A report has made the claim that nothing has changed in Paulo Fonseca’s AC Milan compared to that of Stefano Pioli’s tenure because they consistently fail in big games.
As Calciomercato.com write, Milan wanted and needed to carry on their performance level from the second half of the defeat against Bayer Leverkusen and instead they were the protagonists of a disconcerting performance at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Fiorentina won 2-1 and sent a confused Milan side back to squad one after defensive blunders from Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernandez and Emerson Royal plus two penalties and some substitutions that raised eyebrows.
After three consecutive league wins against Venezia, Inter and Lecce the Rossoneri had the chance to take second spot with a win but they once again misinterpreted the challenge and took a clear step back in their journey under Fonseca just before the break.
For Fonseca this will be a long international break, with the fans’ bad mood and several internal situations to resolve . First of all, the travel sickness: two bad defeats against Parma and Fiorentina, the hard-fought draw in Rome against Lazio and the only exploit against Inter albeit at San Siro.
Milan changed their coach and some players last summer but it remains a trend that they continue to fail in the games where they can take a leap forward. Last season, certain results stood out, starting with the home defeat against Juventus that interrupted a series of four consecutive wins and the elimination in the Coppa Italia in the quarter-finals against Atalanta.
Then there was the two defeats in the Europa League quarter-finals against Roma, the 4-2 loss against Monza and the 5-1 of Inter that radically altered the ambitions in the league. It could be argued that not beating Newcastle or Dortmund at home in the Champions League were failures too.
Fonseca certainly has obvious responsibilities, but the main problem lies in the mentality of a group incapable of traveling at high pace for a long time. The issue is central and must be addressed in these two weeks of break, because with this attitude you cannot aim for the Scudetto.