Fonseca previews ‘difficult’ Fiorentina clash and praises ‘very important’ Fofana

On the eve of the clash between AC Milan and Fiorentina, which will take place at Artemio Franchi, Paulo Fonseca spoke to the media at Milanello. He shared his thoughts on continuity, Strahinja Pavlovic and the growth of Youssouf Fofana. 

Milan may be coming off a defeat in the Champions League, losing 1-0 to Bayer Leverkusen, but they have won the last three games in the league. As such, they will be looking to make it four consecutive wins tomorrow and head into the international break with a good feeling.

Speaking at the press conference, as transcribed by MilanNews, Fonseca shared his thoughts on tomorrow’s clash and what will be needed from his team. Among other things, he praised Fofana and made it clear that Pavlovic will get his chances eventually.

Since the derby, apart from the Loftus-Morata change against Leverkusen, you have always fielded the same XI…

“Continuity is important at this time, when we have more days to recover the players. If the team is doing well, it’s important to keep as many players as we can, but it’s not that I don’t have faith in the others: Loftus and Chukwueze for example have come in well and are working well. For me, it’s important at this time to have this base that supports the growth of the team.”

How is the team doing after the Champions League?

“We didn’t win against Leverkusen, the group was disappointed and angry, what I felt this week were good feelings. The team worked very well again and we want to win. Playing in Florence is always difficult, they have a beautiful team: for Milan, it’s traditionally difficult to win in Florence, but we are ready to play a great match.”

How are Morata and Pavlovic?

“Morata is fine, he is ready to play. He will play tomorrow. For Pavlovic, I think it’s important to have stability in defence and I think that both Gabbia and Tomori have played great games. Now Pavlovic must continue to work, he will have opportunities. At the moment the central pairing is doing well and it’s important to continue”.

Gabbia has been called up for the national team…

“I’m the coach of Milan, I don’t want to influence Spalletti, but I think it was right. He is in a great moment, I think the call-up was right. I’m very satisfied, he is a great professional: if there is a player here who deserves it is Gabbia.”

Napoli are taking off…

“We have a lot to play for, there are many teams that want the same thing we want. I don’t want to talk about other teams, but Napoli have the advantage of not playing in Europe. They have a strong coach, a strong team and they have more time to work: I don’t want to create pressure, but they are a very strong candidate for the Scudetto.”

Is there a problem away from home?

“For us it’s always the same, we always have the ambition to win both at home and away. Tomorrow it will be important to win, but not because it’s away, but because we have to give continuity to what we have done in the league: it’s an opportunity to show that we have the same ambition both at home and away.”

Milan have either been disappointing or responsible for great matches. Which is the real Milan?

“It’s not easy to answer. What I know, however, we played against Leverkusen, among the strongest in Europe at the moment. I think we are in a period of growth. It’s not that because we won against Inter and Lecce that I said the team was growing: now I feel that the team is improving, it’s growing, but there is still a lot to improve.

“The real Milan is not close yet for me. We have to do more, it’s true that what I want is a team close to what we did in the second half of Leverkusen. We have to understand that all the games are different. If tomorrow we want to be like in the second half in the Champions League we will have to be different. Fiorentina will mark man to man tomorrow, but for me it’s still important to feel that the team is growing.”

Fofana is growing. Is he already irreplaceable?

“He is very important for us, he improves every day. I think there was a period of adaptation, Ligue 1 is different from Serie A and here he has a different role. This adaptation took time. For me, this player in this structure is the most important player. As Fofana improves then the team improves. These players who play in these positions are the engine of the team, if they work well then the team has a better chance of playing well.”

Would you still give your yes to the sale of Kalulu?

“I don’t talk about players who aren’t here. Kalulu is no longer here. I mustn’t forget that it was also the player’s choice. Now it makes no sense to make comparisons between who is here and who is in other teams. It’s only important who is here.”

How is Calabria?

“Calabria is having some problems. He started with a calf injury, then he had a lesion in the other calf during recovery. He had these problems, he can’t play.”

Is it possible to do “Operation Fofana” with Musah?

“We are working with him to get him to play this role. He is training in this position. With Bennacer’s injury, we have no other players to play this position, Musah is the only one besides Fofana. Fofana is a passing midfielder, while Musah is a ball-carrying midfielder. We are working to get him to play this position.”

You have always fielded the same 11-12 players, shouldn’t we start warming up the others like Chukwueze and Okafor?

“Let’s see the moment of the team and the players. At this moment I thought it was important to have this continuity. Let’s see, I have faith in all the players. We will have many games, we will need everyone. At this moment I think it’s important for the team to play with the same players.”

Does this team have the character and personality to impose the game?

“I don’t think it was a problem of character in Leverkusen, in the first half there was a deserved superiority of Leverkusen. We made mistakes in our exits and our decisions. The team showed character throughout the match, I think it wasn’t a problem of attitude. It was a difficult match because Leverkusen are a strong team, with an identity that is easy to understand but difficult to counter. But I think the team had a lot of character.”

How much is Maignan helping you on the pitch and in the locker room?

“Since the day I arrived here, Mike has been an important player, one of the leaders of the group. He works well, always very balanced. He’s one of the leaders of the dressing room.”

What are you afraid of about Fiorentina?

“I think it will be a difficult match. They have quality and good players, they mark man-to-man. This change in facing different teams is not easy. We come from a match in which positional play was important, now there is a match in which other things are important. If we don’t do things well we will have more difficulty with their way of defending man to man. It will be a difficult match.”

Do you like Santiago Gimenez?

“I like him. But I like Abraham and Morata more (laughs).”

Looking at the growth of your Milan, what did the Leverkusen match teach you?

“Maybe it’s not important for you, but for me as a coach, it’s important to understand what happens in the game. And what’s difficult, because the characteristics of the games here aren’t like that, is to tell my players that positional play was important and we have to improve, but now a game comes along in which positional play isn’t important.

“When there’s a team that marks man-to-man, other things are important, which aren’t directly connected to positional play. And we only have this here in Italy: in other leagues, they don’t play man-to-man. Rice from Arsenal, when he played against Atalanta, said the same thing.

“You can’t change in 3-4 days. And in Italy, we have to change in two days. We play against Fiorentina, then aginst Udinese who leaves space for positional play and so on. And this is not easy for the coach: 95% of the teams play the same way.”

Can Okafor be the alternative to Morata? Is having two strikers a long-term project?

“I don’t know if it’s long term, for the next match yes. Morata is now a false 9, it’s difficult for Okafor: he doesn’t have these characteristics.”

Tomorrow you will meet Adli. What kind of player is he?

“I don’t have to talk about players from other teams. What can I say? When he was here he was a player I liked with certain characteristics, but I understand that it was difficult for him to play here. He understood it and now he’s in another team. I’m happy that he’s doing well, tomorrow let’s hope he doesn’t do well (laughs).”

Two different ideas about Leverkusen’s performance. Some criticize Milan and some are satisfied…

“It’s not important to me, just like criticism isn’t important. I didn’t look, it’s not important to me.”

Will there be Milan Futuro players in the team tomorrow?

“Yes, Zeroli, Camarda and Jimenez have been called up with us. It’s time to bring the guys who have worked with us and have worked well.”

The likes of Davide Calabria, Luka Jovic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will miss out on the game due to injuries. The captain will be re-evaluated in seven days and it remains to be seen when he will be back, currently paving the way for Emerson Royal.