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Ahead of tomorrow’s game between AC Milan and Sassuolo, the Neroverdi’s head coach has spoken about the quality of the hosts and more.
Milan will come into this game expected to overturn their run against small teams, as well as their poor form against those who were promoted from Serie B last season. So, it is a game with weight, even if it is not really.
For Massimiliano Allegri, the game is a final in itself, and despite the Supercoppa Italiana taking place later this week, there is no overlooking tomorrow’s fixture. The league takes precedence, and that is why a full-strength team is expected.
Should his team win tomorrow, they would spend Christmas at the top of the league, regardless of what happens in next weekend’s fixtures.
Grosso previews Milan vs. Sassuolo
Fabio Grosso has already spoken about Christian Pulisic before tomorrow’s game, and this afternoon, he spoke to the media about the fixture completely, via MilanNews.
What does this match against Milan mean to you?
“It means knowing we’re going into a top-level match because we’re facing a top-seeded team, full of strong players, with a very good coach, in a great atmosphere: everything is superb.
“We need to raise our level to try to stay in the game and try to do the things we know how to do when the opponent allows us to.”
Will Sassuolo be more vertical or more capable of exploiting match after match?
“We tried to understand what could happen because there will be many different situations within the game, and our skill lies in recognising and understanding what’s needed because opponents with the quality they have don’t need advantages. We need to keep our antennas up.”
How’s Pinamonti? And how’s Volpato?
“Whoever was well is fine, we’re getting Vranckx back. A virus during the week destabilised us a bit, but so far there aren’t any serious consequences, and I hope there won’t be any for tomorrow’s match.
“As for Cristian, he needs to do what he knows how to do, he needs to make himself available to his teammates when needed, and he needs to know how to utilise his teammates’ strengths, in a match with so many things to exploit.”
What trap can Milan set against Sassuolo?
“I don’t think we’ll be a trap for them because they’ve already paid the price and will be ready to play a real game. The fulcrum of the team is always the one that carries you forward, and they have many qualities in midfield: they have experience, physicality, quality, and dynamism.
“They have good players surrounded by good players, and they can move independently of the formation. We know we’ll be facing a team that will be at the top of the league at the end of the season.
“All games are tough, we know this one, the players are strong, it will be a marquee match and we’ll have to be ready, ready to play the game, stay in the game, and hold on to whatever happens.”
How much does it hurt not to be on the bench tomorrow?
“I’m sorry, I would have liked to be close to the boys, and I don’t have that opportunity because if I make a mistake, I won’t be able to be there, but I trust the boys and I trust Raffaele. I’m sorry, it happened, let’s move forward.”
Allegri is good at balancing. Do you consider yourself more of a playmaker or a wait-and-see type?
“I know the coach and I have a lot of respect for him, both personally and professionally. In my philosophy, and I don’t like this, I always think about putting the player at the centre because he’s the absolute protagonist.
“I like trying to propose the game, then you have to deal with the opponents, and the skill lies in being able to recognise the moments, the most useful things, riding on your own ideas, without putting them ahead of your players’ potential.”
There’s always a tense atmosphere in football, and in some sports there are so many smiles. His reflection on this…
“It’s an interesting point because when you’re immersed in something, negativity brings out the worst in us. Serenity is crucial and mustn’t turn into superficiality. Skill is about being better than others; when you compete, that’s the goal.”
Sassuolo is one of the Serie A teams that concedes the most goals in the first 30 minutes, while Milan displays the most intensity. Do we need to rethink our approach or is it a matter of isolated incidents?
“I still need to figure out what the ‘stay focused’ principle is about. Making a mistake makes you think the players aren’t focused enough. We’ll always find the data in abundance.
“Thanks for reminding me, because I need to brush up on it with the players. We need to be good at easing the tension of the game; too much concentration sometimes makes you tense up. Let’s hope we start differently, as we have in other games.”
Congratulations on fixing the defence. With Walukiewicz and Candé at the back, is necessity a virtue?
“It’s a mix, because we’ve taken into account certain shortcomings; we know that, and we’ll try to address them. I also have a few players at my disposal who have certain characteristics. The key is to show solidity or not so solidity.
“It’s not a question of having good or bad defenders; it’s about the team more than the individual, while still realizing that improving individual performance improves the team’s performance.”
Could going to San Siro carefree be an advantage or a disadvantage?
“We’ll know later. What you’ve done doesn’t give you any advantages. What we have doesn’t help us achieve any kind of objective.
“I don’t like the idea of saying you have nothing to lose in these games. When you play matches, you have to lose, and losing them because of your own mistakes doesn’t appeal to me. Then there’s the pitch, and we have to show our qualities on the pitch; it takes courage.”
Pavlovic’s runs from the back are one of Allegri’s assets. Can those moves be read and limited?
“It’s one of the things we know, because he starts with a 3-5-2 because on the left, it’s a space they occupy with runs, on the right they create superiority, and sometimes Pavlovic also pushes forward on the left and they’re good at recognising these spaces.
“How can you limit them? First of all, by trying to produce a great team performance, recognizing what can happen if we stay in the game. We’ll show great courage, personality, and the desire to try and get a positive result despite the environment we’ll find ourselves in.”
The match between Matic and Modric is a duel within a duel…
“They’re two champions, their careers prove it. They were able to express their potential many years ago.
“We have Nemanja, a person of great values who is very useful for what we want to do, and we’ll try to limit the characteristics of their very strong player, but there are others too. If you try to chase them, they’ll make you wander around the pitch; if you don’t, they’ll make you wander around the pitch anyway.”
He’s bringing a Sassuolo team that’s in an excellent position in the league table to this stadium, San Siro, which was dear to the hearts of those who are no longer with us…
“A beautiful reflection. We are proud of our ownership, a serious ownership that represents beautiful things.
“I didn’t have the pleasure and fortune of knowing the Doctor, but I met his children and I understood many things about their parents; they undertook an important journey to make this reality known.
“Remo Morini often reminds us where this club began, its roots, how important the Squinzi family was, and how fortunate we are to have such an important ownership behind us.”
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