Journalist
November 2, 2024 (changed at 11:58) – MILANO
The championship for Milan is not yet a quarter of the way and, despite the three defeats in the nine games played so far, this is neither the time to give up nor to take our foot off the accelerator. Indeed, it is necessary to believe even more in the work done so far and add, if possible, race, heart and commitment. To win the first match away from San Siro and above all to move up in the standings, a far from impossible undertaking for a team that Paulo Fonseca considers to be growing. In recent days the Portuguese coach has reiterated these concepts to the group a couple of times, in the closed locker room. He expects a prompt reaction after the punch he took at the Meazza against Napoli and has worked on his head at least as much as on the pitch. Because if it was essential to explain how to tactically put Nesta’s team in difficulty, it was equally important to motivate a team that, after the successes against Udinese and Bruges, hoped to take off on Tuesday. Instead, a slowdown came once again at the most beautiful moment. Or, if you prefer, the turning point. The former Lille coach reiterated that we need to regain our strength and start again immediately. Without being infected by mistrust or losing conviction in one’s own abilities. The Devil’s season is long and many things can happen. Just believe it and fix what’s wrong.
TRUST
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In his career Fonseca is used to earning everything by going through initial difficulties. Leaving aside his experience at Shakhtar Donetsk, where he inherited a winning team and continued… to win, in Rome and Lille he had to deal with skepticism and results that were not immediately as hoped for. He has never given up and he won’t do it this time either. But above all he will continue with his tactical beliefs, convinced that the group is following him and is on his side. He had confirmation of this against the league leaders, when in his opinion, between the first and second goal of the Azzurri, but also in the second half, Milan put their opponents in clear difficulty. The confirmation comes from the data relating to possession, shots on goal and running, which he illustrated in the locker room. Tonight in Monza we expect the same attitude seen against Conte’s team, perhaps eliminating the defensive errors that the Devil is paying dearly for in terms of goals conceded (sixteen between Serie A and the Champions League) and points lost at the start of the season . In this respect he thought and hoped he was further ahead and he didn’t hide it (“We have made progress because we are short, compact and don’t concede much, but sometimes we leave opportunities that we shouldn’t”, he said yesterday on Milan TV), but he is not resigned to seeing these amnesias repeat themselves throughout the year. He understood that the process of transformation from the football that the Rossoneri were used to playing with Pioli to the one he has in mind requires more patience than expected. At the same time, however, he is aware that the path is the right one: the work that is carried out on the Milanello pitches on a weekly basis tells him this. This is… the indicator that takes into account. That’s why yesterday he asked his men not to give up. “Against Napoli we lost a match that we should have won – he continued – and we are not satisfied, but we are aware that we have done what we had to do. This is why the team has confidence and is motivated”.
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NO TABLES
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According to Paulo, looking at the rankings now is useless and he is not even interested in drawing up tables to recover the current minus eleven from Napoli or talking about long-term objectives. On the eve of the match against the Azzurri he answered the question about the title goal in the only way he could, that is, that he still believes in it, and reiterated the concept after the knockout (“I’ve never seen anyone win a championship after ten days “). However, he only thinks about Monza and tonight he will field the best team based on what he has seen during training and the latest races. He will focus on the eleven that gives him more guarantees from a physical and psychological point of view. Faithful to what he forcefully reiterated after the October break, when he gathered the group and announced that he would not accept less than the maximum in terms of racing and commitment from everyone. Individuals had to take a backseat to the team. The responses he received against the Friulians, Bruges and Napoli satisfied him, net of the 2-0 defeat suffered by the league leaders, and for this reason he reiterated yesterday that we must not give up an inch. He knows very well that winning the three points away from San Siro for the first time would help him a lot, in the meantime to get closer to the Champions League zone, the club’s minimum objective, but the priority now is not to think about the position at the end of May, but we need to concentrate on that what needs to be done at U-Power Stadium. Today, according to Fonseca, no one should be distracted even by Tuesday’s big match at the Bernabeu. Imagine from the subsequent matches or the ranking. On this point Fonseca does not allow exceptions and his choices will only be based on the match against Monza, “a strong team, capable of drawing against Inter. It will be a difficult match for us, but we must do well and I am convinced that we can succeed because we are working well and together as a team. We are progressing in many things. For example, we don’t lose the ball as easily as before and the team understands the moment of the match.” But now the word goes to the pitch and for Milan and their coach in Monza there is only one possible result.
