AC Milan have started the 2024/25 season really poorly, drawing against Torino and losing their most recent fixture against Parma. Today, Tommaso Turci has offered some honest truths about their start.
Starting a season in the manner that Milan have done is poor for any club that aspires to challenge for Europe, let alone the Champions League and better yet, the Scudetto. Yet, the Rossoneri have started in that way.
Of course, there have only been two games played, so the season is by no means a failure at this point, and it is way too early to create assumptions. However, change must occur quickly otherwise the season will quickly start to look that way.
Regardless of the opening two games, there are still 108 points up for grabs, and Paulo Fonseca can still turn things around, even if reports suggest that there are some doubts potentially forming about his position.
Following this weekend’s loss to Parma, DAZN journalist Tommaso Turci spoke to Radio Rossonera‘s YouTube channel and he reflected on the first two games.
Analysis of Milan’s defeat to Parma…
“In my opinion many more faults than last season in these first two games. Milan between Torino and Parma left a lot of space to the opponents, restarts, a team not organised and tidy. There are so many problems that in my opinion start more from the players than from a discourse of technical guidance.
“I believe that some players must be aware that when you are at Milan and you play in Milan you are always in question. The humility of the great champions is missing, that of thinking that every match qualifies you as a professional. There are matches and matches and one can only think of playing a few: it seems strange to talk about motivation with professionals who should find it even in friendlies.
“But you really have to get inside the heads of these players and understand how such an approach is possible. What I didn’t understand about Saturday’s match is the fact that after the game you played against Torino at home with the desire to go and get the result…
“I imagined a team that entered the field mean, careful, with the desire to be aggressive. But after 3-4 mistakes on one play, goal conceded, team at the mercy of events. It’s a Milan that goes in fits and starts, that struggles to be organised. But first of all it takes responsibility on the part of the individuals who have to raise their level a little bit, but it’s always the same old talk.
“Those who have to be the draggers today, not only technically but also in terms of character, must swerve immediately.”
Who bears the most responsibility?
‘I was asked a short while ago for an opinion on the Milan football market. If we go and analyse how it worked, it had to keep its three most important players, Maignan, Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao, and it had to go and shore them up with experienced and future players.
“The club did what it had to do, Fofana was available in France and I have many expectations around this player. Then the results have to prove my thesis, you cannot just speak from the sidelines. Here we are talking about a coach who has been working for 6-7 weeks with this group and has always been optimistic in all the conferences he has given, as if there were no problems.
“That he says that during the week we work in a certain way and that on Sunday we struggle on the pitch. These are very worrying things: if you see the team in training in a certain way and during the match something is missing it means that you have negative answers, it matters little if you don’t give your soul in the official match.
“Clearly, it is a contest of faults, but the main culprits are those who take the field. If there’s a way of being on the pitch that foresees a certain type of aggressiveness and desire to go and get the ball and this is not respected… It’s clear that the coach is the one who puts them on the pitch, but the players must take their responsibility.
“If we go and analyse the goals that Milan have conceded, the second one in Parma there’s Almqvist going 60 metres on the ball after a bad horizontal pass. Someone has to come out there. The feeling today is that the team is mainly responsible for what is happening. Everyone is to blame, but guys, they are taking the field…”
The humility of the great champions is missing, that of thinking that every match qualifies you as a professional.
There is neither great champions at Milan, nor humility.
Milan bet on the wrong players to build the team. Leao, Theo, Tomori, Bennacer, are not great champions.
No Milan player that was extended over the last 3 years and given a bigger salary has actually elevated the game after the renewal. All of them have regressed. Theo, Leao, Tomori, Bennacer, Kalulu, Saelemaekers, all regressed after they got paid, and they are the core players on the team.
“No Milan player that was extended over the last 3 years and given a bigger salary has actually elevated the game after the renewal. All of them have regressed. Theo, Leao, Tomori, Bennacer, Kalulu, Saelemaekers, all regressed after they got paid, and they are the core players on the team.”
This. I was thinking about the same thing earlier. I couldn’t think of anyone improving either.
And Theo is asking for more money. Does that mean he will regress even more?!!!
Actually I think Tonali might have improved after they raised his salary. Exception to the rule?
Tonali was a true rossonero, a fan of the club.
But did they the players regress BECAUSE of their wage being raised (it could be) or is it a weird correlation ?
Could it be that Kessie was so good that he made everyone else look better and once he was gone every player was exposed ?
Kessie made everyone look good and because of that everyone got paid except him.
In the meantime, Hakan has been getting better year after year, while the players Milan paid have been getting worse year after year.
Plus there was Zlatan on the pitch yelling and demanding more from the players. They couldn’t say “no” to him.
I watched Kessie after Milan and he wasn’t that good. He proved it. You are smoking some good sh**t to say he left and everyone was exposed. These players that play in midfield today weren’t even at the club, except for Bennacer.
yeah banned for a year SUCH IMPROVEMENT
Leao is sick theo is dead d rest player apart from fonfona is average player
Milan will have to work very hard to restore their game but around a nucleus of Alvaro, Tijji, Chris, Youssuf, Strahinja…not even Mike is confident and humble
Next summer , Theo, Trappao Pippao, Loftus, Emerson, Chucku-Chucku, Musah, Thiaw and Jovic…must go
I think the problem is that we do not need a n10, why when Leao can do everything a n10 (including not tracking back, why have who will not track back, when you can make do with one.
We need a midfield & no10 hybrid and that player is Tijani Rijnders (should have been Tonali) with Benecer and Fofana providing the cover for the defence and covering the fullbacks when the bomb forward.
Why play a player there and unbalance the team and you are playing catch up in midfield from the 1st minute.
What I am saying above is football 101, but terms like ‘Fonseca ball’, just cloud the issue, let’s get the simple things right and then build around them.
We all bag on Pioli, but when he had a defensive crisis, he put 3 in the back, it was a temporary fix but allowed the centre backs to get some confidence back, but importantly and significantly it recognised a problem and was a pro-active move to try and sort things out, I really hope that Fonseca can make some pro-active moves to help Milan and the players can show the semblance of a united cohesive unit.
Yes, Samardzic was a target and then he joined Atalanta. And I don’t see a different one. How did the plan suddenly change if they thought creative midfielder is needed? Looks amateurish, like the only real idea is to go through the list of players that can be get for cheaper and if those go somewhere else that is it. It was Samardzic and now somehow Milan might buy Kone instead? 😀
I would go for Baturina from Dinamo, he will be a 50-60M player after 1 season in a top EU league.
Sell Theo and Leao and fresh team.They never will be good again at this club and that is
Yeah sell Theo, Leao, Mike, and every players that brought the scudetto. You guys a fking joke 🤦♂️
I have a simple solution – straight player swop Leao – Osimhen. Only one problem – will Conte accept a lazy player in his squad? Very likely NO.