Amorim Backs Milan Rotation Amid Injury Crisis and Defends 'Not Better' Bournemouth Verdict
Ruben Amorim has explained his reshuffled Milan line-up for tonight's Serie A trip to Udinese, conceding that an escalating injury list left him little room to manoeuvre as the Rossoneri look to recover from a bruising week in Europe.
The coach spoke to DAZN Italia ahead of kick-off at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine, where Milan were left reeling from Thursday's 3-0 Europa League defeat at Bournemouth — a game that barely got going before goalkeeper Mike Maignan's red card derailed their plans.
Injury list grows as Amorim reshuffles
Amorim revealed that Adrien Rabiot, Mario Gila and Diego Moreira sustained injuries against Bournemouth, adding to an absentee list that already included Samuel Chukwueze, Matteo Gabbia, Alexis Saelemaekers and Pietro Terracciano.
Asked whether some of those were precautionary decisions ahead of the midweek round, the Portuguese was unequivocal: "They cannot play, it's just not possible. We need to manage the players, and there are players here today too where we need to manage their minutes."
He added: "With this schedule, it's impossible to use everyone at the same time. Because we need to try to win every game, we need to balance everything, and they are not available for today."
Fikayo Tomori and Sankhoun Diawara were handed their first Serie A starts of the season in a revamped defence, with suggestions the side lined up in a 4-4-2.
"We know that Udinese have five players at the back, so we try to play in a different way," Amorim noted. "What matters is the rotation, I try to choose the players that are available physically, and then look at their characteristics. If I had all the players then I might play a different way, but today my feeling is this is the best starting XI for the game. It won't be the line-up to finish, but it's the best to start."
Amorim addresses Maignan red card
Maignan was sent off for a shove on Bournemouth player Tyler Adams as a corner was coming in — a naive error that proved very costly as the visitors collapsed to a 3-0 loss.
Quizzed on whether he had spoken to his goalkeeper about the incident, Amorim replied: "The players are not boys, they are men. Maignan understood right away he cannot do that, we cannot put ourselves in that position. I had a conversation with him, but I had a conversation with everyone."
The coach said the defeat had little to do with tactics or technique: "I felt what happened at the beginning with Bournemouth was nothing to do with tactics or technical qualities, because they were not better than us on a technical level, they were more competitive. That is something we see in the first halves in the league too, it's about how competitive we are. Sometimes we need to forget about playing really nice, we need to approach the game in a different way."
Ramos fit, tough week looms
On the fitness of Goncalo Ramos, Amorim insisted the forward was ready: "Goncalo Ramos is ready to play, otherwise he wouldn't be here. He had a problem midweek, he has recovered, everyone here including those on the bench are ready to play."
Milan remain unbeaten in Serie A this season but have rarely looked convincing, having been held to draws by Juventus, Lazio and Sassuolo before almost fumbling a 3-0 lead in their 3-2 win over Atalanta.
The next week could prove decisive for their campaign, with a midweek round against Bologna followed by Saturday's Derby della Madonnina against Inter.