Arrigo Sacchi has given out his report cards for the first part of the season, and he has awarded a passing grade to AC Milan boss Paulo Fonseca.
It has been a difficult league campaign for Milan so far, who find themselves heading into Christmas in eighth place and further away from the Champions League places than they would like to be.
That means that for many the jury is still out on Fonseca as the head coach, especially given the handling of star players and the lack of consistency when it comes to domestic results.
However, the new year could also bring a turning point and the Champions League run of four straight wins is another positive to cling onto.
Sacchi spoke in his weekly column for La Gazzetta dello Sport and he decided to focus on the seasons that Milan and Juventus are having so far under their respective head coaches.
“For a few weeks I have been following with curiosity the path of Juventus and Milan, both in the league and in the Champions League. When I saw the direct clash live, at San Siro, they had made a bad impression on me: a match with very little emotion,” he said.
“Since then, however, I have noticed that something is moving, that the two coaches Motta and Fonseca, are trying to impose their ideas and the players are showing that they are willing to accept them. It is certainly a step forward.
“Milan’s situation is quite particular. They have changed a lot on the market and decided to entrust the bench to Fonseca after Stefano Pioli’s cycle which I consider very positive, and not only for winning the title.
“The Portuguese coach has the difficult task of turning this group of players who have rarely found consistency of performance throughout the season into a team. I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t give Milan a high rating: let’s say a 6 minus minus… Which means that there is a lot of room for improvement.
“Unfortunately I have seen few convincing matches, eighth place in the table is not exactly the best for a club like the Rossoneri. In addition, there are players like Theo Hernandez and Leao who were previously the leaders of the group and now, instead, are struggling to fit into the project.
“The defence, if I have to say it all, is not insurmountable and even those who are showing off, like the Dutchman Reijnders or Pulisic, do not always have the consistency necessary to reach great goals.
“Fonseca has the duty to insist, he must transmit his ideas, he must make his style of football enter the players’ heads. If he succeeds, the Rossoneri fans will also get closer to the team: the Milan fan asks for fun, emotions, he is educated in harmony and beauty.
“Little by little, with their own times and methods, Fonseca and Motta are getting back on their feet. Maybe they will struggle to reach the levels of Atalanta, Inter and Napoli, but I feel like saying that they will be positive protagonists in the second part of the season.”
he didnt give a passing grade to Fonseca.. nor did I read a positive outlook from him.
-“Unfortunately I have seen few convincing matches, eighth place in the table is not exactly the best for a club like the Rossoneri-
I guess they cant give that as a title for the article, right?
How 8th place is positive?
8th place isn’t positive, the positives should be obvious:
Mike has been much better this season than last.
Gabbia and Thiaw look solid at CB. Fonseca has been rewarded for showing faith in a player many of us wanted sold.
Pulisic, Reijnders and Fofana have been excellent.
Leao has been good since the Real Madrid game.
Jimenez has been good in the last 2 weeks, maybe he will solve another long-term problem.
It takes time to build a championship winning team.
Sacchi is also correct on Motta. Juve have hardly been great to watch either, until the last few weeks.
Do we hire to make new team or continue where Pioli left? This coach is hired because his playing style is similar to Pioli and we don’t have to reconstruct and go to transfer window.
Top coaches don’t put everything in trash if they want result’s only some mad people do it like this.
Theo,Tomori out of starting XI in 4months 🤣🤣🤣
All of these positives are essentially irrelevant if we dont make it to the UCL and many of these improvments are just players being better than their worst performances, hardly something to brag about.
It takes time to build a championship team because we destroyed the one we had and the future looks grim.
We’re essentially sinking at this point but have yet to reach rock bottom.
You’re overreacting. We fluked a championship with a decent, not great, XI and garbage bench. Giroud was leading the line, what does that tell you?
Pioli had Reijnders, Pulisic and Thiaw so you’re completely wrong in dismissing what Fonseca has got out of them, they’re playing the best football of their careers. That’s the sign of a good coach.
We’re not sinking. We’re in transition. Your lack of patience and inability to see the big picture is on you. Sacchi is absolutely right.