Seedorf: “We work on bringing Milan to where it once was”

CLARENCE SEEDORF has stated that Milan’s ambition is to return to the top and confirmed that Honda is ready to play.

Champions League returns for Milan next week when they entertain Atletico Madrid at San Siro but first they have to play Bologna. The Rossoblù are in 16th place in the Serie A  but Milan will still have to do better than they did against Napoli.

The Rossoneri conceded three goals against the Partenopei and were dominated at the San Paolo on Saturday. Tomorrow (Friday), they’ve a chance to get back on winning ways and get their heads up before the Atletico game on Wednesday.

Emanuelson or Saponara and Honda in attack against Bologna?
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“I watched Napoli’s games leading up to the match against us and the results didn’t reflect their good form. They played well against us and deserved the win and last night against Roma they underlined how well they’re doing,” Seedorf told the Milan Channel today. “Dialogue with the players is very important and I have a certain ease in understanding how they feel.

“Adel Taarabt has only just arrived and the first few days he couldn’t really express himself in the way that he did during the match. I already knew Stephan El Shaarawy and what I said to him was said to keep him in a positive mentality. Ignazio Abate is getting back to full fitness and the Napoli game was the first match for both Michael Essien and Taarabt. That’s part of the reason why Napoli imposed their game on us. I’m working on every aspect: physical, mental, tactical and technical.

“If the team is in this kind of shape now, it means that it has been for a while. Regardless of the formation, if the players are not well physically and mentally, it’ll all come falling down.” Seedorf was the pick of Silvio Berlusconi and yesterday he had dinner with the President at Silvio’s villa in Arcore (Adriano Galliani was also present) and Seedorf talked about it as well:

“The dinner went very well as there’s a good relationship between us and a lot of desire to bring the club back to where it once was. That’s what we work on.  You need time to train and what interests me is the club philosophy, our President’s philosophy, to win convincingly but always with respect for the adversary. These are words that we know of by heart, but some have yet to learn them. Whenever teams come to play us, they play the game of their lives as they know who we are.”

Seedorf later held the traditional pre-match press conference: “We haven’t even spoken about the Champions League match as all the matches we play have to contribute to improving our condition. To get to that match in good shape, we have to do well against Bologna. We’ll have to perform beyond 90%. The team wasn’t demotivated after the Napoli game.

“There’s disappointment for the result but when the adversary does better than you, you have to accept the defeat. That doesn’t take away from the fact that we have discussed how to improve certain things and I saw the right mentality to do that. If we don’t count the match against Napoli, the number of shots on target against us has been cut in half. That’s a strategy that we’ve been working on in the first three league matches and it’s comforting. Against Napoli, we had three players on the pitch who were not used to playing. Abate hadn’t played for two months and Essien and Taarabt were making their debuts.

“It’s important to concede few goals in Italy. Bologna are a team to be respected for their history and they got all three points against Torino as well. They know exactly what they want to do and they have two very good forwards and are well organized. There are no big doubts over the line-up. Silvestre is not yet 100% and Binho will be out for another 7-10 days.

“I had to play Essien against Napoli as the players have to get to know each other on the field. He’s a player that perhaps needs our help in this early phase. The original idea was to play him tomorrow but he had been showing good signs in training and so we gave him the start against Napoli. I’ve seen the statistics and we’re in line with the other teams in terms of how much we’re running. But it’s not just a question of how much you run, but how well you run,” continued the Dutchman.

“The team has to grow under all points of view, even athletically. I want to respect Allegri and not pass the blame to him. When you’re running to catch up, you struggle more mentally and physically. At the end of the 2007 season we were really exhausted. We have work to do both mentally and physically. Everyone wants to win, we want to be convincing in what we do and play a positive game. I’m happy with the atmosphere and the determination in everyone’s eyes and I’m optimistic about the growth of the team. I had dinner with Berlusconi the other night and we talked about the club and the future.

“There’s a lot of desire to bring the club higher but I won’t reveal what was said as it was a private dinner. Keisuke Honda? We have to be patient with Honda as many talented players in Italy needed time. Italy’s very different to Russia and we’ve seen with the Japanese side what he’s capable of. He’s working hard and working well. Bit by bit, he’ll get more effective.

“He’s ready and the fever is behind him. Poli can play almost anywhere so there’s a good chance he’ll find some space. He does well at both ends of the pitch. He’s found match time hard to come by recently but he’s very motivated and we speak every day as I don’t want his head to drop. He’ll be an important player for us. Balotelli has an enormous talent and we all hope he’ll become a great champion. He has a lot of desire and sooner or later, it’ll happen. Now he’s more serene.

“What happened to Balotelli in Naples is normal as he’s a human being. The line-up for tomorrow? Abate, Taarabt and Essien could be on the pitch together. We only have two strikers available and while Giampaolo Pazzini could play with Balotelli, that would leave me no options on the bench. There’s also Petagna but we can’t give him too much responsibility.

“Kakà is a great professional. He didn’t come here just to get back in the national side, he wants to make the difference for this team. The Brazilian coach holds him in high esteem and he has a good chance of making the team. Agianst Napoli, he pushed out wide a few times and he has that freedom to move on the pitch. Our three trequartisti have the liberty to swap positions and roam around behind the striker. Will De Sciglio be rested tomorrow? It depends on how he’s feeling, but I don’t think that he will be rested. Emanuelson should be ready for Atletico. Bonera is doubtful, and we have to evaluate his condition. If Montolivo will be on the bench tomorrow? No. I wanted to let Essien and De Jong play against  Napoli.”

Serginho has come to Milanello on Thursday to see Seedorf and watch the team train. Milan’s opponents in the UEFA Champions League, Atletico, who have lost their last three games in all competitions, have a match against Valladolid.