I’m a flop compared to Fiorentina’s Sousa, says Mihajlovic

REUTERS – AC Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has labelled himself a ‘flop’ in comparison to Fiorentina manager Paulo Sousa, ahead of a meeting between the two Serie A sides on Sunday.

“Sousa is certainly an excellent coach and the results speak for him,” Mihajlovic told a news conference on Saturday. “So far, he’s been better than me and I look like a flop in comparison. Looking at our recent games, we deserved more than the results we achieved but there’s a long way to go yet.”

Under Mihajlovic, who replaced Filippo Inzaghi last June, Milan have struggled for consistency and they began the weekend in eighth place on 29 points, nine behind the Serbian’s former club Fiorentina in fourth.

By contrast, Fiorentina have impressed under Sousa and, though they have lost two of their last four league games including a dramatic late collapse at Lazio last weekend, they are firmly in the title chase at the halfway stage of the season, three points behind leaders Napoli ahead of the trip to Milan. “We have to compliment Fiorentina and Sousa as they havemany talented players and it’ll be a difficult game so we must make the most of our chances,” Mihajlovic said.

“When we lost against them in week one (a 2-0 home win forFiorentina on Aug. 28) we were a work in progress, so it’ll be more even now. “If we play like Milan, then we have everything it takes tobeat Fiorentina. We must have the concentration levels in defence of a provincial team and be as clinical as champions in attack.”

(Reporting by Ed Dove; editing by Clare Fallon)