Milan coach Paulo Fonseca says his players were not enough ‘aggressive’ in a 3-3 draw against Cagliari, losing 69% of aerial duels, but is pleased with Rafael Leao’s performance: ‘This is what we want.’
The Rossoneri were held to a 3-3 draw by strugglers Cagliari at the Unipol Domus this evening. Rafael Leao scored twice, but it was not enough to take all three points as the Rossoblu bounced back with a rare Gabriele Zappa brace.
“Milan’s problem today was not offensive but defensive. We had trouble facing Cagliari’s crosses. Even with a five-man line, we lost 69% of aerial duels,” Fonseca told DAZN, as quoted by Milannews.
“We did good things in attack, scoring three goals, but we could not draw this match. It’s a step back, and we can’t concede three goals if we want to win.”
Fonseca sees clear Milan problem in 3-3 Cagliari draw, but ‘This is the Leao we want’
The Portuguese tactician reiterated that his players should have been more aggressive defensively and that the system was not an issue.
“We always play with three central midfielders. Today, we had Tijji, Fofana and Chris [Pulisic]. This is not the problem,” he claimed.
“The problem was the way we suffered. We were not aggressive individually.”
This also includes French star Theo Hernandez.
“He can do more defensively,” admitted Fonseca.
“We are working to correct important things, but everyone must be more aggressive.”
On the other hand, Leao reacted and scored a brace. The Portuguese had been benched in the previous three league fixtures.
“He’s in a good moment. He is improving defensively. He has always been with the team. This is the Leao we want.”
Francesco Camarda replaced the injured Alvaro Morata, starting his first Serie A game at 16.
“It wasn’t easy, but he did well, and I am satisfied with his performance,” concluded Fonseca,
HAHA! Ran the same level of risk vs Real Madrid, and then celebrated it as ‘italian sides showing they can be attacking’. When in reality, it was a very un-italian performance. Attack without d3f3nce is futile. Proper teams will take advantage of it.
You have to go back to beginning of April for the last time milan won 3 games in a row. And the inability to d3f3nd is the reason. Superficiality personified.
Some encouragement for Milan this week, but clearly big problems in the defence. Whither the Baresis, Costacurtas and Maldinis of old?
we cannot find defenders like Baresi and Maldini in this world this moment.
But our team’s defensive line is really bad now. Another problem is no real defensive midfielder in our team.