Riccardo Montolivo believes that Paulo Fonseca’s system of using two strikers and two midfielders is no longer working because it is leaving AC Milan too exposed.
Fonseca made the brave decision to switch to a 4-4-2 formation just before the derby against Inter, with Alvaro Morata playing off Tammy Abraham up front, and it yielded a brilliant performance in a 2-1 victory.
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A 3-0 win against Lecce followed at San Siro, but since then there have been defeats against Bayer Leverkusen and Fiorentina – with three goals conceded in the two games – that have raised the pressure on the coach to find solutions again.
At the end of the game the Sky Calcio Club analysed the defeat for the Rossoneri, focusing above all on the formation with Montolivo in particular raising doubts.
“The Rossoneri have less chance of changing than other teams, especially if you start with a 4-2-4, in the second half what do you do? You have your best attacking department on the pitch, then you have Okafor and Chukwueze, but you are a bit short,” he said (via Radio Rossonera).
“However, I think that this 4-2-4 is not [the long-term solution]… The surprise in the derby and with Lecce at home is fine, but if I think about the league marathon and the Champions League marathon, I don’t see a team with balance.
“Everyone has to be good, in the middle of the pitch they have to work hard and even there you are a bit short, they have to give up Loftus-Cheek who in my opinion is an important asset for this team. It could be a solution during the match or at home against a team that is perhaps weaker, but seeing it as a basis…”
Leonardo Bonucci responded to Montolivo’s previous assessment and focused on balance, a well-known problem for Milan arguably since the 2021-22 Scudetto-winning season.
“Yes, then you have a formation that gives you little balance, because even the two full-backs push hard, Theo and Emerson Royal, so even the two central midfielders and the two defenders are forced to expend a lot of energy to play all the games like this.”
Who needs balance, all Gerry wants is entertainment and our games never disappoint.
JAJAJAJJA QUIEN ACÁ APOYA A ÉSTE PERDEDOR (FONSECA)? 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🇵🇹🤡
We don’t have a team fit for any system. We’re in some sort of a no-man’s land and that’s because of 2 transfer windows which were unfocused, didn’t adress the weaknesses we had while buying too many players for some positions while having no particular system in head.
Like let’s look at each system:
4-2-3-1: This system was designed with Hakan and Diaz as AMs, Kessié, Bennacer and then Tonali as double pivots, while Krunic could sub either position. Right now we don’t have AMs and our only midfielder who used to play as double pivot is Fofana.
4-3-3: We brought Musah, Loftus-Cheek as Reijnders specifically to play as CMs in a 4-3-3. The problem though is that we don’t have players to play as CDMs for that position. The closest we have to a CDM is again Fofana and he doesn’t have a sub.
4-2-4: This was the surprsing system that Fonseca cooked and that allowed us to outplay and win against Inter. The problem though is that since it uses both our main and deputy striker, we don’t have options for substitutions. Reijnders’ lack of activity and quick decisions, and Fofana having to cover the fullbacks and centerbacks put a lot of pressure on Morata who has to drop a lot. Plus within this system, Musah and Loftus-Cheek seem pretty much useless.
During yesterday’s game, the commentator I was hearing mentioned how shallow Milan’s bench seemed to be, and this was a bench that costed us around 90M€.
Inexperience directors led to this !
Urgh montolivo article. Clown can stfu about balance..I remember the team when he played. This side look like prime barca compared to montolivo playing sides
You can say whatever you like about Montolivo, he was always one of our brighter players.
And on the contrary, that side managed to beat a prime Barca.
Now you know how bad this side is.
Anyone who thinks Montolivo was a bright player is not worth my time. I cant and i wont talk to such stupid people.
And we didnt beat them. it was 4-2. We got kicked out by them. 2-0 in italy and then dry anal 4-0 on campN. yeah, much win, so proud
433 with Reindeer, Fofana, and RLC/Musah is the only way forward for this team.
Not sure what kind of authority Montolivo is on a balanced team – he was useless
Maignan
Thiaw Gabbia Pavlovic
Jimenez Reijnders Fofana (Musah/RLC) Theo
Pulisic Morata
Bench the rest
Just play 3 4 3 and get the balance you want.
Tomori Gabbia Pavlovic
Calabria/(Musa) Fofana (RLC)/Reidjners Hernandez
Pulisic morata Leao
There is room for Okafor and Chuwkueze for the wing while jovic and Abraham as central forward
You are right.
More freedom for Theo to join Leao upfront.
Musah can be deployed as CM & RM
Jimenez, bertasaghi & terraciano will also be useful.
Okafor can also be deployed as RW/ST if chukweze proves be useless.
Fonseca has nothing to lose giving Liberali opportunities at RW since chukweze hasn’t performed well.
343 won’t be any different (in bring balance) to 424 with the squad we have. both system would be asking too much, too demanding. it could be useful for certain games, but not a long term solution.
the cm and wb would get burn early. mean we need a firm backup at bench, which we don’t.
both wf need to be able to shift for both phase. they don’t need to drop that deep but still need to press intelligently. we don’t have that character in our squad.
and we don’t have someone to dictate the way we play. the distribution. the switch play. it’s been so long since we have that. a true playmaker. we don’t have it. what we have are inadequate players. we can’t ask them too much. ….at least not every game.
“I don’t see a team with balance.”
I don’t see a team. Period.