Another game, another time where Milan failed to bring home all 3 points. This has happened 12 out of 24 games across all competitions so far this season. Why is this important, aside from winning for winning’s sake? Because these results have just gotten Fonseca fired.
The irony of the firing is that I actually thought Fonseca did ok these last couple of games all things considered. Sure, there are some things I wish he had done differently but considering the lack of wingers at the moment, formations-squad selection-tactics were all pretty limited. But this is really it, isn’t it? Fonseca’s managerial choices up until this point is what doomed him, not this particular game.
As for this game itself, let me get this out of the way because the rest of the commentary section won’t be about it: I thought Milan did ok. Fofana and Reijnders shined again, the lone goal for Roma was just pure class and executed with precision, and the air kind of went out of Milan when Chukwueze pulled his hamstring and had to leave (poor guy was having a pretty good game too). With Leão still out injured, I probably would’ve gone with a 4-4-2, with Abraham and Morata up top and prioritized a lot of 50/50 balls into the box when Roma hunkered down. The ref sucked, both teams squandered chances, and 1-1 was probably a just result.
With that out of the way, let’s get into the Fonseca firing.
Loyal readers know I’ve been talking about the Fonseca pissing contests – benching Leão and Theo because tough love is what they need to get motivated – basically since the season started. I’ve brought it up or mentioned it in some way, shape, or form probably every other article on average, so needless to say it’s been at the forefront here at the Fossa.
I’ve also spent a lot of time trying to explain how often this type of approach doesn’t work at higher levels of sports – any sport – much less at the professional level. This is especially true with the bigger clubs/teams/franchises often filled with stars of the game. Usually the bigger/more talented the club, the more the coach’s job changes from coaching to ego management, a key distinction Fonseca failed to grasp.
More broadly, and what Fonseca seemed to miss coming into the squad, especially one with a sustained period of recent success, was that getting buy-in from his players meant putting them in positions to succeed by working with and along side them. This doesn’t mean you can’t dole out discipline or that you have to be buddy-buddy, but it should involve some massaging of egos, especially those of your star players, by showing them how you’re going to utilize their skillsets and allow them to shine and contribute. This ties their individual success to the team success and promotes buy-in. You show them that and learning curves shrink when implementing new philosophies and tactics and you win over locker rooms on top of it.
In Fonseca’s case, inverting Theo and moving Leão all over the place IS NOT playing to their strengths as a philosophy and the players likely pushed back, unsure if Fonseca knew what he was doing. Fonseca responded how he did and pissed away points in these pissing contests, which I tried to stress were unforced errors, errors you can’t willfully make when the stresses of a full season are taken into account like injury crises, bad luck, poor decisive referring decisions, poor run of form, among many others.
As mentioned at the start, Milan have dropped points in 12 games overall this season but if we focus on just the league, the competition that sank Fonseca, there are 10 games where Milan dropped points, taking just 6 out of those possible 30 points. If you can find 6 more points in there, just 6, and add them to Milan’s total right now, Milan is at 33 points, 2 points behind Lazio for 4th but with a game in hand and Fonseca is still employed. This is why you can’t willfully pull the shit Fonseca did and this is also why you can add Fonseca’s player management masterstroke to the long history of coaches who thought they were bigger than the stars they coached but ultimately just shit the bed.
So, a change has now been made and Portuguese and former Porto coach Sérgio Conceição comes in looking to save Milan’s league season and build on Fonseca’s Champions League performance, the one thing he did that I think almost everyone is happy with. And the thing Fonseca needed to do still applies, now with Conceição, to help get the most out of what is still one of the most talented teams in Serie A.
What is that exactly? Well, we’ll have a separate post welcoming Conceição out later this week and we’ll talk about his philosophies and tactics and what will be the keys for him to succeed where Fonseca couldn’t, but in short it’s play to Milan’s strengths and don’t square peg/round hole a system that doesn’t match and exploit the characteristics of your club’s best players.
As you all know I wanted to keep Pioli, but out of the realistic options to replace him Conceição was either first or second on that list (I mentioned it in the comments in some post, as Sarri was my other preference). I’m excited for this move even though I have no idea if it’ll work. What I do know is that Fonseca wasn’t the guy and while I have PLENTY of issues with Gerry & Co., pulling the trigger was needed so at least some credit is due even if the initial hire was a mistake. Remember, Maldini hired Marco Giampaolo, so while mistakes will happen, your decisiveness to change course can be just as important. Here’s hoping, anyway.
What Happened in Serie A
Atalanta (1st) continue to lead the league but are now tied with Napoli (2nd) on points after drawing at Lazio (4th) 1-1. While I’m sure Lazio fans feel points were given away with Brescianini’s 88th minute equalizer, I thought the outcome was fair as both teams were worthy of taking home a point.
Napoli (2nd) had another squeaker, beating Venezia (19th) 1-0 at the Maradona with a Raspadori 79th minute winner. Since beating Milan, Napoli have scored 9 goals in 9 games, with 3 of those coming in a 3-1 win over Udinese. Not exactly lighting it up. I’m still putting them in the paper tiger box with a 50/50 chance they finish in the top 4.
Inter (3rd) easily took care of Cagliari (18th), winning 3-0, while Fiorentia (5th) drew 2-2 at Juventus (6th)…big surprise, another Juventus draw, I know. In all fairness, this was a fun game with each team taking swings at each other, exchanging goals every time to end up at what is another fair draw this round. And the final team in front of Milan, Bologna (7th), lost 3-2 to Hellas Verona (16th) today with a late own goal dooming the lunch meat. With these outcomes, 5 of the 7 teams in front of Milan dropped points but Milan’s draw only netted them 1 point on Bologna’s loss. Definitely a missed opportunity.
Udinese (9th) drew 2-2 to Torino (11th) and Empoli (12th) made it 3 losses in a row with their 2-1 loss to Genoa (13th). I mentioned a few weeks ago they were already at 19 points after 15 league games and they’ve since lost every game, so I’ll take the blame for jinxing them. Parma (14th) got a needed win, 2-1 over Monza (20th), who continue to only have 1 win this season even after the coaching change. Finally, Como (15th) got a 2-0 win over Lecce (17th) and have 8 points out of their last 15 possible. Is Lisi’s least favorite hyped team making a little run to salvation?…
Ok, with the league wrap up done, now onto ratings!
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MAIGNAN 7 – Very good. The goal conceded was just beautiful football by Dovbyk and Dybala, it happens. Otherwise Maignan had some great saves and was great at distribution, as always.
Goal Keeping Overall 7
Defense
ROYAL 6.5 – Was fine. Dude can’t cross to save his life. Sigh…
GABBIA & THIAW 6.5 – Going to leave these two lumped together again. So both were good but less good than vs Hellas Verona. I thought they got exposed more as Roma was better at transitioning and attacking quickly, which spread them apart more and left open a lot of space at times. I’m sure Conceição will lean on them initially (gotta sure up the back…or keep it secured), but it’s anyone’s guess if this is his preferred pairing moving forward.
HERNÁNDEZ 7 – I thought he was good in his return to the starting lineup. His final ball/final decision lacked but did everything else well. Surely he’s not heartbroken over the coaching change.
Defense Overall 6.5
Midfield
FOFANA Co-MOTM 8 – Stellar again. Love how dudes just bounce off of him. If he’s not as strong as Kessie, it’s pretty damn close. Probably my favorite player this season.
TERRACCIANO 6 – Quiet and then left injured around the halfway mark.
Midfield Overall 7
Forwards
CHUKWUEZE 7 – Might be a little high for some but was having probably his best game of the season before getting injured. Unsurprising to a lot of us, his success was rooted in his utilization of his right foot more, which paradoxically…on the surface anyway…opened up the use of left foot. Hopefully we’ll see more of this when he returns.
REIJNDERS 8 Co-MOTM – Absolutely LOVED his runs into the box, as the open game allowed him a lot of space to exploit. And his shooting: night and day better than last season and is the primary reason he has taken his game to the next level. Hopefully Conceição continues to build on his great first half of the season.
JIMENEZ 6.5 – Didn’t light it up but you can see the talent is there to be an important player going forward. Ideally Conceição sees this and moves him over to RB or even RW on occasion or late in games.
MORATA 6.5 – I was disappointed with that effort he had close to goal despite the tight angle and would like to see those at least on target so maybe Milan finds a fortuitous rebound to bang home. Worked hard as usual and had some sublime passes to spring quality goal scoring opportunities.
Forwards Overall 7
Subs
BENNACER 6.5 – First game back since mid-September. Looked rusty for sure but some positive glimpses as well. I have no idea if he’ll return to something close to the best version we know but even a decent version can contribute. Surely Milan’s January mercato will be predicated on how well he does between now and the last week in January.
ABRAHAM 6 – Quiet. Like surprisingly so. I thought he’d want a piece of Roma but maybe the Chukwueze injury, who he replaced, sucked the wind out of him too?
CAMARDA NA – He played.
Subs Overall 6
Coaching
FONSECA 6 – One final Fonseca rating…
As mentioned above, I actually thought he did ok in this game. Considering that he got carded twice in this and ultimately sent off, seems to me he had a win-or-you’re-out mandate before stepping on the pitch. Not a fun way to start the game.
I don’t need to say more than that about this particular performance but I did want to say again how much I found his tactics interesting even if I disagreed with some of it. I obviously disagreed greatly with his player management and while this will likely sound more harsh than I mean it, I’m not heartbroken that he’s not the coach anymore. It was already a difficult situation that he didn’t help alleviate. I wish him luck, obviously, as by all accounts he’s a good and decent man. Arrivederci.
Final Thoughts
Alright, a lot to discuss in this and if you stuck with me, thank you! Appreciate your time, as always.
We’ll have a welcome post for Conceição in a couple of days most likely, then Juventus on Friday in the Supercoppa semifinal.
Until then, share your thoughts below on this whole thing, including if you’re optimistic or pessimistic moving forward.
Forza Milan.
gillis
