Paulo Fonseca, the AC Milan head coach, attended a press conference at the end of the match against Monza, a game for the Silvio Berlusconi trophy which ended 3-1 in favour of the Rossoneri team. Here are his statements, as relayed via the colleagues at Milan News:
What emotions did you experience today?
"The feeling is very positive. Today was the first match, and with our fans, it was very positive. We have five weeks of work, we have a lot to work on and improve. We are starting to see things that are the ideas of our game, but we need to keep working. Milan wants to dominate, wants to recover the ball higher up. I didn't expect everything to go well now, but we can already see something."
What do you think of Emerson Royal and Strahinja Pavlovic?
"We are just one player away from completing our market. All the others we wanted are already with us. I have to confess that we need to make some exits. For Kalulu, we are seeing what is best for the team and for the player."
What didn't go well tonight? Fonseca answered:
"When we press, it is difficult for the team to fall back. We have a lot of work to do on defensive movements. It's not that I didn't like them, because in the first 20 minutes we recovered the ball high without conceding any chances to Monza."
On Luka Jovic, Fonseca said:
"I didn't know Jovic well; he surprised me these weeks. He is a player who can help the team a lot in the area. I liked the way he worked these weeks."
Are you missing a defensive midfelder?
"The defensive midfielder is Fofana; we all know that."
On Alexis Saelemaekers and Alvaro Morata:
"Morata works a lot with the team, both offensively and defensively. He hasn't worked with us much, but he played well. This is the first time I have worked with Saelemaekers; everyone says he is different. I don't know if it’s true, but I like him. He works in several positions and always does well. He makes good decisions with the ball, and I want him to stay with us."
About Mattia Liberali, Fonseca said:
"Young players like Liberali, Zeroli, etc., are part of the first team. We work together with Milan Futuro; the problem is that we have many players now. We don't have much space for players like him. But when we have space, it's important to make them play with us; it helps them grow. I think they have quality. They all have shown it in these five weeks. We need to be careful with them."
Has any player made your choices difficult?
"We all have something to improve. I don't have specific players in this regard. We all have to improve. In these five weeks, there have been many positives, but I think the team can do much better. We have just started, but I expect more from everyone."
