Amorim Says “We’re Not Mentally Ready” After Milan Lose 2-0 to Ferencvaros

• Ruben Amorim said AC Milan’s first half against Ferencvaros was “awful” and that “We’re not mentally ready”, per Daily Mail.
• Milan lost 2-0 at home in the Europa League and sit 28th in the table, outside the qualifying spots for the knockout stages.
• Amorim, 41, took full responsibility but said he would fight on in the competition until it is over.

Amorim Rules Out Every Excuse

After AC Milan lost 2-0 at home to Ferencvaros on Thursday night, Ruben Amorim turned on his own players in public. “The first half, in particular, was awful; it’s about ambition, attitude, and concentration. We weren’t ready to move from the derby to another competition,” the Milan head coach said. He then ruled out the usual explanations. “We’re not mentally ready. The technical aspect has nothing to do with it. The rotation has nothing to do with it. You can’t tell me that the starting line-up wasn’t up to the task of winning the game.”

Milan Collapse at San Siro

Hungarian side Ferencvaros won 2-0 in the Europa League, with Lenny Joseph scoring twice in the second half. The visitors played the last 15 minutes with ten men and Milan still could not break through. Amorim had made six changes from the side that beat Inter in the derby on 31 October, and the second-half arrivals of Luka Modric and Christian Pulisic could not spark a comeback.

It was Milan’s third defeat in their first four Europa League group matches. They are 28th in the table, outside the qualifying spots for the knockout stages. Straight after the final whistle, Amorim gave his first verdict: “There’s no explanation. There’s nothing I can say, especially about the first half. I don’t remember another first half like it. It’s about ambition, concentration, desire. We gave away opportunities, we gave away stupid gifts. We weren’t prepared to play football tonight,” he said.

Amorim Takes the Blame

He also spoke about what playing for Milan demands. “When you play for Milan, you have a responsibility; you can’t go out there like this,” he said. He then widened the problem beyond one night. “We’re not ready to compete on both fronts in Serie A and Europe; we need to work on our approach to matches.”

He had nothing to offer in his team’s defence. “There’s nothing I can say tonight; we had to win; it was an important match. I can’t say anything to defend the team; we need to understand what happened.”

Then he pointed at himself, and at last year. “Maybe I did something wrong in the last few days. Last year, the team had similar problems, and today we weren’t ready; we didn’t have the attitude to try to come back at all costs when we were behind.”

The responsibility, he said, sits with him. “We gave ourselves all the chances we had, especially at the start. I take full responsibility for this, because the team is my responsibility, but we can’t afford to do something like this, especially in the first half, in front of our fans, at our home. We can’t do this; we have to improve, otherwise it’s over.”

He did not let the starting eleven off. “Tonight, we have no excuses. Whoever was on the pitch could have won this match. We have to resolve these ups and downs; we should have done many things much better, even just on second balls: that alone would have made things go differently.”

The Promise and the Pressure

Amorim held up defender Strahinja Pavlovic as the standard for the rest of the squad. “Everyone needs to train like Pavlovic. He’s ready to die in training. He’s a good example.”

The Europa League is still on his agenda. “We want to do well in the Europa League too, we need to rotate and win like that too. We’re not ready to play every three days now, but I certainly won’t give up on the Europa League. We’ll fight until it’s over. It’s a promise.”

Amorim, 41, was sacked by Manchester United and took over at Milan in the summer. His results in Italy have been mixed after a positive start.

His Old Trafford reign began in November 2024 and produced the club’s lowest Premier League finish, 15th. He won 38 per cent of United’s games and took 58 points from 47 Premier League games. He has also faced his old club as Milan head coach.

Milan are fifth in Serie A, seven points off top spot, and they have the chance to bounce back against Genoa on Sunday. Amorim has given his word that Milan will fight in the Europa League until it is over.