On adjustments, Sacchi commented:
"First of all, he needs to take control of the situation and organize the team according to clear principles. The group must be united, otherwise it ends up in a mess. United technically, tactically, and in spirit. And then the coach must be convinced of his ideas and transmit this conviction to his players. Show them where they went wrong, so they won't make the same mistakes again. And if there's someone causing trouble, keep them out. If someone doesn't do what's asked, there's always the bench."
On midfield mistakes, here's what Sacchi had to say:
"It's a completely new department, they move with little harmony. Milan changed many players this summer and those who arrived are all foreigners. We know that in these cases, an adaptation period is necessary. Furthermore, someone got injured, I think of Loftus-Cheek who had started quite well, and someone is struggling more than expected. It takes patience. However, in the meantime, it is necessary to provide clear, simple, and transparent ideas and rules so that no one can be confused."
On pressing:
"Very little pressing, and this is not good because you invite the opponent in. You let the opponents advance and defend in your own half. If you do this against someone like Mbappé, it's easy to get into trouble. But pressing, when executed perfectly, is the natural consequence of a short, tight, coordinated team that doesn't give space to rivals", said Sacchi, "You know how much self-esteem increases when you regain the ball in the offensive zone, and you know how anxious the opponents get? Milan, when they won the title, pressed, doubled, was attentive and intense. That's what I would like to see those principles applied on the field today."
On the goal-scoring issue, Sacchi said:
"Against Juve, in the league, when they were down to ten men due to Thiaw's expulsion, the Rossoneri were no longer able to get a shot on target. Yet in the first half, they had dominated. If a team is well organized, even in numerical inferiority, they can pose dangers to opponents. The first thing I notice about the forwards is that they don't track back. Giroud doesn't track back, Leao doesn't track back. So collaboration and intensity of play are missing. And, above all, you can't press because the team is reduced to seven or eight players, instead of eleven."
On Davide Calabria's statements:
"Ugly move from Calabria, because it conveys an idea of confusion. Furthermore, it seems to me that those words, spoken in the heat of the moment after the match, show little respect for the coach. However, and this must be emphasised, they make it clear that there is something underneath, that it's not all roses and flowers. And so, action must be taken as soon as possible to prevent the situation from getting more complicated. Pioli has a difficult job ahead, we must admit it, but he has the technical and moral qualities to overcome it."
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