Allegri insists Milan still need to ‘work hard’ and praises Jashari: “I was amazed”

Max Allegri spoke to the media after AC Milan’s 1-1 draw against Leeds United in Dublin, praising the new signing Ardon Jashari among other things. 

Today’s clash was the penultimate friendly clash of the pre-season, with only the game against Chelsea remaining now. That is scheduled for tomorrow and as such, it wasn’t the strongest of starting XIs that we saw against the Yorkshire side.

After the game, as transcribed by MilanNews, Allegri was interviewed by Sky Italia. In addition to sharing his thoughts on the game, which frankly wasn’t too exciting, the manager also said that he was ‘amazed’ by Ardon Jashari.

Has the squad surprised you?

“I’ve always been taught that players should be trained before making judgments. We have been working well so far, but we shouldn’t get too excited. We need to work with great balance; that will have to be our strength. The Scudetto isn’t won or lost in one game.”

On Jashari and Modric…

“I’ve had very few great players with little intelligence and humility. To play at the highest level, you have to be humble and intelligent. Modric, even if it’s not for me to say, is an extraordinary player.

Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

“I was amazed at how Jashari performed because he barely worked with the ball and almost always trained alone. We need to improve and work hard, to improve our physical condition and mental conviction. We shouldn’t get too excited; winning matches is the norm for Milan.”

On Thiaw and the mercato…

“The guys I have are all very good, Thiaw is one of them. The management is making its evaluations together with me, then we’ll see.”

On Estupinan and Gimenez…

“Estupinan has improved a lot. When you change countries and leagues… He played a good game, he’s improving: we had no doubts. A centre-forward, more than playing well, needs to score goals and today Gimenez scored, so I’m happy.”

It will be interesting to see how Milan will approach the game tomorrow, as there was a clear defensive set-up today. The likes of Rafael Leao and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who were in the stands today, will also be back in action and that should help a lot.