Ruben Amorim on Milan's Season Start and Team Identity

Ruben Amorim walked into the press room at Milanello with the calm of someone who has already been through a storm far worse than a week of grumbling about a 1-1 draw.

Criticism? He almost laughed it off.

“I already experienced that in my former club [Manchester United]. More than that, it's impossible,” he said, shrugging off the noise around Milan’s start to the season.

Two wins, one draw, and yet the debate around his Milan is already sharp: too cautious, too defensive, too… un-Italian, some suggest. The draw with Juventus lit the fuse.

Static Milan, restless Amorim

Amorim didn’t hide from what went wrong in Turin. He dissected it.

“The last game wasn't just static; I think we lacked energy,” he admitted. Milan had the ball, especially before the break, but they never really bit. The control was there, the cutting edge wasn’t.

“We controlled the ball quite well, especially in the first half, but then we lacked aggression in the final third and inside the box,” he said.

The coach went back over the game with his players and highlighted the moments that really angered him: not Juventus’ quality, but Milan’s own sloppiness.

“I showed the players that a lot of opportunities for Juve came from us losing the ball, sometimes even without pressure. Just a sloppy pass. Those details can change the game and the momentum. We worked on that, and we need to do better.”

The message was clear: the problem isn’t the idea, it’s the execution.

Gonçalo Ramos felt the heat after a subdued display in Turin, but Amorim refused to single him out as the issue.

“I think we need to improve as a team. Ramos did so well against Torino and Venezia that, in a game where he doesn't have the same performance, you notice it,” he said. The bar has been set; when Ramos drops below it, the spotlight is unforgiving.

“It’s more about the understanding of the game from all the players in the team.”

The team will always be in first place

The criticism of his style, of his possession-heavy approach, doesn’t surprise Amorim. He knows exactly what he walked into.

“Criticism is normal,” he said. “Then, what I promise is that the team is always in first place.”

That’s his line in the sand. System, ideas, identity – everything is built around that priority.

He also reminded everyone that Milan hired him with a very specific brief.

“Then I said my intention, and what they [Milan] asked me to do, was to be positive and score goals. Sometimes we want to score goals and be positive, but then there's the opponent, and maybe Spalletti – your Spalletti – is really good and they pushed us back. We had the ball more than Juventus. Sometimes even when I have the ball, the other guy is better than me, but that doesn't change the intention you have.”

He bristled at the notion that his Milan are random or reactive.

“If you look at our team, we always have an intention; you can't see anything that is random. Sometimes we want certain patterns that are hard for the players. I understand the pressure. I understand that when you see a guy coming from abroad to say how to play your football, it is really hard, and in the first moment you are just waiting to tell me that in my face.”

He knows the weight of tradition in Italy, the suspicion towards foreign coaches arriving with a blueprint under their arm. He leans into it rather than backing away.

“I understand, but what I can promise is that the team will always be in first place. I want to dominate games, but then Spalletti, Fabregas, all these guys, they are really good and will push us.”

Then came a detail that reveals how he thinks: the obsession with the final moments.

“What's really important is to be good in the last set pieces of the game because if we win, some guys will have to keep that question in their pocket for one more week. The only thing I promise is the club will always be in first place. My intention is always to be better than the opponent in a certain way. I'll try. But then you have the opponents; Spalletti was better than me, and that doesn't change.”

Cissé: ready, but still growing

If the Juventus game raised doubts, Alphadjo Cissé has done the opposite. Two goals in three Serie A matches, a fearless presence, and now the Italy call-up looms.

Reports in Italy suggest the Azzurri will include him for the upcoming international break. Amorim has no doubt about the teenager’s mentality.

“If you put Cissé on the pitch, he's going to play. Doesn't matter if he's with the national team, with Bastoni or with these guys,” he said. “He's going to play, free. For that, he's ready.”

Then came the other side of the coin.

“But he needs time to grow up. I saw a bit of a difference when he plays away and when he plays at San Siro. San Siro is tough, so he needs to adjust to all these small things. Let's give time to Cissé.”

The stage, the noise, the weight of the shirt – they still hit him differently in Milan than on the road. That doesn’t worry Amorim; it excites him.

“If you put Cissé in training with the national team and playing with the national team, he won't be shy, and he's going to have the ball. So he's ready, but he needs time to be the player he can be. He has a lot to learn.”

Ready to play. Not yet the finished article. Milan’s season, in many ways, mirrors Cissé’s journey.

Pulisic waits, and watches

There was also a line on Christian Pulisic, who has yet to feature this season. Amorim confirmed the USMNT star will finally get his first minutes of the 2026-27 campaign, and he didn’t hide the player’s frustration.

Pulisic is “upset” about his lack of game time so far, the coach admitted, though without turning it into a controversy. For a squad pushing on multiple fronts, an angry, motivated Pulisic might be exactly what Amorim needs in the coming weeks.

Como, Fabregas and a different path

While Milan debate identity and style, Como have quietly become the early darlings of Italian football in Europe. Cesc Fabregas’ side were the only Serie A club to win in the opening round of the Champions League, and they didn’t just win – they dominated RB Leipzig.

Are they a model for Milan’s long-term project? Not according to Amorim.

“I think we are different managers, with different backgrounds and work for different clubs,” he replied. “Mister Cardinale has never told me that [Como] is the inspiration, so you need to tell me, as I didn't know.”

He respects what Fabregas is building, but he won’t copy it.

“I have my way of playing; I think it will take time. Every manager needs time. You saw against Torino, the friendly against United, that we are improving. But if you want a team that plays like Como, you need to buy Como's manager to play the same way.”

That line landed with a smile, but the point was serious.

“I'm completely different; I have my style of play, my identity. Coaching Milan is really hard; coaching Como and doing what they are doing in the Champions League is so hard, and they are doing so well, but I'm not focusing on how Como are playing; I focus on how Milan must play to win games.”

Next up is Lazio away, another test of whether Milan can turn possession into punishment, and intention into dominance. Amorim has nailed his colours to the mast: his way, his identity, his team first.

Now San Siro, and the rest of Italy, will decide how long he gets to prove it.