Saturday begins a new Serie A season, and both Milan and Torino have new managers. What many may not realize is that both managers were directly and personally affected by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Many know that Paulo Fonseca's second wife is Ukrainian, but it may be lesser known that he and his family were living in Kiev when the Russians invaded Ukraine in 2022, and they were barely able to get out of the country safely. Paolo Vanoli, new Torino manager, was managing Russian side Spartak Moscow when the war began, and as a result, had to step down from his position and leave Russia as well. Both managers affected by war, and despite the conflict still raging, as Fonseca compassionately reminded us, now battling in Italy under more peaceful conditions.
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| Fonseca and his family were displaced by war, now he wants to brings success through peace. |
Vanoli, a former assistant of Conte while at Chelsea, arrived at Torino by way of guiding Venezia to promotion to Serie A, having landed there after being displaced by the conflict. He began his stewardship with the Granata with a 2-1 win over Serie C side Virtus Verona in July, then a goalless draw with Lyon in Ligue 1, a 3-0 win over Ligue 2 side Metz at the beginning of August, and then a 2-0 victory over Serie B side Cosenza in his first competitive match for Torino, the Coppa Italia First Round on Sunday.
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| Having lost his Spartak Moscow job to war, he now leads Torino into battle. |
This Torino side will look a bit different than the one Pioli's Milan self-destructed 3-1 to in Turin in May. For example, they sold Buongiorno to Napoli, and our old friend Ricardo Rodriguez left on a free transfer to Real Betis in Spain. They tied down both Duvan Zapata and Adam Masina, who had only been on loan. Then they made a couple of big signings. They brought in defender Saúl Coco from Las Palmas and signed forward Ché Adams on a free transfer from Southampton. But the most massive addition to their squad was the signing of former Milan goalkeeper, Antonio Donnarumma. (Now that is a club who has faith in their first and second goalkeepers.)
The team Vanoli lined up for their Coppa Italia match on Sunday was a 3-5-2 system with: Vanja Milinković-Savić; Vojvoda, Saúl Coco, Masina; Bellanova, Ricci, Linetty, Ivan Ilić, Lazaro; Sanabria, and Duvan Zapata. Vanoli does have a few injuries, with Perr Schuurs out with an ACL injury, Gyneitis missing with a knee injury, and Vlašić due to miss this one with a muscle injury.
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| Fonseca and his fellow Portuguese warrior. |
As for Fonseca, he has already won the most important match of the season, and been given a giant, ostentatious trophy to remind everyone that Milan are once again the winners of the all-important Trofeo Silvio Berlusconi. But there are some smaller trophies to play for, so he has worked to prepare his troops to be battle-ready.
Unfortunately, some of his reinforcements have arrived quite late in the summer. Youssouf Fofana only arrived in Milano Friday night, taking his medicals Saturday morning, and is expected to sign his contract and then be presented as a ne Milan player at halftime. Emerson Royal arrived so late that his official transfer has not even gone through, apparently, so he will definitely not be called up for this match.
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| Reijnders and Pavlović may not start for physical condition, while Jović is likely 2nd to Morata |
Aside from them, Fonseca mentioned that players like Pavlović and Reijnders are not in their ideal physical condition just yet, so are unlikely to start. Other players who just arrived may or may not start, depending on who is the most prepared ahead of the match. Fonseca will no doubt stick with his 4-2-3-1 system, although which group of players he lines up to start is unclear.
Adli, Pobega, and Kalulu all seem to be heading toward other destinations, as Fonseca said he had spoken to players who might find their playing time limited, so they are not even called up for this one, although they have been training with the team. Milan Futuro are playing at the same time as the first team, so Raveyre is the only young player not in the squad who is called up, due to Sportiello's injury. Fonseca will also be missing Florenzi and Sportiello, obviously, due to their respective injuries. Meanwhile, Pulisic rejoins the team after sitting out Tuesday's match vs. Monza.
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| Fonseca's outcasts, not called up and told to find new clubs. |
Apparently, the club have made enough signings with the arrival of Fofana to appease the Curva Sud into finally return to supporting their team, something that the fans of most other clubs do anyway. Lucky Milan. But, while Fonseca spoke about wanting to play for the fans, he and the team will be focused on winning the first battle of this season-long war. And it will not be an easy battle, either, not like those lightweight Manchester City, Real Madrid, and Barcelona clubs they are used to playing against. Aside from the competitive nature of the fans, Fonseca and Vanoli will be focused on the battle. Luckily for them, in spite of current events, they can now fight this football war in relative peace.
This post inspired by the music of the U2''s "War" album
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Reviewed by Elaine
on
6:00 AM
Rating:
