Stefano Pioli, head coach of the AC Milan team, has spoken to the media to discuss the match against Fiorentina tomorrow.
Here are his words in today's press conference:
You know Fiorentina well. Tomorrow will be the first game without Joe Barone...
"Unfortunately, this isn't the first situation of this kind to happen at Fiorentina. Florence and the Viola fans are fantastic when they need to come together in difficulty. We'll face a special atmosphere at the beginning since the memory of Barone is still alive, then it will be a tough game."
How are the national team players?
"Those who stayed at home have recovered some energy and worked well. Tomorrow, Kjaer won't be there, he returned with a muscle strain and as a precaution, he won't be there tomorrow. Pulisic has played more; I will evaluate him, but yesterday he seemed to be in good condition."
How did you experience the Francesco Acerbi - Juan Jesus case?
"It becomes difficult for me to judge the incident because I don't have everything at hand, but we can be against racism in stadiums. It's time to stop."
Feelings about the final rush of the league?
"The decisive period of the season begins. Everything we've done up to now is important, but everything will depend on the next games. We must worry about raising the level of our performances."
How do you see Tijjani Reijnders?
"He can become a complete midfielder. He's also improving in the non-possession phase. He's already a high-level midfielder. He's a great worker, with ample room for improvement."
What kind of end of the season do you expect?
"There are still many important games. Now the most important one is tomorrow in Florence where we have always found difficulties. You have talked a bit too much about the future. We must only think about the present and these last two months of the season. Then at the end of the season, I will tell you what kind of season it was and what I will want for next year. We only think about Fiorentina and then the subsequent matches."
Has he read Pupi Avati's statements saying he won't support Milan as long as you are still the coach?
"I don't have Pupi Avati's number. If he doesn't support Milan anymore because of my relationship with Maldini, that's not good, he's mistaken. I have a great relationship with Maldini, so he can easily go back to supporting Milan if that's what he wants to do."
After the breaks, you seem to struggle a bit. How do you explain that?
"It hasn't been the results we expected. Every break has a different story. After the first breaks, we had few players here, and those who went on international duty played a lot. During this break, we worked well, and those who left have returned well."
How much will Theo Hernandez be missed? Pioli answered:
"He will definitely be missed. We'll play with different characteristics and utilize Florenzi's qualities, which are different from Theo's. Theo is showing all his qualities."
How is Ismael Bennacer?
"He had to work individually, but he made good use of this week. He's fine and could even start."
How is Filippo Terracciano settling in?
"He felt the impact of being at a top club at the beginning. He's working hard. I'm playing him as a full-back."
Have you spoken with Olivier Giroud?
"He's come back eager and determined. I've talked to him, but nobody here thinks about the future. He's attentive and focused as always."
How do you see Noah Okafor as a center forward?
"I chose Okafor to have the necessary depth to exploit him. He's doing very well both as a striker and on the left."
What's the difference between Bennacer and Adli?
"Bennacer is the strongest midfielder we have in one-on-one defensive situations; I think he's almost unbeatable when it comes to winning the ball back. I believe he can improve in reading some situations, perhaps by delaying, you can't always be aggressive. Adli is less skilled in one-on-one situations, but he has very interesting characteristics."
Why does Milan struggle so much in Florence?
"It's not a coincidence. Fiorentina is strong at home, they've only lost to Inter. The difficulties are also due to the atmosphere. Tomorrow we want to do better."
How would you limit Fiorentina's wingers?
"Fiorentina doesn't have wingers, but they have fast attacking wide players and full-backs who push forward, so we need to be very compact."
What do you expect from Fiorentina tomorrow?
"I expect an aggressive Fiorentina that attacks with great players. These are things we would like to do as well, then it will depend on the quality."
Without Theo, will Milan be less offensive?
"No. The characteristics will change but not our approach. Maybe there will be some positional changes in the build-up phase."
