Clarence Seedorf hailed Ricky Kaka and Keisuke Honda after Milan’s 3-0 victory over Chievo.
Clarence Seedorf hailed Ricky Kaka and Keisuke Honda after Milan’s 3-0 victory over Chievo.
“Has the storm passed? I don’t know, I didn’t create the storm. We are very happy for all the Milanisti who can have a calmer time now,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
The Rossoneri had lost four on the bounce in all competition, but now have seven points from the last seven days.
“Kaka worked hard in training and as a man he is a guarantee, so I am very happy he is able to express himself at his best.
“Will Kaka be here next season? I cannot talk for Kaka, as it’s his future. There are no doubts on what I think of him. There are other players who deserve a mention, as Honda did everything to help the team tonight and it’s a shame he didn’t score, as he has the quality to make the difference.
“I said the other day that the club’s objective remains, which is to qualify for Europe.”
Cristian Zaccardo was surprisingly picked rather than Cristian Zapata to fill in for the suspended Philippe Mexes and Kevin Constant.
“Zapata is a player who got injured and the others did well, so it is simply an issue of form. I consider him very useful for our defence.”
Milan’s improvement has come after they went to Rome on a training retreat.
“From the start I tried to bring balance to the defence, but obviously when a Coach arrives with a different mentality it takes time to settle and get the idea. As time goes on, we are more and more able to keep that balance in both phases with 11 players.
“The improvement of the team is thanks to time and the players getting to know each other within this new approach.
“We previously lost games when we played well, such as Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Napoli, when we had nine players suffering from a high temperature, and Parma when we were down to 10 men after five minutes. These are not excuses, but reasons why those games didn’t go the way we wanted them to.”
Adel Taarabt had been dropped for a few rounds and Seedorf explained why.
“I can see more concentration, as Taarabt is creative and wants to always be creative. I saw in training he suffered his inability to perform the way he wanted to and it really hurt him, so I preferred to protect him and ease him in more slowly when he regained confidence.”