Milan vs Cremonese Just Draw, Pioli: We’ve lost focus

– Stefano Pioli revealed the reason Milan only picked up one point when hosting the relegation zone dwellers Cremonese and left behind in the race for the top four. According to the coach, his team lost focus.

Rossoneri trying to rotate the team because there are big games against Lazio in Serie A on Saturday and then Inter in the Champions League semi-finals next Wednesday.

However, once again this match proved that Milan’s second line is not the ideal coating for the first team. The two strikers Divock Origi and Charles De Ketelaere again failed to make an impact, even Brahim Diaz was helpless.

David Okereke gave Cremonese a shock lead at San Siro after swaying Milan defenders Malick Thiaw and Pierre Kalulu. Milan avoided defeat thanks to Junior Messias’ goal from a free kick whose direction turned because it hit the body of a Milan player.

“Obviously we are disappointed, because we wanted to win and knew if we didn’t change gears we would struggle to get into the top four. Now we need to take the next three days and recharge all the batteries, because we can do much better than this, especially in the second half,” Pioli told DAZN.

“In the first half, we practiced everything we prepared and were able to create dangers, for example the goals that were declared off side by Alexis Saelemaekers. We controlled the game, had the right positioning, created a lot of chances to score, but if you don’t break the deadlock in a game like this it gets more and more difficult.

“The big problem for me is we lost focus, everyone started trying to finish the game as individuals and we lost the plan.”

The draw leaves Milan level with Roma in fifth, but Inter have leapfrogged them into fourth and Atalanta are now also catching up with Rossoneri with 58 points.

“We lacked determination to break the deadlock in the game. We tried everything, but in this situation all it took was a small mistake to change everything. The second half was not something I like, we lost our sharpness and focus.”

Pioli also denied his decision to save the two main strikers, Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud, was the reason Milan failed to win.

“It’s not about Giroud and Leao, because they played against Roma and we are still fighting to break the deadlock. The problem is we need to be sharper in attack, more precise and determined when the game is in balance.”