4 hours ago
46
Davide Nicola has reacted to Massimiliano Allegri’s comments about his Cremonese side, and spoke about how to try and hurt AC Milan.
Cremonese are back in the top flight after a two-season absence and their first test could not be much tougher, making the short hop to Milan to play in front of what is expected to be over 75,000 fans in a sold out San Siro.
Giovanni Stroppa was the man who started and ended the season as manager for La Crema, either side of a one-month spell from Eugenio Corini in typical Italian coaching carousel fashion.
They got promoted via the Serie B play-offs in the end but have opted to make yet another change on the bench though, with Nicola taking charge after leaving Cagliari.
Nicola spoke to reporters present at Cremonese’s press conference room on the eve of the trip to face Milan at San Siro, a big test for the fellow Lombardy side. MilanPress relayed his comments.
How are you feeling ahead of your debut?
“We’ll have to embark on a journey that will allow us to be competitive for our goal in March-April. We’ll do so with great enthusiasm, starting with our fans. We’re constantly evolving, and we’re very happy about that.
“The club is working with great desire, and we’ll try to do the same on the pitch. We’ll face a team that will be fighting for other objectives: Allegri’s teams are always competitive, organised, and pragmatic.
“It will be an interesting and important test for us because we’ll be able to gauge the level of our performance against so many opponents in this league, as well as the atmosphere, which will be educational and stimulating. We need to know that we’ll need to give it our all, with clarity and organisation.”
How’s the team doing?
“We’re just getting started, even in terms of our knowledge. I repeat, the group has changed significantly, and perhaps we’ll have to wait until the last day of the transfer window to fully define Cremonese.
“Those who have worked with us since the very beginning are already in excellent shape. Some of the new arrivals are ahead of us, while for others, it’ll be up to us to get them in a position to perform. We know that once the group is finalised, everyone will reach the level of fitness we have in mind.”
What do you think about Milan?
“A very high-quality team. Milan are fighting for other objectives and therefore has a top-notch structural, physical, and technical capacity. The new arrivals have joined other top-notch players.
“All of Allegri’s teams are difficult to play against; they build with three or four defenders and are constantly moving, as well as being able to attack space. Tactically, I expect a mature, organized, and strong team, especially when they have the ball, when we need to be good at reading situations and playing with courage.
“Our primary objective is to achieve the identity we must always have: at home, away, against teams with the same objective as us, and against others. In football, you can’t decide which games will win the points, but you need the ambition to be able to win them against anyone.
“Regardless of what happens, a team that thinks with this identity has a better chance of consistently building its own path.”
Allegri described you as a pain in the ass to play against…
“Personally, I find it a pleasure, because you can be tough both when you have the ball and when the opponent has it. At the same time, I think the identity we have in mind won’t be fully visible tomorrow. There are dynamics we still need to work on, but we’re trying to create the right mix to be competitive.
“There’s a lot of quality in this division. We’ll have to be good at interpreting the defensive phase in one way or another, as well as proposing play while trying to hurt the opponent without losing our balance.”
What’s the plan to beat Milan?
“With the right courage when you have the ball to launch plays, in interpretation and individual responsibility in duels. But also by bringing the right men to occupy the penalty area and interpreting passes with the right pace. It will take time to be able to implement everything correctly.”
English (US) ·