Defending 101 [Newsletter]

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Jul 17, 2024

Most of you will have seen the clip already, but Paulo Fonseca explaining the very basics of defending to the AC Milan squad speaks volumes. The defensive numbers were indeed bad towards the end of Stefano Pioli’s era and change is clearly needed, so starting at the bottom makes total sense. On the other hand, it made for rather funny viewing.

A new manager, a new philosophy and a completely different way of doing things. Fonseca has only been at Milanello for a little over a week but the change is already evident, with the manager adopting a very hands-on approach in the first training sessions with the team. Above all, there has been a focus on the defensive phase amid the horrendous record last season.

“Use the arms”, Fonseca instructed his players during one of the defensive training routines. Instead of just being close to the opponent, the manager wants his players to impose themselves physically. While most would consider this defending 101, it’s something we didn’t see much of last season and the pre-season is the perfect time to start from scratch.

If anything, we should see it as a positive that Fonseca has identified the most basic of traits that Milan need to improve, as this ultimately is what constitutes a great foundation. In addition to this, and as mentioned before, the manager has also been very hands-on during the training sessions. Arguably more than Pioli, who often instructed by talking rather than getting stuck in.

Not that Pioli just sat back and left his players to it, but Fonseca clearly likes to show exactly what he wants. It remains to be seen if there is enough time to implement all of the ideas, but at least the upcoming friendlies will be an opportunity to put some of these to the test. It also looks like a domino effect on the mercato is on the cards, which will help the overall cause.

Alvaro Morata has undergone his medical tests, Alexis Saelemaekers is attracting interest in the Premier League, Youssouf Fofana negotiations are at an advanced stage and so on. All this to say that Milan - slowly but steadily - are giving Fonseca what he needs ahead of the upcoming season. Then, it will be up to the manager to piece the puzzle together and that is not an easy task.

News bulletin

➤ The Serie C fixture list was officially announced on Monday and Milan Futuro now know the order of their inaugural season. Meanwhile, Kevin Zeroli headed in the winner for Italy’s U19s at the European Championship in their opening match against Norway.

➤ The 2024-25 season will be the 125th anniversary of Milan's founding and they have announced a number of different initiatives that will mark the occasion, for the men's and women's first teams. We broke them down in a feature.

➤ A lot of the talk over the past few days has been centred around Alvaro Morata, and he will almost certainly be Milan's first summer signing. He did his medical on Wednesday morning, the €13m clause was triggered and a long-term deal has been signed.

➤ Paulo Fonseca has been around Milan for a little over a week now but his impact is already being felt. Sky journalist Peppe Di Stefano spoke about what has been a positive few days, while La Gazzetta dello Sport details some of the big changes made to the staff and training methods.

➤ In terms of the other transfer news, Lazar Samardzic's name has once again emerged as a midfield target, Alexis Saelemaekers is wanted in England, another striker could arrive after Morata while the club are still working on Youssouf Fofana and Strahinja Pavlovic.

➤ Our longer reads over the past week included a look into Pierre Kalulu's situation and how he looks set to benefit from a clean slate after a difficult season, and how Fonseca is looking to tackle the injury problem by getting more rather than less intense.