Massimiliano Allegri, the AC Milan head coach, saw his team lose 1-2 at San Siro in the Serie A opener against Cremonese. It is not the ideal start that the fans and the club were looking for. Commenting on the result is the Rossoneri's tactician to the media in a press conference. Here are his statements:
"We had to expect this kind of match: Cremonese is a tough team that doesn’t let you play, and it was the first game of the season. Tonight, as will be the case in the next 37 matches, we needed to raise our sense of danger. Otherwise, we are a team that can lose to anyone. We need to increase our aggressiveness both offensively and defensively by being aware of the danger. We knew Cremonese was strong on crosses, and conceding two goals like that is purely a matter of perception of danger."
Is this squad enough? Allegri said:
"I know only one thing: this team has players of excellent quality. Tonight we didn’t lose because Leao or someone else was missing… We lost because you need to sense danger: when you don’t have the ball and fail to perceive the danger, you can concede a goal at any moment. We need to raise awareness and perception. We created chances, but then you concede a goal from the first cross; that’s not acceptable. It’s not possible. The Italian league is tough; you have to win even the messy games, especially at the start of the season, and tonight we failed in that regard. It’s not a tactical or technical issue, but we need to make a step forward, a switch… Maybe tonight you wouldn’t have won, but at least you wouldn’t have lost."
Where do changes need to be made?
"The club is making evaluations and worked well over the summer. Right now, we need to raise attention a lot, even if it means making one less offensive play. The first priority is to reduce the number of goals conceded; otherwise, it’s impossible. We cannot leave the field having conceded two goals when we were numerically superior."
Problems in midfield?
"We need to find team solidity. You can’t concede two goals like that."
Technically, many mistakes were made… Allegri commented:
"The first games of the season are like this. That’s why you need solidity, which allows you to score with one or two key moments. We cannot concede goals like this; for someone to score against us in this way, they have to be extremely, extremely good."
