Amorim fires back at journalist: What’s the ‘best’ Milan starting XI?

JAKARTA, INDONESIA - AUGUST 08: Head coach Ruben Amorim of AC Milan looks on during the pre-season friendly between Chelsea FC and AC Milan at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on August 08, 2026 in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Photo by Peksi Cahyo/Getty Images)

Ruben Amorim had a rather interesting interaction with a journalist on Saturday. Asked at his pre-match press conference whether a difficult run of results and the noise around him meant it was time to stop tinkering and simply pick the side everyone wants to see, the Milan coach turned the question straight back on the reporter.

“What is the best starting XI? What do you think?”

The journalist obliged, naming a team: Gila, De Winter or Gabbia and Pavlovic at the back; Rabiot, Modric, Chukwueze and Moreira in midfield; Pulisic, Cisse and Ramos ahead of them.

Rather than dismiss it, Amorim started pulling at the threads.

“What do you say on the left?” Moreira, came the answer. “If Chukwueze plays three games, if he has a problem in the game, who do you put here?” Saelemaekers. “On the right? To stay open, one against one?”

Then the midfield. Rabiot and Modric, said the journalist, at which point Amorim reached the point he had been building towards.

“What did you guys say about Modric last week? I defend Modric here, you guys talk about the pace of Modric. You’ll see that every week you have a different starting XI. And then you have to manage three games per week. And the substitutions. Now what do you do?”

“I know it’s not your job, but what I’m trying to explain is that your opinion is going to change, because Musah is playing really well. We can have this conversation all day.”

Amorim: ‘Nobody here wants to win more games than me’

It was a neat piece of press-conference management, but it was not only deflection. The exchange gets at something real about Amorim’s first months at San Siro: a 3-4-2-1 that demands specific profiles in specific slots, a squad still being assembled to fill them, and a fixture list that will not permit the same eleven twice. Modric is the clearest example. The 40-year-old was off his game and substituted against Lazio, then rested entirely for the Europa League opener against Benfica, the sort of call that looks like indecision from the outside and simple management from the inside.

Milan have won two and drawn two in Serie A, the draws coming against Juventus and then Lazio, where they clawed back a two-goal deficit only through Diego Moreira’s double from the bench.

Amorim, for his part, was unapologetic about the framework he is working within.

“Nobody here wants to win more games than me, and I am not just thinking about short-term, but also long-term because that is best for the club, not for me. Tomorrow I will pick the best starting XI, thinking if I have to push forward in the second half.”