AC Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca has made some tactical tweaks to get the best out of his side, but there is a very big test coming up against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night.
Today’s edition of Tuttosport (via MilanNews) comments on the tactical changes made by Milan in the last week and compares them to those that Leonardo attempted to make – with good results – more than ten years ago.
When he was in charge, the Brazilian had fielded a team with the so-called ‘4-2-fantasia’ to leave space for the four attackers to create. He used Clarence Seedorf as a trequartista then a front three of Alexandre Pato, Pippo Inzaghi and Ronaldinho up front.
However, the paper has the sub-heading: ‘Milan, the 4-2-fantasia in the German exam’. Essentially, the point is that it is certainly one thing to invest a solution that surprised Inter in the derby and was enough to overwhelm Lecce, but it is another thing to be as brave against the German champions.
Indeed, Bayer Leverkusen are a side who are known for their ability to hurt teams at pace on the counter and last season under Xabi Alonso they nearly went unbeaten in every game, which means Fonseca’s ideas will be put to perhaps the hardest possible test.
“Milan in the last week and compares them to those that Leonardo attempted to make – with good results – more than ten years ago.”
Really??? I didn’t recall the good results. I’m pretty sure we didn’t win anything that year. Plus if it’s a 4-2-4 effectively there’s no trequart. I believe the frontline was some stu.pid stuff. I recall Pato and Dingo along Boriello I think and another striker (Huntelaar?). Insanity at it’s best. I recall poor Ambrosini being sometimes the only midfielder on defense. I can’t recall who played alongside him (maybe Pirlo or Dorf) It was just a recipe for disaster. We got spanked by Man Utd in the UCL. I recall clearly the great Lord Bonera, which some of you rate highly here for some unknown reason, got man handled by Man Utd players , poor positioning poor pace, poor everything. Leonardo made the team just too offense minded. And we didn’t even score that many goals either. I believe shinter score way more.
That same gap in the middle of the park in the current setup reminds me a bit of it though