Amorim discusses Sassuolo-Milan and formation flexibility: “Not a big change”
On the eve of AC Milan’s game against Sassuolo, Ruben Amorim spoke to the media at the usual pre-match press conference.
Milan will finally be back in action tomorrow evening, returning after a long break, and the goal is definitely to build on the convincing win against Lecce last time out. Of course, the break brought their momentum to a halt slightly, but confidence should still be high.
Ruben Amorim has a strong team at his disposal, despite the injury of Alexis Saelemaekers, and the latest reports suggest that we could see an attacking-minded starting eleven tomorrow. This is something that the gaffer seemingly confirmed during today’s presser to.
Amorim’s pre-match thoughts
Speaking to the media at Milanello, as transcribed by MilanNews, Amorim shared his thoughts on the long break, the game against Sassuolo, the formation, Camarda’s lack of playing time, and the ‘outcasts’ in the team.
On the effects of the international break…
“I think it doesn’t change much, then it depends on the moment of the team. If you have a lot of injured players, for example, then you can recover them during such a long stop.
“On the flip side, if you have a lot of players who go on international duty and play almost every game, then it’s tough. Then they come back here and have to play a lot too, with little rest.
“It works the other way too, for example, Koni [De Winter] didn’t play anything with Belgium and has returned with more energy.
“Having said the above, it’s important for the players to go on international duty and to feel important, that’s a good sign.”
On the international break again…
“The first thing I felt was that the players are happy to come back, which is a good place to start. They enjoy being together and at our club.
“If you look at our players on international duty, some of them played just two games, which is good as they were able to fully maintain their physical condition.
“As for Hutchinson, I had the opportunity and time to work with him. We had a friendly against Padova, which was good for trying new things.”
“I think the players did really well on international duty. Ramos, Jashari, and Moreira. You saw Moreira play on both flanks, which is a good thing for us.”
Ramos is doing very well. Is there any way you can adapt the system to enhance him?
“My idea as a manager is to find ways for the team to play better, not just for one player to play better individually. In general, we need to get the ball into the box more, but that’s for every striker not just Ramos.
“I think we need to improve as a team to help Ramos, but my goals is not to help him score more goals, it’s to win more games. That said, I’m really happy that he’s confident and scoring goals, so I hope he will also score goals here.”
On three or four at the back…
“It depends on the game and the situation. The important thing is that the players understand when to play with three or four at the back, but as you can see from the names, it’s the same team. You change small things, certain movements, positions and so on, to surprise the opponents a little.
“But it’s not a big change. I just want my players to feel comfortable and to play better.”
On Aquilani…
“I remember him, not just from Sporting. I remember that he was a really smart player; you can see that a lot of midfielders become managers. I can see that his approach [as a coach] is really modern, with some influence from De Zerbi. Again, he’s really smart and has different tools in his box.”
On Moreira’s position…
“On the left he’s more direct, on the right he’s trying to do more one-two combinations, but it also depends on the opponent. He defended a lot in both games with Belgium, which is a very important thing for me, but we all know the characteristics of Moreira.
“I think he can do even more in 1v1s, so he needs to work on that, but for sure he can play both sides. You will see him on both sides in our team.”
On Camarda and the Endrick rumours…
“About new players, you can ask Cardinale who’s here today. I’m only focused on my players. We have so many games that December doesn’t exist to me yet. I can tell you that Camarda is going to play more minutes now. He’s ready and will clearly play more minutes moving forward.
“Then in December, I have no idea what is going to happen, I’m just thinking about winning games now. Camarda is going to have more space and more minutes. Since day one, I have expected a lot from him and he needs to be ready now when given the chance.”
On Cisse playing as a centre-forward…
“He has the qualities to play as a centre-forward. Not as a striker, but he has the qualities to help us in certain matches. I was glad to see that he got to play there with the national team.”
On the players who remained at Milanello during the break…
“Yeah, I think they are going to be really important in these games. As I said, in the friendly against Padova and in training, we had the chance to try different things. I got to see more of Diawara, and Tomori played in a similar role as Gila does.
“All of these players will be very important for us this season. As for Pulisic, it’s a little bit different as he didn’t go on international duty due to injury. Obviously, he’s a starter, but we had time to manage the workload, improving his fitness.”
On the ambitions and Serie A…
“The first thing is to win titles. I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but you have to have that ambition: to win now. You need step-by-step plans to achieve big goals. If you look at Serie A this season, it’s becoming a bit different, with the rules of not whistling all the time and encouraging active playing time.
“You can see that there are a lot of goals now. Venezia are the rock-bottom team I believe, but when you see them play, they press all the time. I was impressed to see the quality of the play, the teams, and the managers, so I’m pleased to be here. I feel at home in this country.”
On the shift to a back four and Athekame’s success..
“What I saw in the last game was more mobility, they didn’t get stuck as easily, and that helped in the build-up a lot. We have been playing with three or four at the back, I have never seen us play with a back five this season.
“I felt that this freedom can help my players to perform better, which I understood when watching the last game.
“Athekame is a player that we are following, like the other loans. He’s a very important player for us. In the summer, I viewed him as a player like Moreira, but things change in football. He’s doing very well with Fonseca, playing well, so let’s continue like that and then we will see.”
Two goals on average per game…
“It’s football. I could say that we are scoring two goals in each game, but I also understand that we aren’t creating as much as we should. If we get the ball into the box more, we can score more. At this moment, I cannot hide behind the ten goals and be happy with that. We need to improve.”
