Saturday, August 30, 2008

Anything Less Than Scudetto Is Failure - Ancelotti


Today Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti held his first pre-match press conference of the new Serie A season, and immediately made it clear that anything less than a Scudetto victory will be considered a failure.

"The objective is only to win the Scudetto, everyone must know that," he said. "We don't like to finish second. The pressure on me? I'm fine with it, actually I can't wait to get started."

Compared to last season, when Milan were frequently short on strikers due to unexpected injuries, the situation up front seems to be much different this time around.

"We have seven striker available and it won't be easy to manage them," Ancelotti continued. "It won't be easy but it won't be impossible either, because I have faith in the players' professionalism, they know some of them will have to stay out of the team.

"Sheva? He is very motivated, probably he has realised some of the mistakes he has made and now he has a lot of desire to well again here. Ronaldinho? There's a lot of expectation for him, but he still has to understand how the team plays, which is normal, the process of integration into a team is always gradual. Right now he will still lack the chemistry with the other players, which will come with time."

Finally, on the goalkeeper issue, Ancelotti revealed that for the time being he will count on Christian Abbiati: "All three are working well, and competition can be stimulating, but tomorrow we will start with Abbiati."

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