Live TMW
The adventure of Paul Fonseca as Milan coach officially began on Saturday with his arrival at Malpensa. Today, however, is the day of the official presentation with the press conference at Casa Milan: follow the statements of the new Rossoneri coach live with the live text on TMW.
11:00 am | Arrived Paulo Fonsecaaccompanied by Zlatan Ibrahimovicin the conference room of Casa Milan. Welcoming him in the front row, in addition to his staff collaborators Pinto and Abreu, there are Giorgio Furlani, CEO of the Club, Geoffrey Moncada, technical director, Paolo Scaroni, president, and the legends Daniele Massaro and Franco Baresi.
Introducing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Senior Advisor at RedBird:
“Welcome to Casa Milan and welcome to Paulo Fonseca. Today is the first day of training. We are talking about the present, a few days ago we talked about the future. We are very happy to present Paulo Fonseca. This is one of the movements of our strategy, of the ideas we have, because we have studied and studied. We are in no hurry. We are very hungry and very eager to start this new adventure. We are happy”.
Paulo Fonseca takes the floor:
“I have to thank for the way I have been welcomed here in these days. Then I have to thank the club for their trust in me and in my work. I am very excited, motivated to do my job. I know that I am coming to a club to win. I have just been to the museum, I have seen the history of Milan and I have the great ambition to be part of this history. Zlatan also showed me the space for a new trophy…”.
Ibrahimovic corrects himwhich specifies “trophies”.
Fonseca continues: “I’m ready and I can’t wait to start working.”
The journalists’ questions begin.
What time is it for her?
“I know that the coach who comes here does it to win. I have seen Baresi and other players who have made the history of Milan many times and I am aware that it is a great responsibility and, for me, a great pride. Milan is a universal club. I know the responsibility that I have in my hands, but I also know that I am here with great confidence to continue this story”.
Where is the team at?
“I really believe in the squad we have. It’s not news that we need players, not a lot, because we have quality, but it’s true that we have roles to fill to improve the team.”
The last foreign coach to win in Italy was Mourinho…
“I want to be the next one. I am different from Mourinho and I coach Milan. I have great ambition. I know the responsibility of being coach of Milan and I want to win.”
What game is he playing?
“Milan has an offensive style of football in its history and to win we need to be a dominant team. I want to build a courageous, dominant, offensive, reactive team that doesn’t let the opponents think and play. I want to win, but the quality of the game is important to me. I want the fans to be proud of us for our strong identity, this is an important point for me”.
Fonseca wears Ukraine pin on his jacket…
“We cannot forget what is happening in Ukraine.”
What characteristics should the number 9 have?
“We need a striker. We are trying to bring the right striker, with the right characteristics. If we want to play in the last 30 meters, we need a strong striker at this moment. We know what we want, we expect him soon.”
Is the duel with Inter bridgeable?
“What I can promise is to fight in every game to win and with Inter it will be no different. Inter is one of the strongest teams, but we have to play with courage, without fear of anything, with the desire to win.”
What do you expect from Leao?
“He is important for Milan, he is a decisive player. I expect him to be motivated, ready to play for the team. He is young, he can learn every day and I want to work every day to make him improve in what he needs to improve.”
It’s July 8th and no purchases have arrived yet…
Ibrahimovic responds: “We are studying, talking, but we are in no hurry. The market is long. I can guarantee that the purchases will arrive. We are talking, we are discussing, but nothing is closed. Zirkzee has passed. We have someone in mind, but I won’t say the name, but there is someone we are aiming for”.
Fonseca also spoke: “Haste is the enemy of perfection. We have situations because we know what we want: at the right time we will have the players”.
Would you prefer to have the defender or the 9 first?
“I studied the team, I don’t think about making comparisons with the past. If we want to win, we have to be a more balanced team. I studied the defensive phase and we have to improve it. I think the defensive difficulties are related to the way of defending. I intend to field an aggressive team, that defends far from the goal. Then: we have good defenders, it’s not an individual problem, but a collective one. However, the priority is the attacker”.
Ibrahimovic adds: “To bring in new players, you still have to create space. New players will arrive, but we don’t want to have 30 players. We have to think about who comes in, but also who goes out. It’s all designed to improve the squad. To bring in new players, you have to create space. It’s not American soccer where there are 40-50 players.”
The fans are a bit skeptical about her…
“I want to convince the fans, I want to make the fans believe that we will be an ambitious team. I am the one who has to convince the fans and I am sure that they will be with us at all times. I am confident.”
How long will it take to see his hand at Milan?
“I expect to see my ideas on the pitch already in the first match against Torino. Then we start today without the internationals who are important players. I don’t think we’ll be perfect for the derby, but already from the first match of the championship we’ll start to see a different team”.
Scudetto?
“Winning, I’m here to win. I repeat: every coach who comes to Milan is here to win. I’m no different. We can’t escape this truth.”
Who are the AC Milan players you know personally?
“I don’t have a personal relationship with anyone, but I know them all.”
What do you think of Florenzi?
“He’s a player in the squad, I count on all the players in the squad and Florenzi is one of them.”
Theo and the right back: what is the situation of the full backs?
Ibrahimovic responds: “Theo is a Milan player, we are lucky that three of them are in the semi-finals of the European Championship. We know that he is very happy here, that his family is fine. Now with Fonseca he will have more space to play the way he likes, the game will be built for him too. It will go very well, I am not worried”.
Then Fonseca: “Theo is very important. He is very strong offensively, so maybe I can’t take a player like Theo on the right. Maybe we’ll play with a blocked right back, or with one further forward: it depends on the strategy of each match. We have different solutions”.
Do you need experienced players?
“I don’t want to talk about names. We know what we want. We lost Giroud, but if we change, we change to improve.”
Injuries have had a huge impact on the team in recent years…
“Since yesterday we started talking with the Milan Lab to avoid injuries. Studies show that injuries come from many competitions, but I am confident that we will not have major problems”.
Ibra clarifies: “We have improved the medical area. Between January and February we had too many injuries. We have changed a few things in the medical staff: with the coach’s staff, we think we have found the right path”.
Addition of Ibrahimovic: “Origi and Ballo-Touré have been called up, but they will play for Milan Futuro because they are not part of the First Team project”
What do you bring with you from Rome?
“I have a great passion for Italy, I had a great experience in Rome. Serie A is very particular. My experience in Rome was very important for my decision to return to Italy. I know the championship well, I know the other coaches well, I know the characteristics of Serie A well and I am very ready to start”.
What do you think about the level of the Italian championship?
“Serie A is very strong, it is one of the most difficult championships in the world, with very peculiar characteristics. Italian players? We are an example at the moment with Milan Futuro. We are preparing the present and the future of Milan very well with Milan futuro. I already know the young quality Italian players and I have no problem in letting young Italians play if they have courage and quality”.
How useful is Ibrahimovic to you?
“Zlatan is a reference for all of us. It’s not important to say when the first contact took place, but the sharing of ideas was important, what the club wants and what I can bring to the team.”
Was the defense lacking last year?
“For me it’s not so much an individual problem, but a collective problem and it’s connected to the way we defend. What I want to change is to have a more aggressive team, to press a lot, a more reactive team, higher in defending: if we improve this, there could be interesting situations”.
The midfield suffered last year… Do they need a defensive midfielder?
“I don’t want to make comparisons with the past. I want to say that I have a different way of defending than Pioli. I know that there is a tendency in Italy to play man to man, but I think that, at some point, I don’t want to say which, we could do it, but I’m not a full-field man to man coach. This will change the approach of the midfielders.”
Goal for the Champions League?
“We want to go as far as possible, but we know that it is difficult to win the Champions League. We have the ambition to win all the games, but we also need luck. But we will start with the ambition of winning the Champions League.”
How did it go with Cardinale?
“We talked, the conversation was important. One of the things I liked most was when Gerry told me: ‘Milan doesn’t just want to win today, but also tomorrow’. That’s what the club is doing: they want to win today, but there is a clear plan for the future.”
Are you satisfied with the characteristics of the central defenders for your style of play?
“We have Kalulu who can play both as a centre-back and as a full-back. I am satisfied that we have many defenders already today, it is important to start with the defensive phase”.
He has often created value in individuals in his teams…
“We have a lot of quality here. There are many solutions for different roles and all the players will be important for me.”