Former AC Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi has suggested that the Rossoneri cannot afford to be complacent against Parma on Saturday given the quality of the newly-promoted team.
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Milan News), Sacchi spoke very highly of Parma who managed to get a draw against Fiorentina in their opening game of the season.
Parma impressed in Serie B last season but they have had a fairly chaotic summer and the expectation is that they will do well to avoid an immediate return to the second flight.
There is always pressure to perform at Milan and having only managed to scrape a late draw at home to Torino in the season opener, anything other than a win at the Stadio Ennio Tardini will cause a lot of fans to start getting concerned.
Sacchi felt that Parma deserved to beat Fiorentina and for that reason he thinks they pose a serious threat to Milan.
“I saw them in the first game when they drew against Fiorentina and they made a very good impression. They missed a lot of chances, it’s true, but they dominated the field and probably deserved the victory. Against AC Milan it will be another test, they will have to have the strength to repeat it but I think they have a chance,” Sacchi said.
He thinks that the press of Parma could be what disrupts Milan most if they are able to maintain the intensity.
“The Rossoneri, in their debut against Torino, did not seem brilliant. We saw some limits that have to disappear. And in the end this is fine, because we are only at the beginning of the season. If Parma can press with continuity, as they did against Fiorentina, and develop attacks at speed, then Milan could have some problems. The Rossoneri must not concede space and must be ready to restart immediately,” Sacchi explained.
Milan are not expected to have Morata available due to injury but new players like Strahinja Pavlovic and Youssouf Fofana could start the game, but Sacchi says the project is more important than the individuals.
“Fonseca is working to assemble the players and form a team. It is an operation that takes time and the fans must be patient. Milan’s objective must be to have a collective in which all eleven, excluding no one, participate in the offensive and defensive phases. The project counts, the players come later,” he said.
