Leonardo defends Milan against Berlusconi criticism

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ROME, Feb 20, 2010 (AFP) - AC Milan coach Leonardo on Saturday hit back at club president and Italy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's criticisms of his team.

Berlusconi slammed Milan for the way they played in Tuesday night's 3-2 Champions League defeat at home to Manchester United, a result that has made their chances of reaching the quarter-finals look remote.

But Leonardo backed his players and said that if he isn't welcome any more he would happily walk away.

"I'm always very calm, our agreements are very, very clear," he said. "We have a stable policy and I have no problems with that.

"If the president wants me to leave, he just needs to say the word."

And Leonardo made no attempt to hide the fact that he wasn't happy with Berlusconi's words.

"The most important thing we need to progress is calmness and these things don't help a team," he added.

"But it doesn't do any harm either because we have a mature team. I've been at this club for 13 years and the president only needs to say one word, one.

"I don't have contractual problems (ie a long and expensive contract making it hard for Milan to sack him), this club would never pay two coaches (sacked coaches usually remain on the payroll until they find another job and quit).

"In the meantime I'm concentrating on the team, which needs defending because this year they have done some exceptional things, all of them.

"For a while this team produced some incredibile football and that deserves to be defended.

"Against Manchester we were the better side and that warrants defending. We lost but those things need to be analysed with logic."

Milan travel to Bari on Sunday on the back of a run of just one win in their last six matches in all competitions.

They sit nine points behidn Serie A leaders Inter Milan in third place but have a game in hand.