Allegri: AC Milan moving in the right direction

Posted Tuesday, October 30, 2012 by Goal.com

The under-fire coach insists the Rossoneri demonstrated an improvement in their slender victory over Genoa at the weekend, while revealing that Pato will start at Palermo

Massimiliano Allegri says he has no qualms with the recent performances given by AC Milan and believes the side have been unlucky during their recent poor run of results.

The Rossoneri ended a sequence of three straight defeats at San Siro on Saturday thanks to a 1-0 win over Genoa but had little time to reflect on the result, as they must now turn their attentions to a midweek Serie A clash with lowly Palermo.

Speaking ahead of the trip to Sicily, the former Cagliari boss claimed he never harboured any doubts about their commitment and was adamant that the goals will soon come, having acknowledged their failure to regularly convert chances.

"The team always give 100 per cent," Allegri told reporters. "We have to improve in the last 30 yards [of the pitch] but it isn't always easy.

"On Saturday, Genoa defended very well with 10 men behind the ball. We are not playing at all badly, we concede very little and let's hope it continues that way.

"We will improve in the last third of the field as the players mature together. The strikers have a lot of goals in them and we just need to be a little luckier.

"In these moments of difficulty, the coach cannot panic. The game on Saturday could have finished a draw but the performance would still have been the same. In football, the only thing that matters is the result."

But despite highlighting their profligacy, Allegri was quick to praise young forward Stephan El Shaarawy, who again proved to be Milan's match-winner at the weekend with his seventh strike of the season.

"El Shaarawy is doing very well but he still has a long way to go and can still improve technically," he added. "He is a well-balanced lad. He helps out a lot in defence and is a quality finisher as he is demonstrating.

"He is in excellent shape at the moment and has lots of energy - he is just 20 after all."

Regarding the team that will take to the Renzo Barbera on Tuesday, Allegri confirmed the inclusion of injury-hit striker Alexandre Pato, while handing Philippe Mexes a reprieve for his recent tardiness in training.

"Pato will be starting the match tomorrow while [Kevin-Prince] Boateng has a problem with his Achilles tendon and hasn't been called up but it is strictly an injury problem," revealed the 45-year-old.

"Abbiati is better but tomorrow [Marco] Amelia will once again start. Muntari is also doing well but it is too early for him to be playing competitive football.

"Mexes should have started against Genoa but arrived 10 minutes late to training and so I kept him out. He will start against Palermo."

The Rosanero have enjoyed a slight improvement under newly-appointed coach Gian Piero Gasperini, as they take a four-match unbeaten run into their meeting with Milan, and Allegri pinpointed three potential dangermen.

"Palermo are doing very well now," the trainer noted. "Gasperini's sides have always played good football. They have players like [Fabrizio] Miccoli, [Josip] Ilicic and [Franco] Brienza, all of whom can cause all sorts of problems.

"It will be a very tough game for us so we have to defend very well against these three players."