Yahoo Sports Fonseca admits Milan have ‘a lot to improve’ and highlights ‘problem’ from Torino game
Paulo Fonseca provided quite a critical assessment of AC Milan’s first game of the Serie A season against Torino, a game in which his team had to battle from two goals down to earn a draw.
Milan’s 2024-25 Serie A season could hardly have begun in a more dramatic way as they fought from two goals behind to draw 2-2 at San Siro against Torino on Saturday night.
The memories of those preseason wins over Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Monza quickly evaporated when the Rossoneri found themselves two goals down after Malick Thiaw failed to clear a ball off the line and Duvan Zapata scored a close-range header.
However, the substitutions injected life as Alvaro Morata opened his account for the club with an instinctive finish, and then Noah Okafor thumped in a volley in added time to complete the comeback and earn a draw.
Fonseca spoke to both Sky and DAZN after the full-time whistle and he attempted to analyse what was a game full of both positives and negatives, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
There were some initial difficulties…
“I didn’t expect us to be perfect now, but I have to say that in the first 45 minutes we were passive, without intensity. Then we were more aggressive up front, having enough opportunities to win the match. We have to keep working, there is a lot to improve.”
You were able to bring quality off the bench…
“We have a week to improve these players physically. It was impossible to start them but when they came on they did well. Now we need to get them back into shape quickly.”
What do you make of the defensive problems?
“I think it’s a collective problem, not a problem of [individual] defenders but a collective one. The team must improve defensively, it’s a bit passive while I want it to be more aggressive in recovering the ball. We left time and space for Torino to play the first phase calmly.”
What did you think of Leao’s performance?
“Rafa was a different player defensively today. He worked well defensively. After a player like him, he must always be close to the goal, he must be more dynamic, active.”
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Can Morata help Leao in the penalty area?
“This type of player lives on numbers. Rafa has the ability to score more goals and assists. Today he tried, all he lacked was the goal. He worked hard to have the chance to score.
“Morata has a lot of experience, he can create spaces for Rafa. The problem is not offensive, we have many solutions and structures. The problem is the team’s passivity in the defensive phase.”
Do you still have the confidence you said you had yesterday?
“My confidence is the same, I haven’t lost confidence in my players: I have no doubts about their quality. We need more together as a team. You don’t change in a day, we have 5 weeks of work. We need to continue working to improve these aspects.”
