Amorim “won’t make the same United mistakes” as Milan head into break undefeated in Serie A | OneFootball

Amorim is undefeated in Serie A [Getty Images]

AC Milan 3-0 Lecce 

Ruben Amorim oversaw AC Milan’s best performance of the season ahead of the international break, after the Rossoneri cruised to a 3-0 victory over Lecce at San Siro.

An early goal by Christian Pulisic gave Milan the lead in the 14th minute – their first goal in the opening half of a match this campaign. After the break, Adrien Rabiot finished off a slick team move, assisted by Gonçalo Ramos, before former Portugal youth international Diego Moreira rounded things off with a third after coming on as substitute.

After back-to-back draws away at Juventus and Lazio and a Europa League defeat to Benfica, the return to winning ways was seen as vital for Amorim’s men. There will be even greater satisfaction for the ex-Sporting boss at Milan’s performance, which saw them dominant throughout while racking up 69% possession.

“I think we improved a lot,” Amorim said after the match. “The freedom in the players, the movement, especially the runs behind, so we are not just a team that has the ball, we are a team that is dangerous. We have space to run into and that is a good thing, we controlled the game, we understood the opposition were waiting for our mistake, but we defended quite well and deserved the win.

“We have a lot to do, but we are improving and we are learning. We had difficulties in the last games, because the structure was really blocked in the positions, but the players had a little more freedom, and they played better with a little more freedom.”

Build-up tweak 

Amorim opted to make changes to the structure of his side's build-up ahead of the game, switching to a four-man shape in possession in the defensive phase. Centre-back Mario Gila moved into a right-back position, while wing-back Pervis Estupiñán dropped into a left-back space during build-up, with the change drawing good results and leading to praise for Amorim in the Italian press.

“It’s an observation of the games and the characteristics,” Amorim said when asked about the experimenting. “Of course I listen to the players, but a manager especially in a big team is always listening to the players, seeing and understanding them, but every player wants to push the game towards their characteristics, and if you want to have an identity, that is hard.

“It’s always my decision. What I felt in the last games is the same that I felt at Manchester United, and I cannot make the same mistake. Sometimes we don’t have the perfect characteristics to play in that way, and if we don’t have it, we have to adapt.

“I think today worked, in another game we can return to the build-up with three, the important thing is to have different ways of playing.

“That’s especially important in Italy, because the managers are really smart, they mark really well one against one, and when they lose the reference of what we want to do, it’s harder for them to understand the mobility, just as they make it harder for me to understand their teams.

“If you look at the way we play, Roma and Inter had more time as a team, you can see the patterns are there. We didn’t lose so many points, we dropped two to Lazio and Juventus away, so not everything is bad.”

Milan head into the international break in 5th place in Serie A, as one of four undefeated teams. With the Rossoneri’s dropped points coming from tough away trips to Juventus and Lazio, the Portuguese boss will likely be satisfied with the first stage of the domestic campaign in Italy.