Former Milan player and coach Zvone Boban has heavily criticised the Rossoneri management and thinks that Paulo Fonseca should alter the formation he is using already.
Speaking during an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Calciomercato.com), Boban shared his thoughts on the summer transfer market that did not impress him and the poor start that Fonseca has made to his second spell in Serie A.
In regard to the formation, Fonseca has been favouring the 4-2-3-1 formation so far but Milan are yet to win a game in Serie A.
As far as Boban is concerned, the current Milan squad is much more suited to playing in a 4-3-3 because of the characteristics of the midfielders, especially Tijjani Reijnders and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
“Unfortunately we are still in court, but for me Milan is always Milan. I really respect the work done by Fonseca at Shakhtar, at Lille and at his beginning at Roma,” he said.
“He has just arrived at Milan and we need to give him time, but what worries me is that he still doesn’t have the understanding that this team can and must play only with 4-3-3. That way the mezzali can provide balance and help to the super offensive wingers like Leao and Pulisic.
“Reijnders can’t play with two in the middle, and Loftus-Cheek isn’t creative enough to play as a number ten. They are two mezzali, they are runners and ball carriers, not real organisers of the game.
“Fonseca is at the beginning, he is intelligent and I hope he can correct himself because beyond the results the problem is the style, which for now doesn’t exist.”
Another criticism of the current setup that Boban has is in regard to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He doesn’t seem to understand the role that Ibrahimovic plays at the club, a feeling that many people can sympathise with.
Boban warns that Ibrahimovic will be judged a lot more than the other executives at Milan given his name and reputation.
“Zlatan is a genius and I will thank him forever because for the love of Milan he agreed to come back and change the recent history of the Rossoneri and all of us.
“Having said that, now I don’t understand what he does, what his responsibilities are. I hope he understands them because in the end, he will be the one judged, not [Geoffrey] Moncada.
“The fact remains that the team that won the Scudetto and reached the Champions League semi-final was imprudently dismantled, a lot could have been built on those foundations. For me it was a huge mistake.”
Fonseca’s first major personnel issue to deal with has centred on Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao after they were dropped against Lazio and stayed away from the cooling break huddle.
Boban tried to underplay the incident, saying: “They made a mistake and then changed the game. I hope everything gets sorted out, they’re good guys.”