Ciprian Tatarusanu and Rade Krunic outline what has changed at Milan after three consecutive 1-0 wins in all competition. ‘This rounds out a perfect week.’
The Rossoneri had a disastrous start to 2023, including heavy defeats in the Supercoppa Italiana to Inter, Serie A to Lazio and the Coppa Italia with 10-man Torino.
However, after some teething problems with the switch to a three-man defence, they seem to have found some form with 1-0 wins over Torino, Tottenham Hotspur and today Monza.
“I have a more solid defence in front of me and you could see the results over the last few games,” Tatarusanu told Milan TV.
“It was a difficult match in the second half, but the team showed a great deal of character to earn a very important victory.”
Midfielder Krunic also recognises that the tactical switch has managed to bring balance back to the reigning Champions of Italy.
“We were not accustomed to conceding so many goals, it was a difficult period for us,” Krunic told DAZN.
“We thought hard about what to improve and work on. If we kept three consecutive clean sheets, that means something wasn’t working before.
“With this victory, we rounded off the perfect week. That negative period is behind us now, we have to look forward with confidence.”
Perhaps also because of that midweek Champions League test against Tottenham, Milan looked tired and ran out of steam in the final half-hour of the win over Monza.
“It’s rare to have a match in Serie A where you don’t suffer at all. Nobody likes to suffer, but we like to fight it out on the field for a result, working together.”
It is certainly a change of tack, because Milan’s last clean sheet before this run was 0-0 away to Cremonese on November 8, conceding 20 goals in the next nine games.