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00:00Good morning everyone. Welcome along to this pre-match press conference on the eve of Roma
00:06Milan. We'll start with Milan TV. Thanks Nicola. Good morning coach on the eve of Roma Milan.
00:11I wanted to ask you that here at Milanello, Geri Cardinale, the owner of the club, visited
00:19the training ground this week. We've seen from some of the footage, the chats, the analysis
00:24that he's had. What have you retained from this? What sort of energy did he bring? First
00:30and foremost, good morning everyone. It was great for the ownership to visit the club.
00:36Everyone enjoyed it. It's an important period of the season where we are competing for our
00:44season's goal, which is to qualify for the Champions League. So it was nice to have the
00:50ownership come in and we had a nice chat. We're delighted about that. We simply need to think
00:54about footballing matters, about our results on the pitch. And tomorrow we have a lovely
01:00match to be involved in because we're up against a side that are battling with us to finish in
01:08the top four. Ciampiero Gasperini really is doing an excellent job. And Roma have become a team that
01:22actually reflects their coach out there on the pitch. They're very aggressive. They're very good
01:29going forward, but they're also very good defensively because they currently have the best defense in
01:34Serie A. So we need to do a very good job in the knowledge that we will face a very difficult
01:43match in a difficult environment. We need to be very good technically because they're an aggressive side.
01:48The usual two questions. What's the latest from the treatment room? If there are any updates, perhaps
01:57on Alexi Salamakis and Santi Jimenez and any other possible absentees. And are you more surprised by Roma
02:04or by Milan? Do you think Roma are more the surprise package for their league position or Milan are in terms
02:12of theirs? With regards to the treatment room, we'll have our final training session today and then we'll
02:20assess things. But Salamakis was a lot better yesterday. Today I will assess whether or not he can start the
02:26game or whether he'll be on the bench. As for Santi Jimenez, he is making strides. He'll certainly be a real asset
02:33for the closing stages of the season because he's still some way off returning to action. As for the other
02:39players, Rafa Liao is still having to live with this slight problem, but he is available for selection.
02:45The same goes for Niklas Fulkrug. So we are ready tomorrow to play this match, which will be a very long,
02:52wonderful and passionate football match. As for the surprise package, it's not about surprise packages.
02:59We know and we knew that Roma would be competing for the top four under Gasperini. I think at this
03:07stage of the season, there are four teams competing for three spots because at this moment in time,
03:14Inter are doing very well and Inter are tracking for 90 points come the end of the season.
03:22So the other four teams, hoping that there are five Champions League places available,
03:28that the European teams can go as far as possible, then we might have the chance of
03:33five places. Otherwise, one will miss out. Good afternoon, coach. I'd like to come back to these
03:41slight muscular problems. Liao means he's not 100% fit, but you are still able to pick him from the
03:49start. What is he giving you in terms of application compared with the past? You can't know that,
03:54but I'm sure you've seen that Liao is more mature. Is it worthwhile to keep picking him? Do you not
04:03think that that might actually just delay when he can be back to 100%? No, he simply has a bit of
04:10swelling and inflammation on his groin. So it's a slight pain, but it can
04:17also become an issue, but he knows how painful it is, but he's doing very well and he played well in
04:23our last match. Above all, because we have four players for two spots and that means over the
04:30course of the game, I can make substitutions with two fresh players on the bench and then they can come
04:37on and make a contribution because as ever matches are determined in the last 30 minutes. In terms of
04:44application, yes, he has matured. He has improved, but he needs to keep improving because he's not short
04:51of talent, but Liao does lack a little bit of consistency in terms of performances, but that's
04:57only natural. It's very rare to find a talented player that's able to be consistently at their best
05:04for 90 minutes. It's almost impossible. Andrea Ramazzotti. Hi, coach. For a number of reasons
05:12that you've recalled with regards to Liao's physical issues and Pulisic's fitness problems as well,
05:20the first choice striking partnership when you started with this 3-5-2 last summer,
05:25so Rafa Liao and Pulisic, they haven't played too much together. Do you think tomorrow could be an
05:30opportunity to once again see them together from the first whistle or are you considering other
05:36options up top? I'd like to ask you a second question, which is on a tactical perspective.
05:44You played Ricci as a number eight in the last match ahead of Loftus-Chic and Fofana. I'd like to
05:50know whether you enjoyed his performance and this is a position where you'd already picked him before,
05:56or do you think you expect to once again pick him against Roma tomorrow night? As for Samuel Ricci,
06:05I'm delighted with the way he's developing. First and foremost, he's a very intelligent footballer,
06:12and I think at this moment in time that that right-sided Metzala position, that number eight,
06:18is a better fit for him because it allows him to get forward, it allows him to take shots on the
06:24opposition goal. Maybe in the future he could become an excellent player in front of the defense,
06:31but I think at this moment in time that's the position he plays the best.
06:38What was the first question? As for Liao and Pulisic, we haven't had them for a number of reasons,
06:45but they have scored goals and that's what matters most. It doesn't matter too much about the playing
06:50time for the players, but what matters is that they are match winners and clinical.
06:56I don't know whether Ricci will play. I don't know. I need to assess a few things. I need to have a look
07:02at Pavlovic. He's back again after that blow to his head, so we'll see whether he plays tomorrow.
07:08Rai, hi Max. I wanted to ask you whether compared with the reverse fixture, whether Roma have matured and
07:16have changed. Now they've got a centre-forward a bit like you guys with Nicolas Fulcrup. Have Roma
07:22changed since the reverse fixture? In terms of aggressiveness, no. In terms of personnel, yes,
07:28because they played without a traditional centre-forward before, even though when they had
07:32Dolby and Ferguson, they have played certain matches with the target man. Marlon is a good player. He's made
07:38a good start. So, compared with the game that they played against us when they didn't play with a
07:46target man, tomorrow will be a different game defensively.
07:50Claudio Raimondi, Mediaset.
07:52Hi Max. I wanted to ask you about set pieces above all corners. We saw in the Champions League,
08:01Napoli's goal with McTominay from a corner. What Arsenal were able to achieve at San Siro using
08:08this sort of situation? How are your team approaching things? I don't know whether you,
08:18there was a flick on for Verona, for Pulisic against Verona recently. Why are you scoring so
08:24few goals in dead ball situations? On Sunday we had three opportunities, Gabby with his head,
08:31one against Genoa. Immediately we hit the crossbar right from the word go, if I'm not mistaken. First and
08:37foremost it's important how you strike the ball. You can have the best aerial threats in the world,
08:43but if you can't necessarily loft the ball into the box it's difficult to score. So it's important
08:48that you have the aerial threats that you can get the delivery right. We need to be a bit more accurate,
08:52and Roma are very dangerous on that. They've got Brian Cristante, Gianluca Mancini. So we need
08:58to do a very good job defensively. So it's an area that you want to improve upon? Absolutely,
09:04we need to improve upon everything, above all dead ball situations. When we're under pressure,
09:10we need to be a lot more precise and quick in terms of the way we shift and move the ball.
09:15Franco Ordine. Hi Max. I wanted to ask you, at this moment in time, I think we're getting towards the
09:24end of the winter transfer window. Napoli are making some deals. Roma are making deals as well.
09:31Juventus are preparing certain transfer deals. It looks to me like Milan have stopped after full crook.
09:41In your opinion, do you believe that January signings can change the way the rest of the season pans out?
09:54We'll only be able to say so with the benefit of hindsight at the end of the season.
09:58All I can say at this moment in time is that the arrival of Nicolas Fulcrug,
10:02which was right at the start of the January Chancellor window,
10:05and that was a signing that the club got spot on because he's immediately given us a big helping hand.
10:15At this moment in time, the club are having a look around. They are working on that score,
10:20but I'm delighted with my squad. But as I said, bringing players into the squad,
10:26they can either improve the squad. If not, we'll stay as we are.
10:29We also have some young players that I'm thinking about that we signed in the summer that are getting
10:36better. Atacame made a big impact off the bench, even if you've not necessarily seen him and David
10:41Odorgo is getting a lot better on the training ground. So I am pleased. What matters is keeping this
10:50approach to matches, retaining that self-belief and having the goal very clear in our mind. Namely,
11:00and I know I'm like a broken record, we want to finish in the top four positions.
11:07It now feels very easy, but it's very difficult actually to finish in the top four because there
11:11are a number of fierce sides with coaches Gasperini, Spalletti and Conte, all of whom
11:22all of whom's teams have finished in the top four year in, year out almost every season. So we need
11:26to do a very good job. We won't have an edge, so we need to do a very good job of taking it step by step
11:33and trying to secure our Champions League tally as soon as possible. So the first goal at this moment
11:43in time is to try and get above 50 points. Then we'll see after that. Hi coach, you've spoken about
11:50Gasperini and some of Roma's players, but you haven't mentioned Paolo Di Bala. You had a great
11:54rapport with him. He was perhaps one of one of his best seasons came under you in terms of goals.
12:03Can someone like Malen make Di Bala even more dangerous?
12:09I had the pleasure of coaching Di Bala when he signed for Juventus. He was still a kid. He was
12:14only 20, 21 years of age. He joined from Palermo. Di Bala has incredible technique. He's also very
12:21intelligent footballer on the pitch. The other day in the Europa League, he played a pass to Niccolò
12:29Pizzilli that looks simple, but in terms of the way he controlled and passed the ball, it was
12:35half a second that went by. So he really is an important footballer and there are very few of
12:40those around. And with Daniel Malen, Di Bala can benefit from that because he'll have a target man ahead
12:50of him and that helps him to actually play his best football. Hi, coach. I wanted to ask you,
12:59you often send out messages in your press conferences. It's clear that our target is to
13:06finish in the top four. This is the number of points we need to secure that target. So I wanted to ask you,
13:11how much of an impact do your words have both externally and internally in the dressing room?
13:20And I'd like to come back to this by saying to you,
13:26is there a strategy, a game plan behind this? Why do some coaches often not necessarily conduct
13:33press conferences before matches? Antonio Conte, for instance,
13:36hasn't spoken for a number of months ahead of a league game. Is that a game plan or a strategy?
13:43And how important is it in terms of what you're saying both externally and internally?
13:52Those are decisions taken by other coaches as to whether to conduct a press conference or not.
13:56That's not up to me to comment on. My comments on our targets are very clear.
14:04And they're clear because last season Milan weren't able to finish in the Champions League places in
14:10the top four positions. And this season, both from a footballing perspective and an economic perspective,
14:21we need to succeed on finishing in the Champions League places. That doesn't mean we have a divine
14:27right to be there. We need to earn it. To earn it, we need to take things step by step,
14:32because I've already said this many times. It's too important in Serie A for a big team to be involved
14:40in Champions League football because the money and the revenue you get from the Champions League
14:45participation help the club to run the transfer campaign and to have a brighter future compared
14:54with a team missing out on the Champions League for two years running. Because the numbers dictate that.
15:01You've seen that. I think on the other day, the Deloitte Money League was published of all of the
15:08teams in terms of the teams in terms of their revenue from Real Madrid that turn over 1.162
15:15billion right down to Bayern and Arsenal, Manchester United, 800 million euros and so on and so forth.
15:23And the gap between the Italian sides and the English and Spanish teams is too big.
15:33Barcelona also turn over a similar amount. That's why a club and therefore a team by extension,
15:42such as Milan, that's why they need to qualify for the Champions League. Why? Because this is Italian
15:51football. And I'm not saying it's about the club's survival, but it's an important cash injection which
15:58comes from the Champions League. That's why we need to keep our feet on the ground. We need to take things
16:04one step at a time. Our target is to try and finish in the top four and that's crucial. And in order to finish
16:10there, we need to struggle. We need to roll up our sleeves and work very hard. So we need to keep quiet. Shut up.
16:27Hi Max. Earlier on you were talking about the quality you need from dead ball situations, those
16:36taking the set pieces. And I think these can also be reproduced when it comes to the wide players.
16:45Because Milan actually have left footers on the left, right footers on the right. Milan cross a lot from open play.
16:53But against Lecce, thanks to the disowned border cam, we saw that you wanted more quality both in terms of
17:01attacking the line and also delivering precise crosses. Milan create a number of chances, but
17:07occasionally you make mistakes in those situations. How important is it for Liao and Pulisic who aren't
17:13out and out centre forwards to receive clean ball into the box to be even more clinical?
17:18That's the unwritten rule. You need to be quick and precise in the last 20 to 30 metres, the last
17:28third of the pitch, because that's where it gets difficult. Because until the final third of the
17:33pitch, almost everyone can play football. In the last third of the pitch, you can see the best players.
17:39It's quite easy to see. Football is quite simple. You need to improve and get better in terms of
17:50making decisions, also in terms of how consistently we strike crosses, how we control the ball. We need
17:57to analyse things technically and then try and apply that analysis. Tele Lombardia.
18:03First and foremost, I think I've grasped the fact that you think that Inter have already won the
18:12Scudetto because you said that there would be three places for the four teams behind, so you believe
18:18that one team is already out of sight. Maybe you can explain that to us. Now on the fixture list, you
18:23don't like talking about the fixture list, but the anomaly for Milan is on the contrary. You play two games in
18:32three weeks, so nine days between one match and another, 11 between another. How do you manage that?
18:39Do you do a bit more fitness work? Have you considered how you're going to keep the players on their toes during this time?
18:47Rather than from an athletic perspective where we need to train, obviously, it's a question of keeping
18:53focus on because after tomorrow's game, nine days will go by until the Bologna game. We'll play when they
18:59tell us to play. And what else can we do? We'll try and get points. That's the most important thing.
19:03And then we'll see what happens after that. We'll see how we go into those games. But it is an anomaly,
19:09but we can't do anything about it. You can't want to change things that you can't change. Ultimately,
19:17let's not waste energy on that. Let's try and expend our energy on matches. Inter. I've said that Inter
19:23are a candidate for the top four positions. They've got 52 points. I think Inter are Scudetto
19:31favourites along with Napoli, but I think they'll certainly be favourites in the top four. But this
19:37is mathematics. It's not an opinion. Hi, coach. I know that coaches don't currently want to talk
19:53about the January transfer window, but I was curious about your answer to a colleague when you said
19:58either we improve our squad or we stay as we are. How do you believe you can improve this squad if you
20:03can improve this squad, which has already made giant strides compared with last season?
20:09The summer transfer window is the most important one and the club worked very well, both in terms
20:14of players leaving the club and players joining the club. Finding players in January that can improve
20:19the squad is very difficult because it's a very significant period of the season and typically the
20:25best players tend to stay at their clubs. There are some exceptions. Fulkeric, for instance.
20:33Iglitari did a very good job there in terms of recruiting him right at the start of the window.
20:40It feels very commonplace, but had he arrived a week later, he would have missed two games.
20:46So we need to only focus on footballing matters and then the club will deal with everything else.
20:50Milan vibes. Milan vibes. Hi Max. You answered my colleague earlier on by saying that certain
20:59things can't be changed so let's move on, but as part of this process and the league season is a very
21:05long journey, at such a crucial stage of the season, how frustrating is it to play an entire month away from home?
21:14We simply mustn't think about it. You don't think about something, you simply need to do certain
21:21things. You either play matches at home or you play them away. This is something that started on the 28th of
21:30December. We played against Verona and we had Cagliari away, Gennaro at home, Lecce at home,
21:35but we knew that in those nine matches from the 28th of December up until the 15th of February that we
21:40would have had six away games and three home matches. So we mustn't... Let's not think about that. Let's
21:48think about what we need to do. That's the most important thing.
21:53Hi coach. Looking at the league table, I'd like to ask you whether tomorrow's game could be one of
22:01these crucial matches over the course of the season. You said that there are four of those because
22:06if you get a positive result, you said that mathematically Inter are a long way ahead in
22:11terms of the Champions League places. Mathematically, Milan could go plus seven on the fourth spot and you
22:17get a lot closer to Inter. On the other hand, Roma would pull to within one point of view. So is this
22:23a key match? From now onwards, they're all crucial matches. From now on, there are no key matches.
22:33Now the points become crucial from now onwards because once you get into the second half of the
22:40season, you need to focus on the number of points you need to get regardless of who you're up against.
22:44You need to get to X number of points that will allow you to play Champions League football.
22:51Hi coach. You have a trio of matches that will give us a big say on the outcome of the league season.
23:00So I'd like to come back to what you said at the start of the season. You said that at the start of the
23:05season there are four games that are different to every single one. Do you believe that this trio of
23:12matches against Roma, Bologna and Pisa is a crucial period both when it comes to the title race and
23:18indeed to qualify for the Champions League? Thank you. It's not crucial.
23:28It's not crucial because until now we've recorded a significant points tally.
23:34And they're also important matches because tomorrow's game is a six pointer against the direct
23:41rival in the race for Champions League football. We're up against Bologna that are just outside
23:47that and they're battling for the Europa League and then we'll have an away game at Pisa. It's always
23:52a tricky game because Pisa are alive and kicking. They showed that yesterday above all at home. They're
23:57a very dangerous team. So we need to take them one game at a time. But we also have time to prepare
24:02these matches. We have all of this time. So let's try and prepare them as best we can. Last two questions.
24:11Hi coach. Can you tell us how close you were to being appointed for Roma in the past? Is there an
24:22anecdote or something like that? I'd almost forgotten all about that. My memory card is full so I can
24:31only remember up until 2014. So anything before 2014 I can't recall at all. Carlo, where you go?
24:39I wanted to ask you two things very quickly. First, when will you gift us a goal from set piece in Milan
24:47when Junior Messias scored the most recent goal which came on the deflection? Free kicks are
24:56important. When are you going to score a goal from a free kick and who's going to score it? I hope
25:00tomorrow. I hope every Sunday that comes to pass. We need to take a few more free kicks. We need to
25:07win a few more free kicks on the edge of the box. We don't win too many just at the penalty area. So we
25:12need to win more but we've got some good free kick takers and yeah we need to win a few more. That's
25:17certainly the case. Let's hope it comes to pass tomorrow. I wanted you to comment. This is a
25:22philosophical question on a line from Johan Cruyff. It's a wonderful quote.
25:32Quality without results counts for nothing. Results without quality are boring. I'd like your
25:40thoughts on that. I think getting results within results there's quality inherently part of that
25:49because you can play a game and win a game without quality because I think football is the only sport
25:59where the weakest can beat the strongest in one match. That's why football is great. That's what makes
26:04football wonderful. You go to the stadium. There is one team that's better but maybe you can lose the
26:11game with one ball going into the back of the net over the course of the league season. Ultimately the
26:16best team wins over the course of that 38 game season and in order to do so you need to have quality
26:24and you certainly need to play some excellent games. You have some excellent performances and there are also
26:31the classic ugly games where you still need to get results. Thank you very much everyone. Have a great day.
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