With just one point from six available and four goals conceded in 180 minutes, it would be fair to say Paulo Fonseca has not got off to the best start as AC Milan head coach.
La Gazzetta dello Sport speaks of a ‘bleak panorama’ at Milan with Fonseca as the main defendant, without forgetting that the new coach was chosen by the management of the club when there were other names available.
Given what happened in the first two games, it is legitimate to ask whether the decision was the right one. The report has highlighted five areas that have been lacking so far.
Pressing: When Fonseca said on Friday that Noah Okafor, and not Luka Jovic, would replace the injured Morata in attack because he was more inclined to press higher, it was a bit perplexing because it is a team more that an individual instruction.
After 70-80 minutes of weak pressing against Torino it is not enough to simply declare that it must happen in the next game, rather it is necessary to create the conditions to do so without risk. If the pressing fails, you must prevent the opponents from slipping away into the spaces behind.
Exposure: Parma head coach Fabio Pecchia’s instruction was clear: let Milan advance and then hit them on the counter-attack. The Rossoneri attacked without coverage, i.e. there was no sign of a preventive marking plan to cushion the negative transitions when the ball was lost.
Every counter-attack by Parma resulted in something dangerous in front of Mike Maignan. The team were stretched, the departments disconnected. Parma wasted a lot of chances and the result would have been humiliating, if the new defender Strahinja Pavlovic had not plugged many of the holes.
Underestimation: The impression is that Fonseca, his staff and many players have somewhat underestimated the young stars of Parma. Man, Sohm, Mihaila and Bonny are four devastating players in the open field, with Bernabé a director of pure technique and great intuition.
In the last two seasons of Serie B, Parma showed the most intense and vertical football, showing they are a team to be faced with caution. Instead, Milan faced them chest out and exposed themselves at the other end.
Rafael Leao: Leao is unable to level up, to go from being a promising player to a mature champion. He is a prisoner of his ‘comfort zone’, the left flank where he dribbles and accelerates. He rarely moves to the centre, and it’s as if he he considers assists more important than goals.
At 25 years old he must take more responsibility for shooting and show more ruthlessness. It is not enough to be good, and Cristiano Ronaldo should be his inspiration. CR7 had an obsession with goals when he was young, Leao does not.
Communication: Fonseca took the blame in the heat of the moment, after the defeat in Parma, with a sad attitude. Heavy words, which already sound definitive, even if we are on the second game. It seems to be weak communication, or rather a manifestation of weakness.
In August it is right to expect something more positive and exhortative towards the team. Taking all the blame is a nice gesture, but it can be used once, maximum twice. On the third occasion, we must draw the consequences, otherwise it becomes an empty rhetorical exercise.