Ruben Amorim spoke before the Benfica game about having a squad not entirely suited to his style, but who specifically was he referring to?
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recall this morning that Amorim went from calling it a ‘ten out of ten transfer window’ to inferring that he has a squad ill-suited to his style of play. He does not strike one as a man who deals in half-measures.
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After all, following the defeat against Benfica – his first in a competitive match as Milan manager – he declared that if he is going to fail, he will do so spectacularly. In other words: by sticking to his own ideas, regardless of criticism or controversy.
But how did things reach this point? In his first five matches, Amorim fielded five different line-ups, attempting to rotate his players as much as possible, partly to get to know and evaluate them firsthand before making definitive decisions.
However, the 0–2 home loss in the Europa League opener must have convinced the Portuguese coach that several players simply do not fit his brand of football. “Is the squad unsuited to my 3-4-2-1? That’s partly true, but you can’t arrive at a new club and expect everything to be ready-made,” said Amorim.
The ‘ill-suited’ ones
The intriguing this is that the former Manchester United and Sporting CP coach was deeply involved in the summer transfer business, helping to select new signings and identifying players who could be let go.
Who is he referring to when he speaks of certain players being unsuitable? Naturally, Amorim hasn’t named names, at least not publicly. It is easy, however, to imagine who might lack the specific attributes needed to thrive in his system.
The first is Fikayo Tomori, who over the summer was lumped in with the group of players marked for the axe, alongside Youssouf Fofana, Christopher Nkunku and others. After the transfer window closed and with no further defensive reinforcements arriving, Tomori was fully reintegrated into the squad. He has not played a single minute.
Staying with the defence, Strahinja Pavlovic is a regular starter but does not fit the profile of the ideal outside centre-back for the Portuguese coach, particularly in possession. Meanwhile, Matteo Gabbia – physical issues aside – is yet to take the field under Amorim, and that seems to be more than just a hint.
In midfield, Amorim has always sought intensity and running ability to complement possession play. The issue is that a 41-year-old Luka Modrić can no longer guarantee the consistent performances he once did. Ardon Jashari, after a promising start, seems to have reverted to the inconsistency he showed last season.
On the flanks, Davide Bartesaghi isn’t the typical Amorim wing-back. The coach has often deployed full-backs known for grit and attacking drive, or even converted attacking players (such as Amad Diallo at United or Samuel Chukwueze now).
Then there are the ‘hybrids’ like Alexis Saelemaekers and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Amorim has experimented with playing them in the attacking midfield role, though neither quite fits the vision for the position.
In short, there are quite a few players about whom Rúben harbors doubts. It remains to be seen whether the manager will have the time to reshape the squad to his liking during upcoming transfer windows.
“Is the squad unsuited to my 3-4-2-1? That’s partly true, but you can’t arrive at a new club and expect everything to be ready-made,”
I don’t know if I am completely wrong but what I read is “I am too unflexible and stubborn to adapt my style to the circumstances and have a hard time working with what I have got”.
Yes. Just look at his recent history.
Basicly true to be honest
Correct. He has no idea and he can only coach if you give the best in every position. He should try Barca or Real Madrid next year lol
Yes. Im very worry about him. Only 3-4-2-1 and nothing else. If the players couldn’t adapt to his formation, then doomed
Making a hen out of a feather with that quote
“Is the squad unsuited to my 3-4-2-1? That’s partly true, but you can’t arrive at a new club and expect everything to be ready-made,”
So he says its partly true because no coach arrives at a club with 25 players perfect for his vision. This goes for every coach at any club.
Question is, is he a good enough manager to tweak his tactics to fit the current squad?
I think its become pretty obvious which players he can play in what positions and what they need to do differently. Lets see if Amorim have learned that on Sunday vs Lecce.
Well, his way with words is truly working against him 🤣
There’s no such thing as a player not fitting his style, at least as far as he’s concerned. I mean this system is tailor made for Nkunku and a, d I was somehow hoping we finally get tk see the huh we paid that amount for but guess what… Amorim didn’t think so. There’s RLC whom most thought doesn’t fit but Amorim thinks he does. On paper Tomori is 0erfect for this system but well… Also what’s this thing with using Rabiot further up the pitch? There’s a thing about history and setting precedents. Having not lost to Benfica at the San Siro, we have now. I just feel like some decisions should be taken with the history of the club in mind. Cisse is great but not so great
He’s only 19 and has his career ahead of him. No need for too much responsibility. I still think Camarda is who should’ve gone out on loan not the Montenegrin guy
That guy is way ahead in his career but I’m not Amorim. I don’t know if he’s still assessing the players but at a club like Milan you shouldn’t be doing that 5 games into the season.
I don’t like the whole Maldini vs Gerry thing but I’m hoping Amorim doesn’t fail so we don’t bring up the debate about Gerry needing to bring Maldini back to try and fix things.
Lastt of all, would Gimenez convert some of the opportunities Ramos has missed? I think Ramos has had the easier opportunities to score when compared to what Gimenez had. I was really hoping for that guy to succeed under Amorim’s system and I did think he would fit but well Amorim didn’t think so.
Only 5 games in and Amorim isn’t sure if he’ll have enough time to help the club. Please don’t speak that way to the press. Unless of course something is going on behind the scenes which we don’t know about.
“…for Nkunku and I was somehow…”
“…finally get to see the guy we paid…”
“…paper Tomori is perfect for…”
If you don’t like Pavlovic’s style and when you play Terraciano instead of Tomori, you shouldn’t really be coaching Milan.
Pavlovic is the most exciting CB in the world for me and Tomori is a solid CB.
Pavlovic and Gabbia were probably our best CBs last season, now they don’t have the correct style? It’s so ridiculous but then so was the managerial appointment.
Pavlovic is useless on the offense. He cannot pass, cross or think clearly whenever he is in the oposing box. Tomori needs to reintegrate with the squad, which will take time.
Pavlovic scored 5 goals last season. More than any of our strikers. Without him, we’d be fighting relegation.
The fact that a defender that cannot pass or cross had more goals than the strikers should tell you how bad that squad (and partially the current squad) was.
I don’t really care what he does in the opposing box, he’s a defender, a pretty good one too. He also brings the ball out from the back and gets us up the field. I don’t see the issue. Tomori should never have been left out of the squad IMO.
Yet in a 3 CB system one of them needs to go up and help the attack. That’s what Inter did under Inzaghi. That’s the whole shtick with 3 CBs.
“He also brings the ball out from the back and gets us up the field” and what does he do after he gets the ball up the field? Does he pass in front or on the sides? Because if he passes on the sides then his job is done and his contribution to the attack is the equivalent of 0.
He passes to more creative/attacking players. That’s football and that’s his job. You seem to be expecting a big CB to dribble past the opposition team and slot one in the top corner.
Oh come one, he is always clumsy with the ball, what are we talking about? I am not saying he should be a 10/10 striker. He simply is good on defense and that’s kind of it.
Same crap different season. Allegri forced his 3-5-2 onto a squad that wasn’t suited to it either and basically wasted a year of Leao and Puli trying to play them as 9s.
It was clear in the preseason that they needed to buy more players. Mercato was poorly managed.
Exactly. While they did bring some players, it simply wasn’t enough. Imagine if Moreira gets injured, then we are stuck with the Barte/Estupinan duo. God forbid Chuck gets injured.
If indeed the coach said this then he himself is not fit to coach Milan. He played key role in signing these new players and made his choice in old players so what is he saying. Loosing to Benfica at San Siro shows how low Milan has fallen.
Its a bit early and hope they turn things around very soon.
dude still thinking he’s in Sporting CP/ Portugese league. to be stubborn, he need to be on lvl of Sacchi or Crujf, who the hell is he?
The only unsuitable person here is Amorim. He’s unqualified for the position of AC Milan coach. Enough with these stupid 3 center back formations. Most of the top coaches or up and coming coaches (and/or tob clubs) in football today don’t use this. Guardiola, Mourinho, Flick, Enrique, Maresca, Iraola, Emery, Arteta, Kompany, Fabregas, Farioli, Jaissle, to name a few, all use 4 back systems, and most of those are 4-2-3-1.
This team needs 2 signings and a change of formation to play well. In January we need, first and foremost, a true defensive midfielder (a type of player we’ve been missing since Kessie left and is probably the main reason our defense hasn’t been great since), and then only after securing that a left-footed CB that is a monster defensively. Then we need to switch to 4-3-3 (I know Amorim won’t do this, so there is an implication here). The staring lineup would be:
Maignan
Saelemaekers-Gila-New CB-Moreira
Musah-New DM-Rabiot
Chukwueze-Ramos-Pulisic
The new DM would stay home and sit deep, shielding the defense. When in possession the DM would almost drop in between the two CBs, with the fullbacks pushing up and almost defacto making it a 3-4-3 (or 3-4-2-1 if the wingers tuck in a bit), anyway. In this sense Amorim would have the best of both worlds. Out of possession a sold rank of 3 midfielders in front of the defense, in possession virtually the same 3-4-2-1 that we have now. This would also give a player like Comotto more chances, as there are now three midfield position.
Then in the summer we welcome Athekame back, sign a veteran RB for depth, and finally get rid of Saelemaekers, whose effort I’ve always appreciated, but whose end product has always been missing, get another no. 8 (Modric retires and RLC’s contract ends), and then make Hutchinson permanent (if he’s good) or get another RW for depth, and then I think we’d have a pretty decent side.
@Andrei Yes… that’s why he’s a defender. Honestly, this stuff isn’t difficult to grasp.
Coaches like Amorim and players like who can’t adapt to different formations and positions don’t do well in football.
A good coach has to be adaptable and able to get the best out of the players he has. For example, Pirlo was an attacking midfielder but Ancelotti already had Rui Costa, Seedorf, Rivaldo and Kaka in the team.
So what did Ancelotti do he tried playing all of them in a 442 and it didn’t work. So he decided that he would switch to a Christmas tree formation and use Pirlo as a deep lying playmaker in front of the defense and it worked like a charm.
Seedorf tells this story all the time. This is what makes a coach great.
Amorim needs to learn how to adapt and use his players to the best of their abilities.
Gasperini does this all the time. Dybala is now being used as a 2nd striker alongside Malen.
This should have been a red flag when hiring Amorim because Palladino has more flexibility and he did well with fiorentina.
But after he was sacked for whatever bizarre reason every coach after him started struggling. It’s only now it seems like Vanioli is able to steady the ship.
Gasperini je za mene već više od 5 godina najbolji trener u Italji !! Od gusta je bilo gledat Atalantu a sada Romu kako s prosječnim igračima igra ljepo i zanjimljivo, uz postizanje izvrsnih rezultata!!! Zašto ga Milan nije angažiro kad ima italiju u malom prstu !
Pogledajte odluke koje donosi Milanova viša uprava. Jeste li očekivali da će donijeti dobru odluku u vezi s angažiranjem novog menadžera?
By far, Estupian is the worst.
No idea why the kept Estupian!
Anyone remember Yacine Adli?
Would he have fit this current 3-4-2-1 formation?