AC Milan drew 1-1 with Sassuolo in an away match on matchday six of Serie A, and head coach Amorim spoke to DAZN after the game.

Good evening, Coach Amorim. Clearly, with so many changes it's sometimes difficult to analyze a match like this, isn't it? Today, within this single match, it seemed like several different matches developed. Perhaps the hardest thing about a match that turned out to be far more compact and intense than expected was breaking the deadlock, and you managed to do that. So I wanted to ask: what frustrated you most today—the team's game management after scoring, because almost immediately after we scored, the opponent created two big chances and equalized—and then, in the final phase of the match, what was missing from the team's attempt to win again?

I think we deserved to score and go ahead, but after scoring, we failed to control the game, and we need to control the game by keeping possession. We couldn't sit back completely or just think about defending. We tried to press forward, which is why they (Sassuolo) had those two chances.

We chose to keep pressing because when we scored, we needed to press because momentum was on our side. We tried to do it, but the execution wasn't the best. And after scoring, when we had possession, we lost the ball too quickly. So we did show those problems, but you understand these things can happen in a match. What absolutely cannot happen is the goal we conceded from a corner—that was a defensive mistake.

Coach, I wanted to ask something. In the first half, there was more positional play and back-and-forth. In the second half, with the changes of Modrić and Rabiot moving forward, along with some other players pushing higher up, a more beautiful, substantial AC Milan appeared—penetrating vertically and technically superior. The second-half performance was much better. So I wanted to ask: did Modrić's performance lift and activate the individual quality of Rabiot? Because Rabiot, as one of the team's most important players, can play a decisive role when he operates closer to the opponent's goal...

I think it's not a matter of individual players, but rather the rotation of the entire team. Of course, if you change a player without making significant changes to the static tactical structure, then the individual characteristics of that player will come into play. You know Rabiot will receive the ball in midfield or deeper, whereas in that position, Moussa is a completely different type of player. So if you understand this, you don't need to make extensive tactical adjustments; you just need to change the player's characteristics.

Next, Modrić's introduction gave us control of possession, but that means we will bear slightly more pressure during the transition phase. The game developed into us trying to control play in their half, while they relied on transitions for counter-attacks, even from set-pieces. And I think we did that reasonably well with man-to-man marking. However, if we review this match, after we scored, we needed to "waste" time properly, but we didn't do that at that moment.

Good evening, Coach Amorim. Speaking about individual player characteristics and squad rotation and positioning, today we saw Moreira and Chukwueze as starting partners, and we also saw that they—especially Moreira—were given different tasks than usual, right? For example, making runs without the ball to actively attack defensive gaps, and cutting inside toward the box. In fact, the first really good chance created in this match, or the first real problem posed to Sassuolo's defense, came precisely from such tactical runs. Are you also gradually exploring and discovering what players like Moreira can bring to the team if positioned further forward correctly? And when he's deeper, we see his technical quality in dribbling, direct running, and creating impact on the wing. So from this perspective, are we currently in a phase of exploration, research, and tactical development and adaptation as the match evolves?

Yes, it entirely depends on how we anticipate the way the match unfolds and what kind of situations will emerge.We're very clear that players like Ramos and Pulisic naturally like frequent touches, involvement in building attacks, and dropping back to receive the ball.Therefore, at certain moments, we need other players who can make runs in the opposite direction—that is, stretching into the space in front of the defense or making deeper runs—to provide tactical complementarity.

In the second half, I felt we would have more possession inside and around the opponent's box, and more time for positional play.In that situation, having a winger who is more midfield-oriented and more like an attacking midfielder is more effective than a player who relies purely on physicality and pace for off-the-ball sprinting.

Furthermore, I also realized that Sassuolo's central midfield block in the first half was very good and very tight, which meant the wingers always found space without proper marking. Therefore, we tried to make appropriate rotations and adjustments to our lineup and personnel precisely to better utilize and exploit these open spaces.

Coach, before we end this interview, do you have any initial feelings or latest information regarding Matteo Gabbia's situation? We saw him with the team on the sideline, but he was on crutches and seemed to be in a lot of pain as he left...

I don't know yet—I'm not clear on what type of injury Gabbia suffered—but I really, truly feel for my player, because he trained and prepared himself very hard. He truly deserved to be in the starting lineup today, and then to suffer an injury like that early in the match is really cruel and difficult for him. He's always very diligent, but sometimes these things just happen in football.

In the weeks before, we had relatively fewer matches, and everyone on the team was healthy and in good physical condition. Now an intense schedule is about to begin, and we first experienced the situation with Ale (Saelemaekers)—we're still not certain what will happen next—followed by Gabbia's sudden injury. So the football world is full of variables, and we'll certainly do our best to help and support our own players. Gabbia is very important to our entire team, and for his specific diagnosis, we'll have to wait and see.

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