Paulo Fonseca is no longer secure in his position at AC Milan, and the Portuguese head coach is prepared to take risks once again.
It is difficult to know exactly how strong Fonseca’s position within the club actually is, considering it seemingly shifts with each passing game week. However, after a loss that effectively killed Milan’s Scudetto hopes, the management informed him that he was no longer fully safe.
For this reason, he is going to fall back to old habits and take risks with his selections.
This evening, Milan News have reported that is prepared to make four changes to the side that lost to Napoli in midweek, with half of them coming in defence.
Mike Maignan will keep his position, as will Malick Thiaw, but Filippo Terracciano will be shifted to right-back to allow Theo Hernandez back into the side, which is a bold decision in itself. Additionally, Fikayo Tomori will start ahead of Strahinja Pavlovic.
In midfield, Youssouf Fofana is the only survivor, with Tijjani Reijnders coming in to support him in the double pivot, and they will be sat behind Christian Pulisic. This means that Samuel Chukwueze and Noah Okafor will support Alvaro Morata from the wide areas.
Once again, Rafael Leao will remain on the bench, even after earlier reports had suggested that he was in line to return this weekend.
As always, our pre-match preview is available for the full rundown of the fixture!
Milan predicted XI vs. Monza (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Terracciano, Thiaw, Tomori, Theo; Reijnders, Fofana; Chukwueze, Pulisic, Okafor; Morata
Fonseca needs to get tf out of this club. IVE HAD ENOUGH. Benching Leão for this many games should be a crime atp
Leao is a bench warmer for Pulisic. Go make CP11 some Tea while youre at it rafa, chop chop now boy.
This Leao situation is creating unnecessary drama. What is wrong with bringing Okafor in at the 65 minute mark? He’s shown he has done well in that situation. And just like last week, asking Leao to come in off the bench and save you when he is not happy about being benched is not going to work. Leao is the better player. Period. Okafor has looked good but it’s mostly off the bench. Like Jovic, some players when you play them from the start just don’t have the same success. Not to mention this is going to hurt Leao’s value if they do want to sell him.
Not sure if “bold” is the right word. Our play, standings, spirit, body language, put it whatever, suggests choices are quite stupid at the moment.