Ruben Amorim, Milan head coach, is speaking at the post-match press conference following Lazio-Milan, the Rossoneri’s fourth Serie A game of the season.
Point gained or two points lost?
"Everyone in the stadium realised that there were two games, two different games. I don’t know if we deserve more points for the second half or fewer points for the first half. I think that in the end we lost two points because we only played for one half, and that is really frustrating. The important thing is that I heard Mario Gila speak to the media and he said exactly the same thing. So we can work on this. If the players feel what I feel, I think that is important. And again, I know this is a difficult stadium to play in. I know Torino is a difficult stadium to play in, but we should have more points at this moment. We have to be frustrated about that."
Are you more angry about the first half or happier with the reaction in the second?
"It’s not two teams, it’s not two games, it’s the same game, so I’m really frustrated. Obviously, I really liked the way we played in the second half and the spirit was completely different, the energy was completely different. It looked like another team, but in the end we are the same team, because many players who played in the first half also played in the second and they were completely different. So I don’t know how to answer that."
Would you have made the same choices from the start? Amorim said:
"It’s too easy to say that afterwards. I’m not crazy, making choices so that we don’t play well. The spirit in the second half was completely different, as was the way we approached the game. We cannot stop playing the type of football we have to play. We have to start the game understanding that we know what the most important game of our season will be, and so we cannot play like this. We played like that in the second half because we were 2-0 down, but I don’t want to say that I will change the line-up. I will change... perhaps I will do more to provoke that energy and play a different game."
Moreira on the left and Chukwueze on the right? Amorim said:
"I want to play with three defenders and two wide players. So sometimes the two of them will play, and Moreira played really well on the left. He has experience playing on the left at Strasbourg. We know the players very well, so it will happen again in the future."
When did you realise who to change and when to make the changes?
"It’s difficult to say an exact moment. I felt, and I think everyone in the stadium felt, in the first five minutes that they were playing at a different speed. So I understood that either we changed something in our team or we would suffer today. So, I can tell you that, to be honest, we started the game quite well with an opportunity, but then after five minutes I already knew that they wanted it more than us. So, I don’t know the exact moment when I felt I had to make a change, but I realised quite early, within 10 minutes, that we were not in the game compared with last week."
