Leonardo positive despite AC Milan’s five pre-season defeats
Leonardo positive despite AC Milan’s five pre-season defeats
AC Milan boss Leonardo remains optimistic after losing his fifth consecutive game. On Tuesday Milan lost in penalties to Boca Juniors in the third place match in the Audi Cup. Milan led most of the match, but the Argentinean side found a late equalizer to force penalties. Leonardo told reporters that his squad believes they can make a return to form. ““I am still pleased though, as tonight I saw character in these Milan players. The boys have made it clear they want to build on our recent performances, and not leave anything to chance by the time the season starts… Again, it’s a pity that we conceded in the final stages, but I did see a positive response from my players, and now we will try to recover strength in the coming days,“ Leonardo told Sky.
The Brazilian World Cup winner added, “It was important for us to end in the best way and, for once, it was our opponents who had to chase the game. It is a shame about the goal we conceded at the end, but I saw a good reaction and now we will try to recover our strength in the coming days.”
Milan faced Bayern Munich in their first match in the Audi Cup, only two days after playing a derby match against Inter Milan in Boston. Milan played three matches in five days in their tour of the United States, adding to the squad’s fatigue.
Leonardo told A Football Report, “This team needs preparation, needs time, needs even to comeback from their injuries.”
He added, “What [the team] has demonstrated in these days is enough to say that we can be a good team. Even if three defeats is heavy, we have to manage that, we have to look the positive way to prepare the team. Obviously I think we need some new players to do something more.”
Boca Juniors manager Alfio Basile believes that AC Milan’s squad this season has lost much of its potency from previous years. He told the Corriere dello Sport, “I have spoken to [Milan coach] Leonardo, who is worried… [Milan President Silvio] Berlusconi must assist in buying players for their attack, compared to the 2007 team that won the World Club Cup they are missing a lot, mostly their offensive potential.”
Leonardo looks forward to Milan’s American signing Oguchi Onyewu.”He is a good player. He has arrived now for us, he has to prepare himself with the team, train with the team, to understand our system, understand what we are, and I think he is a very important player. It will be his performances that say what he will do with us,” Leonardo told AFR.
Leonardo has also been impressed by new signing Thiago Silva’s performances during Milan’s arduous pre-season schedule. ”Thiago Silva can be an added bonus for us going forward, particularly from set-pieces. The two goals he has scored in pre-season confirm that he is attack-minded. He really wants to learn and is improving all the time. I think he is going to do well for us,” said Leonardo.
The AC Milan boss hopes that his Brazilian superstar and former world player of the year, Ronaldinho can return to form in the upcoming Serie A campaign. Leonardo told Sky, “To achieve the continuity that will see the Brazilian champion return to his levels of the past, it will still take many matches. But he is on the right track.”
