Massimiliano Allegri has praised Lazio for how organised they were against AC Milan, admitting he is now worried about a top four spot.
The game at the Stadio Olimpico felt like a real sliding doors moment for Milan. With a win they would have cut the gap to Inter down to five points with nine games to go, but instead the loss means that they are eight points away, and any hopes of a title comeback are extremely remote now.
Gustav Isaksen was the one who scored the decisive goal, and as cruel as fate is it was Pervis Estupina – the hero of last weekend’s derby – who should have done better. The winger ran into the huge space in behind and slotted past Mike Maignan, with Maurizio Sarri’s side then displaying a top defensive effort.
Allegri spoke to DAZN after the final whistle to offer his thoughts on what was a disappointing result where nothing really fell for his team. MilanNews transcribed what the coach had to say.
What didn’t work today?
“First of all, we knew how difficult the match would be. Today the Lazio fans were back at the stadium. It was a very important match for them, given that they were playing against Milan, given that they don’t have much to ask of the league table…
“They played a top game, especially the first half. We just needed to be a little more organized in the first half and not concede the goal we did. But above all, we made a lot of technical mistakes. They ran a lot, then they dropped off, and we played a good second half, but we didn’t score.
“But unfortunately, that’s football, there are games that go like this. We need to reset immediately. Everyone was talking about the Scudetto… Yes, after Inter’s draw, everyone was talking about the Scudetto, but we have to be realistic about things.
“I think Milan are doing well this year, and we need to stay focused on the Champions League objective, otherwise we risk destroying everything we’ve built in six months.”
What happened with Leao during his substitutions?
“He was a little irritated because he had situations where he could have been served better, but he wasn’t. They were two possible scoring opportunities, and he was a little upset. These things happen in a match.
“All the players wanted to win because, first and foremost, it would have meant extending the lead on those behind. Como are six points behind, and Juventus is seven, if I’m not mistaken. The season is still long. We need to stay calm and improve on those situations we haven’t been doing well.”
Today you were less aggressive at the start. Was that a strategy?
“I think we made a lot of technical mistakes in the first half, with too many players above the ball. We suffered a lot from their counter-attacks. Even the goal, we were lined up for a long ball. Even before the goal, we were always open. We had eight men ahead of the ball.
“They were very good. Compared to before, Lazio used less ball possession and played more vertically. These goals shouldn’t happen, but they happen. We made a lot of mistakes near the penalty area with our final passes.
“They ran a lot in the first half, and so did their opponents. They marked, they covered the spaces. In the second half, we increased our rotation, we had many favorable opportunities, but we weren’t able to score.”
Did the team pay for the wait-and-see strategy?
“It’s not like we had to wait. Or maybe a bad first half… I think we were faced with more counter-attacks tonight in the first half than we have all season. If you lose the ball while building in the opponent’s half, or you win it back immediately or face a counter, there’s no way out, you can’t escape from there.
“In the first half, we were involved in a lot of duels, tackling. There was one between De Winter and Maldini… When you go soft on the ball and lose duels and tackles, it’s difficult to take the lead. In the second half, we won almost all the duels and, in fact, we were often in the opponent’s half.”
And why did this happen?
“It’s hard to explain. The boys had prepared well, even mentally. In the first half, we made a lot of technical mistakes, and at that moment, we weren’t organised. When you’re disorganised and lose the ball… We played a lot of one-on-ones for fifty minutes.
“Tonight, we tried to accept this one-on-one situation on the counter-attack. We couldn’t do anything else. Because there were eight players above the ball, sometimes even nine with De Winter behind against Maldini.”
Reporter should have asked “Is your team too dependent on Rabiot?”
Why state the obvious? LOL!!!
Leao needs to be benched. He handicaps the team with how useless he is
Maybe it’s a translation issue, or maybe I’m unfamiliar with the term, but what does “above the ball” mean? Does he mean players who were unable to track back when they counterattacked us?
Yes, it means they were too forward to track back, the ball was behind them, closer to our goal.
I am so ready for Pulisic to be benched and sold this summer so superstar Leão can be the star. ACM have hitched their wagon to him. Good luck.
Can be the star or could be? Latter seems more probable with these performances.
Leao is the laziest player in the league time to move on should’ve been sold 4 years ago now worth zilch thank Furlani the genius for that just not a team player
Leao is a lot of money, just sell him, Leao is not at the level that Milan wants.,
I don’t see anyone paying over 50M€ for him though…
Sell Leao and Cash in. I dont think milan is the best place to get consistancy out of Leao. His is world class but inconsistant. he needs to go somewere else to thrive.
We can invest in someone else like Paz or others.
Unless Alegri changes formations to Favour him and make him a focal point then maybe we will see the best out off Leao but other then what he scores, he has been below world class.
Why can’t we change formation, one that matches our players qualities
Nothing Allegri can do to bring out the best from Leao, he laziest player ever played for Milan in my time with Milan.
We have many coaches whose fails to make him a real player even his national Coach once tells media he can’t give him the same freedom that he’s getting from Milan. Which means he can’t endure his reclessness and laziness during matches
Is your formation Mr Allegri, CHANGE. If you love playing 352 then, your 2 upfront MUST be natural strikers NOT wingers to convert them UNNATURALLY & FORCEFULLY to strikers. Look at Inter, they play the same formation, but Lautaro & Thuram are natural strikers OR Esposito or Bonny NOT converting wingers, that’s why their formation is more effective than yours.
If you love Leao & Pulisic to play then it has yo be NOT in this formation, but 434 or 4231, if not then it will never work.
You stabbed your team by yourself. All the winnings that you won were just luck NOT effectiveness
Well said. Our supposed-to-be-2-man-attack is a zero-man-attack with wingers as strikers. Everyone else can see it but the 6x scudetto-winner can’t.
Thierry Henry used to be a winger before he became a striker and look how devastating he was upfront.
But Leao is not Thierry Henry, not even close. He doesn’t have that mental strength and determination. He knows only one way to play the game and that is counter-attacks from the left wing.
Many coaches have tried to teach Leao to become a more complete player but he is too stubborn or mentally unavailable or something.
s your formation Mr Allegri, CHANGE. If you love playing 352 then, your 2 upfront MUST be natural strikers NOT wingers to convert them UNNATURALLY & FORCEFULLY to strikers. Look at Inter, they play the same formation, but Lautaro & Thuram are natural strikers OR Esposito & Bonny NOT converted wingers, that’s why their formation is more effective than yours.
If you love Leao & Pulisic to play then it has to be NOT in this formation, but 433 or 4231, if not then it will never work.
You stabbed your team by yourself. All the winnings that you won were just luck NOT effectiveness
No single attacker in this world would shine under allegri.