Adrien Rabiot takes Milan’s bench players to task: “They need to do more”

Milan beat Atalanta 3-2, but the victory wasn’t enough to satisfy Adrien Rabiot. Despite the three points earned, the French midfielder makes no secret of his dissatisfaction with the team’s slump in the second half, when the Rossoneri risked squandering a three-goal lead.

“We played very well in the first half, but then, strangely, we lost our rhythm in the second half. I’m angry: if we play a second half like that, it’s pointless to play well in the first. Fortunately, we won in the end, but I don’t know if we deserved it. We can’t play a first half like that and then play like this,” Rabiot said.

“It’s not a physical issue, but a mental one. We were up by three goals and then let our guard down and lost our focus. When you face a quality team, you also risk drawing or losing the match,” explained the former Juventus player, also revisiting the comments he made after the match against Sassuolo.

“I’d already said against Sassuolo that we needed to work on our mentality. Even the substitutes need to do more—get into the game right away, in my opinion. That’s how soccer is: if you lose your focus, you risk losing games,” he told his teammates in a stern message.