As the Rossonerri head into the international break, with approximately three weeks until they face cross-city rivals Inter in the Derby della Madonina at the San Siro, coach Paulo Fonseca’s side find themselves consumed within darkness, as highlighted by La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Despite having acquired additional depth within the back-line, the Diavolo continue to bleed heavily through their wounds as they conceded six goals within their first three games of the 2024/25 Serie A campaign, Strahinja Pavlovic struggling heavily to make key interceptions in the box and Emerson Royal having an atrocious debut against the Biancocelesti as he was beat by full-back Nuno Tavares twice in the build-up of both Lazio goals.
In addition, tension and a lack of belief from the players in the former Lille manager begins to spread within the Milanese club as after star players Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez combined alongside Tammy Abraham in finding the equalizer after only thirty seconds of coming on, the phenoms avoided coach Fonseca during the cooling break, standing on the complete opposite end of the pitch.
Despite both the coach and the players mentioning to the media that there is no tension and that both Leao and Hernandez avoided the cooling break due to the fact that they had only stepped onto the pitch for thirty seconds, the image hints that the two were infuriated by Fonseca’s decision to be dropped from the staring lineup and do not trust his tactics, which leads to unnecessary drama and speculation in the media.
As it stands, Milan sit in 14th place with only two points out nine points available, having failed to win any of their opening three games. Napoli’s comeback win against Parma in which Conte’s side demonstrated aggression, passion, and resilience within a short amount of time adds immense pressure on the Portuguese tactician’s shoulders to turn things around in a quick matter.
For the moment, Milan will wait until the Rossonerri’s Champions League match against Liverpool and the derby against Inter prior to making a decision about the future of Fonseca. Until then, it remains to be seen if Milan can regroup throughout the international break.
