After a preseason that could hardly have gone more according to plan, a report has written how Paulo Fonseca’s first competitive game as AC Milan boss was a grounding experience.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, Fonseca discovered that the ‘Milan planet’ is welcoming but certainly not easy to live on, as Saturday’s game against Torino showed when San Siro fell silent after his side went 2-0 down. They talk about the ‘headaches’ he has to solve.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic said something interesting that afternoon while presenting Youssouf Fofana: “The four purchases were already objectives even before choosing the coach.” He essentially implied that the coach is not at the centre of all the decisions, and the project doesn’t revolve around him.
In the evening, the team appeared with old defects. There were individual errors from players, difficulties in finding a way through against a deep and compact defence, and too many opportunities conceded in transition.
Fonseca knew he had a lot to do to translate the Milan of his imagination onto the field. In the summer he worked to change Milan and he said it clearly: “It will be a different team. Not better or worse, different.”
New signings and tactical approach
The Portuguese coach approved the four signings and is probably happy that Alvaro Morata arrived up front, not Joshua Zirkzee, because of his way of understanding football and the need for leadership.
The rest, however, will be up to the work of the next few weeks, with four changes on the notepad. The first, in players: his XI has Strajinja Pavlovic at centre-back, Emerson Royal on the right, Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders in the middle, Morata up front.
The second change is in the tactical approach. Fonseca from the sidelines asked to attack, attack more often and with more force. Here the balance of Milan will be played: the objective is to increase the pressure without conceding opportunities.
It will be a question of mechanisms and individuals, and it is clear that Fofana will help with what he brings. It is also clear that Pavlovic and Tomori – much faster than Thiaw if they have to defend in the open field – will be vital resources.
