AC Milan will play away against Lazio in the fourth round of Serie A at 00:00 on 13 September, Beijing time (CEST). Head coach Amorim attended the pre-match press conference. This is the first part of the press conference.

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Mauro Suma (AC Milan TV): Good afternoon, coach. In the first half you faced Ignazio Abate, in the second half Giovanni Stroppa, and tomorrow you'll face Rino Gattuso. They are all representative figures from AC Milan's history across different eras. But specifically on the pitch, what different tactical challenges will Gattuso bring to tomorrow's Lazio versus AC Milan match? And what is special about the Rossoneri years in your memory?

Good afternoon, everyone. Regarding tomorrow's match, first of all we must face a very fast, aggressive team with a very distinctive tactical style. They use a four-man defense with three players in midfield. From this perspective, Davide Frattesi was a very successful signing because he's very aggressive in the final 30 meters. Their two wingers have excellent ball skills, and they also have a new center forward.

Therefore, this is a team that plays very freely and with great confidence; they just picked up three consecutive league wins. Sometimes football is beautiful and interesting in this way—Lazio lost in the Coppa Italia previously, but then started the league with three consecutive wins. So Lazio will certainly be full of confidence tomorrow, but we are also fully prepared for this challenge.

As for Gennaro Gattuso, he is clearly a legend. In my opinion, such a figure is very important for AC Milan right now, sending the signal that talent isn't everything. With spirit, determination, and aggression—these are very valuable qualities, and we must respond with the same qualities on the pitch. Speaking about our playing style, what may have been lacking from the team in recent years is precisely this spirit. Through spirit and dedication, sometimes you can overcome certain difficulties and obstacles. Therefore, from this perspective, he is a good example for us.

Peppe Di Stefano (Sky Sport Italia): Hello, coach. AC Milan also started well, with 7 points from the first three matches, but when you spoke after the last match, you seemed not entirely satisfied with the team's performance. Have you and the players analyzed the reasons in recent days? Is it a matter of tactical execution, or are some players not fully implementing your game plan?

I think it's a bit of both. During training this past week, we've had detailed discussions and made many corrections regarding what we did wrong in the last match. I think it's not just a tactical issue; we lacked sufficient energy in the game, and this vitality is very important to how we understand and interpret football. In the first half, I thought we did very well in terms of ball possession and overall control. But we lacked sufficient aggression in the final 30 meters and didn't get enough players into the opposition penalty area.

At the same time, I also showed the players match review videos, showing them that many of the chances Juventus created came from moments when we lost possession, including some careless passes made without defensive pressure. These are all our own mistakes. Therefore, this dynamic must change in upcoming matches; we must improve in this regard.

Federica Cile (DAZN): Good afternoon, coach. I checked Gonçalo Ramos's statistics from the last match: he had only 23 touches throughout the game and didn't attempt a single shot. However, this is just the attacking line. What I want to ask is: hasn't the entire team fully understood how to involve him better in attacks, or does he himself need to make changes to play a bigger role?

I think it's difficult to blame just one player. In the last match, we didn't perform well as a team overall. We lost possession far too often, and if we frequently lose possession without defensive pressure, that means we have problems in various areas.

When Gonçalo Ramos touches the ball, the connection and cooperation with his teammates also isn't good enough, and he knows this himself. Therefore, we must improve, but this is improvement as a team. Because we saw Ramos's outstanding performances against Torino and Venezia, but against Juventus, he certainly didn't show the same level, which everyone noticed. But based on his performances against Torino and Venezia, we know that Ramos is a very good player who can perform at a very high level. We know what we need to do, and every player must continue to improve in this regard.

Carlos Passerini (Corriere della Sera): Good afternoon, Ruben. I'd like to talk about another player—Luka Modric, who just celebrated his 41st birthday. In recent weeks, I've heard some criticism about Modric, and personally, I actually think this criticism is somewhat unfair and a bit exaggerated. Some claim that at age 41, Modric's playing style is too physically demanding for him, especially compared with AC Milan's style under Allegri. I'd like to hear your thoughts and evaluation on whether this is true or not.

I can actually understand the logic behind this statement, and it has some validity as a discussion, because sometimes Luka really can't give everything in every high defensive press. But from another perspective, he's the best player on our team at controlling the tempo and maintaining possession.

If there's one thing the team needs most right now, it's learning to keep the ball at their feet for extended periods. In this regard, Modric understands it better than anyone. As head coach, I must weigh and choose: do I want more possession control, or do I want more defensive pressure? I know we will make some sacrifices in pressing, and our opponents know that too. But when we have possession, if we have Luka Modric on the pitch, we can demonstrate better control.

Against Juventus, I noticed that at certain moments our defensive pressure on the opponent decreased—for example, Douglas Luiz had more time on the ball. But from AC Milan's perspective, this also gave us a higher level of control when we had possession. So this is a trade-off; there are advantages and disadvantages.

The message I want to send to the players is this: if there must be a compromise in some aspects, I prefer to sacrifice some pressing intensity to gain higher possession control. Therefore, this is my tactical choice. I can fully understand the reasoning behind external criticism, but it also needs to be viewed from another angle. Modric brings us better possession management, and that's what I'm actually pursuing—I want to build a team that can dominate the game by controlling possession.

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