Pioli: ‘Milan want to win on the first day of the season’

Stefano Pioli has insisted that Milan are hard at work to be at their best by the opening game of the 2023-24 Serie A season and hopes that his team starts the new campaign in winning fashion.

The Rossoneri coach has also explained how he expects his new signings to fit into the side and what qualities the new arrivals will bring.

Pioli spoke to Sport Mediaset following Milan’s friendly against Monza in the Trofeo Berlusconi , which his side won on penalties following a 1-1 draw in regular time.

“We’re not going to deny it, we want to win on the first day of the championship,” Pioli told the media after full-time. “The boys are right to be ambitious.”

Speaking about the performance on Tuesday night, Pioli said: “We played well in attacking areas, we attacked them, but we need to become more solid, we could have scored more in these friendlies. The next matches will help us to get better before the start of the season.

“We’ve been competitive again for three years. There are several teams that can challenge. To stay competitive, we have to raise our level.

Then, the Milan boss explained how his new signings will help the team improve heading into the new campaign, which kicks off on August 19.

With the arrivals of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tijjani Reijnders and Yunus Musah, Milan have a new-look midfield at their disposal, and Pioli believes that each of them brings his team a different set of qualities.

“Those who have come in are young, but experienced,” he said. “Clearly it will take some time, but we have everything at our disposal to play the type of football we want to. The first three league games will not be easy. Our first goal is to start the season well.”

“With Musah we are complete in midfield. Reijnders is intelligent, Loftus-Cheek is a quality, physical player. Musah is an aggressive player, then there is Pobega and Krunic. It’s a strong unit.

“We can play in several ways, Chukwueze has come in and can play one-on-one on the outside, Pulisic can be a playmaker, Okafor can also be a centre-forward and second striker. I have flexible players.

“I’ve always asked for intelligent players, this year I have them and so we can do well.”