Paulo Fonseca has been the manager of Milan for several weeks now, but his first training session with the team took place on Monday afternoon. Since then, he has been working hard at Milan and per a report, there are some indications already.
Today’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport (see featured image) has taken stock of his first days at Milan, mainly relying on what was seen during the first training session. The other ones, as per the orders of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, are more or less behind closed doors.
An attacking, dominant football, but with a key focus on balance in the defensive phase which was missing too often last season. This is what Fonseca made clear during his press conference, but what are the actual principles that he would like to bring to the club? Let’s take a look.
The basics
At Milanello, in the first game situations in training, the Portuguese manager used the 4-2-3-1 formation, insisting on concepts such as possession, density, game changes and pressing. The first phase of the construction? With a classic 3+2.
This could already be seen in the first session on Monday: one of the two midfielders (for example Ismael Bennacer) lowers himself into the line of the centre-backs, forming a three-man backline, with the attacking midfielder coming down to participate in the play and the full-backs pushing up.
In Fonseca’s mind, however, the first phase of possession is not low or aimed at getting the opponents to press, but rather to bring the ball to midfield as quickly as possible. Density is created later, taking advantage of the full-backs’ high position (although the Portuguese explained how in some matches one of the two can be more ‘blocked’) and the movements of the attackers.
In those situations, sudden game changes (such as switching sides) become fundamental. This is because building density in one area helps to free and discover the opposing sides.
Winning back the ball
In addition to freeing up other spaces, having players close by also means that you can rely more on ‘re-aggressions’ when you lose the ball. Fonseca also said it during his presentation: “We have to defend away from our goal.” That is, recover the ball quickly, where you lose it.
On the other hand, when the opponent builds out from the back, Milan will line up with 4-4-2. At Lille, the first line of pressure was carried out by the centre-forward and the attacking midfielder, while the attacking wingers lowered themselves onto the midfielders’ line.
The attack
Where the Portuguese will be able to experiment most, is in the attacking phase, thanks to the talent of the individuals. In France, Fonseca loved to work wide with the full-backs, asking the attacking wingers to occupy the internal half-spaces and the No.9 to look for depth. However, he didn’t have someone like Rafael Leao. It is reasonable, therefore, to expect news at Milan.