There will not be many who thought to criticise Paulo Fonseca after AC Milan’s win over Real Madrid last night, but Fabio Capello is one.
Milan were definitely the underdogs going into the game against the current and 15-time European champions, yet they pulled out a brilliant performance to earn a memorable and ultimately deserved win.
Our player ratings from the game last night dished out plenty of plaudits and to Fonseca, who also deserved credit for given his tactical tweaks. Malick Thiaw, Alvaro Morata and Tijjani Reijnders were the ones who got the goals.
Capello was a pundit for Sky covering the game live from the Santiago Bernabeu and at full-time he gave his thoughts on a game that – in his opinion – was not actually managed in an optimal way.
“The substitutions of Morata and Leao with Abraham and Okafor weakened the team, which worsened and suffered at the end,” he said (via Calciomercato.com).
Fonseca’s explanation (“They were tired and we needed fresh energy”) did not convince Capello, but the former Milan and Real Madrid boss did go on to give some praise.
“Musah was very important, like Fofana and Reijnders, but how Fonseca prepared the match was very important with the five defenders in line which did not allow Real Madrid to spread the game.
“And above all the doubling of the marking on Vinicius, many times on Bellingham was very important, with great personality and attention. I didn’t expect such a beautiful Milan. I was a bit worried.”
Tammy was involved in the 3rd Milan goal with a nice dummy and turn even though his pass to Reijnders was a little short.
Abraham height also was very helpful defensively on those late Madrid corners.
While Okafor was involved in the build up of what should have been Milan’s 4th goal if RLC scored from a great Theo pass.
Both did well.
The subs that shouldn’t have been made IMO are Calabria and Pavlovic. They were unecessary at this point.
I understand that Musah and Emerson might have tired (although I think Musah has infinite stamina) but I think they could’ve held 3 more minutes. Calabria had no landmark to refer to, didn’t know what to do and is clearly out of shape due to injury.
I think Leao could have kept a bit longer. Real Madrid is not a team against which you claim a win in the 80th minute because of a 2 goals lead, they have a ridiculous amount of comebacks.
Terra should’ve came on. David was not high match fit. Or should I say is not..
Vini Jr. pushed the ball right past him moments after he came on the pitch. that was not a very good matchup athletically.
Right. Calabria got skinned by Vini as soon as he checked into the game.
Stronzo! Just screwing the team and the coach, all the time.
I disagree with Capello here. Fonseca got everything right from start to finish. My only concern is that he sticks with this same exact team lineup.
Musah was good. Only a few miss placed passes in the first half but he was solid and provided a lot for this game. He needs to work on his decision making in the final 3rd though as he often over thinks what to do instead of playing on instinct.
nope he played 3 4 3 last night with the musah dropping back to help royal on the right and fofana on the left. if you notice we played 5 back line every madrid attack.
In the defensive phase we played with a back 5, offensively however, Musah is in the midfield while the defense goes back to a 4 men shape.
It’s a bit of a 4-3-3 while having possession and a 5-4-1/5-2-3 (or 3-4-3) when we defend.
The problem is that it is easy to get a team to be motivated against Real Madrid or for the derby (by FAR our 2 best performances this season) but other than that the players don’t seem to be giving their all (with some exceptions) or follow instructions properly.
Other than that, we’re more suited for a deep block and counter attacking style, but we can’t make that happen against serie A teams who come to park the bus as well and man mark our players.
I did however like this 4-3-3/3-4-3 hybrid and I think it’s more sustainable than the derby’s 4-4-2. At least we do have subs for each position (aside from Fofana).
Apt
How can you disagree? We couldn’t keep the ball for more than 10 seconds in the last 15 minutes of the game, and that was largely because of the subs. Yes, tactically it was spot-on from Fonseca, but I think the team suffered big time from the subs. Of the guys who came on, only Okafor did anything. Tammy and Loftus were terrible.
What game were you watching? Okafor was rated the lowest out of the subs. Abraham was involved in the build up for the goal and Loftus could have scored himself with a nice run in the box.
And dude, you are playing Real Madrid at their home with a 2 goal lead and 15 minutes to go. How in the world do you expect to hold the ball? That’s the part of the game where you suffer and defend to close the game out.
I also thought he took off Leao a tad bit early. He was really cooking at that point..I’d leave him on for just a few more minutes as Real was becoming more and more open. His pace would have caused problems. That and the Calabria sub. I wouldn’t bring him in knowing he’s just back from injury. Otherwise I’d say he did make decent subs and for the large part got the tactics correct
Why won’t my, no profanity, comment post?
Piece of happiness website
Leao didn’t want to come off and was clearly not tired – Musah I can understand although he will run for 90 mins. Calabria was a poor choice and Pavlovic was unnecessary and both choices put us under a lot of pressure at the end.
Shouldn’t have subed off Leao IMO, the game was open in the 80th minutes and Leao’s pace would have wreak havoc
I’m glad he subbed Puli b/c he really needs the rest when he can get it. I understand that those subs weakened the team, but generally speaking almost all of our subs weaken us and that’s a depth problem we haven’t solved yet. However, it was a beautiful Milan, it was the one I know well. It was like seeing an old friend, so refreshing. They can def play this way against low block Serie A teams. Just reference the early 2000s Milan for how to do that. Play possession but not to score, you do that to bring the opposition up the pitch and create an artificial counter attacking situation from there. What you DON’T do is sit with the ball in-between the final third and middle third and wait for something to happen. Seeing Leao in the center of the box with confidence should terrify the rest of the footballing world. If he can do that consistently, we’re on to the next level. Forza Milan.
Calling out the comment on Milan’s marking, major praise is due for the players on Milan’s left side practically eliminating Real Madrid attacks down their side. I had to check the lineup to confirm Bellingham was even on the field. That is a bit of an exaggeration, but not much.
For the Musah doubters, do you feel any differently today?
RM is in fact the perfect team for ACM to play against offensively. RM push players forward and leaves a lot of open space in the midfield when they lose the ball. Leao, Musah and Pulisic love that. Watch this weekend when they play a structured team that sits back and gives less space in the midfield. That’s what they need to learn to deal with.
That’s why we need Reijnders to operate as a true regista to create that space for the front 4 seeing as we don’t play with a true Trequartista. Because neither RLC or Puli are true Trequartista in the vein of a Rui Costa who creates that space. That’s why Pirlo was so important because Kaka played more as a Fantasista than he really did as a true Trequartista.