El Shaaraway backs Allegri after win

Stephan El Shaarawy has insisted that AC Milan are fully behind Massimiliano Allegri in turning the club’s season around.

The young forward, who made his Italy debut against England in August, expressed his delight at the Rossoneri securing their first home win of the campaign, and believes the result can inspire the team to climb the table and revive their Scudetto bid.

Speaking to reporters after his double in Milan’s 2-0 victory over Cagliari, El Shaarawy said: “Allegri is putting a lot of trust in me, he is making me play a lot this season.

“I’m young, but I try to give my all in every game and I think that I did well today. We had the right spirit today on the pitch, we started looking for a goal from the beginning.”

Allegri was forced to watch the match from the stands after he received a one-match touchline ban for comments made towards the referee in the loss against Udinese.

However, El Shaarawy was in little doubt that the trainer has the confidence of the entire squad, as he dedicated the victory to the embattled 45-year-old.

“The victory is for Allegri and the fans,” he said.

Meanwhile Milan vice-president reiterated that he has Adriano Galliani reiterated that he has faith in the current squad and points towards the exciting options available in attack.

“Only the result mattered tonight. We played better than we did in the first half,” Galliani told reporters.

“(Nigel) De Jong and (Massimo) Ambrosini in front of the defence looks like a good solution and I’ve said this to (Mauro) Tassotti and (Massimiliano) Allegri. I adored (Fabio) Capello’s Milan and my friend Leonardo played that way too.

“We definitely don’t have a worse team than the ones we have lost to. Robinho came back tonight and (Alexandre) Pato will be back soon and with (M’Baye) Niang up front we have a lot of options.”

Galliani also praised El Shaarawy, as he believes the young attacker could develop into a top player for the club.

“We invested a lot of money on him, but we thought and still think that he’ll be an important player.

“I like him a lot because he runs like a madman and I like forwards who help out the defence as well. He reminds me of Eto’o in that respect.”

Assistant coach Mauro Tassotti, meanwhile, emphasised the necessity of the three points, and is confident that the side’s morale has been boosted ahead of Saturday’s clash with Parma.

“It wasn’t easy tonight and it was a difficult pitch as well,” the former Italy defender said.

“Then Conti got sent off and things got easier for us. This group needed this result.

“We scored and we didn’t concede so we can start off from that. We can then analyse the things we didn’t do so well and make some changes to give more security to the team.”

Milan are 10th, having won only two of their five opening matches. Their next test is at Parma on Saturday.