On the eve of Milan’s Serie A opener against Torino, new head coach Paulo Fonseca addressed the media at Milanello, expressing optimism and outlining his vision for the team.
Fonseca began by highlighting the positive atmosphere in the squad: “We have very positive feelings from day one. The players are arriving at different times, but we’re ready to start the season with confidence, positive feelings, and great ambition. We want to play this match showing our identity to the fans.”
Regarding Milan’s starting point for the season, Fonseca acknowledged the significant changes: “Obviously there’s been a big change, our way of playing and thinking about matches is different. We’ve only had five weeks. I don’t want to say we’re ready for first place, but we’re ready to start this race.”
The Portuguese coach expressed confidence in the squad’s potential: “It’s early to say, but it’s a very strong group with ambition. I don’t change what I said in the first press conference – we’re here to fight for the Scudetto. Every day I work with my players, I have more confidence in this.”
When asked about how his Milan will differ from previous years, Fonseca was cautious: “I don’t like making comparisons. You in Italy have many tactical analysts, it’s your job. I don’t want to talk about the details we work on, but I think anyone who works in football and understands tactics a bit can notice that it’s a different Milan. I’m not saying it’s better, but it’s different.”
On closing the gap with league leaders, Fonseca said: “Inter has been very strong in the last two years. There are also other teams: Napoli and Atalanta can fight for the Scudetto. Also Juventus. What we want and believe is that we can enter this fight against a very strong team like Inter.”
Fonseca also addressed the challenges of facing Torino in the opener: “The first game is always difficult. Torino is a very good team. We’ve prepared well for the match, we want to win. The players are motivated. We expect a more defensive team waiting for counterattacks, also due to their characteristics. It will be a totally different game.”
Regarding the team’s readiness, Fonseca stated: “Now nothing is missing. Not everything is positive, when there’s a change you need time. But I don’t say what needs to change. We’re not a perfect team, we’re far from being perfect. But I don’t want to tell these things to our opponents.”
Fonseca concluded by emphasizing the importance of fan support: “It’s very important. It was very emotional to see 50,000 fans against Monza. Tomorrow I think we’ll have the stadium practically full, it will be exciting. We must play with ambition to win, but also to make the fans proud and make them want to come to the stadium to see us.”
