Paulo Fonseca was officially announced as the new skipper of Milan this morning. Didn’t take long. Official presentation to come. Glad it wasn’t Conte. Didn’t think it would be De Zerbi. Conceicao didn’t really fit our direction. Motta was always Juve. This is fine.
New boss same as the old boss? Let’s take a look. 4231? Check. Different group at Lille though. Smaller, shiftier front line. Jonathan David more of a Zirksee type than a hold up guy. Good numbers from the AM spot. Dangerous wingers. Not that this is anything new, but we will have to get him a real DM. So yeah, more of the same just with better hair and an Ancellotti-esque eyebrow on the sidelines.
I’ll be very interested to see what he does up top. We have several very talented pieces that can play multiple roles. Pulisic in particular can play any spot across the front. Does he settle in at AM for good? Does he revert to playing wide right with someone new in the AM spot?
In addition to Pulisic I wanna see what happens with Okafor, specifically whether he gets a legit shot up top. I would love to see us get a hold up guy up top to compliment him. Buying Zirksee and keeping Okafor would fell redundant. I prefer variety up there.
Midfield is another conundrum. To me Reijnders is the only automatic. He has to play. The rest of the midfield? Up in the air. Bennacer looks broken. Adli is limited as is Pobega. Does RLC drop into this mix? Past history says Fonseca wants a boss in there. I think this is the area where we could see significant change if this group isn’t what Fonseca wants.
The back line? Hard to say. I’m not sure how easy it is for a new coach to reshuffle a backline. Especially consider the short window to get ready we are gonna have with Euros and Copa America this summer.
Wrap Up
All in all? It’s fine. I’m not super excited but more importantly I’m not worried we made a massive mistake. No Giampaolo vibes here. With a short summer I imagine he’s wise enough to not try and reinvent the club overnight. No time for a revolution.
As usual we will support him until he proves he’s not worth supporting.
FORZA MILAN
Lisi
*Gillis here – The New York Times/The Athletic had a great write up on him in late March 2024. It’s a solid dive into his tactics and influences and should help set expectations. Below is one of two videos I saw in the article that was really good but the article itself is worth checking out (here’s the other video that’s just on his time at Roma).
The article wasn’t behind a paywall for me but it turned into one after it was left open in my browser. After closing it and re-opening the article it was unlocked. Hopefully you’ll be able to access it