Napoli  v AC Milan, Serie A 2024/25: the pre-match press conference - video Dailymotion

A.C. MILAN OFFICIAL

Watch Napoli  v AC Milan, Serie A 2024/25: the pre-match press conference - A.C. MILAN OFFICIAL on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome along to the pre-match press conference on the eve

00:05of Napoli Milan. We'll start with Milan TV. Thanks, Nicola. Good afternoon, coach.

00:10Coach, a number of players go away during the international break, and that was also

00:15the case this time around. But how have you worked with the players that stayed here?

00:20A number of significant players, centre-backs, centre midfielders stayed here. Was that useful

00:25for you? Good afternoon, everyone. Ideally, I would have liked to have been able to work

00:32with the full squad, but that wasn't possible because there were a number of players, 15

00:39players, that joined up with their respective national teams. But those that stayed here

00:44at Milanello were able to do different work than we did in the previous weeks for a fortnight.

00:53That was certainly very important. Sky, we have analysed a little bit the first time

01:01that you've come up against Antonio Conte in the opposition dugout. What sort of match

01:06are you expecting? And people keep saying that Milan are chasing down the top four positions.

01:14Why do you need to win tomorrow in Naples? What would that give your team? I played against

01:22Antonio during my playing career. We were both professionals. He was at Juventus, I

01:28was at Lazio, Parma, and we came up against one another many times. Yes, it's the first

01:35time that we meet as coaches, and it will be a difficult match against a good team that

01:42are three points off the top. It's an important match in terms of the objectives, the targets

01:49that we have. We mustn't shy away from our goals, because in terms of our points tally,

01:57we can finish where we want to. And that's why tomorrow's result is important. We'll

02:04do everything in our power to get a good result, and that's why we want to win the game. We've

02:11worked and prepared the game to do exactly that, albeit we are aware of the quality of

02:17the opposition. Good afternoon. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was back at Milanello after a few weeks being

02:25away. A lot has been said and written about him in the last few days about him being here

02:30or not, but he was back yesterday. We also saw some photos of him chatting to you. Can

02:36you tell us what you said to one another, whether you felt he's behind you and whether

02:42the club have been behind you over the last few weeks? No, he can't play tomorrow, he's

02:47out, unfortunately. I'm in touch with the ownership on an almost daily basis, so what

02:58can I say? They're always behind the team, the team are aware of that. We have worked

03:05in a very healthy, positive environment. There's a lot of desire to strike that balance in

03:13terms of shape that we're constantly talking about here as a team. We want to get a result

03:17tomorrow night, nothing more than that. I want to talk about what pertains to the players

03:23and nothing more than that.

03:26Hi coach. I'll come back to what Mauro Suma was asking you in terms of the two weeks you've

03:36had off with the international break, with the 15 players joining up with their respective

03:40national teams. With that in mind, given that you've had the opportunity over the last two

03:46weeks to work a great deal with Tammy Abraham, who in the two games prior to the international

03:52break played well, is it more likely that Tammy Abraham will start at centre forward

03:59as opposed to Santi Jimenez, who has come back after two weeks away with the Mexico national

04:04team? Thank you. We've worked with everyone. We've worked on the principles of play with

04:12the team in all of the various phases of the games, the five moments of the game. The four

04:19transitions, defensive, offensive, offensive, defensive, and also set pieces. And we have

04:24worked a great deal on that, their ability, their quality, but not only with Tammy Abraham,

04:30but also the players that stayed here, 11 outfield players plus three goalkeepers. And

04:37that's what we did. Rai. Hi coach. What sort of match are you expecting? This Napoli side

04:46want to get points for the title race, Lukaku, Conte. From a footballing perspective, what

04:51sort of Napoli you expected to come up against? A quality Napoli side. Napoli side that will

04:59really reflect its coach with aggressiveness, intensity. They'll have a centre forward up

05:07top that's very good with his back to goal. With Raspadori working off him and causing

05:15problems for the opposition. With McTominay making runs from deep. With Zambogisar also

05:22being able to do that. Stanislav Lobotka who's a master in the midfield. We know about this

05:29off by heart. We know exactly how they build up their play, what they do in the first phase,

05:35the second phase, which players are good at getting into the final third and causing problems

05:42for the opposition. We have prepared for all of these principles of play, the opposition's

05:48quality but of course we're focused first and foremost on us as a team. What we need

05:53to create, we can cause problems for Napoli with no doubt about that and we are ready

05:57for a good game. I like to take on the best teams and at this moment in time Napoli are

06:03one of the best teams in the country. Mediaset. Hi Sergio. I wanted to ask you on a personal

06:10level how excited are you by your first encounter with Antonio Conte? When you joined Milan

06:18you were actually defined as the Portuguese Conte in terms of your methodology. A bit

06:24more Portuguese than Italian. I love Italy. How excited are you about it? I know you've

06:37spoken about the ownership but Antonio Conte is one of the names being linked with your

06:42job. I don't need any reassurances. I'm here to do the best job I can. I know that I'm

06:48giving absolutely everything in my power and I try and convey that to the players. I think

06:53that's the comparison that's been made in terms of the passion that Antonio and I have

06:57in terms of the way we do our job. As head coaches, in a previous walk of life as players,

07:04besides our passion for football because football is part and parcel of life, we're

07:09passionate about life, football, family, friends. We have an intense way of living our lives.

07:17I like that and I can see that Antonio is similar as well. Everyone has their own qualities

07:23and characteristics. I'm different to him but the most important thing is not necessarily

07:27Antonio against Sergio, it's Napoli against Milan tomorrow. Do you feel like the Portuguese

07:32Antonio Conte? No. Hi coach. Of course, the most important game is always the next match

07:44so Napoli-Milan is your most important game. However, I'd like to ask you, in terms of

07:50what you're hearing inside the dressing room, do you believe that you can finish in top

07:56four? Can Milan make the top four in these last nine matches? If they didn't believe

08:06it then they wouldn't be here. What would I be doing here otherwise? The players have

08:11come back in this week and we've also been able to work differently to previous weeks

08:20when they're all here but we had a game every three days and there's a very healthy, positive

08:25environment, there's a lot of desire to perform well and to have an end of the season which

08:32is befitting of Milan's history. Hi coach. I wanted to come back to one of the previous

08:41questions in terms of what you said as well. In the last few days you went to Coimbra and

08:49you made some comments where you stressed the fact that shortly after the Super Cup

08:56they started to link other names to the Milan head coach job. Carlos asked you about this

09:00as well. Ibrahimovic has been here, the CEO Giorgio Furlani has been here. Have they given

09:09you a vote of confidence? Have you spoken about the future, what next season might look

09:14like? Do you feel you've been reassured in terms of what's happened in the last few days

09:19and do you have even greater confidence moving forward? To be honest, no. Honestly, please

09:25let me say one thing because it's only natural that a lot's been said about this. You know,

09:32reassurances. I've just got to get down to work. I mustn't think about anything else.

09:39I'm not so weak as to need someone to say to me, reassure me. No, I depend on results.

09:46That's it. I'm here to get results. Tomorrow's match is the most important game. I don't

09:51need someone saying, relax, don't worry. No, I rely on results. And whether it's one week,

09:59one month, one year or ten years from now, you know, if and when we go our separate ways

10:07it will come about. But I'm not like a kid that needs to say to my dad, oh, I need some

10:11reassurances. No, I'm just working here. I've got a contract with Milan, I'm doing my job

10:17and I don't need anyone to necessarily say any more than that in terms of the conditions

10:25that I'm working in. They do that very well. Yeah, I've got two goals. The Coppa Italia

10:32and to finish in the top four. That was established when I first joined the club. The third target

10:39was the Super Cup, which you've already achieved. It was a disappointment to not finish in the

10:47round of 16 in the Champions League, which we've spoken about already. Il Giornale. I

10:53wanted to ask you this, Sergio, given that there's not only tomorrow night's game, but

10:58there's also Wednesday's match. And as you've stressed now, it is one of your goals. I wanted

11:03to ask you, in terms of preparing tomorrow's game, will you also consider the fact that

11:11you have to play again on Wednesday? And I also wanted to ask you, in terms of the players

11:17that came back in more fatigued from the two matches they played with their national teams,

11:23will you also consider that ahead of your team selection? I'm 50 years of age. Half

11:31of that I spent as a player. I'm overdoing it. 13 or 14 years as a head coach. I think

11:37if you try and prepare two games, that's no good. You can actually risk not performing

11:42well in either match. So we've been focused on what we need to do tomorrow in Naples.

11:49And then we'll give some thought to the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg. Either way, there

11:56are some players that played twice for their countries. But these days we have an excellent

12:02staff when it comes to recovering players, when it comes to them coming back from long-distance

12:08travel. And that's not a reason why someone might play or not.

12:12Hi Sergio. No questions about the Frenchman. It'll be a bit obvious today. I wanted to

12:19ask you about Carl Walker, your opinion on his first two months at the club. It was just

12:26a market opportunity and yet in January he's probably the player that's had the greatest

12:32consistency in terms of his performances and he's probably also had the greatest impact

12:37in the dressing room. As you know, I don't like to talk about individuals. He's part

12:42of the squad. He's settled in very well. He's got a great deal of experience, both on and

12:47off the pitch. He's always a very important player and he shows that throughout the week

12:55that he deserves to play. It's not just because he's 35 and because he played at Manchester

12:59City. In terms of the principles of play, those that give 100%, that's what I pick my

13:07team based on. And he's been doing that, which is why he's playing. If he were to stop doing

13:11that it would be very difficult for him to play. But he's very focused. He's a consummate

13:15professional. And I hope that he can continue this way between now and the end of the season.

13:19Good afternoon, coach. I know you don't like talking about individuals too much, but I

13:25wanted to ask you about Ruben Loftus-Cheek because you have told us that he could be

13:31a real weapon now. He played a lot as a number 10 last season, almost as a second striker.

13:37Where do you see him in your system? Where would he fit in? Yes, he's a player who can

13:42operate in several different positions. He's an important player and he's also got some

13:48impressive statistics. If I'm not mistaken, he scored 10 goals across all competitions

13:52last season. When I came in here, I saw some matches and some footage of all of the players

13:59just with other head coaches, with other footballing philosophies. And we can use Ruben as a 10.

14:06We can have him playing a bit deeper as a box-to-box midfielder. It depends on what

14:12our game plan is in that specific match. And of course, he needs to be physically fit

14:17as well. I think he's worked very well like all the other players over the last two weeks

14:21and he is available for selection. Last two questions. Good afternoon, coach. A lot has

14:30been made about Napoli's quality, about how Napoli have done under Conte. Is there a player

14:37that has impressed you the most at Napoli that you'd like to take out of their side

14:42ahead of tomorrow's game? No, we look at the team as a unit. Every player that plays at

14:48Napoli, just like here at Milan, they need to have quality to do so. Antonio Conte is

14:51doing a good job because he's an excellent coach. He's got some good players available

14:55for selection and he's having a good season. I don't want to talk about any individuals

15:04because I don't like to do so. And of course, there are some good players in every area

15:08of the pitch. And there are also some solutions off the bench during the game, just like us

15:16as well. Because if you see our recent games and that's a sign of the good spirit that

15:20we have, we also boast it here because during matches there are also players that come off

15:25the bench and add something to the team. Hi coach, I wanted to ask you about Ficaio Tomori.

15:35He hasn't played as much recently. He played a lot in the first few weeks under you, he

15:41had some good performances, even after that too. But in the last few weeks we haven't

15:47seen him. Gabbia and Cao as a centre-back pairing, what is it about their skillset that

15:56make them a better fit than Ficaio Tomori? It also depends on the phases, periods of

16:06the season, maybe they pick up more yellow cards, maybe their form drops off, but I've

16:09got four very good centre-backs and I've got the utmost faith in all of them. It depends

16:15on the period of the season, I've got the same faith in all of them. So in the last

16:21game Gabbia and Malik played, but we'll see what happens in the upcoming matches and this

16:29competition for places within the team is excellent, they all have quality and it's

16:34up to them to work hard and show me a sign that whether they deserve to play or not.

16:40Thank you very much everyone.

Napoli v AC Milan, Serie A 2024/25: the pre-match press conference

Category

Transcript

Recommended