Live TMW
After the postponement of Bologna-Milan, the Rossoneri will return to the field tomorrow at San Siro for the match against Napoli, to be played without the suspended Theo and Reijnders and the injured Gabbia, Abraham, Jovic, Florenzi and Bennacer. Paulo Fonsecathe Rossoneri coach, is present at the press conference to present the match.
Follow Paulo Fonseca’s statements with the live text on TMW.
2.30pm | Fonseca’s press conference begins.
Naples very continuous and very square, with a lot of self-esteem…
“Napoli are a very strong team, as the ranking shows, with a very strong coach. They’re in good shape, they’re winning, they’re in first place, they’ll arrive very motivated. But so are we.”
What days were those when Bologna-Milan was postponed?
“It was difficult to manage this moment. The day before the match we didn’t know if we were playing or not, we could have done another training… We wanted to play. We were very penalized by the postponement.”
Important absences tomorrow…
“We wanted to play with Bologna also because now against Napoli we will be without two important suspended players. Then, the team trained well and I have faith in all the players, including those who will play in the position of Theo and Reijnders. It hasn’t changed on Camarda nothing: he always works well and what I think of him was confirmed, that is, that he is a player with a great future.”
How did you see Leao?
“Today I won’t give you training. I understand the curiosity about Leao. He worked well as always: it’s not a problem, it’s not a coincidence. I’m sure he will soon return to being what he knows he is and what we all expect I don’t want to say whether he will play tomorrow.”
Napoli favorites for the Scudetto?
“At the moment they are in first place: they are one of the teams that can win the Scudetto.”
What’s not working with Leao?
“That the coach isn’t letting him play, because if I let him play there would be no problems. But these are normal things in football: some play, others don’t. I always think of different things when I choose. For me this is very normal” .
Is Milan still in the running for the Scudetto?
“For me, yes. We are a strong team, we are growing and we believe that we can be a team that can fight for the Scudetto.”
Does the asterisk distort the championship?
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore, we are totally focused on tomorrow. We have to move forward.”
Calabria left back?
“Yes, he could play with it.”
Many would have wanted Conte on the Milan bench…
“My motivation is to be the coach of Milan, period.”
What do you expect from your team tomorrow?
“Our focus is to see what we have done well in previous matches and what we need to improve. Tomorrow will be a different, balanced match, against a team that defends very well. We have had great growth in terms of defensive organisation. Offensively we are growing in possession in these last games. Maybe tomorrow we need to play more in the last 30 meters, because Napoli press high and defend with low blocking.
Is having an asterisk something that penalizes you?
“To me it’s honestly the same. It penalizes the fans, those who look at the standings. For me, nothing changes.”
Pulisic’s ideal role?
“Today I don’t want to talk about it. In general, you know that I like it better when Pulisic plays inside the pitch.”
What is your opinion on Inter-Juve? Spectacular race or race with many errors?
“Both.”
Why did he change Leao to Bruges?
“It was a choice made based on what the game asked for at that moment, it wasn’t a punishment.”
Conte said that ‘those who have won know what it takes to win’…
“We want to continue fighting to win the Scudetto.”
Tomorrow many absences…
“I have faith in all the players. We can’t do anything with those who are unavailable, but we have other players. I like to think that it’s an opportunity for those who normally don’t play. Then it doesn’t matter what name they play, tomorrow we need a real team to play well against Napoli”.
Can Pavlovic play left back?
“In the national team they play three. Honestly, I don’t think Pavlovic has what it takes to be a full-back.”
Who fears Napoli?
“Milan and Napoli have the most decisive players on the wings.”
Sacchi’s Milan was born in a Milan-Napoli match in 1988…
“We already talked about this before the match against Inter. Victories bring confidence, they bring more against the strongest teams. But the growth of a team does not depend on one match.”
Offense brings the money, defense brings the titles. But then there are too many goals in every match: aren’t we taught to defend anymore?
“We need two hours to talk about this. In Serie A you can’t say that the coaches don’t work defensively. I’d like to work more on it, but I don’t have time. Here we play every three days, there’s practically no time. C ‘It’s a trend now in football that it’s individual work. In many games there are mistakes in the defenders’ decisions. Today, however, it’s more difficult to attack because the teams defend better than in the past man against man and this leads to the creation of more chances Barcelona-Bayern: in the first phase, Bayern press man to man, then they don’t do it anymore;
The conference ends here.