Ruben Amorim launched a scathing criticism of the Milan players after their 0–2 home defeat to Ferencvaros in the Europa League. The Hungarian side scored both of its goals in the second half, and played with ten men from the 77th minute, but the hosts were unable to change the result.
Lenny Joseph opened the scoring in the 52nd minute after Ferencvaros capitalised on a mistake while playing the ball out from the back. The forward scored again in the 66th minute following a swift counter-attack. Bamidele Yusuf was shown a straight red card in the 77th minute, but Milan failed to make use of their numerical advantage.
“When you play for Milan, you carry responsibility. You cannot come out and play like that,” Amorim said after the match.
The Portuguese coach described his team’s performance as “terrible”, paying particular attention to the first half. According to him, Milan did not show the necessary ambition, concentration or readiness to respond after conceding a goal.
“We have no excuses tonight. Everyone who was on the pitch could have won this match. We have to solve the problem with these slumps,” Amorim said.
The coach took personal responsibility for what happened, but rejected suggestions that the reason lay in the changes made to the line-up or in fatigue from the congested schedule.
“We are not mentally ready. The technical aspect has nothing to do with it. The rotations have nothing to do with it either. You cannot tell me that this squad was not good enough to win the match,” Amorim said.
After four matches, Milan have three points and sit 28th in the Europa League standings. The Italian side remain outside the positions leading to the knockout stages after losing to Ferencvaros at San Siro.
The defeat came just a few days after the 3–1 victory over Inter in the city derby. In Serie A, Milan are fifth, seven points off the top, but their performances in Europe are putting additional pressure on Amorim.
“We are not ready to play every three days, but I will not give up on the Europa League. We will fight until everything is over. That is a promise,” the coach said.
Amorim took charge of Milan in the summer after his spell at Manchester United. At the helm of the English club, he collected 58 points in 47 Premier League matches, with the team finishing 15th in the standings.
After the defeat to Ferencvaros, Milan will be looking for a response in Serie A. The team’s next match is against Genoa on Sunday.