Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic was not a happy man despite his side's 2-1 home win against Empoli on Sunday night.
The Rossoneri struggled to cope with the pace and one-touch football of Empoli in the first half of the game and looked vulnerable in the defensive department.
Mihajlovic took responsibility for the below-par performance as he hopes for improvement ahead of the derby against Internazionale after the international break.
"The result is the only thing to salvage, nothing else," Mihajlovic told Milan Channel.
"After their equaliser, it was a total black out. I saw the players too tense and frightened. During the build-up, we worked a lot on playing through the middle but everything we worked on went missing.
"Courage and personality were lacking from my players. Last year, we would have lost this match, but this year we won because we had two forwards that created chances by themselves.
"I take all the responsibility because I am the one that has to send the players out onto the pitch without the fear of conceding a goal. I thought I was at a good point after pre-season, but now I am re-evaluating everything. We won, but I feel like I have lost.
"We have to make use of the two forwards that we have by trying to provide them with more service. Diego Lopez took more touches on the ball than a midfielder and that is not right.
"It's not a guarantee that you're happy after a win, I am not happy with this performance. Even the players were down in the changing room because they know we only won because of the goals from the two forwards.
"A derby is always a unique match, the winner will be the one that makes the least mistakes, the one that dares more and those that believe the most in themselves."
