Allegri: "I could put three forwards on the field"

Here’s what Massimiliano Allegri had to say to the press on the eve of Lecce-Milan in Serie A:

“It’ll be a tough away game, it’s been ten years since the last time we won at Lecce so we have to try and get over this taboo. We’ll be up against a well organized team with quality players who’ll cause us problems. It’s an important game for us at the moment because we have to climb up the table and we can’t afford any more slip ups. Right now we need to pick up points away from home.

Tomorrow we’ll have to aware of the importance of the game and to respect our adversary because even when they’ve lost, they’ve always played well.”

“The way the table looks now actually helps you to prepare for the games because we all have loads of motivation to get to the break in a better position than the one we’re in. We have to get to 6 November near the top of the table and fight to stay there until the end of the league campaign.”

Formation: “Aquilani and Boateng probably won’t be available. Thiago Silva and Seedorf definitely aren’t while Ambrosini is back fit. I’ll have to evaluate both Boateng and Aquilani because they haven’t trained with us since Wednesday. Aquilani has some muscle fatigue and whether or nor he plays will determine the formation that I put out. Some have played more than others, but the international break helped us get into better shape physically and regardless of who plays tomorrow, we have to put in a good performance.

There’s a possibility that that the ‘three tenors’ will all play, I’ll decide after training today. The motivation of playing against Lecce is really important for Cassano and I’m happy with how he has been working. He did well in training yesterday and he available for selection tomorrow, but that’s something I’ll decide later.

I could put three forwards on the field because Robinho hasn’t played too much, Nocerino and Aquilani have both played a lot and Ambro and Boateng are coming back from injury.

Yepes could play tomorrow. Mexes might have wanted to play a bit more on Wednesday but it’s been 6 months since he last played and we have to be careful not to throw him in immediately. Nevertheless, I think shortly he’ll be one of our starting 11.”

“I’m not thinking of a contract renewal. My current contract goes up until June, then the club will decide what to do but at least as far as I’m concerned there’s no problem. I don’t think this is the right moment to talk about it. Now we need to look at the table and focus on improving our position even if we’re only 4 points from the top.”

“They said Pato would be back within 40 days. It’s not the same problem as before, but all the same we have to be very careful to get him back in top shape and avoid any future injuries.”

“I always agree with president Berlusconi. It’s true that Seedorf and Pato are great players and having all players in the squad fit would be good for the club.”

“Gattuso is stable. He’s not fit to play yet the moment, but physically, he’s been training every day. His is an injury that can get better in the space of a few days or a few months. We have no timeline because it’s impossible to have one. Rino lives in the changing room though. He’s always there, always present and always makes himself heard.”

“We have to get back up the table. I’m not about to get worried about Inter, with all due respect, we are Milan. We have a chance to climb up the table now before the break. If we keep on going like this, within three weeks, if we’re not top of the table, we’ll be close.”

“Thiago Silva hasn’t aggravated an existing problem. He just took a knock. A hard knock on his thigh and now he has a hematoma. We hope to have him back for next Wednesday, or if not then, hopefully for Saturday. It’s always good to have all players available but risking a player for one game and then losing him for 2 months wouldn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t know how far the team is from last season. I only know that we’re improving and getting back to playing like the players know they can. We created a lot of chances against Bate, the performance was good even if we switched off for 4 or 5 minutes and conceded a few chances that we shouldn’t have.

You need to maintain that competitive sprit and the same concentration levels for 90 minutes without giving anything away.”

“We have to technical and physical qualities to do that.”/Source: acmilan.com/

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