Montella: Milan change for Samp

Vincenzo Montella admits he could revamp the Milan defence entirely amid an injury crisis as they host Sampdoria.

Mattia De Sciglio, Davide Calabria and Luca Antonelli are injured, leaving the Rossoneri with only Leonel Vangioni as an available left-back.

Since Vangioni played only 19 minutes of football since joining Milan, Montella could instead move Alessio Romagnoli to the left.

“That is one of the options we are studying,” confessed the Coach in his Press conference.

“Samp are a well-organised side who always play to win. They have several talents and the squad was put together logically. We need to move the ball quickly, show patience and perseverance.

“I accept criticism and certainly cannot get swept up in an emotional response. I just have to continue working and I am not worried. It’s not the most negative moment since I’ve been here. At the start we didn’t have the responses I’ve had now.

“I think our position in the table is fair, as if we lost against Udinese it’s because the team didn’t understand certain situations – and neither did their Coach.

“We laid the foundations with a young squad, so some ups and downs are inevitable. We must not lose sight of our path and are all ready to give something more.

“We have improved in every area, that is just an objective fact, but you have to take opponents into account too.”

Milan reinforced during the January transfer window with Lucas Ocampos from Genoa and Everton winger Gerard Deulofeu.

“They were both considered potentially among the best prospects in the world when they were 18 years old. We have to figure out why they didn’t fully bloom and it’s my job to get the best out of them.

“Carlos Bacca is one of Milan’s most important players, but he has very specific characteristics and at the age of 30 those are unlikely to change, so we’ve got to make the most of them. He might not be a very showy player, but he finishes situations off very well and we’ve got to give him better service.”