Milan’s late slide could cost Stefano Pioli the confirmation on the Milan bench for next season. He was the architect of their quick start, but he has not been able to find remedies to their recent difficulties. His future seemed certain up until a month ago, but missing out on Champions League would force the club to re-evaluate his position, Gazzetta dello Sport reports.
The ownership so far had never questioned the work of the coach, who was considered one of the main reasons behind their early success. However, finishing in the top four is considered crucial for multiple reasons, and the next five matches will be decisive. The fall of the Rossoneri has been rapid after they seriously contended for the title for about two-thirds of the campaign.
They are currently on a par with Napoli and Juventus in third place and would be outside looking in the Champions League zone if the season ended today. They would be the first team in Serie A history to drop out of the first four positions after being in first place at the midpoint of the season.
The outlet indicates that that the management has not begun inquiring about other gaffers. However, CEO Ivan Gazidis is not a staunch supporter of Pioli and previously pushed to replace him with Ralf Rangnick. The current manager was instead defended by Italian directors Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara. Pioli was hired in October of 2019 after Marco Giampaolo’s disastrous spell and earned an extension with an impressive run of results in 2019/2020.