The international break brings reflection in the hope that it can help find the right solutions to restart from scratch after what has been a traumatic start to the season for Fonseca's Milan.
According to reports this morning from Il Corriere dello Sport, taking advantage of the absence of most of the starting group, after training sessions at Milanello on Tuesday and Wednesday following the Lazio match, Paulo Fonseca gave the team four days of rest, starting yesterday, with training set to resume on Monday. This will mark a serious return to preparations for the Saturday, September 14 match against Venezia.
Fonseca chose to give the players mental and physical rest...
It's a rather curious choice, but in some ways, inevitable given Milan's current physical, mental, and performance struggles. Fonseca opted for a bit of mental and physical downtime for his players, rather than intense training at Milanello, hoping this will yield positive results.
Among the reasons, the newspaper continues, is "the absence of eleven First Team players called up by their respective countries (Theo Hernandez, Maignan, Fofana, Leao, Reijnders, Bennacer, Jovic, Pavlovic, Musah, Pulisic, and Chukwueze) and seven youth players away with various national youth teams (Camarda, Bartesaghi, Zeroli, Torriani, Liberali, Raveyre, and Cuenca)."
The group, however, that stayed in Milan is still substantial, with Morata even returning to the Milanello fields yesterday to get a head start on his comeback. In addition to the Spaniard, there's also Calabria, Royal, Tomori, Thiaw, Gabbia, and Terracciano—most of the defensive line, which has been the most criticized over the first three games of the season. Working during this break could have been beneficial for them, which might explain why some fans haven't fully appreciated Paulo Fonseca's decision.
The fact remains that no one knows a team better than the coach himself. In some cases, disconnecting can be the wisest option, even though, in the end, only the pitch will provide the answers Fonseca, the club, and the fans expect.
