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00:01Hello, everybody. Welcome to the press conference for the match in round 30 against Torino.
00:11Yesterday, Luka Modric brought his golden ball from 2018 to Casa Milan to the museum.
00:18It was a wonderful moment. There was a lot of enthusiasm and it was a connection,
00:25a sign of his connection that he already feels with Milan.
00:31Luka Modric has brought, apart from his football quality as a champion,
00:42but he's brought human qualities and he's so professional.
00:47He's brought that to the team. He's shown that to the young players.
00:52And given them that role model, Luka's a 40-year-old man.
01:04To see a 40-year-old man with that passion and that love for what he does is incredible.
01:13And this, I think, it creates enthusiasm and it is good for the atmosphere around the squad and the other
01:24players.
01:26First question, about Jimenez. Is there a chance that Jimenez, Santi Jimenez, will be able to play, will be in
01:37condition to play?
01:38Second question is about the mood. Last week, there was lots of talk.
01:42There was talk of an argument with Rafa Leal and there was talk of Pulisic's drop in form.
01:50How did you feel after the Lazio match?
01:56After an argument, there's normally peace.
01:59These things happen during a season.
02:05When every point is very important, these things happen.
02:11At this moment, we have to stay calm.
02:15Think about what we need to do because tomorrow we've got a match.
02:18An important match that we have to win.
02:21Before the break as well, which is important to remember.
02:24It's difficult because Torino, since Roberto da Verza took over, have started playing well.
02:29They're not conceding much space or many goals.
02:33Forget what happened against Lazio.
02:36They're things that happened.
02:39But we have to concentrate on tomorrow's match.
02:44About Jimenez, he's well.
02:46Tomorrow he'll be picked for the squad.
02:48Andiamo da Carlos Passerini, Corriere della Sera.
02:52Buongiorno, Max.
02:54La Corsa Scudetto è definitivamente chiusa?
02:56Is the Scudetto race over?
03:01It's normal that a defeat, like the one against Lazio, like I said, straight after the match.
03:08Football is wonderful because Inter had dropped two points and then we lost.
03:18Inter have got a lot of points.
03:20Eight points advantage over us.
03:23Their destiny is in their hands for the title, the Scudetto.
03:28We're aiming to get into the Champions League, to arrive in the Champions League spot.
03:33We're working match by match.
03:35When the maths says Inter have won the Scudetto and Milan are back in the Champions League places.
03:46That's the most important thing.
03:52Two things.
03:56Connected to something that Mauro Suma asked you about Luka Modric.
04:05What other chances do you think that Luka will stay with Milan next season?
04:13That's the first question.
04:14Second, this summer, when you're forming the squad in pre-season,
04:25when you were creating this squad for this season and you came up with your 3-5-2,
04:30you probably knew that there would be injuries,
04:33but you hoped to have Rafa Leal and Christian Pulisic in attack.
04:38Everyone expected, hoped that their success and their roles and their performances
04:45would perhaps bring more goals and more minutes on the pitch as a front two.
04:50They're two players that have always scored and had important seasons,
04:54but this season, when they've played together, they haven't seemed like themselves.
05:01Regarding the couple in attack, Rafa Leal and Pulisic,
05:05they've had injuries this season.
05:10One has had a good pre-season, then they've had seasons, months out injured.
05:19And these are the important things.
05:24The important thing is to finish the season well.
05:34Pulisic gave a great performance against Lazio,
05:39but he wasn't quite accurate enough with his shooting.
05:42Rafa Leal has scored nine goals this season in the league.
05:46There are nine matches left.
05:48Quindy, he has the chance to get into double figures.
05:53Without forgetting that we've got Uncucu, Fulkrug, Jimenez.
06:02We've got five attackers, five important forwards, five valid forwards.
06:15Luka Modric, I haven't spoken with Luka.
06:18The club are speaking, the directors are speaking to Luka about this.
06:22It depends on him.
06:24It depends.
06:25He's got a World Cup to play, don't forget.
06:28Leave him in peace.
06:30Let him enjoy himself and show his great passion in the last two months of this season.
06:39I want to go back to the match against Lazio.
06:48Milan.
06:52The Milan now have to look over their shoulder at Napoli, who are behind us.
06:57What do you think?
06:58Behind them.
06:59Yes, we're looking ahead at Inter, but we also have to look at who's below us.
07:04Napoli.
07:07As I always say, and I say it because it's how I think the situation is, we have to stay
07:16focused on one objective.
07:19Tomorrow's match is fundamental.
07:20It's very important because we need points, because 60 are not enough to keep going for our target.
07:32We should have been more precise in the second half against Lazio.
07:37In the first half, we paid the price for not being accurate enough.
07:41Tomorrow we need to be organized, solid and compact.
07:45And we have the objective of bringing home the three points.
07:49And it won't be easy.
07:52I want to return to the match against Lazio.
07:55You explained, you spoke about Rafa Leal and Christian Pulisic.
07:59When Leal went off, he didn't seem happy.
08:05And he supposedly said, Mr. Christian Pulisic isn't passing to me.
08:12There were some moments in which Pulisic could have passed to Rafa Leal, but he didn't.
08:21What do you need to do?
08:23What do they need to work on for their partnership?
08:27Who has the ball?
08:29Who has the ball?
08:30Has to give it to someone who's not marked.
08:31It's simple.
08:36And if Pulisic didn't pass to Rafa Leal in one occasion or another, it's because he didn't see him.
08:42It happens in other situations.
08:46The difference in football is the choice of the last pass.
08:52If you play it well, if you do it well, it creates a goal, a chance for goal.
08:57If you don't do it well, you don't get a chance on goal.
09:02And I said to Rafa Leal, Christian Pulisic didn't see you.
09:05That's why he didn't pass you in that occasion.
09:14After the match against Lazio, in the last few days, there have been lots of people who have asked about
09:29the first half.
09:31Can Milan not play better than they did in the first half?
09:34In my view, how have Milan earned 60 points with players who haven't scored since December and another player who's
09:49had serious, had a pulbalgia injury, groin injury?
09:55We've had problems regarding injuries with the forwards, certainly.
10:07But I'm not thinking about the past.
10:09I'm thinking about the future.
10:12I watched the match against Lazio.
10:14We made lots of errors.
10:15In the last 25 meters, in the last third of the pitch, we made lots of errors.
10:19It's true.
10:20We could have avoided those errors.
10:23In the second half, we were imprecise in front of goal.
10:29We didn't concede lots of chances, but we were imprecise in attack.
10:34Tomorrow, tomorrow it's a difficult match.
10:36Everyone, all the boys, need to be physically well.
10:41We want to get Ruben Loftus-Cheek fit.
10:42We want to get Matteo Gabbia fit.
10:45We want to get Jimenez in good condition.
10:51We have to work on single objectives.
10:58After months of good work, we could run the risk of missing out on a Champions League place in the
11:08top spots of the table.
11:10So we have to focus immediately on tomorrow and playing well.
11:18I want to speak about the Lazio match as well.
11:21Perhaps it's the first time that Milan had a bit of pressure on them,
11:29particularly on the mental side of the game,
11:32because the team didn't seem to react very well to that pressure.
11:38Have you had a confrontation or a clear-the-air meeting with the team?
11:43Are you worried about the team feeding the pressure
11:46or having a bad reaction to the result against Lazio?
11:51Or have you spoken to the players?
11:56Psychological...
11:57I don't think there will be a psychological hangover from this match.
12:02We made some errors that we have to avoid, which we need to avoid and not repeat.
12:09But we need to be more precise in the final third of the pitch, in front of goal.
12:15In the first half, we made chances.
12:18We had made good chances.
12:25We've worked hard this week and tomorrow.
12:28We hope to be solid, more solid in defence.
12:32But the Lazio match...
12:37In the first half, we suffered nine counter-attacks,
12:43which is the most all-season in one match.
12:51But the match against Lazio was part of the game against...
12:56An effect of the game against Cremonese.
13:01Because that was a difficult game.
13:06There was the derby in the middle, but the derby is a different match.
13:09It's a different scenario.
13:10It's got its own system, its own effect.
13:14But the performance against Lazio was more of a result of the match against...
13:18The performance against Cremonese, that match.
13:29Watching the problems for Christian Pulisic and Raffa Leao to score.
13:34Are you going to stick with those two in attack, particularly after what happened?
13:40Or will you give Nicolás Fulcruc his chance?
13:43Because Milan lack a penalty-era striker.
13:48Will he be the solution, or a solution?
13:53After the match against Lazio...
13:59There's all sorts happening, but Jimenez is still not able to start a match.
14:13He's coming back from the injury, and we're trying to get him in good condition.
14:16If 20 minutes from the end we need someone with the characteristics of Jimenez, we've got him.
14:22Or we're going to start with him, or he'll come on as a sub.
14:26I've always evaluated players like this.
14:30I think the team have done well with Raffa Leao in a tackle,
14:34with Raffa Leao and Christian Pulisic, or Raffa Leao and Nkunku.
14:39We need everyone, it's normal.
14:40From now till the end, we need five available attackers.
14:48I want to speak about the same subject.
14:52What's been happening is also conditioned by injuries, of course,
14:56but in your dreams, in your mind,
14:59is it a 3-5-2 with Raffa Leao as the second striker,
15:03or the centre-forward?
15:05Or is it Raffa Leao as the second striker behind the centre-forward?
15:12I'm thinking about this season, I'm not thinking about next season.
15:14I want to finish this season well.
15:16But Raffa Leao can play centre-forward.
15:20Because you just need to see his movements,
15:22what he did on Sunday,
15:23what he's done in other matches against Inter,
15:26against Cremona.
15:29He's good at attacking the space.
15:33It's normal that it's true that he feels he prefers to play with big spaces.
15:42He prefers to run into spaces.
15:47Raffa Leao is an attacker.
15:49He's scored nine goals.
15:51I hope he'll score a lot more between now and the end of the season.
15:54But he's got the quality to be a centre-forward or a second striker.
16:04Lots of people want to get rid of VAR, to get rid of the referee cam.
16:10What do you think of all this?
16:13They decide.
16:14I don't decide.
16:15They'll make the best decision.
16:17The best, or rather, the less clutter, the less there is, the better.
16:21I believe there's a referee.
16:25Referees are normally good.
16:27Let them referee.
16:29The thing, balance is important in every scenario.
16:37Because it's a very fine line between a VAR intervention and the referee.
16:44Sometimes that balance changes.
16:47When we find the balance between the referee and VAR's intervention,
16:53and they find the connection between themselves for key moments,
16:58the sooner that happens, the better.
17:01And then the referee will also feel more relaxed in refereeing the match.
17:06But I think the referees are good.
17:09And I think they're doing better in the last few matches.
17:15Last, Guida refereed our match.
17:18And I think he was very good because he was letting a lot happen.
17:21He was letting the ball rout.
17:22He wasn't blowing the whistle for fouls that perhaps didn't need to be given.
17:29Because it's a man's game.
17:30It's a tough game.
17:31And it should let the ball let them play on.
17:35There are lots of young referees as well who need to learn their job with experience.
17:43But the more mature referees are better at managing the situations and letting the game run.
18:02You said before that it's very important to close this season well, end this season well.
18:09I'd like to speak about the future, though.
18:11In midweek, lots of people spoke about that you had a lunch with Giorgio Furlani.
18:19And you spoke about the future.
18:22And there was also Iglitare.
18:25And you were talking about next season.
18:27And you were talking, supposedly, you were talking about planning for next season.
18:32And how, talking about the group you wanted to work with next season.
18:36How you wanted to develop the players.
18:39Well, con Iglitare, we see each other every day.
18:44He's with me at Milanello and we have lunch every day.
18:48We're always together.
18:49We speak every day.
18:51We talk about the squad, the team, rather.
18:55We talk about what we could make a few things for next year.
19:01Giorgio Furlani, our director.
19:05We had lunch together.
19:08But when we speak, we haven't spoken about the future yet, what the team will be next year.
19:16But we'll all do it together.
19:18But we haven't done it yet.
19:25There was a video of the halftime of the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund in 2024.
19:37Carlo Ancelotti spoke to his two players, but Tony Kroos and Luka Modric were also giving instructions and Carlo Ancelotti
19:47was encouraging his team to challenge him and to disagree with his decisions.
19:54I want to talk about this, bring this to Milan, to get the best results.
20:02Do you need players in the dressing room who are happy, who are willing to disagree with you or have
20:10the personality to give their opinions regarding some tactics and things?
20:19That was Real Madrid that had Tony Kroos, who's retired.
20:25Luka Modric has left Real Madrid.
20:28Carvajal is the only one who has stayed.
20:34But we shouldn't think about what happened 10 years ago, what happened 15 years ago.
20:41It's changed now completely.
20:43It's a different generation, especially in Italy.
20:46But we don't have the economic power, financial power to compete with other clubs in Europe.
20:54You just need to see the financial spreadsheets of other European clubs.
21:07At the end, those who get to the semifinals are normally those who have spent the most money or who
21:15are financially most powerful, normally.
21:19The problem is, when you have lower resources, you have to be luckier and better at building a team.
21:29It's just the way it is.
21:34You know, you have to take into account the difference in the expenditure between clubs.
21:40Milan are working, along with the owners, hard to be competitive and sustainable, just as it should be.
21:51Football today, working in a club today, it's a company.
21:56Football clubs are a company.
21:58So it's important to work for everyone to work together,
22:05whether it's the sporting department, the commercial department,
22:12from the youth levels to the first team.
22:15Everyone has to be working together.
22:18Everyone has to work together with the first team being the main objective.
22:23We need solid foundations where the club, which the clubs can lean on, can use.
22:31Otherwise, things get out of hand and things don't go well.
22:39But if you don't have the foundations, solid foundations,
22:43you're always in trouble, in difficult water.
22:52If Milan aren't scoring, people will always ask you about the attackers.
22:58Do you need to ask about the other players, though, movements and that kind of thing?
23:06And the fact that since Adrian Rabiot has been absent,
23:10there haven't been midfielders attacking the penalty area or shots from distance.
23:16Do you think it's not just the forward's fault?
23:21It's not about fault or blaming people.
23:24It's not about blaming individuals or the strikers.
23:27Pulisic and Leao in those attacking positions have not played together very much.
23:33But that's the same for lots of players.
23:35Uncucu, Fulkrug, hasn't played much with Uncucu.
23:39Leao hasn't played much with Fulkrug.
23:41We've got good combinations.
23:43They can make good connections.
23:45Pulisic and Fulkrug played well against Fiorentina.
23:50They're good performances in Parma between different pairings.
23:54Tomorrow, tomorrow, it could happen again that Pulisic doesn't see a teammate
23:58and doesn't pass to him.
23:59It happens in football.
24:03I want to ask you about Italian football and, of course, Milan.
24:08You spoke about Italian football's problems financially, keeping up with the rest.
24:12But it's not a cliche.
24:14It's true.
24:14We had a winner of the Conference League, Roma.
24:19Atalanta won the conference.
24:21Inter arrived in two Champions League finals.
24:26Milan arrived in the top four in 2023, the semifinals of the Champions League.
24:32And they didn't have Raffa Leao for that semifinal.
24:35Could have gone further without him.
24:38Are we that bad?
24:39Or is it because of the intensity of other teams, other nations like the English?
24:45Or does it depend on the intensity?
24:47Does that depend on the championship that they play in?
24:49Does it depend on the managers, the coaches of the clubs?
24:54And what are your thoughts on that?
24:57Also, do you think we need players who are more intense?
25:00Or do we think we need to be more intense in training?
25:05Okay.
25:08Not to explain, but to tell...
25:12I don't know the truth.
25:13But to tell you, we shouldn't denigrate, we shouldn't put down Italian football.
25:23We have got these characteristics.
25:27And it's part of our history, of the Italian people, going back to the medieval times,
25:33defending our castles.
25:39But the media, everyone speaks about what we need to do, what we don't need to do.
25:45The speed of matches?
25:46Yes, it's different in different countries, the speed of the matches.
25:52The speed of passing the ball, it depends on your players.
25:59Why are the matches faster in Europe?
26:01In Europe, well, in the Champions League, you win or lose.
26:06You don't...
26:07It's not a 38-round league, the Champions League.
26:12The English League is different to ours.
26:15You can say it's less tactical.
26:17It's not that it's better or worse.
26:19It's different, that's it.
26:21When they say that in Italy, it's a bit slow,
26:27it's because there's less space.
26:31In Italy, it's harder to score.
26:34It's harder to play, because there's more tactics.
26:39Because we're not developed and we don't grow up with the intense football,
26:46it doesn't mean we should copy the others.
26:50I've said it for years, we shouldn't try and imitate, mimic other countries,
26:54because they have different characteristics.
26:57We have ours, and they have theirs.
27:00Every club as well has a different history.
27:03First thing, I agree that we need to work and regulate and improve the youth levels,
27:11youth football in Italy.
27:14We have to find different ways of playing.
27:16I agree with that.
27:17But not...
27:20But not just say that we have to change it,
27:23we have to make strong decisions,
27:25and we have to change the youth system.
27:28There are lots of other things, but I believe...
27:37I think it's about changing the youth level,
27:44the youth departments in football.
27:45That's what I think needs to change.
27:51And we need to reform things at that level.
27:57And I'm going to close, I'm going to finish.
27:59I think football...
28:02We should be worried,
28:03because lots of children playing football stop early.
28:10And they go and play tennis.
28:14There are lots of other interests and hobbies for children.
28:21I think the president of the Italian Tennis Federation,
28:24Binari, has done an excellent job.
28:29Yannick Sinner and all other people are great players,
28:32but there's the work from the directors of Italian Tennis.
28:35And Paddle as well.
28:37We have to be alert and aware
28:41that we have to reform it
28:43so more young people stay in football
28:46and make it more attractive
28:48and we have to reform it.
28:52Or how do they manage youth football in England, in Belgium?
28:58It's a lot simpler.
29:00But I'm going to stop now,
29:01because otherwise it becomes problematic.
29:04I don't know...
29:06I don't know...
29:08I don't know...
29:12The important thing...
29:16Thank you for watching Massimiliano Allegri's press conference.
29:22And goodbye.
29:23Goodbye.
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