Ruben Amorim took his first win at San Siro as Milan boss with a 2-0 result over Venezia, but was frank afterwards that the performance left plenty for him to fix.
The scoreline reads as a comfortable home victory in his first game in front of the crowd, though the match itself was more awkward than that. Milan passed up clear openings to lead earlier and let Venezia find pockets of encouragement going the other way, which is exactly the kind of afternoon a new coach uses to measure what still needs work.
Speaking to DAZN at full time, Amorim went straight to the issue of control. “I think it’s easy to understand the match. I said before the game that it would be a difficult match because of the way they would play. We struggled one-on-one, some transitions, but we had more chances than them to score,” he said. “That’s clear, but we never had possession for long periods. We managed some things well, others less so. We need to keep working, but we won, and that’s the most important thing.”
One of his in-game calls shaped the result. Amorim pushed Alexis Saelemaekers into an attacking midfield role, and explained the thinking behind it. “I was watching the game and thought we had space in his position and needed creativity. Initially, I thought about just replacing Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but then I thought we needed more creativity. That was the idea.”
Asked what he wants to see fixed after two matches in charge, Amorim pointed to how Milan attack crosses and how his defenders read the game. “We need to improve the way we occupy the penalty area during crosses. When we attack, our central defenders need to think that their game is different. They shouldn’t worry about who scores, but rather start preparing transitions,” he said. “There’s a lot to do, but it’s not easy to play in this stadium. The fans have a good memory, but they’re working really hard. Sometimes we don’t win beautifully, but this helps us build confidence.”
The one bright spot up front came from Gonçalo Ramos, though Amorim was careful not to reduce him to a goal tally. “I don’t know, and I’m not thinking about his goals. Sure, he’s a striker, we paid a lot for him, but the way he works helps us a lot. Sometimes it seems like there are two of them pressing, but in the end it’s just him,” he said. “Today he missed two chances, but in the third he didn’t think about anything, just about scoring, and he did it.”
What comes through is a coach grading his own side hard after a win, treating three points as a base rather than proof the process is done. From here, the demands he set out publicly become the checklist Milan are judged against in the weeks ahead.