Paulo Fonseca might not have had the winning start that he hoped for as the head coach of AC Milan, but the records show that he is no stranger to starting off in less than ideal fashion.
Fonseca is now preparing for consecutive away games against Parma and Lazio after the 2-2 draw with Torino, and in both of those games there could be a very different starting line-up compared to the one from Saturday.
Starting well helps, but Fonseca has never been a specialist in fast starts. In France, for example, when he was at Lille (2022-23 and 2023-24) he amassed four points from the first three games in both seasons in Ligue 1.
That is the same points return as in his second year at Roma (2020-21 season), while the season before that in the capital he got five points out of nine. The 51-year-old has only once taken nine points from nine: in Ukraine during his first season with Shakhtar Donetsk.
Fast starts are not the specialty of the new coach, but it is better to forget the debut and think about the game at the Tardini in four days. The fans the version of Milan seen in the last 10 minutes against Torino, perhaps the only thing to take as a positive from the debut at San Siro.
