AC Milan will play away against Juventus in Serie A Matchday 3 at 02:45 (CEST) on September 7. Head coach Amorim attended the pre-match press conference, and this article is the third part of his remarks.

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Franco Ordine (Il Giornale): Coach Amorim, hello. I'd like to quickly raise two points and a question. First, in the previous match against Venezia, we saw some defensive actions that seemed overly risky, which created considerable danger for the backline. In your view, is the team making progress on this defensive aspect? Second, I noticed that when you mentioned Tomori just now, you accurately referenced the schedule—we have to play 4 matches in 10 days. I think you've studied the upcoming fixture schedule very carefully, but do you really think such a congested schedule is normal?

I'll start by answering your last question about whether the schedule is normal. Frankly, I've never seen such a packed sequence of matches at this crucial stage of the season; it's practically unprecedented. Neither in Portugal's league nor in the Premier League have I faced a schedule like this. Therefore, without question, this will be an extremely difficult period.

Fortunately, we can rotate to give valuable rest to certain players, and we will indeed rotate extensively, allowing every player in the squad to get playing time. This is why we need to maintain squad depth, because until January, all players will play a crucial role, and we cannot predict what emergencies might arise throughout the season. But I must emphasize again, I've never experienced such a congested schedule even in the Premier League.

Regarding the defensive issues we showed against Venezia, yes, in that area, we certainly weren't as good as against Torino, where we controlled the transition phase much better. Against Venezia, our transition defense was not adequate. However, from playing against Torino, I know our players have the ability to do this well; they just need to maintain focus for the full 90 minutes.

In the match against Venezia, we had many problems with our defensive shape when not in possession and during the organization phase after losing the ball. Our focus wasn't entirely on defending deep in our own penalty area, but rather on how quickly to prepare defensively and organize preventive man-marking when we lose possession. We spent a lot of time on these details in targeted training this week.

There's also another interesting situation: we have two center-backs—like S. Pavlovic and Mario Gila—who sometimes play like number 10s on the pitch, which occasionally becomes a defensive weakness. While this shows a certain level of proactivity on their part, it also means we're taking unnecessary and excessive defensive risks, and we must do better at handling and managing this. I was very unhappy with our performance against Venezia, and I made that clear to the players on the first day of training this week. Therefore, starting from tomorrow's match, we must show significant improvement.

Andrea Sereni (La Repubblica): Good afternoon, coach. I'd like to revisit what Cristian Chivu said, even though you just stated you don't want to respond directly to him. However, I know that his definition of "AC Milan being a great team only because of tradition" has made many AC Milan fans uncomfortable. In football history, including at AC Milan, some coaches have traditionally posted provocative and dismissive comments from opponents or outside voices on the changing room wall to fire up their players and motivate them to prove such words wrong, and that AC Milan is great not just because of tradition but also as a current powerhouse. Have you considered using Chivu's words from yesterday in a similar way, as an incentive and motivation for the players? Also, I'd like to quickly ask about Moreira: do you prefer to see him as a wing-back or an attacking midfielder?

I think I've already answered several questions about Diego Moreira. I mostly deploy him as a winger. In certain matches, he can also play perfectly as a wider forward or more advanced attacking midfielder, but currently we have many players to rotate. Moreira can play on either flank; we prefer to use him as a wing-back or attacking winger, leveraging his individual dribbling ability in the final third to create one-on-one opportunities, especially against teams that defend deep and are well organized.

However, returning to the Chivu topic, if we really need external evaluation or commentary to stay motivated and fired up, then our team already has a serious problem. If we want to win and lift trophies, we only need to look at the league table and AC Milan's achievements over recent years; that's enough to make us realize how long and difficult the road ahead still is.

I fully understand and sympathize with the fans' feelings. I know how uncomfortable it is when you hear someone speak about AC Milan that way. However, as someone who loves, cares for, and works for this club, we must be truly honest and genuine with our supporters; we need to face reality. In the last 20 years, we've won the Serie A title just twice. That's what worries me most and what I need to work on day and night, not what Cristian Chivu or anyone else says.

So I emphasize again, if we spend too much energy on what others say about us, that only proves we're distracted, which is very bad. I'm very clear about the club's current reality. In my mind, AC Milan is the strongest and biggest club in Italy, a giant that has lifted 7 Champions League trophies. But in reality, in the last 20 years, we haven't even won the Coppa Italia, and since our victory in 2022, we haven't touched a league trophy again.

Therefore, I don't need Chivu to specifically point this out, and I certainly won't post clippings like that on the changing room wall. The objective fact that AC Milan hasn't won since 2022 is enough for everyone to understand how much hard work awaits. All my energy and focus is on my club and what we need to do well. We have the ability to achieve our goals, but it will take time. I don't care at all what Cristian Chivu or anyone says; what we need to do is calmly analyze why in recent years AC Milan could only play in the Europa League, or even fell to the point of not competing in European competitions at all, completely excluded from them.

I repeat, there will be no motivational slogans on the changing room wall, but a huge amount of work awaits us. First is tomorrow's match; if we can win tomorrow, we can rightfully move to the top of the table, but I know this requires a lot of effort, and I'm 100% focused on that.

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