Paulo Fonseca has not yet set foot on the Milanello turf, but a report states that he already has some sizeable changes in mind to fix the issues at AC Milan.
Today’s edition of Tuttosport (via MilanNews) writes that Milan have chosen Fonseca as Stefano Pioli’s heir and on a general level, for the moment, this is a choice does not seem to have been welcomed with great enthusiasm by the fans who were expecting another type of coach.
Yet the Rossoneri certainly had their reasons for choosing the Portuguese coach over other more highly rated managers who were (some still are) available on the market, like Antonio Conte and Roberto De Zerbi among others.
Milan’s problems
Pioli’s Milan – especially in the last season – had two main problems which irremediably led them to their fate of another campaign without a trophy.
On the one hand there were the many and very frequent injuries that deprived important players or even entire departments for a long time, as happened with the defensive one between December and mid-February.
Many of the new signings – in particular Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze – struggled to find consistency in their performance levels due to a far from perfect physical condition.
This is then linked to a serious problem in the defensive phase. Simply put, Milan conceded too many goals and they did so in a sensational way at times, demonstrating little compactness and no balance between the departments.
This is a problem therefore that does not only concern the defenders but more generally affected the entire defensive phase of the team coached by Pioli. And these, and it may not be a coincidence, are two problems that Fonseca has faced and overcome in his career.
Total change
In particular, in his previous Serie A experience with Roma, Fonseca had to deal with similar problems that emerged this year at Milan, i.e. injuries and a shaky defence.
In his last two years at Lille, however, he transformed things and this is demonstrated above all by the data on goals conceded: with Roma the number let in was 51 and 58 in two years, with the French club 44 and then most recently 34. In France fewer games are played but the average has improved.
All this is because between Rome and Lille, Fonseca made some changes to his staff. The only one who remained from the Giallorossi is Tiago Level, at the time a video analyst and now a technical collaborator. The rest of his team have changed completely.
As his deputy today there is former Chelsea player Paulo Ferreira who replaced Nuno Santos. The goalkeeping coach has also changed: at the time Roma did not want to deprive themselves of the historic Savorani, while today Antonio Ferreira works with Fonseca.
Above all, the staff members have changed regarding the physical side of things. From Pedro Moreira and Nuno Romano, we moved on to Paolo Mourao (athletic trainer) and Stephane Caterina (fitness coach). Changes that have led to clear improvements, the same ones that Milan hopes to see from next season.
And I hope he is going to address our transition play as well. There were times that you could fall asleep for 10min and nothing would have happened with Milan passing the ball around between defenders ad nauseum. We need to be more decisive when attacking.
Exactly – it was like prime Barcelona tiki-taka, just without the incisiveness, speed or movement.
LOL exactly like Barcelona, except it was w/o the only good thing it had. goals, speed and movement. hahahaha mucho tiki and not a lot of taka i guess.
The two big issues: Cardinale and Moneyball
If he does introduce sweeping changes that help limit injuries, then it does appear he knows what he’s doing. Injuries ruined our season.
They should take into consideration that high pressing football will always have more casualties. Just go and check Klopp’s statistics of injuries in Liverpool. That’s what “gegenpressen” football does.
Both Pioli and Fonseca tend to play high pressing football.
Yet Fonseca has had far less injury issues at Lille over the last few seasons. He knows what he’s doing.