It goes without saying that Milan's season has been a mostly unpleasant rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, twists and turns, mainly the kind that leaves you wanting to vomit and with your head pounding. Obviously, there were two matches that stand out in a positive way – the Derby and the Champions League match with Real Madrid. Always followed by shockingly poor performances. And the rest of the season has been an unnecessarily rough road made even rougher by a stubborn, prideful manager who has punished no only certain players, but the entire team and fanbase with his bizarre obsession with his version of equality... or whatever. But whatever the problems are – tactically, mentality, pride and insanity – thus far, Fonseca has not managed to get the balance right.
 |
| Why is it so hard to admit you need to play your best player? |
Saturday evening, Milan host Empoli at the San Siro, a team with a couple of Milan-owned players and a couple of exes, too. Most fans likely think of Empoli as a smaller club that is perhaps less of a threat, but they are tenth on the table, just three points behind Milan, so this match could change a lot on a very competitive table. Their most recent match was a 1-1 draw with Udinese on Monday, that saw D'Aversa line up a 3-4-2-1 with: Milan-owned Devis Vásquez; Goglichidze, Ismajli, Viti; Gyasi, Henderson, Maleh, Pezzella; Milan's Lorenzo Colombo, Cacace, and former Milan loanee Pietro Pellegri. D'Aversa has some serious injury issues, with eight players reportedly out for this match: Branocolini, former Milan player De Sciglio, Sazonov, Zurkowski, Fazzini, Grassi, Haas, and Ebuehi.
 |
When your fourth choice keepers go to another club and become POTM...
|
Fonseca will still be missing Bennacer and Florenzi, recovering from their longterm injuries, but this week, Jović also had surgery to repair a muscle issue, and will be out at least until January. Morata will be available again following his suspension in the Champions League, so Fonseca will have plenty of mid players to put on the pitch instead of proper ones. The big question is whether or not he will allow Leão to play, or if he will bench him once again like a fool. In his prematch press conference, he said that Milan is a better team with Leão on the pitch "now." As if that were not always the case? As if in benching his best player for months and actually costing us points, he fixed something that wasn't ever broken? No. I am so done with that man.  |
This captures him so well... posing for a self-important pic in an empty stadium, because no one else cares.
|
The only thing Fonseca has been able to improve upon since Pioli's tenure is the overall number and severity of injuries. Which is great, but instead of capitalizing on that, he just handicaps Milan further by not playing the best players anyway. Then he doesn't understand why the performances are poor, or he tries to randomly explain away the defeats. I will never understand why he has benched Leão or others, or why he tries to publicly rationalize his actions (although randomly admitting he "took the wrong approach.") But this is why one of the most important aspects of his job is to get the balance right.
This post inspired by the music of Depeche Mode's "Get the Balance Right!"
Our next matches are:
AC Milan vs. Empoli
Saturday, November 30, 2024 • 18:00 CET (12:45pm EST)
In the U.S., this match can be streamed on Paramount+,
or use a VPN to access better coverage
Serie C Week 17
Ternana vs. Milan Futuro
Sunday, December 1, 2024 • 15:00 CET (9am EST)
This match is not being televised in the U.S.
Campionato Primavera 1 Week 14
Milan Primavera vs. Roma Primavera
Monday, December 2, 2024 • 18:45 CET (12:45pm EST)
This match is not being televised in the U.S.
Reviewed by Elaine
on
3:23 AM
Rating:
