Stefano Pioli, the man who is given most of the credit for how the team has turned since his arrival and also for reaching Champions League football, has been interviewed by Il Giornale.
Here are the Italian tactician's words:
"I have never felt precarious. I have always believed the words spoken by Gazidis a few hours before the match against Genoa. He said in front of the players:" We are all under scrutiny, we give everything and in the end it will be decided, do not listen to the media because no choice has been made.' So I never felt out of Milan, not even when I was reading the headlines on Rangnick. In my head the contract does not expire. I have a symbiotic relationship with Maldini, Massara and Gazidis. I'm doing well at Milanello and we all have the same ambitions."
On the Scudetto:
"AC Milan have grown a lot and still have room for improvement but the panorama of the Scudetto contenders has not changed: the candidates are always the same, five or six, with Juve coming back soon. Atalanta is used to slow starts. It will be fundamental for Milan to demonstrate the decisive quality. Continuity in the results is needed. 18 months of excellent performances are not enough to win."
Pioli continued...
"Young players need two elements to break through: talent, and there is plenty of it here, and time. You never know when they will mature. I found Leao, Diaz on July 8, the day of the meeting, and Tonali, very different from those I had left on May 23. In the summer they made the leap thanks to the work we had done."
On the experienced players:
"We have used Leao and Rebic too much in these last games. It is unthinkable that they can play 50 games in 10 months in a row. So Ibra and Giroud will come back very useful. And here my work comes in. Resource management: understanding when to stop one and let the other one in, especially when returning from the national teams", said Pioli, "I can't wait for Messias and Bakayoko to recover. Messias has quality, is intelligent and will amaze because he is capable of playing in two roles."
Pioli on Theo Hernandez:
"The French national team was one of his goals and he achieved it. He is satisfied and we are happy. In Bergamo, Theo made 3 or 4 sprints forward like the one with France, but he is also becoming complete defensively."
