Pioli: Zlatan's presence is positive; We deserved more points

The 41-year-old

underwent surgery in May and will not return to the pitch until 2023 but Pioli claims that he is still playing a positive role. Zlatan since returning to

in 2020 has scored 33 goals in Serie A.

Pioli ahead of Saturday's Serie A meeting with Monza told reporters:

"Zlatan, in everything he says and does, is never trivial. He is very intelligent.

"He knows how we want to play and how we prepare for matches, and he confronts me. His presence is positive.

"His recovery is still a little bit long. It will take some time to see him again on the pitch; it is nice, however, to see him here in Milanello, he is fine with the boys."

Milan is in third place in the Serie A table with 23 points after 10 matches. They are three points behind leaders Napoli but Pioli insists they deserve to have more points.

He said:

"The calendar is completely different, compared to the first half of last year.

"In my opinion, we deserved to collect something more, like with Napoli [a 2-1 home loss last month], for example. Then there were some negative situations that need to be improved. Our level must always be high."

Milan's manager also spoke the latest situation of Mike Maignan who reportedly could miss the World Cup due to a calf injury.

"We are sorry for Mike,"

Pioli said.

"We evaluated everything possible, he wanted to play in Verona [last Sunday], we had checked everything, but this injury will keep him out at least until January."

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