Editorialist and market man for Tuttomercatoweb, he is a speaker and host for Radio Sportiva. Market expert for Rai Sport
An entire summer to think about Stefano Pioli’s successor, then Paulo Fonseca. First it was Julen Lopetegui, but the popular uprising of the Milan fans made the management take more than one step back. First alarm bell. Then the surveys with more expensive, more onerous coaches. An eye on the wallet. Second alarm bell. Then, Paulo Fonseca. An entire summer looking for purchases and reinforcements for the project, by Giorgio Furlani and Geoffrey Moncada, with the shadow of Zlatan Ibrahimovic hovering far away between the United States and Milanello, with the unspecified role of ‘boss’. Joshua Zirkzee, water. The sporting director’s gaze towards France, for years a land of hunting and discoveries. Nothing doing. An experienced, talented, charismatic centre forward arrives, Alvaro Morata. Other players of undoubted quality are arriving, because Strahinja Pavlovic is an international level defender and the same can be said for Youssouf Fofana in midfield and if we want also for Emerson Royal as full-back, although at Tottenham it is said that the fans are still celebrating the sale given the player’s last glories in red and black. He will have a chance to make them change their minds, we hope. But in this Milan?
Lots of signings, lots of champions. But it’s not a team.
The point that they didn’t consider at Milanello is the construction of a team. Of functional purchases. Take the two starting central defenders against Liverpool: Tomori and Pavlovic are, individually, two excellent players. But the algorithm probably didn’t explain (when numbers aren’t enough) that together they don’t work. Because they are similar, because there is no one who knows how to build. Because when the opponent presses high, especially in Europe, especially a great team, then setting up from the bottom is tactical suicide. And with Liverpool we saw it. They are not functional (functional, the magic word!) to each other. Emerson lacks the defensive phase and Calabria’s tactical limitations have been highlighted for a long time this season. And Theo Hernandez? Excesses of ego and personality aside, he is one of the best in the world in the role but tactically a coach should set up a team capable of supporting him and putting up with him tactically, even when he pushes forward. And this Milan doesn’t do that. Quickly, the midfield: Fofana with Liverpool (the tests are always against the big teams) has shown that with two he doesn’t have the pace to keep up with the Szoboszlais, he is an extraordinary midfielder with three. And Loftus-Cheek in the midfield doesn’t work, just like Reijnders behind the striker (or at the top) in the presence of more dynamic and quicker flyers than him. And then the three-quarters: Stefano Pioli had thought of a department capable of better tolerating tactical indolence and supporting the immense technical talent of Leao and the certainly more offensive characteristics of Pulisic. But playing against Liverpool with all these arrows split Milan in two. A very serious tactical error, a team construction error that is difficult to forgive.
The incomprehensible role of Ibrahimovic. Why should only Fonseca pay?
Yes. “The boss”. As long as Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a footballer, that is, one of the best in the world, his character, his outings and his forays were part of his character. They were an extraordinary facet of his. Today, when he wears a jacket and tie, however, they clash completely with the role. Cats, kittens, bosses, silence. All distortions that have little to do with a managerial figure who should instead bring balance and clarity. And then the doubt arises: if all this is missing, if the choices on the market have not built a functional team, if the designated coach has not been able to field, so far, a balanced formation, if the match against Liverpool is yet another worrying alarm bell… Why should only Paulo Fonseca pay in view of the derby this weekend?