After the match, coach Massimiliano Allegri explained his decisions on the substitutions of Rafael Leão and Santiago Gimenez and said that his team “needs to have more faith in what they are doing”.
Despite another draw, the Rossoneri strategist found reasons for optimism, praising the team’s reaction despite numerous absences, writes Football Italia.
“We have a few absences, but the team is reacting well,” Allegri said. “We were forced to defend in the first half after the goal because we made a lot of technical mistakes, while after the break we were better, creating chances and making wrong decisions in the final third. We have to improve there, the team needs to have more faith in what they are doing.”
He added that he expected a drop in the opponent’s game. “Atalanta couldn’t continue to press that high throughout the game and we knew they were going to run out of steam, but in those moments we had to improve our finishing and our decisions in the final third.”
“The goal we conceded could also have been avoided by passing, but the team must be proud of their performance and prepare for the next game against Roma,” Allegri concluded.
The fans were worried by the changes of Rafael Leão, who was replaced by Christopher Nkunku at halftime, and Santiago Gimenez, who limped off the field. Milan already have limited options due to injuries to Christian Pulisic, Adrien Rabiot, Pervis Estupiñan and Ardon Jashari, although Ruben Loftus-Cheek is back on the bench.
“Leão had a little problem with his hip, he wasn’t in great shape at the end of the first half, so the team needed fresh legs, and Rafa was struggling with sprinting, so I preferred to take him out,” explained the Milan coach.
“Gimenez just got a knock, it shouldn’t be particularly serious for Leão either, and we hope to have Estupiñan back against Roma. I hope that after the break for representative duties we will have everything back and ready, but until then we have to grit our teeth.”
Allegri pointed out that the team struggles when Rafael Leão is not at his highest level, but he praised the contribution of the players who came off the bench.
“Nkunku played very well as a central striker and Atalanta pulled away, while Loftus-Cheek had 20 outstanding minutes, but it is precisely in those positive periods that we have to score goals. We had favorable situations in the second half and we only allowed one real chance when we lost the ball,” insisted Allegri, reports Index.hr.
He had words of encouragement for striker Gimenez: “Gimenez has worked hard for the team, he needs to relax, the goals will come sooner or later.”
(Vijesti.ba)
