Stefano Pioli

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Stefano Pioli
Stefano Pioli.jpg
Stefano Pioli in 2015
Personal information
Full name Stefano Pioli[1]
Date of birth (1965-10-20) 20 October 1965 (age 55)[2]
Place of birth Parma, Italy
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 AC Milan (manager)
Youth career
1979–1982 Parma
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1984 Parma 42 (1)
1984–1987 Juventus 35 (0)
1987–1989 Hellas Verona 42 (0)
1989–1995 Fiorentina 154 (1)
1995–1996 Padova 4 (0)
1996–1997 Pistoiese 14 (1)
1997–1998 Fiorenzuola 21 (0)
1998–1999 Colorno 20 (3)
Total 312 (6)
National team
1985–1987 Italy U21 5 (0)
Teams managed
2003–2004 Salernitana
2004–2006 Modena
2006 Modena
2006–2007 Parma
2007–2008 Grosseto
2008–2009 Piacenza
2009–2010 Sassuolo
2010–2011 Chievo
2011 Palermo
2011–2014 Bologna
2014–2016 Lazio
2016–2017 Internazionale
2017–2019 Fiorentina
2019– AC Milan
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Stefano Pioli (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsteːfano ˈpjɔːli]; born 20 October 1965) is an Italian football manager and a former footballer who played as a defender. He is the head coach at Serie A club AC Milan.

Playing career[]

Pioli, a native of Parma, started his own playing career for his home city team, Parma. Successively, he was signed by Juventus, with whom he made his Serie A debut in 1984, winning the league title, the European Cup, the European Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup during his three seasons with the club. After being sold to Hellas Verona in 1987, Pioli moved to Fiorentina in 1989, where he spent six years of his career, before spending two seasons with Padova. After successive season-long spells in Serie C with Pistoiese and Fiorenzuola, he ended his career in 1999 with of Eccellenza Emilia-Romagna (the sixth-highest level of Italian football at that time; the top level of the Emilia-Romagna regional league system), playing alongside his brother Leonardo.[3]

Style of play[]

An elegant, tenacious, physical, and mobile defender, Pioli was capable of playing anywhere along the back-line, although he performed best as a man-marking centre-back, or "stopper," in Italian. Considered to be a promising and consistent player in his youth, his career was affected by numerous serious injuries.[4][5][6]

Coaching career[]

Early career[]

From 1999 to 2002 Pioli coached Bologna's youth team (winning a championship with Allievi Nazionali's team),[citation needed] and Chievo's in 2002–03.[citation needed] In 2003–04, he was appointed as head coach of Serie B club Salernitana.[citation needed] He moved to Modena, still of Serie B, in 2004.[citation needed]

In 2006, Pioli was named as Parma's head coach,[citation needed] therefore returning to his home city and marking his Serie A debut as a manager. However, he was sacked on 12 February 2007[citation needed] after a 3–0 loss to Roma which brought Parma down to second-last place and replaced by Claudio Ranieri.

On 11 September 2007, Pioli was unveiled as new head coach of Serie B club Grosseto, replacing Giorgio Roselli, who was sacked after three consecutive defeats in the first three league matches,[7] and managed to lead the Tuscan minnows to an impressive mid-table finish in their first season in the Serie B. He then served as head coach of Piacenza for their 2008–09 Serie B campaign.[8] In July 2009, he left Piacenza to join Sassuolo as new head coach of the neroverdi.

Chievo[]

On 10 June 2010, Pioli was named head coach of Serie A club Chievo on a 12-month contract.[9]

Palermo[]

On 2 June 2011, Pioli was named head coach of Serie A club Palermo, but he was relieved of his duties just 90 days later.[10]

Bologna[]

On 4 October 2011, Pioli was named new head coach of Bologna in Serie A, replacing the sacked Pierpaolo Bisoli.[11] After two troublesome seasons with Bologna, both ended with the team struggling in the bottom half of the Serie A table but always escaping relegation, he was removed from his managerial duties on 8 January 2014, with Davide Ballardini appointed as his replacement.

Lazio[]

On 12 June 2014, it was confirmed Pioli's appointment as new head coach of Lazio in place of Edoardo Reja.[12] In his first season at the club, he led Lazio to a third-place Serie A finish. On 11 June 2015, he was offered a new 2-year contract with an additional year option.[13]

On 3 April 2016, Pioli was sacked after a 4–1 home defeat to city rivals Roma.[14]

Internazionale[]

On 8 November 2016, Pioli was appointed as the new head coach of Internazionale on an 18-month contract.[15] On 20 November, Inter drew 2–2 against AC Milan in a Serie A Derby della Madonnina match, Pioli's first competitive match as head coach of the club. He was sacked on 9 May 2017. Inter had won 12 of the first 16 Serie A matches that Pioli was in charge of (draw with Milan, losses to Napoli, Juventus and Roma), but this was followed by two draws and five losses in their last seven Serie A matches prior to his sacking.[16]

Fiorentina[]

On 6 June 2017, Pioli was named new head coach of Fiorentina. He signed for two years with another optional year.[17] Pioli was in charge of the team when on 4 March 2018 central defender and captain Davide Astori died unexpectedly; to honor the memory of the player, Pioli got a commemorative tattoo.[18] On 9 April 2019, Pioli resigned as manager.[19]

AC Milan[]

On 9 October 2019, Pioli was appointed as the new coach of AC Milan, on a deal to the end of the season.[20] On 21 July 2020, Pioli reached an agreement with Milan for a two-year deal extension of his contract as head coach that will now expire in June 2022.[21] On 23 May 2021, he secured a return to the Champions League for Milan for the first time in seven seasons.

Style of management[]

Pioli usually uses a 4–2–3–1 formation, or a 3–5–2 formation, with full-backs or wing-backs who actively take part in the team's attacking plays. During his time at Lazio, he often used a 4–3–3 formation. Due to his passion for basketball, he attempted to bring strategic elements of the sport into his own tactical approach as a football manager.[22][23][24][25]

As a head coach of AC Milan, Pioli made use of an archaic WM formation, also known as 3–2–2–3. Although presented officially as a 4–3–3, the formation featured the left full-back, Theo Hernandez, in a more advanced position, whereas the right full-back, Davide Calabria’s, attacking presence was significantly limited. Another key feature of this formation was in the center, where two pairs of holding and attacking midfielders formed a square, supporting each other offensively and defensively.[26]

However, with the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimović in January 2020, Pioli switched Milan's formation to his long favored 4–2–3–1, primarily in order to accommodate for the Swedish ageing yet prolific goalscorer, in which he would play up front without much of a defensive work other than pressing, alternating between the roles of a classical striker, a target forward, and a false 9.[27] The switch of formation also allowed Hakan Çalhanoğlu, an attacking midfielder in a number 10 role, to return to his preferred position as a playmaker behind the main striker, out of which he had been playing for years in various other formations.[28][29] Ante Rebić and Ismaël Bennacer, the two high-profile new arrivals struggling to fit into the previous coach's system, were given a few more opportunities to prove themselves; as a result, the former got to play in his favorite position as a left winger and quickly topped the club's seasonal goalscoring chart, while the latter formed an efficient double pivot with Franck Kessié, who also significantly improved the quality of his performances.[30][31][32]

Personal life[]

On 14 November 2020, Pioli, alongside his assistant Giacomo Murelli, tested positive for COVID-19 amid its pandemic in Italy.[33] While in quarantine, Pioli continued to be in charge of the team via Zoom and with the help of another member of his coaching staff, Daniele Bonera.[34] Despite these setbacks, Milan had a 3–1 away victory over Napoli in Serie A and a 1–1 away draw with Lille in Europa League.

Career statistics[]

Player[]

Season Club League National Cup Europe Other Total
Comp Apps Goals Comp Apps Goals Comp Apps Goals Comp Apps Goals Apps Goals
1982–83 Parma Serie C ? ? CI-C ? ? - - - - - - ? ?
1983–84 Serie C ? ? CI+CI-C ?+? ?+? - - - - - - ? ?
Total 42 1 ? ? - - - - 42+ 1+
1984–85 Juventus Serie A 14 0 CI 7 1 EC 3 0 USC 0 0 24 1
1985–86 Serie A 14 0 CI 3 0 EC 4 0 IC 1 0 22 0
1986–87 Serie A 7 0 CI 3 0 EC 1 0 - - - 11 0
Total 35 0 13 1 8 0 1 0 57 1
1987–88 Hellas Verona Serie A 10 0 CI ? ? UC 1 0 - - - 11+ 0+
1988–89 Serie A 32 0 CI 9 0 - - - - - - 41 0
Total 42 0 9+ 0+ 1 0 - - 52+ 0+
1989–90 Fiorentina Serie A 26 1 CI ? ? UC 10 0 - - - 36+ 1+
1990–91 Serie A 14 0 CI ? ? - - - - - - 14+ 0+
1991–92 Serie A 30 0 CI ? ? - - - - - - 30+ 0+
1992–93 Serie A 31 0 CI ? ? - - - - - - 31+ 0+
1993–94 Serie B 31 0 CI ? ? - - - - - - 31+ 0+
1994–95 Serie A 24 0 CI 6 0 - - - - - - 30 0
Total 156 1 6+ 0+ 10 0 - - 172+ 1+
1995–96 Padova Serie A 1 0 CI 0 0 - - - - - - 1 0
1996–97 Serie B 3 0 CI ? ? - - - - - - 3+ 0+
Total 4 0 ? ? - - - - 4+ 0+
1996–97 Pistoiese Serie C 14 1 CI-C ? ? - - - - - - 14+ 1+
1997–98 Fiorenzuola Serie C 21 0 CI-C ? ? - - - - - - 21+ 0+
Career total 314+ 3+ 28+ 1+ 19 0 1 0 362+ 4+

Managerial[]

As of match played 15 September 2021[35]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Salernitana 8 June 2003 13 June 2004 51 16 14 21 42 58 −16 031.37
Modena 15 June 2004 22 January 2006 71 25 27 19 85 67 +18 035.21
Modena 8 February 2006 5 June 2006 16 10 5 1 24 10 +14 062.50
Parma 5 June 2006 12 February 2007 32 9 7 16 31 51 −20 028.13
Grosseto 11 September 2007 11 June 2008 39 10 19 10 46 48 −2 025.64
Piacenza 11 June 2008 5 June 2009 43 14 13 16 48 49 −1 032.56
Sassuolo 12 June 2009 9 June 2010 47 20 16 11 66 46 +20 042.55
Chievo 10 June 2010 2 June 2011 41 13 13 15 43 41 +2 031.71
Palermo 2 June 2011 31 August 2011 2 0 2 0 3 3 +0 000.00
Bologna 4 October 2011 7 January 2014 97 32 28 37 116 129 −13 032.99
Lazio 12 June 2014 3 April 2016 91 44 20 27 148 103 +45 048.35
Internazionale 8 November 2016 9 May 2017 27 14 3 10 55 38 +17 051.85
Fiorentina 6 June 2017 9 April 2019 74 27 25 22 115 92 +23 036.49
AC Milan 9 October 2019 Present 92 51 24 17 172 103 +69 055.43
Career Total 723 285 216 222 994 838 +156 039.42

Honours[]

Player[]

Parma
Juventus[36]
Fiorentina

Manager[]

Bologna
  • Allievi Under-17 National Championship: 2000–01

References[]

  1. ^ "Comunicato Ufficiale N. 242" [Official Press Release No. 242] (PDF). Lega Serie A. 15 May 2018. p. 6. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Stefano Pioli è il nuovo allenatore dell'Inter" (in Italian). Il Sole 24 Ore. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  3. ^ "STEFANO PIOLI E GLI SCETTICISMI TRASFORMATI IN APPLAUSI" (in Italian). ilgiornaledigitale.it. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  4. ^ De Calo', Alessandro; Vernazza, Sebastiano (21 February 1997). "Questo calcio usa e getta". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  5. ^ Miretti, Stefania (27 July 1984). "Pioli (portato a Villar Perosa dai genitori) "La Juve a 19 anni è il massimo"". La Stampa Sera (in Italian). p. 11. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  6. ^ Bedeschi, Stefano (18 October 2013). "Gli eroi in bianconero: Stefano PIOLI" (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Calcio: il Grosseto esonera Roselli" (in Italian). Toscana TV. 11 September 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
  8. ^ "Stefano Pioli nuovo allenatore del Piacenza" (in Italian). Piacenza Calcio. 11 June 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  9. ^ "Chievo, ufficiale: Pioli è il nuovo tecnico" (in Italian). calciomercato.com. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  10. ^ "Palermo, esonerato Pioli: squadra affidata a Mangia (Archived copy)" (in Italian). Il Corriere dello Sport. 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Bologna, ufficiale: Bisoli esonerato, arriva Pioli". BolognaToday (in Italian). www.bolognatoday.it. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  12. ^ "Stefano Pioli è il nuovo allenatore della S.S. Lazio" [Stefano Pioli is the new Lazio head coach] (in Italian). SS Lazio. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  13. ^ "Pioli prolunga il contratto" (in Italian). S.S. Lazio. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  14. ^ "Official: Lazio sack Pioli". Football Italia. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  15. ^ "Stefano Pioli appointed as head coach of Inter". inter.it. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  16. ^ "Stefano Pioli sacked by Inter after 'a difficult season'". www.goal.com. 9 May 2017.
  17. ^ "Stefano Pioli named as new Fiorentina coach". ViolaChannel (Press release). ACF Fiorentina. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  18. ^ https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/fiorentina-coach-stefano-pioli-gets-tattoo-remember-davide-astori
  19. ^ "UFFICIALE: Fiorentina, Pioli s'è dimesso. Oggi seduta affidata al suo vice" (in Italian). Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  20. ^ "Stefano Pioli appointed as AC Milan new coach". acmilan.com. Associazione Calcio Milan. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  21. ^ "Stefano Pioli extends his agreement as AC Milan Head Coach". AC Milan. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  22. ^ Scuderi, Marcello (1 June 2011). "Palermo, scelto Pioli per il "modulo"?" (in Italian). Tutto Palermo. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  23. ^ Avanzati, Luigi (4 June 2011). "Palermo, quale sarà il nuovo assetto tattico?" (in Italian). Tutto Palermo. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  24. ^ "Stefano Pioli: 433 stretto" (in Italian). fmprofessional.wordpress.com. 11 January 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  25. ^ "Bologna, Pioli: "Mi piacerebbe un progetto di più anni. Trap e Bagnoli esempi"" (in Italian). www.calcionews24.com. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  26. ^ https://sempremilan.com/gds-piolis-tactical-revolution-sees-milan-use-3-2-2-3-formation
  27. ^ https://sempremilan.com/pioli-reveals-why-he-changed-milans-system-to-a-4-2-3-1-praises-impact-of-ibrahimovic
  28. ^ https://www.mediagol.it/milan/milan-calhanoglu-risponde-ai-tifosi-in-italia-sto-bene-svelo-il-mio-ruolo-ideale-il-gol-piu-importante
  29. ^ https://www.milannews24.com/calhanoglu-pioli-mi-ha-dato-sicurezza-in-campo-ibra-un-vero-leone
  30. ^ https://www.90min.com/posts/ante-rebic-has-been-the-key-to-milan-surprising-resurgence
  31. ^ https://www.corriere.it/sport/20_luglio_16/franck-kessie-campione-ritrovato-nuovo-milan-pioli-7c7b6b14-c743-11ea-a0f9-db06e95bcc12.shtml
  32. ^ https://sempremilan.com/mediaset-e100m-rated-duo-attracting-interest-from-abroad-but-milans-stance-is-clear
  33. ^ "Milan coach Pioli has Covid-19". Football Italia. 14 November 2020.
  34. ^ https://www.milannews.it/news/milan-cosi-pioli-e-rimasto-sempre-connesso-con-staff-e-giocatori-392604
  35. ^ "Stefano Pioli career sheet". footballdatabase. footballdatabase. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  36. ^ "Pioli nuovo allenatore della Lazio" [Pioli new Lazio coach]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 12 June 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
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