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).
Agree with you 100% about RLC being sold
4-2-4 against Liverpool ?? They will exploited us. Relax, this formation only can used at serie A.
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!
Agree. It does show why there is space to exploit behind the full backs.
But the players are getting used to it now and the chances are reducing.
2 of the 3 goals we gave up to Liverpool were very poor set pieces.
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
He would be very handy as another RB option right now.
And was always a good CB option too.
I was disappointed to see him go.
Injuries were his biggest problem since the scudetto season.
Me too, he is an engine room that can easy go quick to the formation
Let’s come down to Earth….as much as I am happy about the momentum…we have not actually met quality opponents yet other than the derby with Inter. I will only be convinced if we start getting results against higher quality opponents. Milan next 3 matches against Bayern Leverkusen, Fiorentina and Udinese. IF we can smash those 3…then we are in business.
You think those other teams are here to sell groundnut? If beating inter is not enough to convince you it’s enough for me, Milan didn’t just beat inter by scoreline but we confused and outplayed them, we could have scored more.
So beating Leverkusen, fiorentina and udinese won’t be and easy task even for a top team like Real Madrid.
Well I can guarantee you IF madrid meet all those 3 team I am more confident of Madrid trashing them than Milan getting a positive result. It’s obvious it’s great for Milan to beat Inter in the derby…..but as I said just because we trash 2 lower calibre team, we need to put our feet in the ground….Milan need to proof more against proven or tougher team and still get results. The next 3 games will show if this team has actually gel and adapted to this Forsenca system.