Head down, a dark expression. Clear messages and no excuses. Ruben Amorim is not hiding. Instead, he is exposing all the shortcomings of the worst Milan side of the season which lost last night 0-2 against Ferencvaros. The performance was even worse than the one against Benfica, more disappointing than the team that lost at home to Bologna.
Yesterday's Milan simply were not there: completely absent without justification.
Amorim hits out: "There is no explanation. There is nothing I can say, especially about the first 45 minutes. I cannot remember another first half like that."
The coach kept the team in the dressing room for a lengthy discussion. Their legs were not moving, but it is the mind that controls them. And determination, in turn, must set the chain in motion, as pointed out via La Gazzetta dello Sport today.
"It is about ambition and concentration. We gave away opportunities, we made stupid mistakes. We were not prepared to play football."
Even worse than an inadequate performance is a lack of preparation.
"Of course we care about Europe. It is difficult to say anything to explain this, there are no excuses. We simply were not ready to move from the derby to this other competition. When you wear the Milan shirt, you have a responsibility and you cannot turn up like this. I probably also failed to ensure that the team took to the pitch as ready as it should have been."
Amorim has never been seen this angry before...
"Clearly, we are not ready to be competitive on two fronts. We have to work on our way of seeing football and how we approach matches. I usually have a lot to say in defence of our team, but not this time. We have to be more humble and understand what happened."
The coach is always the first person responsible, and Amorim duly accepts the blame. Much of it, but not all of it:
"Perhaps I did something wrong over these two days, but not mentally. This team had similar problems last year too. We have to find a solution: we cannot maintain the same level with just three days between matches, and that is what we have to work on. If we are not winning, we have to do everything to turn things around, and we did not do that. We were not brave. Everyone has to train like Pavlovic. We must and can win matches despite making rotations. We have to be ready, but right now we are not, to play and win every three days. But we will not give up on this competition. We will fight until the mathematics condemn us."
Mentality
The increasingly harsh outburst continued:
"I am not talking about technique, performing magic or winning every single match. I am talking about the little things, the things we can control. We are not the type of club where the circumstances, squad rotation or injuries do not matter. On the contrary, we have an enormous responsibility and we have failed. We let everyone down, especially after coming off a victory."
"We are not yet ready to be competitive every single day, and that is a huge problem for our team. We are not mentally ready. It has nothing to do with the technical side. It has nothing to do with squad rotation. I remember certain reactions when we lost possession of the ball: they were not the same as the ones we saw three days ago."
"And I repeat, we cannot afford to do something like this in front of our fans, in our own home. We cannot do this, otherwise it ends here."
Reproduction prohibited
This Milan are not a team suited to squad rotation: one way or another, they lose their bearings and their sense of security. The system does not dictate things, at least not yet; the players themselves are decisive. Amorim's machine is capable of running only under certain conditions: remove one part and the engine slows down; remove several parts and it goes completely off course.
If further proof were needed, this is the fourth occasion: more than the three indications required to establish a pattern.
Yesterday, the rotations had been dictated by the need to manage resources, although nobody had actually been tired in the first half: the intensity was zero. Was it a natural post-derby dip? No, that is too simplistic. The derby should have fuelled enthusiasm, not drained the energy needed for European football.
Furthermore, as mentioned, the squad had once again been reshuffled and adjusted with rotation in mind. Torriani was selected in goal out of necessity, given Maignan's suspension. He was at fault for the first goal and made an already miserable evening even darker. However, nobody had helped to switch the light on before that.
Not even young Cissé, who was not particularly fired up by his first call-up to the national team. He lasted just one half: very little. The difference between the starters and the substitutes was simply too pronounced. At this point, only the January transfer window can bridge that gap.
In defence, the changes brought Terracciano and Diawara into the side: the former was poor, while the latter was inconsistent. It was not Bartesaghi's evening either, as he was ineffective going forward and soft in defence.
Jashari, standing in for Modric as the deep-lying playmaker, was poor, while Musah was even worse. They were among the first players to be substituted.
Hutchinson was the only player outside the usual starting XI to remain on the pitch until the end. He was less disappointing than the others, particularly during the second half.
Age is no excuse either. Yesterday, Milan fielded their second-youngest starting XI in European competition, with an average age of 23 years and 225 days. The only younger side (23 years and 218 days) was the one that played in Athens in 2017.
Amorim's rotation...
As mentioned, this was the fourth test. Milan had already failed their opening test here against Benfica and then missed their second chance in Bournemouth.
It is true that Maignan's red card and the two-goal deficit from penalties had irreparably compromised the match, but the difference in tempo had been obvious even when both teams had eleven players on the pitch.
The third test, also an inadequate one, came against Bologna. Injuries to Gila, Moreira and Rabiot had dictated an unusual line-up, in which Pulisic and Modric had been rested as part of the usual, disastrous rotation policy.
It is difficult to imagine Amorim following yesterday's fourth failure with a fifth attempt in the future. The outcome is already clear: Milan cannot afford extensive squad rotation. At most, they can make a few minor changes to the machinery. Otherwise, they end up going off the road.
