Stefano Pioli or the success of the Ancelotti philosophy

Stefano Pioli had not yet won the coach’s title when he received the call from Milan in October 2019 to replace the sacked Marco Giampaolo. With the ‘scudetto’ achieved today, two and a half years later, he has finally debuted his record.

A victory that delivers a unanimous recognition of Pioli’s commitment to brave football but above all his way of managing a dressing room with a spirit of dialogue and also an atmosphere with a sober and calm image, far from controversy and provocation. A style of viewing and living football already in Italy led him to be compared to Carlo Ancelotti himself.

Get the baton from Massimiliano Allegri

Pioli took the baton from Massimiliano Allegri, the coach who led Milan to win its previous ‘scudetto’ in 2011. Now all is praise for this 56-year-old coach who was born in Parma, but has since arrived he has never had it easy. for him.

He was no longer well received by Milan fans due to directing at Inter between November 2016 and May 2017, of which he was also a fan from an early age due to family tradition.

The post-pandemic streak saved him

Pioli finished Serie A in sixth place in his first season, 2019-20, and Milan qualified for the Europa League after remaining unbeaten in the last 12 days since resuming the championship even under the influence of Covid- pandemic. 19. A streak that prevented the board from hiring German Ralf Rangnick, after practically taking him, and renewing the contract.

Pioli handled critical moments well and last season, 2020-21, led Milan to the runner-up spot for the first time since 2012 and, more importantly, they returned to the Champions League after a seven-year absence.

Witness the tragedy in Heysel

Now, with the conquest of the ‘scudetto’, this admirer of Pep Guardiola is ending an extraordinary season and getting the reward after a football career with traumatic stages that served as experience to shape his personality.

On May 29, 1984, at the age of 20, Pioli lived in the tragic scene of the Heysel stadium in Brussels that preceded the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus, of which the first team he was part of although he was not called up due to an injury. From the stands he attended incidents in which 39 fans, mostly Italians, died after an avalanche of English fans at the stands.

The traumatic death of Davide Astori

Another very difficult moment was experienced as coach of Fiorentina, whose bench he came to in June 2017, when on May 4, 2018 he had to inform his players of the sudden death of captain Davide Astori due to cardiorespiratory arrest while he was sleeping in a hotel. Udine, where the team concentrated before the game.

“I realized with that tragedy that footballers were above all men. I spent all the following months helping them process that loss,” Pioli recalled.

In Florence by the way, where he is an idol, he had the personality to resign as coach of the viola team in April 2019 after the board headed by president Andrea Della Valle publicly criticized his way of working through a statement. . Before, in addition to Inter, he managed Lazio, his first big club, between 2014 and 2016.