Ruben Amorim said Milan need to improve in "everything, especially with the ball" after the 1-1 draw with Inter in Perth, singling out possession as the area that would ease the pressure on his team.
The result came in a pre-season friendly at Optus Stadium, but the derby framing kept the intensity high. Federico Dimarco put Inter ahead early in the second half before Christopher Nkunku levelled from the penalty spot late on, the spot-kick earned after a run set up by Luka Modrić. The substitutes drove the comeback, with Rafael Leão and Gonçalo Ramos both looking sharp off the bench.
Speaking to Sky after the game, Amorim took the positives from the start and finish while pointing to the middle of the match as the problem. "It's important not to have lost, but the most important thing is to improve as a team," he said, as transcribed by MilanNews. "We started very well, pressing very well, but Inter have a lot of experience, they immediately understood what we were doing and we struggled against them at the end of the first half and at the start of the second half."
He was happier with the closing stretch. "Then we improved: we played well in the last twenty minutes of the match. It was a good test, but we need more games to test all the players."
Asked what pleased him, Amorim returned to the build-up play that has been a focus this summer. "We're trying to build from the back, but without taking the same risks we did against Glasgow," he said, a nod to how his side handled possession under pressure this time.
On where the team must get better, his answer was blunt. "Everything, especially with the ball. If we have more possession, we'll suffer less. But it's something that takes time: we need to have more possession to suffer less."
Leão caught the eye after coming on, but Amorim was careful not to single him out. "If you're a Milan player, you're lucky and you have to enjoy yourself. He's having fun, but he's a team player. Today he helped the team, and that's important. But I rate him the same as Nkunku, Camarda."
The evening opened with a tribute to Franco Baresi, and Amorim tied the club's grief to his own aim for the season. "He was a special player and a special person. We will miss him greatly. But the only way to remember him as he deserves is to do things right and bring our club back to where it deserves to be."
With a full pre-season still ahead, the fix Amorim is asking for is control on the ball, and how quickly the squad picks it up will decide whether these mid-match lulls follow Milan into the season.