After AC Milan’s woeful performance in the Europa League, Ruben Amorim spoke to the media about his team’s performance and the route forward.

October, until this point, had been pretty good for Milan. However, it was always going to be decided by two games, the first of which was tonight’s and then the Derby della Madonnina at the end of the month.

Unfortunately, the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth feels like a result that will do more damage than will be healed before the game against Inter. There are several questions to take from the performance, the team and the management of the game and fans are rightfully frustrated after a dismal showing.

Amorim reacts to Bournemouth thrashing

Speaking at full time to Sky Sport, Amorim offered his view on the match, the frustrations that came within it and whether he made the wrong decisions, via MilanNews.

How do you comment on this match?

“The penalty changed the game. We didn’t have a chance to recover from those two penalties. Their player was in Maignan’s position when he was sent off, and that’s how it went, and then the third goal came from another set piece.”

Would he have made the same choices again?

“It wasn’t a match, it wasn’t a match. And it’s not even a question of comparing the pace of this match to that of Salzburg. We all saw the same game: it’s true that we were facing a different team, but it’s clear that we can’t afford to concede a penalty from that corner and then end up ten men short.”

Milan can’t allow experienced players like Maignan to make such mistakes…

“It’s true. We need to stay with eleven against eleven on the pitch, especially the more experienced players. But today, I repeat, there was no match. Now we have other games ahead: we need to recharge and immediately think about the next one.

“It’s true, we had to work hard and run a lot with a man down, trying to press, and it was truly a negative performance from every point of view and in every aspect. But now let’s move on and focus on the championship.”

Why did you choose to stick with 5-3-1 after the expulsion?

“First of all, because the guys are more familiar with this type of defensive structure, so I wanted to leave them more comfortable and then try to push harder in the final minutes, taking as few risks as possible in the middle of the game.

“When I was down to ten men, that’s how it went: I tried to put my players in the positions where they felt most comfortable, then tweaked things on the fly with substitutions.”

Have you already spoken to Maignan?

“I haven’t had time to talk to him yet. Now we have to get back to Milan as soon as possible to prepare for the match against Udinese, and we’ll talk about it when we get home.”

Can we take stock of his first 100 days at Milan, even after this bad evening?

“This is part of the journey. If we look at AC Milan’s history, it’s clear that we’re in a different position. Fabio Capello is in the studio, and he can talk about AC Milan’s history and the negativity of a match like that: and I agree, you can’t disagree with him.

“But I still appreciated the way we fought, the fact that we tried, that we defended and helped each other. We have to treasure, so to speak, moments like these, realize that football is also this and that bad nights happen.

“Now we just have to think about the next one, trying to win it to immediately change the momentum of this moment.

A momentum shift is needed quickly. An already uphill battle, thanks to injuries, has gotten much, much steeper tonight.