Ruben Amorim insists that he does not have any hard feelings towards his former employers at Manchester United, but insists that his sole focus is on his work with Milan ahead of Thursday’s Europa League match away against AFC Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Amorim sat down for his pre-match press conference on Wednesday evening, ahead of Milan’s test against the Cherries in the Europa League, which kicks off at 20.00 BST tomorrow night.
Amorim’s pre-match press conference ahead of AFC Bournemouth vs. Milan
Amorim and midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek spoke to the media in Bournemouth with Italian and English reporters in attendance. The Rossoneri head coach addressed several matters, including the injuries to Goncalo Ramos and Samuel Chukwueze, the form of Alphadjo Cisse, and his previous job at Manchester United.
The first questions came from the Italian media, and the first issue to address was the team selection and the recent injury to club-record signing Ramos.
“Tomorrow we will see the starting XI. Goncalo has nothing serious. Chukwueze is a little bit different, I will see in the [next] few days, we are going to assess Chukwueze,” Amorim confirmed.
“But if you look at all of Europe, teams with a lot of competitions have a lot of problems with injuries. We are trying to make our rotations, we are trying to prepare every player to play the game. Cisse is going to play tomorrow, I already said that. The position, you have to wait until tomorrow.”
Milan have three points from their first two Europa League games of the season, while Bournemouth have maintained a perfect start to their first ever season in Europe with two wins on the board so far.
Looking ahead to Thursday’s game against Bournemouth, Amorim said: “Every game is going to be decisive. In this moment, we are in the third game, we have a lot of games to play.
“What I know is that we are going to face a team that has a different quality. They have a lot of pace. They are really known in this kind of league, the Premier League, for their pace, their quality in transitions. They have a lot of top players and we know that it’s going to be a different game and we need to be prepared for the different pace during the game.
“I will not say that it’s decisive, but it’s really important for us to understand our team, our squadra and to make everyone ready for the top games. It’s not decisive for the competition, but it’s really important for our season.”
Amorim says that he things there is still plenty of room for improvement for teenage talent Cisse, despite his hat-trick against RB Salzburg last week.
“The first thing is to not make a big thing around any kid. That is the main thing that we have to do as a club. You guys [journalists and reporters] don’t because you need to do your job, but we as a club, not just the technical staff, but everyone at the club needs to help the kid understand that football is a rollercoaster and everything can change in every moment.
“I feel that he’s at the beginning of something, he’s at 50% of his potential, he can play in different positions, he can play with both feet, but there’s a lot of things that he doesn’t do in the really high level because he doesn’t have the experience to do that. So, let’s give time to Cisse, but he’s doing really well.
“He’s surprising people, but the main thing is that football changes really, really fast. So he needs to be consistent during the week, and then he will have space in our team to play, but again, he’s just at 50% of the potential that he has.”
British reporters were keen to ask Amorim about his thoughts towards Manchester United. He says that he ‘really loves’ United, but refused to go into any major detail given that he was at the press conference to discuss Milan and Bournemouth.
“I think the main thing is that I’m here as ‘Milan allenatore’ [Milan coach], and I need to respect that. The only thing I can say – I have nothing to say about Manchester United, I’m just focused on our club, AC Milan – What I can say is what I said when I signed for Man United: I love that club and the feeling of everyone there, everything that happened doesn’t change that.
“So, it’s the only thing that I want to say. I moved on and I’m in another big club and this kind of club, my club, AC Milan, has a lot of problems to solve, so I’m focused on my life and our life. Because as you know, in every big club, the trouble is only around the corner.
“So I’m really focused on my job, on my team, on my players, on my staff and not on another club. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past with Man United, what I said when I signed for that club is still the same. I really love that club.”
Amorim has faced Bournemouth four times previously in his career, but those games were against Andoni Iraola, not Marco Rose.
Does he think there are any major differences between the two coaches and the way they have got Bournemouth playing?
Amorim replied: “There are some small things that I won’t address now because it’s part of the game. I’ve felt the same pace, the same pressure because if you know Marco, it’s the same way they want to press, so they have that identity. They have a lot of quality in one-on-ones. They’re buying really well, their scouting is really good, Tiago is doing an amazing job.
“So, I don’t see a lot of difference in identity. I see some things that are different, also because they’re losing some players, they’re bringing in new players, but the identity is about the pace, the quality and the pace of the league, so it’s a really good test for us and I’m really excited to see our players.”
Amorim was also asked about his stance on young players, given that Mattia Liberali was sold to Champions League side Como and Davide Bartesaghi, who had established himself as a first-team regular last season, now appears to be the third choice at left wing-back.
“It’s about technical things and things I see in training,” Amorim said. “Not the way they train, but they play in different ways. Bartesaghi is more of a runner, Estupinan is more of a defender to connect and sometimes you just see the details and try to balance everything.
“But if you see, every game one plays, Moreira played in the last game, tomorrow we are going to see one, maybe against Udinese you are going to see another. So sometimes it’s the characteristics you want for every specific game and you need to prepare every player to play.”