Fikayo Tomori has admitted that he has not had the start to the season that he wanted, and seemed to endorse the idea of AC Milan playing a three-man defence.
Tomori is one of the players that was present on day one when the squad reconvened after a vacation was granted to those not going to Qatar, and the Englishman can probably feel a bit aggrieved to have not been at the World Cup.
Nonetheless, it means that he is ahead of most others in physical preparation for the resumption on Serie A in the new year, and he certainly looked among the most ready during the friendly against Arsenal yesterday.
Tomori was interviewed by DAZN as part of Milan’s training retreat in Dubai and he spoke about a number of topics, starting with the possibility of winning the Scudetto again given the eight point gap to Napoli.
“In my opinion, the most difficult thing is to win again. Because we know that last year there weren’t many people who thought we could win. Now we have won, we have the Scudetto on our chest and when the teams play against us, they do it so as not to lose and now we have to look for another way to win and improve our mentality. We can win again and we try to do everything to do it,” he said (via MilanNews).
You probably deserved to go to the World Cup. What positives does the non call-up bring?
“I am always motivated. Obviously I was disappointed, because I wanted to go to the World Cup and to go to the European Championships I have to do even more. There was disappointment, yes, but I’m happy now and I’m totally focused on Milan. I hope to arrive well, as well as the team, in the first game after the break.”
How much and what changes without Mike Maignan in goal?
“It doesn’t change much, because we have our own way of playing. Mike is an important player for us and when he’s in goal, it’s better for us because he’s among the top players in the world. Tata is also doing a good job. Mike always talks, even when we have dinner. We are lucky to have him with us.”
We have seen a Milan that sets up with a three-man defence, what are the advantages of this solution?
“We can build with a longer line and when we attack, we already have three players behind and we don’t allow counter-attacks. And this also leads us to have more players who can attack. It is certainly a very good solution for us, because we can change set-up during the match according to the situation we face.”
Are you working to score more?
“It’s something I wanted and want to improve on. I scored against Juventus, but I want to do more. My job is to defend the goal and if I do it and we win, that’s fine too.”
Who are the defenders you like in Serie A at the moment?
“I would tell you Kim from Napoli, Skriniar, Bonucci, Bremer… There are many. And seeing them, I always want to improve. I know I didn’t start the season the way I wanted, but that’s the way things are in football. I want to win again and improve where I can.”
