Pioli at the center of Maldini and Cardinale’s fight

Journalist Nicolo Schira reveals sensational background details on Paolo Maldini and his disagreement with Gerry Cardinale.

AC Milan announced today that Paolo Maldini will no longer serve as the technical director of the club. The Rossoneri legend leaves after a successful three-year tenure in that position with AC Milan winning the Serie A, reaching the Champions League semifinal and qualifying in that competition for three years in a row. Frederic Massara is set to follow next.

The management duo and AC Milan owner Gerry Cardinale had very different visions about the future of the club. However, coach Stefano Pioli is referred to be at the center of their arguments reports journalist Nicolo Schira. It seemed like the Italian coach was set to bid farewell at the end of the season.

Stefano Pioli was no longer at the center of the AC Milan project for Maldini and Massara. The Italian coach was considered the main responsible for the winter preparation in Dubai with AC Milan struggling greatly in the second half of the season. Pioli was deemed guilty also for some technical choices.

His experiment with a three-man defence was a total failure. Pioli also did not involve all the players at his disposal with Yacine Adli being the prime example. Stefano Pioli’s exaggerated rotation in some games was a wrong choice with the Rossoneri paying a big price for his 7-8 player changes instead of 3-4.

Schira reveals that Maldini and Pioli also had a very tense argument after the first 2-0 defeat in the Champions League derby against Inter. His player and tactical choices were no longer convincing and in April Paolo Maldini had started to inquire about other names for the coaching position.

AC Milan had an awful performance again against Inter in the Super Cup final loosing 3-0. That was preceded by a shocking elimination from the Coppa Italia against a 10-man Torino at San Siro. All this event had convinced Paolo Maldini to fire Pioli at the end of the season and appoint a new coach. Pioli simply was not the right person to take AC Milan to the next level according to Maldini.

However, the ownership had totally different ideas. Gerry Cardinale considers Pioli the key for his new project. The Italian coach is appreciated by the AC Milan owner and will be given more powers on the market starting from now. Other reports go as far as to claim that Pioli working behind Maldini’s back in cooperation with Cardinale and was informed about everything in advance.

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