Journalist
November 10 – 5.45pm – MILANO
Normality. Paulo Fonseca really likes the term, who uses it as a flag to plant in the center of Milanello. And then, just to give two examples, it becomes “normal that Leao can go to the bench”, just as “it is not surprising (i.e. it is normal, ndr) that Camarda starts” for the first time, in place of Abraham. That of the Portuguese coach is a sort of democratization of the squad, inspired by the great classic “everyone is useful, no one is indispensable”, a guideline which for some coaches is management gospel. group before individuals therefore, and democracy in the choice of who goes on the pitch, match after match, partly out of necessity but also partly by choice.
surprises
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And so, in mid-November, the Rossoneri squad finds itself with rather particular minutes. Minutes available for everyone, or almost everyone (also because up to now the infirmary has asked for an acceptable fee, compared to a year ago). Of course, Fonseca also has a reference eleven – God forbid if it weren’t like this – but surprises with him are around the corner. Like Camarda in Cagliari and Musah in Madrid, just to mention the most recent examples. On the other hand, it is a philosophy that is fully reflected in the expansion of the pool of potential captains. Fonseca explained that he wants to reach at least five players worthy of this status, for a group that could find different recipients from time to time. There is coherence, as well as in the minutes: making the greatest number of elements responsible and involved possible.
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the numbers
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Going into detail about the times of use – excluding goalkeeper -, it may be useful to check the top five in terms of overall playing time (i.e. championship plus Champions League). Here, no surprise – or almost no surprise – in the names: Pulisic leads (1,168 minutes), followed by Fofana (1,139), Reijnders (1,094), Hernandez (1,026) and Emerson Royal (976), who doesn’t make you frown but took advantage of the various ailments of Calabria. The Brazilian full-back precedes Leao by just nine minutes. Looking instead at the lower floors of this ranking, they are occupied by those who have already made non-occasional visits to the infirmary up to now: Bennacer (60), Jovic (78), Calabria (221). For the rest, in the fifteen games of the season, all the others have put together at least 350 minutes. Not a few, considering that some players are to all intents and purposes second lines, regardless of Fonseca’s “democratization”. Terracciano for example reached 359′, Musah 396, Abraham 482 and even those who were considered the tall reserve wingers, with Fonseca became protagonists: 549 minutes for Chukwueze, 446 for Okafor. A separate discussion for the central defenders: in theory, once the reference pair has been found, a coach should continue as much as possible with the same men but, in fact, this pair has not yet been found. The defensive phase is terrible, department errors alternate with individual amnesia and so behind Tomori (905 minutes) there is – not so close – Pavlovic (722) and further behind Thiaw (547) and Gabbia (539), this last stop in the pits for a while. All, however, with certainly not a small amount of playing time.
