Stefano Pioli says Milan must work on defensive mistakes, but believes most of his players are already in good shape.

The Rossoneri beat Udinese 4-2 in their debut Serie A game at San Siro today.

They conceded from a corner kick action after barely two minutes, but managed to turn things around quickly scoring twice through Theo Hernandez and Ante Rebic. Adam Masina levelled the score before the break, but the Rossoneri netted twice in the second half, registering their first win of the season.

“I didn’t like that we conceded the first goal very quickly, we must have a better approach,” Pioli told DAZN.

“Then we played good football for 30 minutes. We faced a dangerous opponent; I saw many positive things, but also many things to work on.”

Olivier Giroud and Divock Origi aren’t fully fit yet, so Rebic started the game and scored a decisive brace.

“Rebic can help us a lot; he is a strong player,” said Pioli. “He has the characteristics to be an important player for us. Too often, strikers are judged by goals, but Ante is giving us even more by helping the team.”

Brahim Diaz also had a great impact with a goal and an assist.

“Brahim has worked a lot. He has made a step forward, he believes in our qualities,” said Pioli.

“We conceded two goals from set pieces, we were distracted when they scored the first goal,” the coach continued.

“When we work well in attack, then defenders benefit from it too. We can keep the defensive line high or sit back, but we made some mistakes and we need to work on them.”

Milan’s big summer signing Charles De Ketelaere made his debut coming off the bench in the second half.

“He is a smart guy, he can read some situations in advance, he had a strange summer so he still isn’t in his best shape,” noted Pioli.

“There are no doubts about his talent, but he has joined the club from a different league and he’ll need time to adapt.

“We already are in good shape, we have intensity and the players like to play this way. If we run well we can dominate games and feel better than our opponents.”

Milan visit Atalanta in the Matchday 2 next week. La Dea also won their first game of the season, beating Sampdoria away 2-0.

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