Bologna Coach Called Opportunity To Replace Stefano Pioli At AC Milan

AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli will be terminated (doc. acmilan.com).

JAKARTA - AC Milan is reportedly planning to dismiss coach Stefano Pioli. A number of names are candidates to replace Pioli, one of which is Bologna coach Thiago Motta.

Milan is widely said to be changing coaches. Milan's achievement, which was deemed unsatisfactory and failed to qualify for the last 16 of the 2023/2024 Champions League, became the club's consideration not to continue working together.

Although Milan remain in third place in the Italian Serie A standings, they have been left behind by city rivals Inter Milan, who are perched at the top of the standings. Milan, who currently have 33 points behind 11 points with Inter.

In addition, from the team itself, Pioli's tactics failed to win more often. In the aftermath, Pioli was urged to change tactics. However, the request was ignored and Pioli remained with his tactics and strategies.

However, it is believed that the change in coach made by Milan will not be a solution for the team to be better. Moreover, Pioli, who has handled Milan since 2019, has not completely failed.

During four seasons dealing with the Rossoneri, the 58-year-old coach achieved success by winning the 2021/2022 Scudetto. Milan's 18-year wait ended when they won the Serie A title.

Not only that, Milan also managed to qualify for the 2022/2023 Champions League semifinals. This season, they failed in the Champions League, but they were still able to get tickets to the 2023/2024 Europa League.

Pioli achieved success despite getting a disbursed fund. Yes, limited funds to buy players made it difficult for Pioli to build a squad that was solid and strong.

However, the former Inter Milan coach was quite successful with his achievements. In fact, Milan's success in breaking into the top three is actually not too bad because they can enter the Champions League zone.

However, tifosi feels that Milan's achievements under Pioli are still not enough. Ironic that the tifosi or club management seem to forget that Milan has been slumped for a long time.

However, Milan assessed that after winning the league trophy, they felt that they had always received guarantees to win every season like in the era of Milan's glory in the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. In the aftermath, Pioli's contract, which is still ongoing until 2025, will be nominated.

Then who replaces Pioli? Bologna coach, Thiago Motta, is said to be the main candidate to replace Pioli.

Motta's contract at Bologna will expire in 2024. Bologna itself has no plans to renew the 41st-year-old coach's contract.

Motta has actually been targeted by Napoli to replace Rudi Garcia. However, the former Inter midfielder and closed his career at Paris Saint-Germain rejected Napoli's offer.

He did not want to replace the coach in the middle of the competition. In addition, Motta is more interested in dealing with Milan.

Not only Motta, but coach Antonio Conte is also a candidate for Milan coach. However, Conte's salary is quite high, which is 7 million euros per year, making it difficult for Milan to recruit him. On the other hand, Motta only gets a salary of 2.5 million euros per year at Bologna.

Because it is difficult to get Conte, Milan considers Roberto De Zerbi who is currently handling Brighton and Hove Albion. De Zerbi's salary can still be reached by Milan.

Among the candidates, the coach of Primavera Milan, Ignazio Abate, is most likely to replace Pioli. However, Abate still lacks training experience.

Another problem, Milan collided with compensation funds if they fired Pioli before the end of the contract period. Or, still pay Pioli's salary until the contract is complete even though it has been terminated.