Ruben Amorim has thrown himself into life at Milan, on and off the pitch, and one game into his tenure the signs of his imprint are already visible.
A single win does not settle anything, but the way the Rossoneri played and the way their new coach is carrying himself both point to a man who feels he has arrived somewhere he wanted to be. La Gazzetta dello Sport paint the picture of a coach whose admiration for the club runs deep and who is shaping his surroundings to match it.
That admiration is not new. Amorim grew up watching the Milan sides of Arrigo Sacchi, Fabio Capello, whom he would later work alongside as a pundit on Sky, and Carlo Ancelotti. On day one he made the connection explicit: “It is an honour for me to be here. I remember Sacchi’s Milan, which revolutionised the game. Capello also built an incredible team. I’ve followed Milan since I was young; when you talk about the club, you’re also talking about the people who made it great. I remember the 1990 Milan-Benfica final perfectly.”
The detail extends to how he presents himself. Amorim has ruled out the tracksuit, opting for a suit on the bench and at official events. “Things are different here, and you have to present yourself differently. Besides, Milan is the fashion capital, so you have to represent the city in the best possible way,” he said. He has chosen to live in City Life, one of the city's central districts, wanting to fold himself into the culture around the club rather than sit apart from it.
His relationship with Franco Baresi captures the mood. The former captain reached out, the two exchanged messages and invitations, and Amorim waited for him at Milanello. Two nights ago, Milan supporters and the wider Torino crowd marked the sixth minute of the match with a tribute to Baresi, in the game that gave Amorim his first win.
The performance carried his identity from the first whistle. The high press was on immediately, the goals arrived after the break, and the numbers back up the shift in approach. Milan finished with 58.9% possession, a figure that touched 73.9% in the first half, and pushed a very high line to win the ball back, averaging 44.5 metres out, with an equally high offside trap at 43.9 metres.
There was one statistic that spoke to the pressure Milan generated before the breakthrough. For the first time in more than four years, they took at least 10 shots from inside the box without scoring in the opening 45 minutes of a Serie A game, the last instance coming against Bologna in April 2022, when they managed 13.
The win also carried a piece of history for the coach himself: Amorim is the first foreign manager since Leonardo in 2009 to win his league debut away from home. The intensity dipped in the closing stages as fatigue set in after a high-tempo first 75 minutes, but the framework held.
His energy reached the dressing room in both directions, drawing in younger players like Alphadjo Cisse and lifting senior figures, with Adrien Rabiot speaking about it after the match. It has reached the ownership too. Gerry Cardinale is said to value Amorim's convictions and is prepared to back them with major investment.
Amorim has already won over the travelling support. His first appearance at San Siro as Milan's coach comes this Friday, and that is where the next verdict on this fast start will be delivered.