Following what was a disastrous 2023-24 season, defensively speaking, AC Milan will be looking for change under Paulo Fonseca and the first few friendlies have been promising. As highlighted by Andrea Longoni, Fkayo Tomori in particular must step up.
The Englishman was absolutely brilliant for most of the Scudetto season but has since struggled to remain consistent. Against Man City last week, he made a big mistake on their second goal and it was all due to a lack of concentration.
In his latest editorial for MilanNews, Andrea Longoni has highlighted this obvious flaw of Tomori, while also stating that he must be the leader at the back. With Strahinja Pavlovic now in the ranks as well, the Serbian will need someone to show him the way initially.
“Fonseca’s true mission will be to give Milan a high-level defensive phase: this was the main issue in Pioli’s last season. Pavlovic is doing well, but a lot will depend on Tomori: he will have to lead the department, if the Englishman is attentive then things will certainly go better at the back. However, if he’s clumsy and unfocused, then there will be problems. The Serbian must be given time to settle in and fit into the new context,” he writes.
Pavlovic is currently working at Milanello and will meet the rest of his teammates at the end of this week. Tomori, meanwhile, is fully focused on the friendly against Barcelona which is scheduled for Tuesday evening local time.
Our CB’s need actual competition to improve because Pioli alone wasn’t enough to do it last season. Hopefully Fonseca demands more out of them and fields CB’s based on merit.
The main thing with Tomori is to not be overly aggressive with his challenges. He overcommits often and causes problems.
I completely agree with this statement, he needs to be more aware of when to go on hard or not cos last season every time he had a one on one my heart was in my mouth 😂
totally. A good DM will also go a long way in fixing our problem. One thought though, dont sleep on Gabbia. In some ways the kid is the opposite of Tomori. Not fast or flashy but he has improved his reading of the game. His last 6 months with us, he was super consistent and hands down our best CB. People get fixated on speed, but some of the best CBs of all time werent that fast.
Very true man.
The CB’s we have can all start actually, depending on injuries and form of course, and the challenge between them will be beneficial to the whole team like you said.
Tomori has the most seniority and will probably start alongside Pavlovic but you definitely cannot rule out Thiaw & Gabbia overtaking them along the course of the season. It’s looking promising as long as we get a DM.
Tomori must lead himself only, not others.
Every time when he tried to lead others, he blunders his own game.
Also his personality is not a leader material. Too hot blood. Always fall into provocative traps. Unnecessary tackles and red cards.
Dude needs to calm himself down and think about improving his own performance, not entire team’s
Agreed. He is not the Marshall at the back but a fine deputy. He was best with Kjaer because Kjaer was so experienced ,very high Defensive IQ and the Dane was a Leader.
Now we will see who from Thiaw & Pavlovic will blossom into a Leader. They are both young and need time.