Ruben Amorim slams Milan’s ‘disastrous’ first half performance against Lazio

Ruben Amorim slams Milan’s ‘disastrous’ first half performance against Lazio Serie A sides Milan and Lazio played out a very entertaining 2-2 draw at the Stadio Olimpico and Diego Moreira turned out to be the star of the show for Ruben Amorim. The Roman side led in the first-half, thanks to goals from Matteo Cancellieri and Tijjani Noslin. Just when things seemed to be going against them, Amorim’s side saw new signing Moreira score a quickfire brace to give them a shot at getting three points. Mainly, it was a game of two halves. Lazio had dominated in the first 45 and could’ve easily scored more. Milan took more control of the tie in the second half, stretching Rino Gattuso’s side and they too could’ve scored more.  The Rossoneri’s Portuguese was clearly not happy with the first-half showing and he expressed his thoughts clearly in the press conference. He said, via La Gazzetta dello Sport : “I’m happy to hear what Gila had to say after the match,” Amorim explained. “We took home a point, but we could have done much better; you can’t give away a half. We lost too many balls.” Going into detail about the first-half performance, he said: “In the first half, we were honestly disastrous.” “In the first half, we just weren’t there. We didn’t have the right energy. We lost so many balls without any pressure, simple passes. Then in the second half, it was the opposite. We put energy, we were really good with the ball, we controlled the game. We were quick when we needed to be quick, we controlled the pace and stopped the game when we needed to stop it.” “It was a completely different team, a completely different match. We managed to bring home a point, but if you look at the game, we have to do better, because you can’t play just one half.” He also added technical insight into why the second half wasn’t meant for Luka Modric, leading to Yunus Musah’s inclusion. “We have to be good with the ball to make Luka feel comfortable in the game. If we turn the game into constant reversals and runs, it’s not the type of game for him. And that’s why we changed the setup in the second half by bringing on Musah. We realized we needed a little more pace in the middle of the pitch.” Modric’s role in the Milan side has become a topic of debate in recent weeks. Amorim appeared to clarify that too. “Plus, I think Luka dropped too close to the central defenders, which left us with four players to start the move and fewer defenders. Men between the lines. We can play with Luka and we’ve shown it in recent games, but to do that we need to turn the game into a game of possession and control. If we turn it into a running game, it becomes impossible for him.” Kaustubh Pandey – GIFN