Forbidden to make mistakes. Mihajlovic's Milan presents itself to the public at San Siro (at 20.45 pm) with only one result available, victory without ifs and buts. A little for the opponent, that Empoli orphaned by Sarri and returning from the home defeat with Chievo but above all to cancel Florence, the lowest point of Sinisa management. “We wanted to win and instead we deserved to lose – reiterated the Serbian coach. – Now the first home game awaits us, we know we have to win it. We have strengthened ourselves a lot, this is a very different team from the past. There are still large margins for growth, I think we will see big improvements in a few weeks".
If it's legitimate to give Milan some time for the game, it's not the same for the results. Tonight any result other than victory would be bankruptcy and would seriously risk compromising the positive climate created in the summer between the team and the fans, already rather perplexed by the latest market operations. The purchases of Kucka and, above all, of Balotelli were badly received by the majority of the Rossoneri people, until a few days ago they were waiting for much more reinforcements (Ibrahimovic above all). There's nothing to do, Super Mario splits regardless even without having played a minute.
“His problem has always been his head, he made me promises and I think he will keep them – explained Mihajlovic, before blurting out to the journalists present at the press conference. – Enough with the questions about him, there's a game to play here”. The technician intends to face it with the same "framework" of Florence, without however giving up some modifications. In defense, to protect Diego Lopez, a central pair formed by Zapata (Rodrigo Ely is disqualified and Mexes still unavailable) and Romagnoli, with De Sciglio and Antonelli on the wings. Changes also in midfield, with a trio of Bertolacci-De Jong-Nocerino, Suso in the frontline and the Bacca-Luiz Adriano duo in attack. Balotelli and Kucka, both called up, could find space in the second half, demonstrating that Mihajlovic, at least for now, does not intend to overturn what was done in the summer to include them.
“We worked on the 4-3-1-2 for two months and we will continue like this – he confirmed. – Then I always like to have an alternative form and this could be the 4-3-3. In some particular situations, it could also happen that we deploy the heavy trident, perhaps with Balotelli as attacking midfielder”.
Market chapter, the one that, according to the rumors, does not fully convince the square. “I think it's over here, then I don't know if anything will come out at the last minute” Mihajlovic's cryptic comment, demonstrating that the games could still be on. At the moment we are talking above all about Soriano, a player much appreciated by the coach but a little less by Berlusconi, not at all convinced by the requests of Sampdoria (13-14 million against the 10 offered by Milan). Galliani will try until the end, there's no doubt about that, but tonight's match will play an important role. If the Rossoneri were to obtain a possibly convincing victory, Berlusconi could grant the last gift of a rather expensive summer (86 million spent so far). One more reason to beat Empoli and really start the new era.
