Iconic Milan tactician Arrigo Sacchi has heaped praise on coach Stefano Pioli’s steady development of the Rossoneri outfit, the likeliness of which he draws to himself. Pioli propelled Milan back on the European stage this season, only to be knocked out of arguably the toughest Champions League group, but nonetheless finds him troops enroute the club’s first Scudetto since over a decade.
In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews), Sacchi was quizzed regarding his opinion of Pioli and if the veteran sees something of himself in the current Milan manager.
“If there is something about Sacchi in Pioli? The desire to propose modern football. I too was looking ahead and never in the past. Pioli has designed a team that is projected into the future: together with Atalanta they are the most ‘European’ in our league,” he said.
He then pinpointed another footballing great whose legacy he admires.
Sacchi said: “I admire Di Stefano’s desire to improve, which is always the result of a lack of presumption. Always, even when he wins. Because he knows that only in this way can one grow. Whoever stops, whoever looks in the mirror does not go far.”
Milan sit atop Serie A standings with a three point lead over trailing Napoli. Inter lag six points behind the league leaders but still have a game in hand. However, the Nerazzurri’s recent lapse of form has seen Juventus catch up with them, as the Bianconeri sit in fourth place and just one point off Inter.