The AC Milan squad have had to adjust to new ideas with the change in head coach from Stefano Pioli to Paulo Fonseca, but some concepts seem to be getting through.
It may only have been Serie B side Sassuolo, but we highlighted some of the positives in the various aspects of play that we saw from Milan. Aside from scoring six goals, there was some smart movement and some obvious chemistry building.
Recent wins over them, Empoli and Slovan Bratislava might just be helping to train confidence and build good habits, given the lesser-ranking opponents (with respect).
As our writer Rohit Rajeev states, we are starting to see a clear identity in Milan’s play – something Fonseca always promised would arrive – and some evidence comes from the average position of players on the field.
Let’s start from the Pioli era at Milan. Under the previous head coach the team seemed to stretch a bit more so as to have control in more areas of the pitch and hence huge gaps between the players opened up. Towards the end of the 2023-24 season they played deeper to stop leaking so many goals.
This habit from the Pioli can be seen in Milan’s first game of the season against Torino where there are some big distances between the players. The Rossoneri were stretched a bit more than what positional play requires, a key trait of Fonseca’s philosophy.
Let’s take a look at the recent league game against Empoli. The Milan players are more clustered towards the centre and there is very little distance between them which facilitates for the quick passing that the coach usually wants, through combination play, triangles and one-twos.
What is strongly suggests is that players slowly buying into Fonseca’s style of play and with the difficulty level of opponents not being so high, it’s allowed the players to be more expressive. Now, we must see if this translates to all games, starting with a big test against Atalanta.
