"We are not ready to compete on two fronts. We need to work on the way we see football and how we approach matches. There are no excuses tonight; there is nothing I can say. I usually have plenty to say in defence of our team, but not tonight. We need to be more humble and understand what happened. I need to work out how to change this provincial mentality. Everyone must train like Pavlovic. He is ready to die in training. He is a good example." Amorim had no defence for AC Milan's humiliating display against Ferencvaros. The 0-2 scoreline was, if anything, too narrow for the Hungarian side, who feasted at San Siro as AC Milan produced a performance that bordered on embarrassing. The Portuguese manager must ask himself how a team could produce a perfect performance against Inter, then take the field five days later with a lack of desire that does not honour the club's history in European competition.
IPA SportMilan, Amorim deeply disappointed by yet another European embarrassment: who risks being left behind
Europa League snubbed
AC Milan may be among the Europa League favourites on paper, but their performances suggest they have little appetite for winning it. Heavy defeats against Benfica, Bornemouth and Ferencvaros have exposed two problems: the attitude of the squad's star players and the inadequacy of several reserves. Rabiot dominates in the league, but when the Europa League anthem plays, he looks lethargic and unwilling to fight. The Frenchman captained the side on this occasion because of Maignan's suspension. He is not the only example, but he is certainly the most obvious.
Not up to standard
Cardinale, Amorim and the integrated working group assembled a thin squad last summer. Its starting XI can compete with anyone, as the derby showed, but there is little strength in reserve. In several cases, the players simply aren't up to the task. Filippo Terracciano sums up the problem. The previous management had already deemed him not good enough, but he stayed at AC Milan at Amorim's request. His season has brought 45 poor minutes against Benfica before he went off at half-time, a straight red card after coming on as a substitute in Salzburg, and a poor performance against Ferencavaros that drew boos from the San Siro crowd. Doubts are also growing about Jashari. After a few performances that came at least close to a passable standard, he continues to show all-too-obvious technical, tactical and pace-related limitations. The money spent on him (more than 40 million) has been an absolute waste.
For all his inconsistency and some obvious limitations, Hutchinson always shows an attitude that matches the importance of the games. That's why Amorim uses him fairly regularly.
Further back or outside the pecking order
Bartesaghi's excellent performances against Salzburg and Udinese suggested AC Milan had their bold, strong academy product back, but a definitive test of that progress was still to come. He again showed the shortcomings in personality and concentration evident last season. Estupinan, meanwhile, appears to have fallen out of favour after spending the entire match against Ferencvaros on the bench. Both left-sided wide players have plenty of work to do to avoid slipping down Amorim's pecking order.
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