Stefano Pioli discussed some of the tactical decisions he made during AC Milan’s 2-1 victory over Monza at San Siro this afternoon, including playing Tommaso Pobega in a deeper role.
Many expected a four-man defense with Simon Kjaer and Fikayo Tomori as the central duo and Alessandro Florenzi and Theo Hernandez as the full-backs when the starting lineups were announced.
However, there was frequently the appearance of a three-man back line, with Tommaso Pobega playing in a deeper position, at least until he was forced off in the first half due to an injury.
Carlo Pellegatti posed a tactical question to Pioli, asking why he chose Pobega as the left-sided centre-back in a three-man defense. The journalist prefaced the question with the fact that he is not a tactical expert, and Pioli responded as follows:.
“Not everyone admits, like you, that they understand little about tactics. The tactical choice is because we want to be aggressive; we accept numerical parity up front and at the back,” he said (via MilanNews).
“I have willing and intelligent players; they attack with five men and therefore we defended with five men so as not to let the full-backs run too much. It’s not a five, three, or two defence. They are the principles.
“Today we did it well, parity above and below. If the parity above isn’t intense, it doesn’t work; today it worked. If this aspect isn’t here, the defensive mechanisms don’t work.”
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