Paulo Fonseca made his statements after the Milan-Torino match, the first Serie A game of the 2024/25 season for Milan, which ended 2-2 with a last-minute comeback.
Here are his words about the match, where Alvaro Morata and Noah Okafor scored for the Rossoneri:
"I always think about winning before the games because the team has worked very well in preseason, so optimism was natural. I think we made mistakes at certain moments of the game today, but we believed until the end that we could change the result. After Torino’s 2-0, we did everything not to lose the game. I’m satisfied with the reaction, but we have a lot to work on, especially in defence."
On pressing:
"I want more pressing", he said to Milan's official channel, "We were too passive in dealing with Torino’s build-up; they had time and space to play, which makes it harder for the team to defend well. In the second half, we did better, attacking higher up and recovering the ball closer to Torino’s goal."
Some players need to get into shape... Fonseca commented:
"We have a week to help players like Theo, Reijnders, and Morata to improve physically. It’s important to have everyone at the same level, and we will continue to work on this throughout the week."
On the defensive attention, Fonseca said:
"It’s true that we made mistakes. We’re working a lot on defensive movements, not just collectively but also individually. The first to make mistakes here is me. We need to understand that we’re changing many things, and players need to understand certain things better. We can have strategy and structure, but if we’re not strong in duels, it will be difficult."
