Fonseca reiterates ‘total faith’ in Camarda and says Milan ‘need this win’

Ahead of the game between AC Milan and Cagliari, scheduled for 18:00 CET, Paulo Fonseca spoke to the media and shared his thoughts on the task at hand. 

Fonseca announced yesterday that he would be starting Francesco Camarda, the 16-year-old striker, and this was confirmed as the starting XI dropped about an hour ago. The fans will be keeping a close eye on the player, but Fonseca believes he can make a difference.

Speaking to DAZN ahead of the game, as cited by MilanNews, Fonseca discussed the team’s mentality following the big win against Real Madrid. Of course, he also shared a few words on Camarda, who doesn’t need a lot of advice from the manager.

Has the team understood how important this match is?

“I expect so. We talked a lot about the importance of this match. It will be a different match than the one against Real. It is a dangerous match, if we don’t have the right attitude it will be difficult. Cagliari is an aggressive team, they mark man-to-man. We have to understand that another match needs to be played here.”

A crucial match to stay close to Napoli and Inter…

“We need this win so we don’t miss the (Scudetto) train. There are still a lot of points, it’s true, but we don’t want to lose any more. After that, there’s the break which isn’t positive for us because only 4-5 players are left training (smiles)”.

How did you see Camarda? What advice did you give him?

“No special advice. Camarda is mentally strong, he is a guy with the right mindset. He is a professional, very positive. I told him he has to do what he knows best. I explained to him what we want from his role, he is a very intelligent guy and works hard for the team. I have total faith in Camarda.”

Napoli’s defeat against Atalanta means the Scudetto race remains alive, but Milan will have to win most of their games from here on and certainly games like the one today.