A victory over Genoa on Tuesday could send Milan to the top of the Serie A table (albeit for 24 hours). Vincenzo Montella has been speaking at his pre-match press conference and Calciomercato.com’s Daniele Longo was there.
 

ON WINNING WITH YOUTH: “You must have the right blend in the squad between youth and experience”
 

ON BERLUSCONI: “I have not heard from him. He was right when he said to me at a dinner one time that the future of Milan is young Italian players”.
 

ON MANAGING YOUTH: “They have quality and must continu in this way ie, carefree. Having good parents is also the key as this makes a difference when they come to Milan, it gives them values. I am referring to De Sciglio, Calabria, Suso, Donnarumma and Locatelli".  

ON THE MIDFIELD: “Tomorrow we have a tough game, we are in October and still two months away from the transfer window. We have Bertolacci and Mati Fernandez to come back into the side and Pasalic is growing. Thinking about the market is a little premature”.
 

ON NIANG: “There was a misunderstanding. He thought that someone from the medical team had recommended his substitution. Actually, it was I who made the change as you cannot risk a player even at 80% fit”.
 

ON REFEREEING FAVOURS: “With Samp there was a penalty for us. Against Udinese there was a foul on Bacca. Some episodes can be beneficial, others not. In reference to the disallowed goal, I realised as soon as Benatia stepped forward he altered the movement of Donnarumma. Bonucci makes a run from behind but Benatia’s positioning causes Donnarumma to hesitate. I am in favour of technology and this would have been able to give us the definitive answer on this episode”.  

ON ANTI JUVE: “We must not think about them. Juve are invincible even this season”.
 

ON EUROPE: “I want to be optimistic but look where Fiorentina and Inter where at the start of last season. We must return to Europe however as it’s our spiritual home”.
 

ON POSSIBLE FORMATION CHANGES: “Today I cannot answer that. We will see what condition the players are in later. I have a few ideas of course, goalkeeper excluded”.


By Daniele Longo. Translated by Steve Mitchell