Confusion surrounds Milan’s Australia friendly vs. Roma over coaching situation

There is some confusion about who will take charge of AC Milan during their end of season friendly against Roma in Australia.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write that when Milan play in Vienna against Rapid in a friendly on July 20th – as announced yesterday by the club – there will be a new coach leading the devils from the sidelines.

First, however, there is another game that awaits Milan before that on May 31st, just five days after the end of the season. They will fly to Perth in Australia to play Roma. And here the matter gets a bit confusing: who will be in charge?

The conundrum is not easy to solve, because it is naturally linked to the club’s manoeuvres for the future of the bench. Stefano Pioli will finish the season next weekend against Salernitana, but there is a good chance that he could leave for Australia.

Why is this? Simply put, there might not be enough time between the last match of the season and the Australia friendly to untie the knots concerning his contractual situation (and the position of who will have to replace him from next season).

If this were the case, it would theoretically be Pioli’s duty to embark for Perth with the team: with another year on his contract, he would still be the Milan coach. Such a picture, however, would risk putting the coach and the club in an embarrassing situation.

A solution could be to let Daniele Bonera – currently on Pioli’s staff and the man expected to be the U23 head coach – take charge of the team for the game. The ideal scenario for everyone, of course, is that the situation is resolved before the trip to Australia.