Stephan El Shaarawy came within a whisker of his 8th goal of the season in his official debut (after the friendly against England in August) for the national side after his double for the Under 21s and his 5 gols for the Rossoneri. The player shined last night for Italy against Armenia.

MILAN – Stepha El Shaarawy has made his debut for the national side in an official match and after his crucial years as an Under 21 player, he’s now a full international.

Stephan came on in the second half much to the joy of his parents and his brother Manuel and was on the verge of scoring against the home side in Armenia. The verdict is unanimous. Stephan is in great form and deserves to play.

If our young pharaoh gets on the pitch against Denmark in a stadium that’s fast becoming his own (the San Siro), it’ll be a double joy, not only for his family but for the whole club as well as the city of Milan.

The double scored by Stephan for the Under 21’s has pushed him on both for Milan and for the national side. Feet on the ground? Sure, but on the accelerator too.

MILAN – A rare Sunday off and Massimiliano Allegri took the opportunity to speak to the Milan Channel.

- First of all how’s your health?

“I feel better, a bit of cough and cold but no fever.”

-How the international break going?

“The players that have stayed at Milanello have worked very well, as they always do. Now we wait for the others to get back to start the tour de force that awaits us in the league and the Champions League. At the moment, talking serves little purpose. For us the priority at the moment is to climb the league table without thinking about first second, third, fourth or fifth place. No one expected us to be in the position that we’re in now at the start of the season. We were naive in conceding some of the goals and in some cases unlucky as well. We have to improve certain defensive situations as well, especially dead ball situations but we also have to get better in front of goal. We’ve scored little compared to the amount that we’ve created”.

- In the last month, the players have said the following: Montolivo – We’re with him. Abbiati – I’ll block for him. Bojan – He’s definitely not the problem…”

"It’s nice to hear these things. We started on 9 July with a completely new team, knowing that we would meet difficulties even though, honestly not of this nature. But you can’t see the whole thing as black just because the results have been lacking. We have to improve but the player shouldn’t take too much of the responsibility, the have to play for themselves, for the club and for all the people who work with us at Milanello. They’re great professionals. We’ll rise again. Things won’t change from one day to the next and it won’t be a single game that will change out season. We have to show continuity in our results and that’s why I was upset to have lost the derby when we played reasonably well, but conceding after 3 minutes didn’t help.”

- Can you tell us the real state of your relationship with president Berlusconi?

In the last few months, many things have been said about my relationship with the president, with Galliani and with the team often in unsuitable settings. I speak with the President often. Since I’ve been at the club, I’ve never had an argument with him. He understands the moment that we’re in but, and I spoke with him recently, he said to stay calm and to encourage the team”

- Adriano Galliani has already said that Lazio-Milan is not a last chance saloon…


“This trust from the club is something I’ve always felt. I’ve always been calm. These are words that please me very much but now we need to start getting results. The players are growing as a team and in terms of game play as well. Personally, I’m smiling. I’ve been under discussion since day one and I’m used to it”.

- Robinho said today that he was focused on Milan and that you are more than ever the recognized as the leader of the team. Are you missing his performances?

"He had an extraordinary first season with the team, his second season he was away for the Americas cup and he has some injury problems as well which meant that he pre-season wasn’t the best. He’ll be very important for us this season because he has great technical qualities. Besides, Pato is fine now and he’ll be back even if he’s not yet match fit. His goal-minutes ration prior to his injuries is extraordinary”.

- Speaking of Pato….

"It’s an important year for him. He’s matured and he has a sense of responsibility. We’re expecting goals. What we’re really paying for now in the league is the wasted chances we’ve had. That’s why I’m not worried, the game play is improving even if I’m disappointed with the league and for the fans who I have to think, because so far they’ve been exceptional with the team”.

- The league position is a problem but it shouldn’t become an obsession?

“The first thing we have to do to improve is to find continuity in our results. And then we have to score more. In the league for example, at the start of the season, the goals scored count a lot. We’re creating chances and the gameplay is getting better but if we don’t score we won’t get results and things will look worse than they really are”.

- Boateng and Nocerino aren’t scoring anymore because Ibra left?

"It’s normal that when you’re together for 2 years you get used to playing in a certain way and things can change if you don’t have those same reference points. But they’re both important players and they’ll go on to do big things with us”.

MILAN - The international break is a chance for many clubs to fine tune their tactics, get players up to peak physical condition and work on getting injured players out of the infirmary and back onto the pitch.

Massimiliano Allegri and his squad have been working hard to make up for the disappointment of losing the derby against Inter in the hope of recommencing the league in the best possible physical and psychological shape.

The most promising news for the Milan coach over the last ten days comes from Alexandre Pato who is finally ready to play a competetive match. The Brazilian has failed to feature so far this season after picking up an injury in a pre-season training session but has slowly been recovering and has been training with the squad all week.

Now the Brazilian is fully fit once again and ready to contribute. It is a huge boost for the team who have found goals a little hard to come by so far this season. Pato's return comes just in time, just when the season goes into overdrive with the Serie A, Champioins League and even the Italian Cup starting next month.

The 23-year-old should be available for selection for the match against Lazio at the Olimpico in Rome on saturday evening. It is a destination that has brought him goals in the past when he netted the opener in Milan's 3-0 victory over Lazio in 2009 and then scored the winner the following season.

It has been a torrid two years for Pato with chronic injury problems hampering his progress but both player and club will be hoping that this is the end of his troubles for good. With only one goal in eleven Serie A appearances last season, the young striker is desperate to rediscover his form of old and add to his 51 goals in the top flight.

Rome and Lazio seems like the perfect place to get his career back on track and get Milan climbing up the table fast.MILAN - The international break is a chance for many clubs to fine tune their tactics, get players up to peak physical condition and work on getting injured players out of the infirmary and back onto the pitch.

Massimiliano Allegri and his squad have been working hard to make up for the disappointment of losing the derby against Inter in the hope of recommencing the league in the best possible physical and psychological shape.

The most promising news for the Milan coach over the last ten days comes from Alexandre Pato who is finally ready to play a competetive match. The Brazilian has failed to feature so far this season after picking up an injury in a pre-season training session but has slowly been recovering and has been training with the squad all week.

Now the Brazilian is fully fit once again and ready to contribute. It is a huge boost for the team who have found goals a little hard to come by so far this season. Pato's return comes just in time, just when the season goes into overdrive with the Serie A, Champioins League and even the Italian Cup starting next month.

The 23-year-old should be available for selection for the match against Lazio at the Olimpico in Rome on saturday evening. It is a destination that has brought him goals in the past when he netted the opener in Milan's 3-0 victory over Lazio in 2009 and then scored the winner the following season.

It has been a torrid two years for Pato with chronic injury problems hampering his progress but both player and club will be hoping that this is the end of his troubles for good. With only one goal in eleven Serie A appearances last season, the young striker is desperate to rediscover his form of old and add to his 51 goals in the top flight.

Rome and Lazio seems like the perfect place to get his career back on track and get Milan climbing up the table fast.