Paulo Fonseca has managed to turn things around after a very difficult start to the season, deploying a 4-2-4 formation in the last few games. As proved by the average position, a significant difference can already be seen compared to Stefano Pioli’s Milan.
Pioli was heavily criticised for his tactics last season as Milan often had huge spaces for the opponents to exploit between the departments. In other words, the players were not compact enough and this resulted in many goals conceded.
As highlighted by the average positions of the Milan players in yesterday’s 3-0 win against, compared to the first Lecce game last season, the difference is evident. The Rossoneri are far more compact under Fonseca and while 4-2-4 might sound like a crazy idea, it clearly works.
La differenza è tutta qui:
– Fonseca vs. Pioli
– Milan vs Lecce: Partita girone d’andata 24/25 vs 23/24E siamo solo all’inizio pic.twitter.com/u8iUp2Cw6i
— Paulo Baldinesi (@MarcoBaldinesi) September 28, 2024
Hopefully, Milan can continue on this path and subsequently improve the defending as well, given that there is nothing to complain about up front. Defensive strength should come with this compactness but there is no doubt that fixes will have to be made to perfect the system.
Bayer Leverkusen are up next and that will be a very interesting test from a defensive point of view. The Rossoneri will be hoping to clinch at least one hoping, having lost the opener against Liverpool.
Does not look like a 4-2-4 to me, but a 4-2-3-1.
just by going from logic, Morata is ST that can play as CF, which already is quire similar to n10, we don’t have good n10 without compromising the double-pivot…
Lewis Ferguson can also succeed in this new Milan, but then it would look really be 4-2-3-1, currently it’s more 4-4-2 and if the opposition is easy to handle the wingers push forward, making 4-2-4. It’s quite fluid and case-by-case…
going for striker would be also cheaper going forward than bringing 2 new CAMS, cause RLC has to just be sold (can’t do anything other than dash forward and shooting (and the aim hasn’t hit this season at all), 0 in defense, 0 in possession, 0 in passes, 0 in dribbling, 0 in creativity).
It’s 3 different formations depending on the context of the ball position but the base is def a 4231 but they can press in a 424 or sit in a 451 in defense, it is brilliant when the team commits. You can kind of see now why Fonseca was so frustrated that one week when he said something like “Well we had a game plan but for some reason the players abandoned it”. His plans are very dynamic and require full commitment. The thing that worries me is it doesn’t look like the backups can work the same system. When RLC and Jovic come in we revert to the old 4231 system and it’s very limited. Heavy rotation will become challenging so a Serie A title will be more difficult than a Champions League one at the moment but I think it’s pretty close. If Chuck would show something then we could give Morata a break and play Puli there or give Puli a break and what ever, but he’s making it very difficult lol. He looked pretty good against Lecce but still shows a lack of calm in his play. This week will be really exciting to see where we are.
yup, their fluidity is definitely key to new-found success
That’s a really good graphic, shows the importance of a compact unit and explains why most of the danger is coming down our right side (from the opponent’s left wing), no wonder Emerson Royal has a steep learning curve!
I feel so bad seeing Kalulu playing so well for juventus and the management never appreciated him
I feel so bad seeing Kalulu playing so well for juventus and the management never appreciated him and gave him enough chance