AC Milan defeated Lecce 3-0 at home in matchday 5 of Serie A. Head coach Amorim was interviewed by DAZN after the match.

On the match

Yes, I think we improved significantly. I believe that was specifically reflected in the freedom the players had on the pitch, our overall tactical positioning, and especially the direct runs behind the opponent's defense. So we are not just a possession-focused team, but also a team with strong defensive prowess. When we have space to sprint, I think that is excellent. We controlled the match, and we knew the opponent was always waiting for us to make a mistake, but we managed quite well instead. We defended well, and it was a very good victory.

Well, coach, on that note, faced with the supporters' criticism and the team's first defeat, the best answer is not only to win, but to genuinely implement the runs behind the defense, fluidity of play, flexible movement from the attacking midfield, and the "4+1" build-up system from the back. So this is not just a massive improvement in results, but a true implementation of the tactical philosophy you want to display on the pitch, I assume? Moreover, I should point out that the last Milan coach to have 11 points from the first five Serie A matches was Liedholm in 1963, so overall...

That is a very interesting historical statistic, but times have changed, and this is a completely new era now. We still have much work to do, but we are indeed playing better and constantly improving. More importantly, we are continuously learning and growing. We encountered difficulties in the previous few matches because our tactical structure at that time was too rigid at each position; today, the players have a bit more tactical freedom, and with more freedom, they have also shown better performances.

Good evening, Coach Amorim. The league is about to enter a break due to the international window. Could you help us review and summarize the team's performance over the first five league matchdays and Europa League matches, your current work, and your team's overall situation? Also, how significant is the gap between Milan and the leading teams—such as Inter Milan, Roma, and Lazio—at this moment, if there is indeed a gap?

I think that if you look at how we are currently playing and the opponents we have faced—whether at home or away—the top teams clearly have had more time to develop and integrate as a unit. You can see that their tactical routines and cooperation patterns are established and appear more defined and clear compared to ours.

However, we have not really dropped too many points. We lost only 2 points against Lazio and dropped points away to Juventus. So everything is not as bad as it appears on the surface, even though it may seem very poor to the outside world given recent results. We must view the current situation rationally and objectively.

Today we won the match, but we must realize clearly that even though we beat an excellent team in good form that played well, every team has a different style, and we will still face difficulties in certain specific matches. So it is a progressive process.

I believe we should have earned more points, because if you analyze deeply the specific course of the match against Juventus, we were just 30 seconds away from gaining two more points; and against other opponents, if you assess comprehensively both halves and the offensive and defensive performances throughout the entire match, I think we fully deserved better results.

Coach, good evening. I would like to ask you a question because we media colleagues were discussing this privately earlier: concerning Modrić, have you already communicated with him personally? Is it predictable that he will participate in the future only in certain types of matches and choose to rest in matches where opponents are more impactful and can cause more problems? We are very keen to know if you have had a frank discussion beforehand, especially since tonight he has once again become the key figure who changed the course of the match and decided the result with his excellent performance.

He is a player who needs us to control possession for long periods to perform at his best, but he is ready to participate in every match where we need him. Physical confrontation is not actually that important. In certain matches, if we turn the game into frequent transitions between attack and defense, like in the first half against Lazio, then it is not a good match for Luka, but it is not a good match for Rade Krunić either.

We must simply play in a way that allows our technical qualities to shine. Therefore, I think we can use Modrić intensively when we face matches against low blocks; as for other types of matches, we will decide based on the specific situation, but I believe he is ready for any type of match.

Coach, good evening. In everyone's mind, you have always been a coach with a clear tactical identity and an extremely precise formation structure. However, tonight you repeatedly used the word "freedom." Why introduce this tactical freedom at this moment? Is it because you observed that in previous matches, opponents could easily read your tactics and press, or did you have in-depth discussions with the players to find the most suitable tactical solution for Milan?

No, I think this is based on my observation of many recent matches, an objective assessment of the team's technical characteristics. Of course, I also listen to the players' opinions, but for a head coach—especially at a big club—if you make decisions simply by listening to the players, observing them, and understanding them, it will not work, because every player wants to push the game according to his individual technical characteristics, and it is very difficult to establish a unified team tactical identity through that. So it is always my own decision.

My feeling in these recent matches—and it is the same feeling I had when I was coaching Manchester United, I must not repeat the same mistake—is that sometimes we do not have the perfect technical characteristics to play in this fixed manner. If we do not have those technical characteristics, we must make tactical adjustments and changes, and I think this adjustment worked today.

In certain upcoming matches, we may also revert to a three-defender structure. The most important thing is to have multiple playing styles and different tactical schemes, especially in Italy, because coaches here are extremely tactically astute and very intelligent. They do an excellent job with man-marking, and once they lose even a little bit of their reference point regarding our tactical intentions, it becomes more difficult for the opposing coach, because for me, it is sometimes also very difficult to decipher and understand the tactical fluidity of other teams.

Traduit par IA.

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