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Extended Clip - Should AC Milan Sack Stefano Pioli After Champions League Exit? (Ep. 382)
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After all but having crashed out of the Champions League, Nima Tavallaey and Carlo Garganese discuss, debate and analyze if it isn't time for AC Milan to part ways with coach Stefano Pioli at the end of the season.
This is a clip from the weekly Thursday episode of the Italian Football Podcast.
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Transcript
Welcome and Introduction
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast.
Pioli's Future at Milan
00:00:05
Speaker
So what does this mean for Pioli? This is the big question now. Should, and there's a lot of Milan fans now, I would say the majority of Milan fans who are purely out. Some of those believe Pioli should be sacked immediately. Some of them believe, most of them, almost everyone believe this is it for the season. Just let Pioli see out the season. He has to go at the end of the season.
00:00:28
Speaker
Where do you stand on Pioli? If Milan go out now as expected, do you sack him right away or do you let him see out the season and sack him then? Or do you keep him? What do you do? I think at the end of the season he will have been at Milan for four and a half years and I think four and a half years
00:00:49
Speaker
is a very long time and I think purely has overachieved.
Pioli's Achievements and Criticism
00:00:54
Speaker
No one can say that he has failed looking at his tenure in charge. Look at what happened when he took over and look what he leaves. He leaves a club that was in no man's land when he took over and he brought them back to the very top and
00:01:10
Speaker
top of Italian football winning a league, playing in the Champions League. But I think the journey has run its course at the end of the season. I think it's time to move on. I really think so. I think he will always be remembered as someone who brought Milan from the wilderness back into the light.
00:01:30
Speaker
in very difficult circumstances. But I don't see how Milan can challenge or win the scoreto with again with purely or reach, you know, to take that next step that Milan want to do, because this is no longer a Milan that is
00:01:48
Speaker
going through a banter era and trying to return back to the champions. No, they're there. They're a top four side. They're once again at the top of Italian football. What they need is someone who can take what's built there and take it to the next step.
00:02:03
Speaker
And I just don't think that Stefano purely after four and a half years or however long it is, it will be in June, is the right man to do that.
Speculating on Pioli's Departure
00:02:12
Speaker
And I think after that long time, it's also good to change a little bit because it's quite a long time in football.
00:02:19
Speaker
I don't think he'll be sacked. I think they'll do a whole mutual termination thing out of respect because I think he's not stupid purely. He also understands that this might have run its course at the end of the season. That being said, yes, if he
00:02:38
Speaker
if he doesn't even if top four is in risk then yeah he could be sacked but i don't think top four will be in risk i think milan have what it takes to to to get finished in the top four in the in the in the seria absolutely but yeah if top four is a risk he has to go it's as simple as that and the question then becomes who do you bring in okay you want to bring in antonio conte great but antonio conte
Potential Replacements Discussion
00:03:04
Speaker
Again, stays there for one, two years, wins your trophy, then sets the entire house on fire and walks out and blames you for it. That's just how it works with content. That's just how it works. Do you bring someone like Marizio Sarri personally? I think Marizio Sarri, as I've been saying for a couple of years now, I think he is the natural continuation of
00:03:28
Speaker
of purely to take it to the next step and also plays the kind of football that Milan want to be associated with. That's why I stand on that. But yeah, I do think that I don't think you sack him right away. I think there will be a disservice to him, to Milan, because clearly the players are behind him still. And, you know, as long as the players, as a coach, hasn't lost the dressing room, then you can't really complain too much.
Milan's Performance Analysis
00:03:56
Speaker
I think, for Milan, they were in the group of death. What they will be kicking themselves over is the fact that they could have not just qualified but won the group, given how the games looked and how things played out, but due to immaturity and stupid behavior by key squad members who just squandered it, they didn't. But it's not a failure, because it was the group of death.
00:04:25
Speaker
But it would be an immense failure if Milan don't make it to the top four, but I think they will. So I think you don't overreact. I think that's it for Pioli at the end of the season now, even if they go through, which is very unlikely.
00:04:46
Speaker
think he's taken Milan as far as he can and I think that really Milan haven't, after winning that Scudetta, okay they got to the semi-final last year in the Champions League but this isn't a team that's been
00:05:02
Speaker
improving, has it, over the last year and a half? Can you really say Milan have improved over the last year and a half? I don't think you can. I think they've been taking steps back this season. Certainly in Europe, they've taken steps back. They got to the semi-final last year. This year, they're about to go out in the group stage as possibly finishing bottom of the group.
00:05:24
Speaker
And also they shouldn't even be in the Champions League this season. Let's remember that they didn't qualify on merit. They finished fifth on paper. They finished fifth. They only qualified due to what happened with Juventus, which wasn't based on what Juventus did last season anyway. So they did not deserve, they should not be in the Champions League this season. So Pioli's also got away with that one. Otherwise maybe he maybe he sat at the end of last season.
00:05:46
Speaker
No doubt. And they're not doing well in Serie A either. They're six points off Inter already. Their last eight... I mean, look at their form. Again, this isn't a one-off. Their last eight games, two wins, two draws, four defeats. Their form is really bad. If you disregard the PSG game, their performances have been terrible in the last week. They fluke the win against Fiorentina at the weekend. Fiorentina did not deserve to lose that game. In fact, I would say Fiorentina deserved to win that game. They missed chance after chance in the second. So none of this should come as a surprise. It wasn't just a one-off.
00:06:16
Speaker
Also, if you look at their, actually look at their form in the Champions League, I mean, five games this season, they've won one game in the group. Then if you go back to last season, I mean, the two games against Inter, then you had two, so two wins in six. So they've got two, three wins in their last five, three wins in their last 11 games in the Champions League, if my maths is correct. If you go back to the knockout stages of last season,
00:06:44
Speaker
They won one game in the last 16, one game in the quarterfinals, they won none of their two in the semis. So that's six games plus five. So yeah, two, three, three wins in 11 games. So, you know, this isn't the performances of a team that you can say, ah, look where Peoli's taken them. You know, that's average, poor, really, on paper.
Investment Concerns and Pioli's Tenure End
00:07:05
Speaker
I think that's it for Pioli. They've spent heavily in the market. There's no excuses. Like I said, you can't blame the injuries either. They had 9 of their 11 starting the game last night. The injuries have affected them, no doubt about it. But you can't use that as an excuse.
00:07:25
Speaker
Dorman lost one of their plays during the game as well yesterday. They've spent so heavily in the market, the players that they brought in haven't really given them any extra depth either. So yeah, I think that is it for Pioli. I think that's it. I agree. And I think it's only right given that it's been such a long time. And if you look at it, look again, he will be remembered as one of a Milan hero because of what he did.
00:07:50
Speaker
Look at where he took them, where they were, and look at where he leaves them. Look at winning the scoreto as a surprise. Nobody expected that. Semi-final Champions League. Fantastic achievement. He's done really, really well. But all good things come to an end. And I think if Mila want to continue this project,
00:08:14
Speaker
I think it's time to move on from you purely, but not do so until the end of the season. Yeah, I agree. And also, in some ways, it is natural as well. You know, things go stale, even with the greats, man. That's just what happens. It just happens just life. It just happens in life. You know, you lose your impact that you have on the squad, you know, and so there's no disgrace in that either.