Max Allegri spoke to Sky Sport after Chelsea–Milan 4-1. Here are his statements:
The preseason doesn’t end in the best way…
“We’ve completed a month of preparation without any injuries, and from Tuesday we can prepare properly for the Coppa Italia. Paradoxically, today we played better with ten men, we were more organized. We could have been more attentive, but these are things we’ll fix. We’ll need a different level of focus. Sunday is a knockout match. Now we need to work with total calm," as relayed via Milannews.it.
Still a few defensive errors… Allegri commented:
“We’ve improved a bit as a team, not just in defence. We must keep working. Conceding a goal after seven minutes from a set piece, and even on the second goal we could have defended better. The boys showed me good spirit. There’s disappointment when you lose, but it doesn’t change the value of the team. The important thing is that nobody got injured. We return to Milan after two games in two days in good condition.”
On Malick Thiaw leaving to join Newcastle:
“It’s a shame he left. The club is moving for his replacement, this is the transfer market: you have to accept it and keep working. I have excellent players in the squad who are making themselves available to each other.”
On Rafael Leao and the attack:
“Leao has raised his level of focus; his performances have become more decisive. We had chances, but we could have been more ruthless.”
Now is a defender more urgent than a striker?
“We’ll see, the club and Tare are working. We have Gabbia, Pavlovic, and Tomori, so we have three defenders to play next Sunday. If one arrives this week, great. If not, we’ll wait.”
On Luka Modric:
“He’s been here for 10 days and needs to work. He was meant to play 30 minutes, but he played 45. The red card changed our plans. He was supposed to come on for Musah, who played 70 minutes after playing 60 yesterday. He needs to improve his condition; he’s behind the others.”
A scoreline that makes it look like today was a disaster:
“It’s not a disaster. It’s summer football. We need to learn and improve on details like set pieces. I’m happy with the work we’ve done this month; now the season begins, the part that counts, and also the most enjoyable.”
