After AC Milan’s second defeat of the season, Zlatan Ibrahimovic reacted in a heated manner in front of the press and bashed his teammates.
Out of the two defeats AC Milan has this season, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was present only tonight against Atalanta. The other time the Rossoneri lost in any competition was against Juventus in a Serie A match he missed due to injury. Even during that game, Milan played a fairly competitive match against the Bianconeri but not today. Gian Piero Gasperini had a very specific request from his players: make Zlatan feel as isolated and lonely as possible on the pitch.
After the game, Ibra referred to this “loneliness” to confirm the Atalanta players did their job as requested. There were moments in which the striker’s frustration was quite evident in large moments of the match. As one of the leaders inside the dressing room, it was clear that Zlatan needed to come out and speak to the press to explain what went wrong.
Ibrahimovic demands more from his teammates.
“A lot went wrong today. I don’t want to look to excuses, as in every game you must go out there looking to get the result. We didn’t manage that today,” Ibrahimovic told Sky Sport Italia. “The important thing now is to recover our energies and focus on the next game. Fortunately, that is only a couple of days away, so have the chance to make up for it. After 38 rounds in which we’ve lost only two games in Serie A, I think that’s not too bad. Unfortunately, when you are missing so many players and have some inexperienced ones to come on in their place, you can tell. That is not an excuse.
“We are working hard and making sacrifices. We are the Winter Champions, but that means nothing to me, other than I guess we’ve done well so far. The difficult part begins now. I did feel isolated in the first half. When the ball reaches me, I need someone to play off. Instead I felt very alone, but maybe that was also due to Atalanta’s pressing game. That was also the case with Josip Ilicic today. If you press him, it becomes difficult for him, but he had a lot of space today and could’ve scored more goals. It’s the same for me, if you don’t press me, of course it’s easier.”
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