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00:00Good afternoon, welcome along to the pre-match press conference ahead of Milan Empoli, we'll
00:05start with Milan TV, thanks Nicola, good afternoon coach.
00:10When people talk about Milan day in, day out, all they talk about is balance and shape,
00:17what sort of balance can there be in terms of striking the balance between the way you
00:22defended against Juventus and the way you attacked against Sloven Bratislava?
00:29Yes, they were two very different matches, with different ways of defending.
00:41We were organised against Juventus, whereas we had more transitions against Sloven Bratislava,
00:49but we will try and strike the balance, at times it feels like we make progress in one
00:54area and then another issue arises elsewhere, but we are working hard and something which
01:08is important to me is as follows, it's not just because when you win you think that everything
01:12has been resolved, it's not a silver bullet, you mustn't shy away and close your eyes
01:16to any problems, that's what we've done this week.
01:19We won against Sloven Bratislava, that was the most important thing, it was extremely
01:25significant.
01:26I liked our performance, but there were defensive areas of our game where I can't simply close
01:33my eyes to those, we've spoken about that and we've worked on that to try and make improvements
01:41in this area.
01:43Gaffer, with regards to the fact that you're not going to close your eyes and pretend the
01:47problem is not there, where is the main issue when it comes to defending, is it more psychological
01:51in nature, does it come down to them learning something or is it more tactical because of
01:58the skill set you have in the squad?
02:00You're someone who speaks a lot to his players, what do the players actually think about this?
02:04At times these issues arise when you play matches, for instance, in our most recent
02:21league match against Juventus we worked a great deal on defensive shape and the team
02:26were very good in terms of the way they defended.
02:31Now we came up against a team that play a lot of transition, but the players have grasped
02:37the problem.
02:40In my opinion the issue is, and there's something else I'd like to say here, we're always talking
02:45about defensive problems, that the team concede too many goals, I mustn't overlook the fact
02:50that we have the fifth best defence in Serie A, we've conceded the same number of goals
02:58as in Sirolazio, for instance, we've conceded fewer than Atalanta.
03:07At times people make a mountain out of a molehill, we want to get better, we are constantly striving
03:15to improve, the players are doing a good job when it comes to trying to improve.
03:24At times the issues aren't tactical in nature, our issues against Slovan Bratislava weren't
03:32tactical, it was about reading the game at times, certain times when it comes to individuals,
03:38this is what we're working a great deal on.
03:41We continue to have to keep working on individuals reading certain moments of the game, individual
03:48technique when it comes to defending 1v1.
03:52But we are working, the players understand that, and in my opinion, as I said, what's
04:01important is to actually work on the problem, it's not a case of, OK, we won so everything
04:06is resolved, everything is nice and rosy, no, we've spotted the issue and we're working
04:11to improve upon it, and what I feel is that the issue that we faced in matches, when we
04:20then work on them, typically the team responds positively to that issue, and I expect us
04:26to continue to respond positively to the issues that have arisen.
04:30My second and final question is about a non-issue, how you attack, we've seen a number of different
04:37versions of this Milan side, the fans really like you playing two up front with Morata
04:47and Abraham, is that something that you can pick again?
04:50Yes, that system is still a possibility to my mind.
05:02When we need to pick a shape like that against certain tactical formations from the opposition,
05:10that's when we'll pick two up front.
05:13There's always the option of picking two up front, the zone.
05:16Good afternoon, coach.
05:18Why are Milan no longer able to really flex their muscle from a footballing perspective,
05:25you know, why can't you win big against Slovan, Batislava, Monza, Udinese, you know, you always
05:30have to win by just a solitary goal, one more than the opposition, you're never winning
05:35big.
05:36Are you concerned by the fact that Milan aren't able to dominate matches against the opposition
05:40of this standard?
05:45It's not easy to dominate in Italy, and that's because of the skill set of the opposition.
05:55It's difficult to always dominate against Empoli, it's difficult to always dominate
05:59proceedings against Atalanta, because it's the way the teams are structured.
06:07What we want to do is strike that balance.
06:11We're aware of the fact that we always have chances, the team are fashioning opportunities,
06:17we are creating chances, but what we want to see is that balance.
06:22We want to see that the team is both creating chances, but we also feel very safe defensively
06:29and secure, so that we can continue to play this football.
06:33For instance, at Bratislava, we had an excellent opportunity to do just that.
06:42We scored the goal, and then we had the chance to dominate the game, to keep possession,
06:48to build confidence, but then we conceded from another situation where the team struggled
07:00in that transitional moment.
07:02The most important thing is to try and strike the balance between when we're defending and
07:06when we're attacking.
07:13In light of what we've seen in the month of November, can we say that you'd agree that
07:18you're better off having Rapha Liao on the pitch as opposed to on the bench?
07:22Now yes.
07:23At this stage, yes.
07:34Coaches have different strategies.
07:39There are only four matches, so this is my impression.
07:42I think I used two different approaches.
07:45One didn't have a result.
07:46It feels like the other approach that I took did pay dividends.
07:52I'm very pleased that Rapha has reacted in this way to the fact that he was benched,
08:02but I want to see consistency.
08:03I want to see consistency.
08:08The team needs this version of Rapha Liao.
08:12Gazzetta dello Sport, good afternoon, coach.
08:17You spoke about two different approaches there.
08:20One we've understood, which was to bench Rapha from time.
08:24What was the other approach that didn't work?
08:26No, I can't say what it is.
08:28No, I can't say what that is.
08:33Speaking about team selection ahead of tomorrow, Empoli are a team that defend very well.
08:37They haven't conceded too many opportunities.
08:41They've got a very good goalkeeper because he's up against his parent club.
08:45You've seen him at Milanello.
08:46What does Milan need to do more compared with the Sloven-Bratislava side or some of the
08:51home games against weaker opposition on paper?
09:06In Italy, teams need to have two different offensive versions.
09:18Our last two matches have been played against Juventus and Sloven-Bratislava.
09:22That's one version.
09:24And now we need to have a different attacking approach when we're up against Empoli and
09:29Atalanta.
09:32What is the approach, the offensive approach?
09:42These are just two different ways of attacking the opposition.
09:45When we take on a team like Empoli, there are certain facets which are more important
09:50than others that you might be more significant against Juventus.
09:54Obviously, I can't tell you what the important facets are.
10:02But I think it's very clear in my mind it will be a very difficult match against Empoli
10:08tomorrow evening.
10:10Empoli really are a good team.
10:11They're very aggressive when they defend.
10:16They don't concede too many goals.
10:19I think they've got the fourth best defence at this moment in time.
10:27It will be difficult.
10:29We need to play with a certain attacking approach for this type of match.
10:33Daniele Longo, thank you.
10:36Good afternoon, coach.
10:37If I'm not mistaken, at the start of October in a press conference, you highlighted the
10:41need to find a defensive pairing, centre-back pairing, and you said that you had found it
10:47with Matteo Gabbia and Ficco Tomori.
10:52Given that you've recently rotated your centre-backs, does that come down to the fact that Gabbia
10:57was injured, or the issues you've had in terms of team selection because you had some
11:03headaches because everyone was playing well, or is it because you're nine points off top
11:07spot?
11:15At this stage, I think it would be better to have a more stable defensive-back pairing
11:26than another one, but we also need to realise that we have lots of matches and we can't
11:31always pick the same players.
11:34Matteo Gabbia was injured, he played one match and it was difficult to get him back in the
11:40side after his injury.
11:45I'm aware of the fact that it now is important to pick the same players as part of the defensive
11:54line, the back four.
11:55The issue is, we've got a lot of matches, and given we had that injury to Gabbia, then
12:04we need to try and manage his fitness levels.
12:14We're almost forced into managing things this way, and fortunately so.
12:27I shouldn't talk too much about it at the moment, I don't really like to speak too much
12:30about this, but we've barely had any injuries at all.
12:33I don't like talking about it, but what we're seeing in our team is very positive indeed.
12:41It's a bit because of the way we rotate our team, that's what we need to do at the moment.
12:48How many games do we have between now and the end of the year?
12:57Nine points off the top.
13:01What else can I say?
13:04I would have preferred to have had more points, but I'm still thinking very positively.
13:10Good afternoon, Gaffer, I wanted to say the following to you, a short time ago you said
13:20that when you do specific training sessions on defending, the players understand.
13:27So the first goal that you conceded at Slovan Bratislava looked identical to the goal you
13:37conceded, not to a goal that you conceded, but to a passage of play when Tijani Reinders
13:43was sent off against Udinese.
13:45So I'm wondering, if you keep making the same mistakes, and in this instance from a corner,
13:55is there no one who can actually put their hand up, shout at someone and say, lads, why
14:02were nine or ten of you pushing up the pitch and you left that space in behind you?
14:07Are you not also missing someone that actually speaks out there on the pitch to their teammates?
14:19It looks like the same situation, because ultimately we saw Tigi chasing after an opposition
14:28player.
14:29It seems the same, but it's completely different.
14:31The situation is completely different.
14:35There's absolutely no comparison to be drawn.
14:39One was a passage of play that it came up.
14:42This situation was a dead ball situation, a corner, where we had three players, three
14:48players who were all prepared for this counter-attack.
14:56It's an individual choice.
14:58It was an individual decision.
15:09I or anyone else on the pitch might be able to speak.
15:12You can speak, but it's an individual decision.
15:16Even if Mike in goal says, make sure you get your shape right, all three of you keep an
15:20eye out for that, sure, but ultimately it's the result, the outcome of an individual decision
15:26at that specific moment.
15:30These things are completely different.
15:33Ultimately it's because it was Tigi Reinders who was actually chasing back into the box.
15:37It makes you think about the same passage of play from the end of that Udinese red card,
15:43but they're completely different situations.
15:44Aria.
15:45Good afternoon, coach.
15:47Good afternoon.
15:49I was really struck by the fact that the two goals that were scored in Bratislava were
15:54scored with space in front.
16:00With Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leal who are very quick, having that space is beneficial
16:05to the team.
16:06What do you mean by dominating?
16:08Or rather, can you dominate by being a bit more compact in midfield, leaving a bit more
16:13space up the pitch in order for our quicker players to be able to benefit from that?
16:20And then could you maybe manage the defensive area a bit better?
16:31What I'm wondering is, I don't know if I've understood this correctly, I'm wondering whether
16:35you're asking me whether we can sit a bit deeper to have a bit more space up the pitch
16:38for these players.
16:42I think we have had that a couple of times in the last couple of games.
16:48In the last game, yes, we did spend more time in the attacking third because Sloven
16:58Bratislava defended with ten players on the edge of their box, but we scored two goals
17:03when we had space.
17:05One via Christian Pulisic and the other one with Rafael Leal.
17:11The ideal is to have both.
17:15Ideally, we need to understand that when we win the ball back, we have players that can
17:20very quickly get up the pitch.
17:22When we can't do so, that's when we keep possession, the opposition drops off, and that's when
17:32we need to have an organised set-attack, as it's known.
17:39But quite honestly, the goals that we score is more in space as opposed to the goals via
17:48positional attacks or set-attacks in the final third of the pitch.
17:53I think we're capable of both, and the goals that we typically score are when we are afforded
18:00space when we win the ball back quickly and then we're able to hurt them with spacing
18:05behind the opposition defensive line.
18:07Antonello Gioia, good afternoon Gaffer.
18:09I'd like to ask you a slightly off-the-wall question.
18:15Pep Guardiola scratched his face and his nose in midweek, and that was a little bit shocking.
18:20Is this a slightly underestimated problem, the fact that coaches are always under stress,
18:27under pressure?
18:28Some things go a little bit overboard, but these things can happen.
18:32You know, it's always the head coach in the firing line on the receiving end, and ultimately
18:35you need to plough ahead.
18:38We can't get away from that.
18:40You can't get away from that pressure when you work for a club like AC Milan or Manchester
18:48City.
18:50I don't know what happened.
18:53I don't think anyone knows exactly what happened with Pep Guardiola.
19:03But being here means constant pressure, it means you're under pressure day in, day out.
19:09It means pressure not only out there with you guys in the media and the fan base, it's
19:14also internally with the players.
19:18That's because we're a team that has to win week in, week out.
19:25If you don't want to have that pressure, then you don't belong here, you don't belong at
19:31this level.
19:39I don't think you can have it any other way.
19:42I think there's huge pressure, there's massive pressure, and you can feel it every minute
19:47of every day.
19:49But that's the way it is.
19:56I always say that football is for the strong-willed.
20:00If you're either strong, or if you're not strong, then you have no business being involved
20:07in football at the highest level.
20:13Good afternoon, coach.
20:14Earlier on, you were saying that you can make changes defensively, and this has also helped
20:20the players to avoid injury.
20:21There is, however, a player in midfield that's playing every single game, Youssef Fofana.
20:26Are you considering possibly resting him for this game, given that he's booking away
20:31from suspension in your next matches against Atalanta, or will he rest up in the hotel?
20:35No, he'll get a rest in the hotel.
20:37No, not in the hotel, here at Milanello, at the training ground.
20:44At this moment in time, I can't run the risk of not picking Youssef Fofana.
20:52The next game is the most important fixture.
21:02I expect Fofana to play intelligently to avoid picking up a yellow card.
21:10Quite honestly, I'm not concerned about Fofana.
21:15I'm not worried about him at this moment in time.
21:18If Fofana makes a mistake, so be it.
21:21He makes a mistake.
21:23I expect the others not to make mistakes.
21:26Bressi, good afternoon, coach.
21:31A lot has been made about the process that Milan are going through in order to get better,
21:36but then I look at the league table, and in the top six, I see four teams that have still
21:43changed coach.
21:44They've changed a great deal.
21:46I thank you for bringing this up.
21:49Let's talk about it.
21:51Which teams are they?
21:52Napoli, Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio.
21:57Four of the top six have changed coach in the summer.
22:00They've also changed the way they play in many ways, and they also actually were coming
22:05from a tougher league position.
22:07Does this justification, which is valid for you guys adapting, do you get to the stage
22:15now where you're running out of excuses, you can no longer justify that, no longer holds
22:20water?
22:23First and foremost, I must say that I'm sure that we'll finish above some of these teams,
22:29but let's talk about it.
22:31Let's talk about these teams.
22:37First I need to start with us.
22:42We started pre-season with 15 players and the kids.
22:49We went on tour to the United States, things were wonderful, and we started eight days
23:00before our first match with the other players, and I'm talking about the most influential
23:08players in the squad here.
23:13These were the guys who played at Euro 2024.
23:17Eight days before our first game, we got them back to work with.
23:24I came in and I conducted four or five training sessions before our first game.
23:29After that, we never had time to train the players.
23:32That's the truth.
23:35And we are gradually, we don't have much time available to work.
23:46We are getting better in certain areas, but when you make lots of changes, it is tougher.
23:58I don't think these teams, not Napoli, because Napoli are a different kettle of fish, I don't
24:04think those teams had a pre-season where almost all of their key players weren't available.
24:11They had four, five or six weeks of training ground, action in pre-season.
24:16That's very important when you change things.
24:27And a number of these teams aren't involved in the Champions League.
24:30They're able to make changes during the week.
24:32We can also talk a great deal about that.
24:35I don't think there's any need to talk about Napoli.
24:42Napoli have a new head coach, but they have a full week every week to work on the training
24:47ground.
24:48That's a different kettle of fish.
24:53And then we have two very strong sides like Inter and Atalanta.
25:01How many years have they been working under the same coach?
25:06You can understand if you want to that that's the way things are.
25:10If you only want to look at results, I'm the first to admit that we need more.
25:17Let's go alongside him.
25:23Good afternoon, coach.
25:25I wanted to ask you whether you heard what Zlatan Ibrahimović said about Ismail Benasseur
25:31and whether you're relaxed about the second half of the season with the Algerian midfielder
25:37and on his fitness levels.
25:40Yes, we are expecting Ismail Benasseur to recover to full fitness to play in the second
25:51half of the season.
25:52He might become an important player for us.
25:55Yes, we are confident when it comes to Benasseur's recovery.
26:01Last question, Carlo Pellegatti.
26:02Good afternoon.
26:03Good afternoon.
26:04I can't ask you two questions, but recently your questions have been very tough.
26:12Why?
26:13I don't know.
26:16OK.
26:17I wanted to say the following.
26:25Tell us about what you can about formation tomorrow.
26:33If you don't want to say anything, then that's up to you.
26:35But ultimately, then I'll ask a question and then you can ultimately finish up with team
26:39selection for tomorrow.
26:41Listen, it's great to start immediately.
26:44It happened with Puyoli.
26:46There's a lot less pressure.
26:51Empoli is a very tough match because you can't afford to make a mistake, losing or drawing.
26:59You're confident about winning the Scudetto, but it would become a Herculean task to win
27:04the Scudetto if you were to drop points tomorrow.
27:08It's almost a knockout situation in Serie A now, which is different in the Champions
27:13League.
27:14We were well positioned in the Champions League.
27:16No, we were under that same pressure away at Real Madrid.
27:23So I wanted to understand what it's like living with that situation, that knockout situation
27:29week in, week out.
27:33I'm an expert when it comes to pressure because right from day one at Milan, every single
27:38match has been that way.
27:42There's nothing new tomorrow's game, the fact that we're under pressure.
27:46It's the same pressure that I've had throughout.
27:50The players too.
27:52The players too.
27:55All of us here know that we need to win tomorrow night, that then we need to beat Sassuolo,
28:01we need to defeat Atalanta.
28:03That's the way it is.
28:06Quite honestly, I don't feel any more pressure than I have done ahead of other games, if
28:11I'm quite honest.
28:12It's the same pressure.
28:16I'm not very nice to myself because I'm the first person to actually apply this pressure
28:22on myself.
28:27But is there not more pressure in terms of finishing first or second or eighth or ninth?
28:32Oh, in the league table.
28:35Is it a different pressure being up the top, being the chaser or the ones who chase?
28:40That's why I'm an expert.
28:41I haven't been up there, I've only been down here.
28:46I'd love to be up there, I'd much rather be up there rather than being down here.
28:50It's a lot tougher now for the teams that are behind.
28:54It's a very different type of pressure, it's very different.
28:59It's much better to have the pressure to win when you're already at the top of the table.
29:02But obviously it's different when you are up near the top of the table, you're leading
29:09the league.
29:12There's always pressure.
29:16Even the team that's top of the table, even Napoli, feel a great deal of pressure because
29:21the teams behind them are only one point off them.
29:23There's always pressure, there's always pressure.
29:25Okay, maybe there's a different type of pressure on me compared with the pressure that's currently
29:32on Napoli.
29:33But I've always felt pressure, ever since I took over here at Milan.
29:39I must say, we work a great deal here, but I always sleep like a baby.
29:47I don't sleep a lot, but the hours that I do sleep, I sleep like a baby.
29:52Quality over quantity.
29:56I'd like to sleep a bit more, but I've got a one-year-old baby, and that's the only way
30:03that stops me from sleeping well, is my baby crying.
30:08But yeah, we're there together, it's not easy.
30:12Okay, about the team, the team selection.
30:19Look, I can't say anything, but in an hour's time you guys will know the starting XI, I'm
30:29well aware of that.
30:30In an hour's time you'll know the starting XI that will play tomorrow.
30:33That's not down to me.
30:34It won't be me that will be speaking.
30:40Should we expect a coup de theatre?
30:46Maybe.
30:47Maybe.
30:48You might see something a little bit different.
30:50Thanks very much, everyone.
30:51Good afternoon.