AC Milan coach Paulo Fonseca remained coy about the chances of Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez playing against Venezia tomorrow. The Portuguese tactician is under pressure following the Rossoneri’s muddled start to the season, and speaking to the press ahead of the match, Fonseca explained how ‘all coaches are under scrutiny’ at this point in the campaign.
On the expected 70,000 fans at San Siro: “After these first matches, it’s a great declaration of love from the fans, and also a big responsibility for us to make them proud. Tomorrow we want to repay our fans’ support.”
On the importance of the Venezia match before Liverpool and Inter: “We haven’t won the first three games, so now they’re all important. I’m confident as always, it’s important to win, then we’ll think about Liverpool and the derby. But we must stay focused on tomorrow.”
On the Leao and Theo situation: “It was never opened. I don’t know if they’ll start, we’ll see tomorrow. After the international break, I found the players in good spirits, happy to work.”
On feeling under examination: “I’m always under examination. We depend on results. I must say I’m only focused on my work, I think it can never be different. If we focus on what others say or write, it’s difficult.”
On potentially using Reijnders as an attacking midfielder: “Yes, we have this possibility. I always try, when thinking about team dynamics, to have players in favorable spaces for their characteristics.”
On how he deals with difficult moments: “I don’t know if there’s a key. I continue with the same passion, with the same confidence trying to find solutions to the problems the team has had in the first three games. The key is to focus on work, on solutions and on players to help them learn.”
On potentially switching to a three-man defense: “Regarding the defense, I don’t think about changing to play with 3 center backs. Then there’s a lot of talk about midfield, 2+1 and 1+2. This is at the beginning, then the dynamics are different.”
On contact with Ibrahimovic: “Yes.”
On Sarri: “For me, he’s the best Italian coach.”
On tactical setup: “Sarri says Loftus-Cheek is a complete midfielder and Boban says we should play with three in midfield: I always respect others’ opinions, I think Boban and Sarri spoke constructively. These are opinions, but I’m the one working with the players. We don’t all have the same ideas, I have to follow what I believe in, not what others say.”
On rumors about distance from the club: “It’s also difficult for me to talk about this, when we’re in contact every day. Either here, or on the phone, or we go to dinner. It’s hard to understand how these news come out when we’re always in contact.”
On work done during the break: “We didn’t have many players here due to national teams, but we had many defenders. I think it’s not just a problem of the defensive department, but as I said we worked a lot on the behavior of the defensive line, also on individual behavior because it’s important for defenders.”
On the need to win against Venezia: “Milan must always win, not just tomorrow. When we start to play it’s always to win. Tomorrow will be like this.”
On Milan’s playing style: “It’s a good reflection, but I must say that we all believe in our ideas. With the quality we have here I can’t believe these players only know how to play on the counter-attack. I think big teams have the responsibility to be dominant.”
On similar goals conceded: “I don’t want to talk in detail about our problems. It’s clear however that we have a problem, the goals conceded were similar and we need to improve.”
On the team’s desire to bounce back: “It remains without doubt. It’s also important to tell the fans this. When we’re in this moment where we don’t have results we can see a sad team without confidence, but what I see every day is a team that believes, wants to improve. A happy team.”
On Maignan’s leadership: “Mike has a strong character, I think he’s already a leader of the group without a doubt. He’s an important player in the locker room and we need this leadership.”
On new signing Silvano Vos: “Vos started training with us this week. I had already watched him before and he confirmed to me that he’s a quality player who wants to have the ball, have a great participation in the offensive process like almost all Dutch players.”
On selection choices influenced by national team absences: “No. The performance of players on national duty was very positive, as a coach I must take advantage of this confidence they bring back. It won’t influence my choice for tomorrow.”
