Ruben Amorim outlines where he saw ‘improvements’ in Milan’s 1-1 draw with Inter, warning they need to ‘keep more possession,’ and treating Rafael Leao ‘the same way’ as others.
The Rossoneri had gone behind in Perth to a Federico Dimarco goal, with Pervis Estupinan struggling to deal with defending down their left flank.
Christopher Nkunku drew contact with Carlos Augusto and converted the soft penalty to equalise, sealing the 1-1 result of this unusual Australian Derby della Madonnina.
Amorim sees Milan progress
“It was important that we didn’t lose, but even more important is to keep improving as a team,” Amorim told Sky Sport Italia.
“We started very well, pressing high, but Inter have a lot of experience, they understood straight away what we were doing, and then we struggled at the end of the first half and start of the second.
“There were improvements in the last 20 minutes of the match. It was a good test, but we need more games to test all the players.”
Notably, the final 20 minutes was also when players like Rafael Leao, Luka Modric and Goncalo Ramos took to the field.
“I think you can see that we’re trying to move the ball quickly, to build from the back, but without taking the same risks that we took in Glasgow against Celtic,” continued Amorim.
“It was a good game in fitness terms too, even if we can improve a lot there as well.”
Much has been said of Leao’s future, especially with reports that Galatasaray are pushing hard for his signature, but he combined well with Goncalo Ramos today.
“I think the same things I said in the press conference. If you are a Milan player, you are lucky, and therefore of course you need to enjoy that,” noted the coach.
“He is enjoying himself, but he is a team player, he helped the team today, and that is important, the focus on the team. I evaluate Leao the same way I do Nkunku, Camarda and the others. Camarda worked so hard today.”
Amorim recognises that he is bringing a very different style to Milan compared to predecessor Max Allegri.
“We’ve got to improve everything, especially on the ball, because if we have more possession, we suffer less. It’s something that takes time, we need to work on it. The more possession we have, the less we’ll be under pressure.
“This team was trained well by Allegri last season, I can see that.”
Milan players and coaching staff were in Perth for this match and therefore unable to attend icon Franco Baresi’s funeral yesterday, but he was remembered with a minute’s silence standing around his jersey before kick-off.
“I saw all the footage yesterday, he was a special player and a special person. We’ll miss him a great deal,” noted Amorim.
“The only way to remember him the way he deserves is to play well and take the club back to where it belongs.”
