Ahead of the Derby della Madonnina, most believed that it would be Paulo Fonseca’s last game in charge of AC Milan. Hopes were low for the fixture, which would probably have seen the Portuguese coach sacked. Instead, the Rossoneri have him to thank for breaking the streak.
After Tuesday’s defeat to Liverpool, Milan seemed vulnerable to facing Inter, especially after the Nerazzurri had just drawn against Manchester City at the Etihad – a stark difference in their performances.
However, this was not the case. The Diavolo looked brave from the first minute and arguably had the better chances of the game, above all, they can say they deserved to win the fixture, which they have not been able to say enough this season. Therefore, Matteo Gabbia’s late winner was a more than fair ending.
Fonseca’s courage
As Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes, after 750 days, Fonseca led Milan to a victory in the derby, doing so with ‘courage and intelligence’. This was not how everyone had imagined the game to go, with the paper writing that everyone was ‘waiting for a solemn spanking’, instead, the Rossoneri delivered one of their own.
The Portuguese coach’s change to a 4-2-4 stopped the Nerazzurri in their attempts to build from the back with a constant squeeze, which in turn forced their midfield to ‘retreat’, allowing the Diavolo a greater foothold in the game.
After a heavy game in Manchester, Fonseca took advantage of the lessened levels available in the Inter tanks, and with only Sommer being ‘up for it’.
Game-winning system
‘Electrified by desperation’ Milan entered the game better than the hosts creating chances within the first 10 minutes, and in the 10th minute the Rossoneri took the lead through Christian Pulisic. A somewhat simple goal after Inter were caught napping.
A compact and courageous 4-2-4 that did not allow Inter to get a grasp on the game, a masterclass from the Portuguese head coach. Whilst the hosts were deserving of their 28th-minute equaliser, ‘the Devil did not give up’ and their ‘beautiful compactness’ offered a platform to build from.
Milan’s half
When the second half began, it was much like the opening minutes of the first. Milan on top with the Nerazzurri looking tired and lazy.
Rossoneri chances were threaded throughout the half – on another day, perhaps the scoreline would have been more – but their success did not come until the 89th minute when Gabbia powered a header home.
Goals of the times. Pulisic represented the American influence in the derby before the two sons of Lombardia wrote the middle and final act.
Embracing Fonseca
The man who made Inter remember how much it hurts to lose a derby, the Portuguese coach was embraced by everyone with a Diavolo connection. With the suggestions about his future, making such drastic changes was courageous and bold, but effective.
A sweet night for the Portuguese coach, and a future has opened up for him and his team.
2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss
Tied with Inter on 8 points and just 3 points away from the top.
This coach and his team need time. Why is it difficult for people to understand?
The best part is that Fonseca has already shown he can adapt. Pioli never learned new tricks and tried the same things 100x times in a row without realizing “it didn’t work before and will not work in the future either”.
I’ve waited a decade to see Milan play with 2 strikers and I hope to see more of that. 🙂
Tammy has contract with Roma until 2026, hence if he continuous like that, we can get him for 20M in the summer like Fofana…
But J.David now becomes even more important. He can play both Morata’s and Tammy’s roles and his contract expires in the summer so in the winter a 10-15M deal can give us a huge boost in quality and options!
This means leao needs to go….which….im all in favour for now
I was thinking the same thing that if we gonna use this formation we need 2 ST. I am OK with the sale of R.leao.
The coach needs to go pls, if other teams played well your calculation will be wrong, because others are not winning means we should not? Look at the tactics yesterday playing Morata behind Abraham, i swear Genoa will flog us 4 zero with that tactics, we got lucky look at inter style of play if not for mignan we for chop 3goals
You’re so wrong. It was because of Sommer and Leao, Tammy, Okafor were not so prolific. We should’ve scored more goals against Inter. Their goalkeeper was good last night. I criticized Milan for the lack of being a team in all the first 5 games, but yesterday, when we thought that Inter would’ve destroyed us and we were the better team from start to finish, except from some good set of plays from Inter and how they
brillantly played to equalize with the help of Emerson and Pulisic.
Just accept the fact that Milan really played as a team
Yeah like the way Madrid, City and Barca flogged us during preseason. Man already showed what he’s capable of during preseason where he didn’t lose a single game. Now enter the season, we have starters returning from the Euros and New signings that came in late. It’s common sense to understand that these category of players will need time to adapt to what worked during preseason. Plus he keeps tweaking his personnel until he finds the right balance.
If you still feel he should go because he lost only 1 game in the league this season, maybe Juve should also sack Motta who has dropped 3 points in the last 3 games…which is the equivalence of 2 losses.
😂😂😂😂😂 grow up
The whole media platform and your mamma had him fired and replaced..now we’re here.
Next poor game cycle of media abuse begins again.
Yes, that happens when you lose against Parma and Parma looks like Man City against Milan. So what? People aren’t supposed to criticize a bad performance so you don’t cry about it before sleep? 😀
Not from professional journalists.. wtf are you even on about? Parma beat us fair and square.
If you don’t understand such a simple statement no point in explaining.
Another thing I’ve noticed, Theo plays well when his made captain. His games are mature whenever he’s wearing the armband
I had heard lawyers had today already scheduled for his exoneration.
I for one admit as to not believing Fonseca could make the major players pull the same rope as a team. Yesterday, it showed that they can play with heart, sacrifice and a somewhat tactical identity, it’s still early days but a page was turned and Fonseca deserves credit here.
He was also victorious because Morata as a CAM and Abraham worked their asses off and inspired the others , had they not dropped back , battled and held the ball the whole set up would have collapsed. They also deserve special praise.
Then the whole team played well except Leao, who still showed his talent but refuses to really work for his teammates as they work from him . He really should have scored at least one goal yesterday but he is not in prime form at the moment and he will start to be substituted more often.
I hope this can be the start of something here instead of a flash in the pan.
First thing Fonseca even did at Milan. He spent months with them and everything looked the same as Piolis Milan of last few seasons, until the yesterdays game. Now they have to win the next 5 games in a row.
Yeah like the way Madrid, City and Barca flogged us during preseason. Man already showed what he’s capable of during preseason where he didn’t lose a single game. Now enter the season, we have starters returning from the Euros and New signings that came in late. It’s common sense to understand that these category of players will need time to adapt to what worked during preseason. Plus he keeps tweaking his personnel until he finds the right balance.
If you still feel he should go because he lost only 1 game in the league this season, maybe Juve should also sack Motta who has dropped 3 points in the last 3 games…which is the equivalence of 2 losses.