Ruben Amorim has offered a frank assessment of AC Milan's first league defeat of the season, pointing to a severe lack of energy as the catalyst for their 4-2 loss to Bologna. The Rossoneri manager watched his side crumble at San Siro despite an early lead, leaving the home supporters frustrated ahead of the looming Milan derby.
Milan suffered their first major setback of the domestic campaign on Monday night as Bologna walked away from San Siro with a stunning victory . Despite a brace from Alphadjo Cisse, the Rossoneri were undone by a clinical hat-trick from Samuel Mbangula and a costly Davide Bartesaghi own goal. The final whistle was met with a chorus of boos from the home faithful, who were left stunned by the defensive fragility and lack of cohesion shown by Amorim's side during the second half of the contest.
"We have played some matches where we have been inconsistent over the 90 minutes due to various factors. Now, what I felt from the first minute was a lack of energy and clarity in the way we managed the ball. Even when we were in the lead, I had the feeling that the team was not the same. This is the feeling I had today: I perceived that we were a bit tired. When I say tired, I mean that we don't think in the same way, we don't play in the same way. I felt it from the first minute," Amorim explained, as quoted Sky Sport Italia .
Amorim pulled no punches in his post-match post-mortem, admitting his side were completely dismantled by a catastrophic two-minute meltdown that turned the contest completely on its head. The Portuguese tactician conceded that the match spiraled out of control before his players could even process the shifting momentum, watching their hard-earned advantage evaporate in the blink of an eye.
"In the second half we conceded two goals very quickly, so we didn't have time to adapt even to the draw. We were down within two minutes: first we were winning and then we were losing the game. We had a great opportunity with Camarda to turn the situation around and draw the match, but I never felt the team was comfortable from the start, not even in the first half," Amorim added.
While the Portuguese coach highlighted the heavy workload on his squad, he was firm in stating that injuries should not serve as a total shield for the performance. He admitted that technical errors were creeping into their play, but attributed these mistakes to the dwindling stamina of a team that has played a high volume of matches in a very short window of time.
"They are not a justification, I spoke about a lack of energy," Amorim told DAZN . "Some errors were not technical, but arrived precisely because of tiredness. It is difficult in two months to respect all the requests of a coach. Continuity over 90 minutes makes the difference and this is not yet seen."
Despite the setback against Bologna, Amorim remains optimistic that his side can find the necessary reserves to compete against their local rivals. The pressure is on to secure a result, as the San Siro faithful made their frustrations clear following the 4-2 result. For Amorim, the standard of the club requires an immediate response regardless of the physical toll the season has taken so far.
"We'll try to be ready for Inter and try to get the energy we need. I'm convinced this team will be able to improve; we can win or lose, but we have to get the result because we are AC Milan," Amorim stated.
