UNDER 18: CONFIDENCE IN THE WORK BEING DONE

AC Milan's U18s suffered their third league defeat of the season on Sunday, losing 1-0 to fourth-place Sassuolo at Vismara. Nevertheless, Christian Terni gave an optimistic appraisal after the game: "There was an extremely positive response from the players with regards to what we asked of them. They showed a reaction following last Sunday's poor performance against Monza."

The Coach continued: "There was great cohesion and we implemented everything that we'd prepared during the week, such as our organisation when out of possession and good ideas when managing the ball and in attack. It was a very tactical match. From this point of view, I think that we had the upper hand in many situations, particularly in the first half."

It was the Diavolo's third match since the resumption of the Under 18 Serie A division at the end of February. The team's daily work, which has certainly been impacted by COVID-19 bringing the league to a halt, continues. Terni is satisfied with what he's seen: "Our training sessions are going well, we're in line with expectations and are very happy with how the lads are working and the intensity they're displaying.

"Before the league officially resumed, we played two friendlies: one against Parma and another against Sassuolo, who we've just faced again. We could say that this was extra preparation on a mini level ahead of our return to competitive action. In terms of training sessions and our preparation levels, we're in a good place right now."

The fact that many former U18, and younger, players are now doing well in the Primavera 1 division only adds to the optimism and the confidence in the work being done, as the Coach proudly pointed out: "Our work has produced good results, you only have to look at the Primavera players who were born in 2003. It's a path we started going down last year with Stefano Bellinzaghi, who has helped improve these lads a lot. Some of them have been part of the U19 setup since the start of the season.

"Others, meanwhile, have been added to the squad during the current campaign. This shouldn't just be an objective of ours, it should also fill us with pride. Our aim is to improve these guys on an individual level to such an extent that they're immediately ready to make the step up to the Primavera side when called upon or be retained the following year," Terni concluded.

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