Paulo Fonseca was frustrated that three goals were not enough to win the game for his AC Milan side against Cagliari last night.
Milan twice led the game after trailing inside two minutes as Rafael Leao scored a brace and Tammy Abraham netted in the second half, yet that wasn’t enough to earn three points.
It is a draw that probably feels more like a defeat given that the Rossoneri were leading up until the 89th minute, when Gabriele Zappa arrived at the far post to finish off a cross and get his second goal of the night.
Fonseca spoke in the press conference room at the Unipol Domus to try and assess what was a rollercoaster game that didn’t have the best outcome. MilanNews transcribed his comments.
What was the main fault?
“This game is very easy to explain. We scored three goals, but we can’t concede three like that. We have to work on crosses, we have a problem. Cagliari won 100% of the aerial duels, that’s not good.”
Is it a small step back?
“We still have a lot of points available. A great team can be seen over time. We are growing offensively, less so in defence.”
Are you disappointed or angry?
“No, I think the team did well in management, less so in tackles and duels. It’s honestly difficult to explain.”
These are problems that happen away from home. At home you concede much less, is it a coincidence?
“We faced a healthy team, that plays in a direct way. We must grow defensively, I repeat.”
Who impressed you for Cagliari?
“I don’t focus on my opponents. We were prepared for this type of football, aggressive. Cagliari does very well.”
Leao, a winning choice…
“He understood where he had to improve. Today he was decisive, even in defending with the team.”
Fonseca: “Cagliari won 100% of the aerial duels”.
What the hell. Are all our player can not jump.
The only problem here is the coach on earth changing all your best players just like that as you are playing the next day
Bye bye Europe next year.
This team lacks motivation in regular season games. They live only for big matches. After they win big an important match they fall in auto admiration and lose focus for next “average” game in italian championship . They suddenly think so big about themselves and in their imagination they are so so big players…fools. Consistency in lower regular championship games is the key for a successful season not big games witch offer just a short term satisfaction.
Seems like all he says after games is “I can’t explain it”. What a predictable debacle this f-ing guy is. It’s not his fault, though. The people who hired him are somehow even more incompetent than him which is a difficult task.
Please play a 3-5-2 until we’ve figured out how defend against aerial crosses.
It’s painful to see great offensive performances completely negated because we are so forward committed.
The combo of Leao, Pulisic, Morata and TJ is enough to play on the counter. Let’s get 5 in the back so we can stop conceding so many goals.
It’s mind-blowing that neither he, nor Pioli opted to play 3-5-2/3-4-3 to cover more ground and potentially fix most of our defensive problems. Actually Pioli did bring that system in the period when we played Tottenham and Napoli in CL and it worked. However, I remember Rafa not being happy with it, playing as a second forward rather than a winger, and apparently that proved more important than the actual results and team structure.
It’s incredibly painful and stupid to see rumor articles about Milan pursuing another disgruntled midfielder in the EPL who might be a great fit.
Why can’t we sign a new right back (or give Musah a chance) and sign 3 new left-center-right backs? Theo can be left to go forward if there’s 3 backs staying at home. I’m no genius but this seems painfully obvious.