Moretto: Why Fonseca’s position has been ‘reinforced’ after beating Inter
The derby win against Inter on Sunday night has reportedly ‘reinforced’ Paulo Fonseca’s position as the head coach after rumours he would have been sacked without a positive result.
Milan had not had a good start to the season under their new head coach Fonseca, with just one win coming in the first five games and all the momentum from the 4-0 win over Venezia last weekend undone by a 3-1 midweek defeat to Liverpool.
Numerous reliable sources were suggesting that the Portuguese coach needed to win against Inter to keep his job, such was the nature of the toxic environment surrounding the club. However, such is the unpredictable nature of the derby, the Rossoneri dominated and won.
Matteo Moretto has given an update to the Daily Briefing on exactly how secure Fonseca’s job is after the win, which was a big one in terms of magnitude but does not automatically mean that a corner has been turned.
“Huge derby win for AC Milan reinforces Paulo Fonseca AC Milan ran out 2-1 winners in the derby against Inter on Sunday night, in a game that was dubbed as crucial for the future of Rossoneri manager Paulo Fonseca,” he began.
“The reality is that there is not a great deal more to say about Fonseca since we last spoke though, because Milan never took any firm steps with regard to a change of manager.
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“Milan wanted to wait and see how the derby went to evaluate the situation, and what they saw was an excellent response from the team, above all in terms of attitude. For example, Alvaro Morata and Tammy Abraham fought hard for Milan, and for the manager.
“At no point did I speak of potential replacements for Fonseca, because basically Milan were waiting for the derby. They did not seriously consider a replacement nor did they contact any managers about the job.
“Now that the team has given a response, they have to continue to perform in the same vein, but this has reinforced Fonseca’s position, clearly.”