AC Milan will resume the Serie A campaign after the international break on November 23, Saturday, at 6:00 PM CET. Paulo Fonseca's team will host Thiago Motta's Juventus at the San Siro facility.
Milan, unlike Juventus, seems to be experiencing more difficulties, as you can notice by the league standings.
Fonseca's philosophy and style
At the core of the Portuguese's revolution is a completely different playing philosophy compared to that of the one before him at Milan, Stefano Pioli.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport this morning, the ex Lille coach has toned down the verticality typical of Pioli in favour of a more possession-oriented style of play.
In Fonseca's preferred 4-2-3-1 setup, Tijjani Reijnders dictates the tempo, Fofana shields the defensive line, and Pulisic—if deployed high on the right—cuts inside to orchestrate play.
On the defensive front, when out of possession, Fonseca often employs a high press with four attackers—a tactic that broke the derby curse but has, on other occasions, failed to deliver the desired results (such as in the match against Parma).
Paulo Fonseca continues to seek not only tactical balance but also defensive solidity at Milanello.
Strahinja Pavlovic has been underwhelming so far, and Matteo Gabbia's injury (though he is set to return for Saturday’s match against Juventus) has led to a lack of focus and consistency.
If Milan wants to improve and progress in the league, there is no other option but to address these issues.
Currently, the team has conceded twice as many goals as Juventus (14 to 7), despite having played one match less.
