Italy has definitely marred Paulo Fonseca

Arriving this summer to take over from Stefano Pioli after a season punctuated by ups and downs, Paulo Fonseca set down his bags at AC Milan with the aim of bringing a breath of fresh air and renewal to the sporting project led by Gerry Cardinale and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Despite a transfer window marked by the reinforcements of Strahinja Pavlović, Youssouf Fofana, Alvaro Morata, Tammy Abraham, Emerson Royal and Álex Jiménez, the Rossoneri have not yet managed to find an effective recipe to be solid and consistent at the start of the season . If his head had quickly been put at a price by the fans, Paulo Fonseca had given himself a little air with the success during the Derby della Madonnina against Inter, despite an inconsistency which is still a stain on Milanese daily life .

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And since ups and downs, but the same problems persist. Early Tuesday evening, AC Milan traveled to Slovakia to face Slovan Bratislava, on the lawn of the Tehelné pole stadium. On paper, the meeting should have been a formality for the Rossoneri against one of the worst opponents this season in the Champions League (4 large defeats in 4 matches played before kick-off). Some will remember the result, others the content. With more suffering than expected, Milan won their third consecutive victory in the Champions League against Slovan Bratislava (2-3) and recorded a significant step forward towards qualification for the next phase of the competition. The Rossoneri reach 9 points despite a defensive phase which once again raises doubts after the 0-0 in the league against Juventus. Currently ranked in 14th position, the Lombards are on track to – at least – bag a ticket for the Champions League play-offs. But the rumble continues among fans who are still disappointed by the game displayed and the sad 7th place in Serie A.

A result that is not enough

The feeling is that Paulo Fonseca is not interested in the defensive phase. Also because when he addresses the subject during the press conference, he does so almost superficially. He says the defense's reads are ultimately individual, as if to say there's not much he can do. The Portuguese coach points the finger at the players and takes no responsibility. But he then declares that he has never worked so much on defense in his career: “I think we dominated during the match, we changed a lot of players. We did positive things, but also things to improve, perhaps because we changed a lot of players. We didn't do well with the preventive marking, then after the break we improved. We deserved to win, the last goal conceded was due to a clear error by the referee, there was a fault on our part. We deserved to end with another result“, explained Paulo Fonseca proudly. One of two things: either it's not true, or if it is true, it's just as bad because it means it simply can't be effective. Even in terms of the offensive phase, the display was laborious, but the Rossoneri were so superior that they ended up winning this duel, thanks to a gift offered to Tammy Abraham on the third goal. At the end of the first half, the expected goals were 0.84 for Slovan compared to 0.61 for AC Milan, which means that the Slovak club created more and brought danger.

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Slovan Bratislava entered the field with fear, then slowly realized that there was real room for maneuver, then gained confidence and courage in his performance: one of the most obvious and constant problems of the Fonseca's team is that she always gives the stick to get beaten, even against the weakest opponents and therefore the matches become surprisingly more open. But even a modest opponent like Slovan managed to reveal the fragility of a team that has not yet demonstrated defensive stability: “These are difficult things to explain. On the corners we have three players behind, difficult to explain… Maybe because these defenders haven't played much… It's a question of reading, not attitude. In the first half, when we let Slovan out, it was a question of defensive marking: we were too far from the defenders and they were always alone to get out. A problem reading and understanding what was happening», admitted the Portuguese coach. From now on, the objective is to become a team which has character and which does not live according to the moods of the moment. Conceding a goal on the counter-attack after having scored three minutes earlier is an all-too-obvious sign of danger, as not every opponent is like Slovan Bratislava. Continuity, even within the same match, is fundamental for the growth of Milan and for Fonseca who must ward off rumors about his future.