GdS: ‘Fonseca prepares Milan revolution’ – Okafor and Pavlovic among changes in mind

AC Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca is asking himself a familiar question heading into the October international break, which is how he can get his side out of a rut.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes this morning, Fonseca returns to Milanello today with a precise mission: to help his team overcome the defeat against Fiorentina and come up with winning ideas in view of the Udinese and Club Brugge games after the break.

Reflections needed

It’s true that the Portuguese coach will have a much reduced squad in training due to internationals, but a first step can already be achieved with those who remained, starting with Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham.

The two Englishmen were among the negative protagonists of the defeat against Fiorentina. The centre-back made a bad error for Albert Gudmundsson’s 2-1 goal, while the centre-forward ‘stole’ a penalty from Christian Pulisic which he then didn’t convert.

Fonseca must work on the minds of his players, because certain errors and above all some attitudes are not acceptable at a time when the team had asked for consistence, encouraged by the successes against Inter and Lecce and by the performance in Leverkusen.

The Milan seen against La Viola, however, have taken a decisive step backwards, even in the behaviour of the individuals, although the coach is convinced that the group is not out of control. There clearly is something to fix though, as the penalty debacle and Theo Hernandez’s red card at full-time show.

Fonseca will have individual conversations – first with those who are already at Milanello and then with those returning from the national teams – to understand and correct things, starting with attitudes and ending with the analysis of errors.

The defence and other doubts

Obviously the coach’s intent is not to crucify individuals, but to provoke a collective reaction. Upon returning from the break, however, there are likely to be some changes in the line-up, starting with a defence that continues to find clean sheets hard to come by.

With Tomori, Emerson Royal, Malick Thiaw, Filippo Terracciano and Alex Jimenez remaining at Milanello, Fonseca will work immediately to find a solution for the rearguard, with Strahinja Pavlovic’s return to the XI against Udinese practically a given.

Fonseca will also have about 10 days to decide who to use in place of the suspended Theo on the left. The favourite is Terracciano, who had already started in the role against Lazio, but Jimenez or even Davide Bartesaghi could be used. A more extreme solution would be using Pavlovic on the left, not too dissimilar to his role with Serbia.

As a fourth move, the coach could also change things in attack, with Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze on the rise in his estimations. At least one of the two could start from the first minute against Udinese.

The Swiss forward is more likely to get the nod, as he was not called up by his national team, while the former Villarreal man will play on Tuesday evening in Libya with Nigeria. Abraham himself could get a rest period, still looking for his first goal from open play for the Rossoneri.