Yahoo Sports CorSera: Tactics and team building – how Fonseca won the derby on and off the pitch
The reaction continues to flood in from the Italian papers after AC Milan’s dramatic derby win against Inter on Sunday night, as does the praise for head coach Paulo Fonseca.
This morning’s edition of Corriere della Sera (via MilanNews) writes that ‘finally we saw Milan’ during the victory against Inter. The Rossoneri’s journey is only at the beginning and surely the team still has ample room for improvement, which will be tested starting on Friday against Lecce, but it is a start.
On Sunday evening the team sent an important signal to show that they are capable of high-level performances and above all that they are still with the coach. Fonseca was rightly criticised for poor results in the first few games, but deserves all the praise in the case for how he managed this derby.
The paper talks about how Fonseca won it on and off the pitch, starting with his tactical choices. What is most striking was the use of Tammy Abraham and Alvaro Morata at the same time, who in fact created a first line of pressure with four with Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic.
The second move – enhanced even more by the decisive goal – was to choose Matteo Gabbia from minute one over the new signing Strahinja Pavlovic. His header two minutes from the end was the icing on a brilliant performance as he shut down Lautaro then scored the winner as a boyhood Milanista.
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Fonseca’s big moves also came off the pitch and, looking at how the match ended, it can be said that they had the same impact as those that happened on the pitch. It involved a team meeting after the match against Liverpool, a game that the Rossoneri were dominated in.
The Portuguese coach called a team meeting at Milanello that lasted for over 90 minutes. Everything was put on the line and the players immediately had the chance to refocus on preparing for the match against Inter.
Then on Friday another surprise move: a barbecue organised by Fonseca, a classic example of an activity that helps bring a group together. Finally, the choice to ‘decorate’ each spot in the in the San Siro dressing room with the word ‘courage’ in the native language of each player. Small gestures that, when combined, made the difference.
