AC Milan are set to hire Paulo Fonseca, unless any twists happen. The Portuguese head coach will replace Stefano Pioli and try to improve the team and take it to another level.
As Tuttosport reminds us this morning, AC Milan, especially in the last season, faced two main problems that irreparably affected their fate. On one hand, there were numerous and frequent injuries that deprived the team of key players or even entire departments (like the defence from December to February) for long periods.
Then, many of the new signings, particularly Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze, struggled to find consistent performance due to imperfect physical conditions. This issue is compounded by a serious problem in the defensive phase. In short, Milan conceded too many goals, sometimes in a striking manner, showing little cohesion and balance between the departments. Therefore, this problem not only concerns the defenders but the entire defensive phase of Pioli's team. These two issues, and it might not be a coincidence, are problems that Fonseca has faced and overcome in his career.
Particularly in his previous Italian experience, at Roma for two years, Fonseca had to deal with the same problems that emerged this year in Pioli's Milan: injuries and a shaky defence. However, in the last two years at Lille, things have changed, as evidenced by the number of goals conceded: with Roma, it was 51 and 58 in two years, while with the French club, it was 44 and 34.
Fewer games are played in France, but the average has improved. This improvement is mainly due to changes in his staff between his time in the Italian capital and the French league. The only one remaining from Roma is Tiago Leal, who was a video analyst back then and is now a technical collaborator. The rest of his staff has changed completely.
Today, the former Chelsea player Paulo Ferreira is the assistant coach, replacing Nuno Santos. The goalkeeper coach has also changed; Roma didn't want to part with the historic Savorani, while today Antonio Ferreira works with Fonseca. And most importantly, the members of the physical staff have changed. From Pedro Moreira and Nuno Romano, they have moved to Paolo Mourao (athletic trainer) and Stephane Caterina (fitness coach). These changes have led to significant improvements, the same ones that Milan hopes to see starting next season, as relayed via Milan News.
