Yahoo Sports Sacchi believes Fonseca deserves ‘patience’ in mission to find the ‘real version of Milan’
Arrigo Sacchi is just as confused by the polarising performances that AC Milan are demonstrating as the wider fan base are.
The latest demonstration of Milan’s inconsistency came in the past few days, and it started with the high of the 3-1 win against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League.
Then, when hoping to go into the latest international break with some momentum, the Rossoneri dropped points against a struggling Cagliari team, drawing 3-3 at the Unipol Domus.
The up and down nature of the results means that Paulo Fonseca’s men are seventh in the Serie A table and have won two from four games in Europe.
Sacchi published his weekly column for La Gazzetta dello Sport and he assessed the latest setback for Milan, the draw against a Cagliari side who had scored nine goals in 11 games prior to Saturday.
“Which is the real version of Milan? The one we admired in Madrid, where they offered a wonderful performance, or the rather confusing one we saw on Saturday in Cagliari?” he began.
“It is legitimate to ask the question, given that in the space of a few days two completely different films were broadcast, and people are wondering which of the two is the official one. My impression is that the truth, as often happens, lies somewhere in the middle.
More Stories / The Match
Cagliari 3-3 AC Milan: Five things we learned – defence collapses, momentum evaporates
Milan Futuro 2-2 Arezzo: Jimenez scores wonder goal but Rossoneri twice surrender lead
MN: Milan struggling with left to right switch – nine similar goals conceded this season
“That is: Milan is not yet the sparkling team that knocked out my friend Ancelotti’s Los Blancos at home, but it is not even the approximate one that conceded three goals in Cagliari. It’s about having patience, which is unfortunately a rare commodity in the world of football, and I am fully aware of this because the fans, as we know, always wants everything right away.
“To build a solid, balanced and winning team, however, time is needed: no one works miracles. In Madrid I appreciated the courage of the Rossoneri, who responded blow for blow against the great champions of Real. And they were very good at putting their defensive system in difficulty, they forced them to change their way of playing.
“In Cagliari, on the other hand, I was annoyed by the lapses in concentration in the defensive phase. Which does not mean blaming only the defenders, or even one of them, because in Italy we are very good at looking for a single culprit even in a team sport like football.
“Here I am talking about the defensive phase, therefore the application by everyone of certain concepts. Milan, in Cagliari, against a team with decidedly inferior technical values compared to Real Madrid, took a step back. Incomprehensible? No, I would say that it is part of a normal growth path.
“In the meantime, the Rossoneri have re-embraced Leao, assuming that he has finally found the consistency of performance that is necessary to reach the top. I await the next few matches: he has many qualities, dribbling and speed in wide spaces, we will have to see if he will always be able to show them off.
“Having found a player like that would be very important for Fonseca. Who, from the scientist he had become after Madrid, is now back under fire from the critics. They accuse him of having given a sixteen-year-old like Camarda his debut from the start, and instead I defend him for this choice.
“He was brave, and courage always pays off in the long run. They accuse him of not having given a solid structure to the defene: from what we saw in Cagliari, the reproach is justified.
“But, and here I go deeper, let’s ask ourselves a question: were all the players available to Fonseca chosen by the coach or did he ‘accept’ them and now he has to manage them? If, as I believe, the second hypothesis is the one closest to the truth, the error lies in the modus operandi.
“The club must choose the coach and the coach must choose the players. This is the path to go far. Berlusconi never imposed a player on me that I didn’t want, and when he tried, for example with the Argentine Borghi, I said loud and clear that I didn’t want him and he understood.
“Clarity on the pitch, in terms of actions and play, is always the result of clarity within the club and in relationships between people.”
