GdS: Build-up, transitions and attitude – the reasons Milan are already at a ‘dead end’

Paulo Fonseca has admitted himself that his AC Milan side are flawed in many different areas, and at the moment the mood around the club is so negative that it could be defined as toxic.

La Gazzetta dello Sport state that Milan ‘already seem to be at a dead end’ after just five games. In football the media always exaggerate but there is no doubting that Fonseca’s side are in a deep crisis in September, with the Curva Sud jeering and just one win on the board.

What exactly has gone wrong? The first problem is attitude, contrary to what Alvaro Morata said. In Europe, Milan’s home, the team warched Liverpool dominate and did not react. It’s ok to be beaten by a better team, but leadership must be shown and there must be some fight.

The build-up phase is another problem. At this level, to build out from the back with success consistently, you need quality central defenders or enough chemistry to be able to find countermeasures to the pressing, perhaps to attract it then beat it. Instead, Tomori and Pavlovic are awkward, while Fofana and Loftus-Cheek don’t look for the ball and rarely get free.

Fragility in the defensive phase is another issue. The data of 19 shots conceded in 70 minutes is impressive and Fonseca surrendered to the evidence in a critical post-match interview. Milan conceded chances all evening, as they have done in every other game bar Venezia, and they kept losing the ball in dangerous areas. Once again, there was a huge gap between defence and midfield.

A secondary issue within the aforementioned problem is set pieces: Milan continue to concede goals from corners and free-kicks. From the summer of 2022 to today, there have been 18 let in from dead balls. Inter in the same period are on 12 like Napoli, Juve on 13, Atalanta on 14, Real Madrid on 9.

Tags AC Milan

17 Comments

  1. What has gone wrong? The acceptance of mediocrity within the club and Fanbase. The acceptance of an owner who doesn’t respect the history of the club and wants to do everything for ‘value’ his understudies who aren’t football people. A squad full of average fringe player who were at best a gamble for peanuts…you get what you pay for and last night they looked way way out of their depth…..Madrid to come. The failure to sign an elite coach and continue down the penny pinching route of mediocrity.

    All this ownership cares about is balance sheets, we sign crap and try and sell them to the fans as ‘value’. This was a summer where world class CBs and midfielders were available, but no….we chose crap. We didn’t address any of the pertinent problems like RB or no6, and our superstar striker last night showed what he’s really about…

    Redbird are out of their depth and need to go back to Wall Street

  2. These are not mens. They are children with weak mentality, low attitude, satisfied with little professionally. We have a big problem with selection of players we wanna bring in our team. We don’t check their background, their personality, character. Just some algorithm parameters, age, potential value and that’s it. No check for his personality, leadership, will to progress, character…nothing.

      1. Moneyball works with a serious management, like Gazidiz, Elliot, Moncada, Massara and Maldini all doing what they are suppose to do.

        It worked for us for 4 seasons, when we had no money for transfers and could only make loan with option deals.

        It would work even better for us now that we have more money as well, but the difference is that serious management is gone.

  3. Terzic, Sarri, Tuchel, even Allegri, for chrissake… Well, you fvckin’ name it: the point is that Fonseca gotta go. ASAP. Period. In fact I would fire him BEFORE the Derby, if you wanna know. The question is not anymore only a technical one, the man unredeemably lost control of the dressing room, Leão’s behavior after yesterday’s game is another clear signal of that. And when a coach loses the dressing room, everything else is completely FVCKED UP.

    1. Sunday’s not going to be funny at all.
      Shinter woul annihilate us.
      I won’t watch any matches again until FONSECA is let go of.

  4. It’s not just the buildup, it’s the whole team building. There’s a reason why Buongiorno, Douglas Luiz, Koopmeiners cost more than Pavlovic or Fofana. There’s a reason why top clubs pay top salaries. This clownish management think he’s smarter than the rest, that they can build a team on budget. They invented the reverse Midas touch, took a Scudetto winning team and turned it into plain sht.

    Last summer we heard about Milinkovic-Savic, Berardi, Zaniolo, Orsolini, Gundogan and Pavard were looking to come in Milan, Thuram, Ndicka, Taremi, etc. Instead we had a bunch of cheap average players, besides Pulisic, and now the team is cheap and average. This summer was even worse with the cheapest coach alive and a few more cheap average players, while Emerson Royal might be the worst recruit ever considering his price.

    It was anticipated by some fans that Milan is back into the twilight zone but honestly in my worse nightmares I couldn’t think about such a bad start and yet some here tell me that I’m negative. Things need to change now but the problem is the management and they seem to have nine lives like cats.

  5. Everyone needs to calm the f’ down. If you’ve been watching our team for the last year or so, you know exactly where our level is. We can’t expect to suddenly play solidly in defense against one of the best attacking teams on the planet.

    Yes, Fonseca and the new signings seem to improve us very little in this sense, but most likely time is needed here. This year, champions league is not our focus, again unfortunately. When you go for 20 mil signings you can’t expect to suddenly be the best team in the world. Anyone who thought Fofana and Pavlovic will immediately become one of the best in their position doesn’t understand football. We need to take it a step at a time.

    First thing I would work on is learning how to SHUT DOWN TEAMS. This is a skill all top Italian teams used to have, not the least Juve, and it gave us plenty of trophies.

Comments are closed

Serie A Standings

Live football scores . Current table, fixtures & results.