AC Milan, from Tomori at full-back to Cisse’s new role: the four moves Amorim is working on to change gear for the Rossoneri
Milan, the break has brought wise counsel: Amorim has worked on four new ideas to tackle the fiery run of seven matches in 20 days
The wait is over. After three weeks without a game, AC Milan return to action at a tough ground in Sassuolo, where Luciano Spalletti's Juventus have already lost this season. AC Milan head into the game knowing they must take another step forward, both in their play and in their results. Ruben Amorim never settles. He wants to win titles straight away and won't hide behind excuses. Easier said than done, some might say, but the Portuguese manager made his point in his press conference after using the long break to work in depth on the mechanisms that still need to improve before the push towards that objective begins.
Tomori to Al Gila
"We need to put our foot on the accelerator because the next matches will be important." Amorim was clear in his press conference: AC Milan need to step it up because the next seven games in 20 days will be tough and will already offer a gauge of their ambitions in Serie A and the Europa League.
They will move on with a back four, with Gila central to pushing through two ideas: a more direct, vertical style of play and a kind of "protection" for Luka Modric who, with an extra defender behind him, will be able to handle the opposition press with greater clarity.
One early new wrinkle, already seen in the joint training session with Padova, is Tomori reinvented as a right-back. The former Chelsea man could make his debut in this new role very soon this season, probably as early as Salzburg on 15 October, after trying it extensively during this break. Milan will need everyone now. Absolutely everyone.
Specific work with Hutchinson
Hutchinson showed about 15 promising minutes against Lazio, then flopped on his first Europa League start against Benfica. Milan now risk seeing him turn into another flash in the pan. Amorim wants to win the Anglo-American gamble and has worked a great deal with him over these 20 days.
Hutchinson arrived at Milan precisely because the Portuguese manager wanted him and will now have other chances to make himself useful to the cause. After detailed work on specific areas, Amorim now trusts the former Nottingham Forrest player more. The hope is that he can become a winning new option.
Cisse and Camarda
Amorim has not had them with him because they were away with the Under-21s, but he already has a plan to use Cisse and Camarda better and more regularly. For the former Verona talent, there could be a role similar to the one seen with Baldini in the Italy Under-21s: a mobile centre-forward position that makes the most of his above-average finishing ability.
Speaking at his press conference, the Portuguese manager did not backtrack on the Camarda issue: "On the new players, you can ask Cardinale, who is there behind you (laughs, ed.). My only focus is on the matches we have to play, so many of them, so December does not exist for me right now. Camarda will play more. We are coming off a situation where we had fewer matches to play and more time to rest. Camarda is learning a lot, but he is ready. He will play more minutes than he has played up to this point. I do not know what will happen between now and December, I only want to win as many matches as possible. That is my focus. We can also see from the experiences of the national teams, who rotate a lot, so it is impossible to carry on with the same 11 for all the matches. I have said it since day one: I expect a lot from him and he will show his value".
