Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon everyone. We are here to introduce Joao Felix. He's actually
00:09already introduced himself with a wonderful goal at San Siro. Joao Felix
00:15is the last of the five signings that we brought in during the January transfer
00:22window. Joao Felix is a great talent. He's got experience from Spain, England, the
00:29national team. He's still a young player. He can still develop. What we were
00:36looking for in Joao Felix is a player who could operate between the midfield
00:41and the forward line when there are matches which are shut down. Very little
00:48space. We wanted a player that could create space, unlock some of those
00:53situations and ultimately make the difference in tight matches. He's a
01:00magical footballer and that's not something you can necessarily learn. You
01:04either have it or you don't. The head coach knows him very well. He can score
01:09goals, he can make them and his ability speaks for itself. I don't need to sit
01:16here and explain to you all about his ability. He's showcased that wherever
01:21he's played. We're happy with him and as I said with all of the other players we
01:27need to now put him in the best possible position for him to thrive. So I'd like to
01:32once again welcome Joao Felix. Let's start our questions. We'll begin with
01:37Milan TV. Thanks Nicola. Hi Zlatan. Hi Joao. You've been here with us for a week now.
01:46You moved last week, you arrived at Malpensa last week. A lot's happened in
01:52the first week. Your first few training sessions, your first game, two excellent
01:57wins. Is there something from this week that has really excited you Joao? It's
02:05been a fantastic week up until now. Two wins, the opportunity to play at San Siro,
02:11the opportunity to score for Milan. What surprised me the most, it wasn't
02:19necessarily something that surprised me because I was expecting it, was the size
02:23of the club. I knew that Milan were a huge club. From the outside looking in it
02:30appeared a big club and when I came inside I could see why and it's without
02:35doubt one of the biggest clubs in Europe. Sky. Hi. A question for both of
02:44you. I'll start with Joao. You're a young player but Milan's history is known all
02:51over the world. Is there a player that you look up to in particular and the
02:56fans are dreaming when they watch you play they are really reminded of the
03:00magic of Ricky Kaká. I don't know whether you've necessarily spoken to him or
03:05whether you've texted him. What sort of memories do you have of Milan and Kaká?
03:17Kaká has always been my favorite player ever since I started playing football.
03:21I haven't spoken to him about coming here to Milan but I have shared some
03:27thoughts with him in the past. In the preseason tour I met with him once in
03:34the United States and there was an interview with him I did a few months
03:39ago. He's certainly an idol of mine. I can't compare myself to him because he's
03:45incomparable but I hope that I can achieve something similar to what he did
03:50here at Milan. A question for Zlatan. You said that he's almost a number 10
03:56between the lines, between midfield and forward line. I wanted to know whether he
04:01reminds you of Cassano. You've often said that Cassano was the player who played
04:05that final pass but would you like to see all four players out there, Jiménez,
04:09Pulisic, Liao and Joao Félix or as a director would you like to see greater
04:14shape in the side? When we conducted our business in the January transfer window
04:21what we were looking for was to try and bestow the coach with the two teams
04:25because we have so many matches we're playing every three days and so the
04:30coach needs to have as many options as possible. In the most recent match we
04:35started with three forwards at halftime he put in another three forwards and now
04:39there are lots of options. It's up to the head coach, it's down to what he wants
04:43and what he's asking for. All of the forwards can play as long as they defend.
04:50Defending is part of football and it's also part of attacking as well but as I
04:55said we need to strike balance. I was an ex-forward of course I like to get
05:01forward but you need balance out there on the pitch to both defend and attack.
05:07But as I said what's important is we've given the coach two teams, he's got lots
05:16of different options and ultimately the head coach will decide who plays. No one
05:21is guaranteed a starting spot out there on the pitch that's why Milan are Milan
05:25that's why we've had some legends out there on the pitch. They became legends
05:29because they always performed to the utmost ability and they always knew that
05:34they couldn't necessarily rely on playing and that's why everyone gave
05:38their utmost and I hope that Joao Felix can also become a Milan legend.
05:44Joao, a question for you. I'd like to come back to what Zlatan was just saying.
05:54How do you see the situation in terms of balance and shape? It might already
05:59happen in Rotterdam that all four of you are out there on the pitch, your four very
06:03attacking players. Modern football does not allow you to necessarily have
06:10passengers or people not working hard tracking back. Is it sustainable to have
06:15all four of you out there on the pitch at the moment?
06:19Absolutely, obviously. I don't know whether it's natural or not but
06:28typically these days it's very important to defend but that doesn't necessarily
06:37mean that if you have players that attack very well that they can't
06:41necessarily defend like me, Leal, Pulisic, Jimenez, whoever's playing up front.
06:47We are forward players, we are more offensive players but when we need to
06:51defend we'll also do our job and the fact that we are attacking players of
07:03course we're out there playing but when the team needs to defend then we will
07:07help them out and that's where you strike balance, that's where you have
07:09shape and that's what you need. We showed against Empoli a bubble in the second
07:14half but we are capable of defending well and attacking well and doing both
07:20phases. Good afternoon Joao, I wanted to ask you, we know that the head
07:34coach Sergio Monsesau really pushed to sign you here at Milan, so had you
07:41already spoken to him before you actually came here last Monday?
07:51What has he explained to you about his plans here at Milan?
07:55Yes, I already knew the Gaffer, I knew him from Portugal, I played against him even
08:04when I left Portugal I kept following Portuguese football and I kept watching
08:11the head coach's games and what I spoke to him about was the fact that he said
08:16he was waiting for me and what I wanted to more than anything was to play in my
08:22position. He never told me whether I'd play a lot or a little or how much I'd
08:27play, above all he said I would play in my best position and that's what excited
08:31me the most in terms of signing for Milan and that's what we spoke about
08:37because as I said I already knew him, I knew how he sets up his teams and I
08:44identify with that, I like that and that's why I came here.
08:50Good afternoon Joao, good afternoon Zlatan, I wanted to ask you Joao, you
08:58became the most expensive Portuguese footballer in history, you've got that
09:06label really of someone who could achieve great things and you haven't
09:10necessarily lived up to those expectations, have you got to grips with
09:16why you haven't necessarily been able to perfect your game? And another quick
09:20question, would you like Milan to not necessarily be a spell until the end of
09:28the season and maybe stay here longer than your six-month loan spell?
09:33For now I'm on loan until June and we'll see how things go, but as I said I am
09:49enjoying what I've seen so far, the club, the people, the facilities, both me and my
09:56family have got a very warm welcome and what matters is that I'm able to feel
10:02good, I already feel good, things can change very quickly in football from one
10:09day to the next but of course were there the opportunity to stay at
10:15Milan then I would be willing to remain.
10:25No, I think my expectations are like whenever I move to a club it's always to
10:31give my best, to make sure that the team wins, to make sure things go well on the
10:35pitch, always give my utmost and whether things happen or not the most important
10:43thing is not to give up and to keep trying until you succeed and I'm sure
10:48that one day I will.
10:49Hi, a quick question for João and then one for Zlatan, besides your technical
11:02ability and the technical ability of all of the recent signings it feels like
11:06Zlatan and his colleagues have gone out looking for hungry players that want to
11:12make a statement, is that important for you at Milan, there aren't some great
11:17number 10s in this league, Napoli don't have them, Inter don't use one, Juventus
11:23play with wingers, you could almost be a leader in Serie A in your position so do
11:27you think that's a huge opportunity for you to really show what you're all about
11:30and for Zlatan I'd like to ask you how much did Sergio Conceicao really
11:39insist to make sure that he signed Joao Felix because maybe you were lacking a
11:43bit of flair. In terms of the way I can help and in terms of what the coach wants
11:55me to do on the pitch, whenever it is on the pitch whether it's at the start of
12:02the game or towards the end of the game I'm always going to try and do what the
12:05coach asks of me to try and help the team be it attacking or defending I'm
12:11going to listen to what the coach asks of me what the club demands of me and do
12:15my utmost. When Joao Felix's name arose we debated it, we had a chat about it
12:30and then once we made a decision we signed it off in the space of five
12:35minutes. Yes the head coach did push hard to sign Joao Felix because he knows him
12:41well he also said that he has stayed at his house and he was very good friends
12:48with his son when he was at Benfica so he knows him very well but as I said we
12:56have spoken about it and we did as we always do we had a debate about it and
13:03once we made a decision everything went very quickly. Hi Joao, welcome to the club
13:10I'm over here. We know that you have a great relationship with Rafael Leão
13:16what sort of welcome did you get from him did he also say something to you in
13:20terms of convincing you to come to Milan? We also saw a great connection
13:25between you two on the pitch and for Ibra, good afternoon Zlatan, to you as
13:30well there was a lot of controversy after the Empoli game, refereeing
13:34controversy what does what's the club stand on that? Ever since the news
13:41started to break when I was linked to Milan Rafael Leão was the first to call
13:48me he wanted to know whether it's true or not not on a daily basis but for a
13:53number of days he kept asking me whether it was done or not and as soon as I as
14:01soon as I told him that I was coming here he called me immediately with a
14:06video call and I think he was happy so too was I and we have a great
14:13relationship both on and off the pitch we get on with one another and he's
14:20certainly one of the players that I most enjoy playing alongside. When we are
14:27involved in matches I always ask the players to be very respectful and
14:33educated towards the officials, polite. I simply asked at halftime to the referee
14:41respect, respect for Milan for our players. I'm a little bit surprised that
14:47our players didn't necessarily react more strongly particularly after the
14:52challenge on Kyle Walker because that situation was out of control if things
15:02had gone badly there really badly then the player might have been out for a
15:07year I don't want to be overly dramatic but it was a foul and the referee said
15:15to me maybe it was a yellow card I'm not interested in a yellow card or a red
15:19card I'm only interested in keeping control of the game it really was
15:23dangerous how can I say it it went overboard it was far removed from the
15:33football we want to see and the same thing with Ficaio Tomori I think that's
15:37the result of VAR when you don't stop play when you let play continue Tomori
15:43got his second yellow card he was sent off and he went off but there was an
15:48offside decision prior to that that's not acceptable to our mind and when
15:53there are situations that we don't accept we will say so publicly and we'll
15:57send a letter to the competent authorities whether it's the the
16:05Federation I don't know whether the referees okay they're under the AIA the
16:10Italian Referees Association it's not acceptable it's a very serious situation
16:15and it's also has consequences on the match itself because we were left a man
16:19light once Tomori was sent off and we was it was 11 v 10 when actually it
16:25should have been 10 v 11 because they found Walker I know Walker came in from
16:28the Premier League where the 50 50s are stronger he didn't simulate it didn't
16:33stay down but he shouldn't necessarily have to make a meal of the challenge in
16:38order to get the referee to respond the referee should go on his instinct but
16:42his instinct should be the right one whether it's from the employee side of
16:48things or on the Milan side of things but a bit more respect for Mila it's not
16:52the first time I don't want to be overly critical towards the match officials the
16:56only thing I would ask is respect for Milan and respect for the players out
17:00there on the pitch that's it
17:03Sport Italia good afternoon Zlatan good afternoon João a question for you
17:09João earlier on we spoke about Kaká that you come from Portugal from Benfica
17:15so Rui Costa I don't know whether you've spoken to him what your relationship is
17:20with him he was one of Milan's best ever Portuguese players do you want to outdo
17:25him I know Rui Costa of course when I was at Benfica he was already working
17:35there he's now the president of the club but yes I know him I spoke to him a
17:41great deal whilst I was at Benfica over the last few years I haven't had too
17:46much contact with him I think that's only natural because life goes on which
17:50have our own lives to lead but the truth is I don't remember him playing for me
17:55and what I've seen what I know in terms of videos on YouTube but I know that he
18:02had a great time here he's an idol for the Milan fans and in the city of Milan
18:07and as I said before just like Kaká made history here so to do Rui Costa and I
18:12really hope God willing that I can do good afternoon to both of you
18:18João we learned that Inter were also keen on you you always gave the feeling
18:29however that you were simply waiting for Milan is that true and if so why?
18:35yes my agent also spoke to me about interest from Inter but we'd already
18:52started talking with Milan and my idea was always to come here to Milan and
18:58when he spoke to me about Inter I said that it was out of the question because
19:02already had Milan on my mind I already saw myself playing for Milan and so it
19:08was easy to make a decision
19:16hi João besides what your expectations are San Siro is an unusual stadium it can
19:25be very demanding but it's also warm to the talent and genius of players like
19:32Ibrahimovic, Pirlo, Kaká I don't want to necessarily exclude anyone but the
19:36feeling is in your first game against Roma was love at first sight both with
19:41your goal and between you and the fans this magic this relationship that you
19:46had this spark they had immediately with the fans could that give you even more
19:49motivation to perform even better to perhaps have an even greater future
19:55going forward compared with what you've done in the past and a question for Ibra
19:59there have been ups and downs over the last six months how does it feel now before
20:05you could make the difference out there on the pitch when there was a loss when
20:09you weren't necessarily able to get results and you could also drag the team
20:14forward but as a senior manager how do you feel about all of this? I love the
20:20atmosphere at San Siro I was already a little bit used to big atmospheres like
20:30we had at the Estadio da Luz at Benfica and Atlético Madrid as everyone knows but
20:35the truth is the atmosphere here was different in terms of my debut I wasn't
20:40necessarily expecting them to be so receptive to a new signing and I did
20:49notice the support and the love of the fans and I'd love to play every game at
20:55home because the atmosphere is great and I hope it will continue this way if
21:01things were to go badly I know that it's not necessarily an easy atmosphere but
21:09whilst things are going well then the players the fans are getting behind the
21:14players I do think it will be an asset for us a strength for us because they're
21:18going to help us a great deal at San Siro. Every day is a new experience at
21:24Leningrad. Sure I prefer to be out there out on the pitch helping out the team
21:30that's the thing that makes me the angriest it's the fact I can't help the
21:35team out on the pitch as I did for 20-25 years but now I want to help the team
21:41every which way from this side of the table there are highs and lows but we
21:52are working hard we are confident and we have very lofty goals it's not a
22:00one-man show we're a group we're a team of people working together and we're
22:07always trying to find solutions to improve day in day out but every day is
22:11different as I said every day is a new experience and that's how I'm
22:15developing just like today today I learned that the referees are under the
22:19auspices of IA the Italian Referees Association. Good afternoon to
22:29both of you. Welcome Joao you chose the number 79 the same number that you
22:36amazed everyone with at Benfica. Do you think that this number could allow you
22:43to be reborn from a footballing perspective?
22:5679 is a special number for me because it was my first number in the professional
23:02ranks it was the number that I won my first silverware wearing and it is a
23:09special number and always will be throughout my career and I always feel
23:14an affinity with this number but the truth is whether it's 79 or 11 or 7 the
23:23numbers that I've worn elsewhere I'm not too bothered about the number itself but
23:30it certainly is a special number for me and if it goes as well as it did the
23:35last time I use this number all the better.
23:37Hi Joao, I wanted to ask you what your goal might be? What are your ambitions for the
23:49next six months? Come the end of this season you will be happy if you've done
23:54what? X number of goals, X number of assists, a team achievement, what?
24:04My objective for wherever I go is to try and help out the club, the team and win
24:10silverware. I think a player's career comes down to winning titles whether
24:19it's a cup or a win what matters is winning however which way you do it and
24:24my aim is going to be no different and my aim is always going to be to try and
24:33win trophies. Last three questions. Hi Joao, welcome to Milan and Milan I
24:43wanted to ask you what's your relationship with set-pieces? Are you
24:49someone that takes free kicks or penalties? I don't think you've
24:53necessarily had too much time to train with the team on all of that. I do know
25:07how to take free kicks, I think so. I think I've only had two training sessions on
25:21the pitch all the other sessions were recovery so we haven't had too much
25:24chance to work on that but if it were required I can take penalties, free kicks
25:32and corners I'll be there and I'll do my best for the team. Hi Joao, welcome to the
25:40club. I wanted to ask you in these first two matches you've come up against
25:46Italian teams what have you liked the most and what have you liked less about
25:50Italian football? It's not easy to say but I really like the man marking that
26:07can be good or bad. I think it's good because if you make the right runs and
26:13the right movements and if you play the ball at the right time then you can
26:18obviously destabilize the opposition a great deal. They're always very aggressive
26:24sides, I already saw that on television and in terms of what I've seen thus far
26:30I think it is more about man marking here in Italy, aggressiveness, they never
26:37give up a 50-50 challenge and I think in matches such as these whoever wins more
26:4450-50 challenges is going to be more likely to win the game as a whole.
26:50Thank you a question for Joao and obviously one for Zlatan as well, Joao you're
26:55talking about it with my colleague Letizia earlier on about Rui Costa, you don't know
27:01too much about his time here but Rui Costa got 55 assists for Milan but he
27:08scored his first goal after three and a half years in Serie A, do you see
27:12yourself more as a provider with 55 assists or someone who might score a few
27:16more goals? What's your hunch on that? Would you rather score more or create more?
27:21Without a shadow of a doubt score goals, I think all players prefer to score goals as
27:34opposed to providing them and I think anyone who says different is lying but
27:39in order for me to make history I'd rather make history for Milan scoring
27:44goals as opposed to laying them on. Thank you. Two things for Zlatan, the first
27:49thing very quickly you spoke about Antonio Cassano and Ajax, Juventus, Inter,
27:56Barcelona, Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United so you played along some
28:03top-class players over the years, beyond Antonio Cassano who did you play
28:10alongside? And a more serious question, you spoke about balance, okay in terms of
28:16matches but we saw the second half performance against Juventus which was
28:21completely different to the first, three days on against Zagreb you saw that it
28:28was a different game compared with the Inter one, how is that possible you went
28:32through so much as a player but me too as an observer, as a journalist it's
28:36tricky to understand why you go out there on the pitch you don't know what's Milan's
28:41side you're gonna see, things are getting better but why was that the case before?
28:46I think it depends on how you approach games, how you prepare matches because if
28:53you play against the top-class sides, better teams of course you're more
28:57switched on, you're more wary but you need to have the same preparation, you
29:01need to set up and approach games the same way even against the smaller sides
29:06just as you do against the big clubs but it's always the players that go out there
29:12on the pitch and that's where things need to happen, moment for moment and
29:18then you can immediately see what sort of mood the team are in and of course
29:25then the head coach will try everything in his power to change the mood from the
29:30sidelines from the technical area tries to send a message out to the team but I
29:34think it is easier once they get into the dressing room because there you're
29:38face to face but the opposite happens at Juventus, what are you talking about the
29:46Super Cup? Oh no the first half, yes the first half was good and then that's all
29:51about consistency, you need to make sure that you're when you drop off you're
29:58still at a good level and over the long run you can actually win the title
30:02because those that drop off are still stronger end up winning but if you drop
30:07off too much then that has negative consequences and you end up dropping
30:10points and that's why we have had some highs and lows but our lows have
30:16triggered negative consequences that have gone against us that's why we need
30:21greater stability just as you said you can see things that have changed a
30:27little bit and we are trying to improve things as much as we can as I said
30:32before we do have more options we've got more different ways of playing and the
30:39head coach's style of play is very intense it requires a lot of energy and
30:44that's why we have made sure we've got two teams because every three days he's
30:50got fresh legs 100% in order to conduct the style of play that he wants to see
30:56and he's asking for but you need to make sure that when you drop off that
30:59still that level is as high as possible and as I said from my experience
31:04everything begins in the month of February up until February you need to
31:07try and get as many points as possible but real team comes to the fore in
31:12February unfortunately we're a little bit behind now we need to make up ground
31:15but I think we are positive no we are motivated the January transfer window
31:25has shown that we're not content we're not satisfied with what we've achieved
31:29so we've reacted and now the team that we have today is the side that needs to
31:34lead Milan forward what was the question our player that
31:41well reminds me of oh it's hard to compare him to other players and it's
31:48not even fair either because it's a different era it's different teams but
31:53if he wants to score goals yeah you know with the dink he needs to do that
32:01once once a season not twice I already told him he needed to do so differently
32:07against Empoli the first time fine but if he wants to score more goals he needs
32:10to be more clinical in front of goal needed to kill off the game you can do
32:13that cheeky dink once a season if I needed to choose a player I would say
32:17Kaka because Kaka was very fluent he was very dynamic I can also already see
32:26that João is very fluent he's dynamic he's got a few more tricks maybe than
32:33Kaka Kaka was a bit more concrete but he's still young he's a top talent as I
32:38said it's not fair to necessarily compare him to other players let him
32:43his own history here sure he's on loan but if he does well everything's
32:47possible thank you very much everyone