Having arrived this summer to take over from Stefano Pioli after a season punctuated by ups and downs, Paulo Fonseca set down his suitcases at AC Milan with the aim of bringing a breath of fresh air and renewal to the sporting project led by Gerry Cardinale and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Despite a transfer window marked by the reinforcements of Strahinja Pavlović, Youssouf Fofana, Alvaro Morata, Tammy Abraham, Emerson Royal and Álex Jiménez, the Rossoneri have not yet managed to find an effective recipe to show themselves to be solid and consistent at the start of the season. After three matchdays played, the Milanese club is still chasing its first victory, has only taken two points and is thus stuck in a sad 14th place in Serie A. But beyond this accounting record, it is the general attitude and the game displayed that worry the tifosi since nothing seems to have really changed: “These are not our ambitions, nothing and no one can justify the embarrassing spectacle shown during the first three matches. There are no more mitigating circumstances or lightning rods for anyone, everyone must assume their responsibilities, without exception!“, we can read in the press release of the ultras of the Curva Sud of San Siro.
After the two-week break scheduled for the national break, the Rossoneri team returns to give a shock and an already decisive turning point to its start to the championship. In the first three official outings, Fonseca’s men have only collected two points, the result of two draws (against Torino and Lazio) and one defeat (against Parma). In a strict and historic environment like that of AC Milan, it is necessary to immediately emerge from this darkness and turn back: “I don’t know if there is a key. I continue with the same passion, with the same confidence trying to find solutions to the problems that the team had in the first three games. The key is to focus on the work, on the solutions and on the actors to make them learn“, Paulo Fonseca promised in a press conference. Criticized by Maurizio Sarri but especially the legend Zvonimir Boban, the native of Nampula wants to stay focused: “I always respect other people’s opinions, I think Boban and Sarri said it in the right constructive way. They are opinions, but I am the one who works with the players. We all have the same ideas, I have to follow what I believe in, not what others say“.
Decisive weeks ahead
AC Milan’s upcoming schedule is tough and will represent, regardless of the final result, a decisive turning point. After hosting Venezia in Serie A this weekend, the Lombards will face Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday evening, before playing the Derby della Madonnina against Inter next week: “Coaches depend on results. I am always under pressure, but I stay focused only on my work, it can’t be otherwise. If I focus on what they say and write. it becomes difficult for others to work. We all need to improve“, the Portuguese coach had said at the time. Paulo Fonseca will therefore have the opportunity to find the remedy for the difficult moment that the Milanese team is going through, even if the last word will always belong to the owner Gerry Cardinale, who will be present this Saturday evening at San Siro to watch the match. The final decision will therefore always and only come back to the number one of RedBird who will see up close, with his own eyes, what will happen to the Milan of today and tomorrow. His will, given the signing campaign carried out and the extreme confidence placed in Fonseca, remains to continue the technical project of the Portuguese coach.
The former Portuguese coach of AS Roma and Lille enjoys the confidence of the Milanese board of directors, but it is clear that the next three matches are fundamental from certain points of view. It would be better for Paulo Fonseca and his staff not to make any more mistakes, in terms of results and attitude. The 51-year-old Portuguese is therefore not in immediate danger, but his situation will in any case be assessed and examined by the upper levels of the Milanese management if he were to tip the Diavolo into a total crisis. Especially since the objective remains, as every year, the Scudetto: “It is also important to tell the fans. When we are in this moment where we have no results, we can see a sad team and without confidence, but what I see every day is a team that believes, that wants to improve. That is why I am always confident, these are the signals that the players give. Then there are the results, but I cannot be negative when I have seen how my players have worked and the confidence they have“AC Milan wants to win again, starting tonight with the reception of Venice, to avoid a historic record that has only been reached once in 65 years (during the 97/98 season): remaining empty of success in the first four days of the championship.
