Milan's 2-1 loss to Parma was a shock for many Milan fans, who were still high from the feel-good U.S. friendly tour, I guess. With those absolutely hideous new Puma third kits, I'm amazed we did not lose by more. My theory is that if you look good, you play well, and the opposite also holds true. So if anything, Milan played much better than they looked in those awful kits. But if our players looked at all sluggish or delayed in their responses to Parma's convincing footballing display in their first home match of the year, it was Fonseca's postmatch press conference that was really surprising. His comments made it sound as if he had never watched a single Milan match from last season, and had no idea what the problems were that he was hired to fix. Almost as if he had a delayed awareness.
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| Despite what fans think, these players do fight for the shirt... OK, maybe not this shirt with the green crest. |
Milan were caught out immediately. And when I say immediately, I mean that Dennis Man scored at 1:24 on the clock, the fastest goal so far this year in Serie A. 1-0 Parma, before the Milan players could even catch their breath. While many Milan fans have immediately gone into their doom and gloom cycle, blaming everyone on the pitch and comparing Fonseca to Giampaolo, there are still a number of things that give me hope here.
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| There were still some positives in this match. |
First, the team reacted. They did not just give in and play defeatedly the entire match like they might have done last year. In fact, Milan took almost twice as many shots as Parma, even if both sides had five shots on goal. But that is what you get when you only sign one proven striker and then he is injured, we know that. Secondly, Giampaolo was never able to transmit his ideas to his players while at Milan, whereas we have seen Fonseca's ideas take shape, at least offensively, throughout the summer friendlies. Not that the results of friendlies matter (although there is a difference between winning one friendly vs. Kosovo side Feronikeli and beating all three of Man City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and winning the all important Trofeo Berlusconi.) But we did see the players perform with a very different playing style, which means he is at least getting through to them, even when it is not effective.
Ibrahimović's face and reaction when the camera panned to him about 20 minutes in was all of us. A mixture of disgust and disbelief is probably how to describe it. But to be fair, Parma played really well, and their goalkeeper, Zion Suzuki, is also very good. Plus, those kits. What designer puts charcoal, mint, and lavender together? None of them even have the same color values. Great for the earth that the lettering on the kits is apparently recyclable, but my eyesight is not. Personally, I was far more disgusted with the kits than our players. I genuinely did not recognize our team. What even is that green crest? No wonder they miay have been a bit confused.
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| Who does this to fashion? Or worse, to our players? |
It was said that they played angry and lacked focus. I would absolutely say that is true. Milan were shown three yellow cards in the match, Parma none, and there could ave been more. Like wen Calabria fouled Sohm very hard in the 13th. Or when Musah dragged a Parma player to the ground in the 29th very blatantly, clinging to his shirt with some serious aggression. Or around the 64th, when the camera showed Leão very aggressively knocking the ball out of Estévez's hands. Milan could have had a number of yellow cards, actually, while Parma stayed quite cool and collected and played their game.
But as Musah said postmatch, Milan actually did play their offensive game. Despite how it felt, Milan had 61% possession and took 17 shots. One of the first most dangerous ones came from a refreshingly surprising source – Pavlović. In his first full debut, Pavlović forced Suzuki into a save with a powerful header in the 30th minute, and just a few minutes later, sent another one just wide. In between, he earned a yellow card for a foul on Bernabé, but the new Serbian defender was the bright spot in an otherwise difficult-to-watch match.
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| Pavlović nearly scored and had so many breathtaking tackles, a great debut. |
Parma spent the last ten minutes of the first half in attack, and it produced some spectacular defensive moments from Milan. Like Pavlović's amazing, perfectly timed and executed save on Dennis Man in the 45th. Maignan came out to deal with the incoming Mihǎilǎ, but he was beaten, and luckily, Mihǎilǎ's shot went into the side netting, even though he had an open net at that point. Minutes later, he was coming in again 1v1 with Maignan, but Tomori managed to race and close the Romanian down just enough to impede his shot enough for Maignan to make a spectacular save with his leg. It is really unfortunate that their teammates left them in those positions to have to make those dramatic saves, but also really amazing that we have players who can make them when called upon.
Milan came out even more aggressively int he second half, with Reijnders taking a powerful shot from distance that had Suzuki beaten, but hit the crossbar. Such a shame. Some of Milan's shooting was tragically comical, I think the fans left with a few balls that Milan players launched into the stands. Meanwhile, Parma kept managing to break through with chances, one of which resulted in a Bonny goal in the 60th, but it was called back for offside. Dennis Man also had a shot that he sent across the goal that went just wide in a terrifying way just after that.
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| Leão, Theo, and Pulisic nearly pulled us back into the game, but it didn't last. |
But finally, in the 66th minute, Theo and Leão created a bit of magic, and Leão sent it into the box, where all Pulisic had to do was tap it in for the equalizer. 1-1 all. Game on. Fonseca subbed on the new guys, Emerson Royal and Fofana for Calabria and Musah, respectively, in the 67th minute. But unfortunately, it was Pecchia's subs who made the impact – Almqvist crossed the ball into Cancielleri for their second goal in the 77th.
Fonseca's subs of Chukwueze and Jović on for Pulisic and Okafor just seemed pointless, and they made that much of a difference, too. Milan closed out the match with back to back yellow cards, Emerson Royal for a foul on Valeri, and Loftus-Cheek for a foul on Almqvist. When the whistle blew, I think a lot of people were shocked that Milan had not been able to pull themselves out of that deficit, but even with so much less possession and so many fewer shots, Parma outclassed and outplayed Milan. And Pecchia out-coached Fonseca, too.
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| Excited for the look at the new players, but there is much to be done. |
I am not sure what his defensive ideas actually are, because we have not seen them yet. I mean Tomori, who was poor in the preseason, has stepped up since the league started and been more solid. Now we have Pavlović, who is immense, and seemed to make it his personal mission to defend completely on his own, if he had to. And he almost did. Maignan, too, has been solid. So where is the problem?
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| OK, this guy did not necessarily impress on his debut, but at least give him some time. |
Fonseca said it was "at the back." No, Mister. With all due respect, those three are some of the best you will see in defense. Even the much-maligned Thiaw is very good, actually. The problem is the rest of the team. The complete lack of defensive awareness. Like the second goal started with an atrocious missed pass from Leão, who gifted it straight to a Parma player, but there was absolutely no one in the midfield or on that flank to stop him. Fonseca wants to play a high line, likes his fullbacks to play offensively? He needs midfielders to cover for them. You cannot expect three people to defend against 11. And also, if you are not man-marking, then what are your defensive ideas? Because your players certainly have no idea, they seem less organized and less confident in the defensive phases than ever, in addition to being even more exposed to opposition attacks.
During his time at Roma, Fonseca switched from his preferred 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-3 because of the way that the other Italian teams played. But honestly, with the players he has, a 4-3-3 makes so much more sense. We absolutely need more strength (and numbers) in our midfield. Something tells me he may be too stubborn or too slow to make any changes in formation, though, and if the performances and results continue like this, he may not get a chance to make those changes.
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| Smile of a genius? Or a madman? Or just a normal coach, in over his head? |
He simultaneously took full responsibility and blamed his players for collectively not having the right "attitude" defensively and for making mistakes "individually and collectively." Which is impressive, to say you are taking responsibility and also blame your players in the same breath. But I wouldn't expect anything less from a man who is literally living at Milanello, married to a woman who is younger than his first child, and was chosen ahead of other, more accomplished managers by a management who knows nothing about football.
Perhaps he will be able to pull Milan out of the nosedive, as he has had some considerable success in the past. But it's not like management have set him up to succeed. Although they were quick to confirm him, as Cardinale, Furlani, Ibrahimović, and Moncada all rushed to Milanello on Monday to reassure everyone that Fonseca's job was secure. Everyone in charge at the club now seems to have limited problem-solving capabilities, and even worse, a delayed awareness.
Milan Futuro Fall in Their First Serie C Match
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| You cannot say they did not fight the good fight. |
Milan Primavera Win Back-to-Back Matches
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| Celebrating the only victory of the three older men's teams this weekend. |
This post inspired by the music of NIN's "Down In It"
