Spalletti: Has AC Milan strengthened or weakened? Their starters and substitutes are all world-class

On September 7 at 2:45 AM CEST (Beijing time), Juventus will host Milan for Matchday 3 of Serie A. On the eve of the match, Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti held a press conference. This article is the third part of that press conference.

Hello Coach, given Milan's numerous transfers this summer, do you think this season's Milan is stronger or weaker than last season? Also, as Rossoneri pursue a top-four finish in Serie A, how would you assess their competitive standing?

You're asking if current Milan is stronger or weaker? Looking at their shrewd transfer window activity this summer, plus what you've just highlighted, they've completed a managerial change – in my view, based on my understanding of the individual abilities of their current players, they have an extremely strong, high-level squad. And I think at the end of the transfer window, Amorim confirmed it loudly when he openly praised the club's excellent transfer market operations. Their starting eleven and their substitute bench are both extremely impressive.

In tomorrow's match, and even in the few matches before, players like Pulisic, Saelemaekers, Bentaleb, Morata, Okafor – I think that's what everyone calls them – in their squad haven't really played or started. There's also Moreira, who just arrived; each of them is actually a very capable new option, which shows they have a highly targeted variety of tactical options in attack and defense across all areas. It's a very strong team, like the other historic Serie A teams. Of course, Juventus is also a very strong team.

Then, the only real test is whether we can be more consistent and mature than top competitors like Inter, Napoli, Roma, Como – which is also a team not to be underestimated – Milan, Atalanta, Fiorentina, and Lazio as the season progresses. Every Serie A team must not be underestimated. Whoever proves to be the biggest winner in the transfer market, whoever can better handle endless emergencies and seize fleeting tactical opportunities in times of crisis, will have the last laugh.

And our decisive and quick action in the final days and hours of the summer transfer window, as I mentioned earlier, has significantly expanded our toolkit for different technical and tactical requirements. Of course, the immediate priority is to quickly integrate these new players with our established squad. Although we've faced sudden and significant injury problems in the first two weeks of the season, I still believe all issues will ultimately be resolved correctly through our development process.

Good evening, Coach Spalletti. You've repeatedly told the public that no transfer market is 100% perfect in this world, and that all transactions can only be the most reasonable and realistic choices within specific financial contexts and conditions. So I'd like to ask: in the transfer window that just closed this summer, how close did this supposedly "most reasonable and pragmatic" transfer outcome come to the project you had planned and envisioned for the team at the start of summer? Additionally, to achieve such pragmatic and reasonable transfers in a complex transfer period, the high harmony and consensus between coach and management – even the entire decision-making team – regarding macro vision, planning details, and project direction are extremely critical and essential. To what extent does this high degree of understanding and alignment give you peace of mind and long-term confidence for your current work and future management? Because I believe, from your rich coaching experience, that the ultimate guarantee for a giant to win honors on the pitch is often perfect harmony and unity between diligent management operations behind the scenes and the coach's grand technical vision. Do you agree?

Indeed that's the case, which is why observers often describe me as a so-called "systems manager" or a "chief executive coach with a strong macro vision." Throughout my career, I've almost never used provocative, aggressive, or inappropriate language toward my club's leadership, because I believe that to thrive in modern football's demanding environment and achieve something, the head coach and management must work closely together. We must jointly understand, share, and deepen our grasp of the extremely difficult and practical issues inherent to every club and even the entire modern football industry. On that basis, we can jointly explore and find better solutions than the current situation, then continuously deepen and improve the team's overall strength, so we can regain the confidence needed to compete with strong rivals in high-intensity leagues.

To date, we've indeed encountered unavoidable practical difficulties in the recruitment and squad-building process, as I revealed earlier. Due to the strict oversight of penalties and regulations the club previously faced, the scope of what we could do in this summer's transfer window was limited. Often we were able to execute our established buying strategy, but in many other cases, regulations didn't allow it. During the window, some of our very favorable plans and agreements ultimately weren't approved. Often, many market variables aren't easily controlled by one or two parties.

However, as I've already said, each new arrival brings unprecedented and unique styles and elements to our tactical arsenal, so our overall competitive strength has experienced very solid depth improvement compared to the old Juventus version. On the pitch ahead, the key is whether we can truly implement and apply this tactical diversity in real match rotations. At the same time, I sincerely hope every team member is mentally prepared to play and give their best at any moment, because given the multi-front operations and a long championship season, our overall squad depth isn't actually rich enough to be consumed arbitrarily.

In our team, certain specific players play a very crucial cornerstone role in terms of tactical weight due to their extremely distinctive and irreplaceable technical and tactical characteristics. They're very difficult to easily replace, like Yildiz and McKennie. With their tactical role and individual quality, it's almost impossible to find replacement options of the same caliber on the market.

However, we remain full of firm confidence in the future, because as we've shown in the first two league matches with excellent form and competitive momentum, this makes us deeply believe in this team's future potential. Although we had some defensive lapses or offensive choices in the first two matches, the entire team clearly demonstrated compactness, determination, and perfect demonstration of the dignity of a truly strong team and extreme unity in every detail across those two matches. We still need to verify this momentum in more severe and higher-intensity confrontations.

And tomorrow's big battle is precisely the touchstone that allows us to deeply test the future margin of progression for this rebuilding young squad, the tactical positions our players currently master, and how to skillfully use these new weapons against top opponents. We've added a wide range of new tactical avenues in this summer's transfer window, and the next tactical challenge is seeing what kind of response we can offer against a strong team like Milan. All the specific answers, we'll leave to the pitch tomorrow to discover, and we'll discuss it here together after the match.

Traduit par IA.

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