Koni De Winter has revealed that AC Milan set up with a four-man defence against Lecce to try and exploit one key aspect.
It was important that Milan bounced back after drawing their two most recent Serie A games before losing to Benfica in their Europa League opener on Wednesday night, and they did so with a commanding 3-0 victory over Lecce at San Siro.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
Christian Pulisic got his first Milan goal of the calendar year to break the deadlock in the first half. Then, Adrien Rabiot and Diego Moreira each scored in the second half to ensure that the Rossoneri go into the break with a bit more peace.
After the final whistle De Winter spoke in the press conference room at San Siro to offer his thoughts on what was a much more positive night for the team. MilanNews relayed what he had to say.
Why did you line up with a back four?
“We started with a back four to make Chukwu a little more attacking. It went well, we controlled the game and won.”
What happened at Milanello the past few days?
“Nothing. We followed the coach’s plan. In my opinion, we could have done better, not the coach. We gave everything on the pitch and did what the coach said, and we won.”
How important is the coach’s trust?
“Very important. It helps a lot to have the coach’s trust. That’s how football works, in my opinion. You can see players when they’re confident.”
Ah, being flexible in the lineup goes long ways.
I did notice that Gila was getting very wide on the right at times. This must have been part of the decision to play Estupinan instead of Moreira on the left side.
There was great interchange by the player positions all over the field.
Happy to see Amorim wasnt ready to die on the sword like some disgraced Samurai rather then changing his principles.
Switching to 4-2-3-1 in possession and 5-2-3 or 5-4-1 when defending was clearly made to accomodate some players, mainly Modric who now could drop down between the two CBs to controll the pace of the game, then Pulisic dropping down closer to Rabiot to have a 3 man midfield easier to reach with vertical passes.
Also didnt leave Modric (and Rabiot) too exposed defending since both Pulisic and Saelemaekers helped out defending more central. Verstile players like that are real good to have in the squad.
I hope Amorim is willing to play like this more often when facing 4-3-3 teams or 3-5-2 and we face 3 central midfielders.