“We are very happy for Simic. The three-man defense? It was an idea to protect Kjaer and Florenzi.”
After the 3-0 win against Monza, Stefano Pioli enjoyed the 3 points and his team’s performance. ‘We need to work a lot on ourselves. We must raise our level and maintain continuity. It was a particularly challenging match, both, because they have a good team and due to our absences,’ explained the Rossoneri coach.
‘We came from a game where we lost all of our energy (Newcastle), but the players went on and interpreted the game well. We must always give our best in every game. The race is about ourselves, we must try to gather as many points as possible. We are very happy for Simic,’ he added. ‘The young players? It’s work that comes from afar, we have been working on this for a long time, and the credit goes to the club too.’
Then, a few comments on the choice to start with a three-man defense. ‘The idea was to protect Kjaer, who just came back from an injury and is not in a great condition, also to shield Florenzi, who was playing his third consecutive game,’ explained Pioli. ‘But it’s not really the formation that makes the difference, it’s all about how you interpreted them.’
Regarding Milan’s season goals in the league, the Rossoneri coach continues to keep the expectations low: ‘Our goal is to look only at ourselves. The minimum objective is to finish in the top 4, and we must continue to win and earn points.’ ‘Reijnders says he believes in the first position? My players are right to believe in their qualities, and I believe in them. But I think our next goal is to get those 3 points against Salernitana.’
Finally, on Pobega and Okafor’s conditions: ‘Pobega seems to have a problem with his hip, and Okafor may have had a fatigue-related cramp. He recently recovered from an injury to the other leg, and we hope it’s nothing serious because recovering players is crucial for us right now.'”
