Milan coach Paulo Fonseca insists that his team are nowhere near the finished product yet as they still have plenty of improvements to make, has tipped Antonio and Conte and Napoli for the Serie A title, and explained why he is unlikely to make too many changes for Sunday’s game against Fiorentina.
The Rossoneri coach conducted his customary pre-match press conference on Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s Serie A match away against Fiorentina.
Fonseca began his presser by explaining why it is important to not make too many changes to a side that has shown decent signs of improvement in recent weeks.
Fonseca explains why Milan need continuity
“Continuity is important at this point. It’s important to have extra days for the players to recover if the team is doing as well, and to keep as many players in the starting line-up as possible. It’s not because I don’t have faith in the players.
“Loftus-Cheek and Chukwueze have come in, done well and are working hard, but I think it’s important to have a base to start from.”
He also hinted that he is likely to stick with a centre-back pairing of Matteo Gabbia and Fikayo Tomori for Sunday’s Serie A clash.
“It’s important to have stability, especially in defence. Gabbia and Tomori have had great games and I think Pavlovic needs to carry on working hard, because he will have opportunities. The two, Gabbia and Tomori, are doing well and I think it’s important to carry on like that.”
Fonseca takes particular pride in Gabbia’s recent run of form, which has resulted in a call-up to Luciano Spalletti’s latest Italy squad.
“I am the coach of Milan, and I don’t want to influence Spalletti, but I think he made the right choice. Gabbia is having a great moment, I’m really satisfied. If there’s anyone here who deserves it, it’s Gabbia.”
Assessing Milan’s recent loss against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, Fonseca said: “We didn’t win in Leverkusen, but the group was very disappointed, angry. I had good feelings, the team worked well again. We want to win. Playing in Florence is always difficult, they have a very good team.”
Fonseca also explained why he thinks Napoli are in with a shout of winning the Scudetto this season.
“There’s still a lot to play for, and there are many strong teams that have the same objective as us. Obviously Napoli has the advantage of not playing in the European cups. They have a very strong coach and a very strong team. I’m not trying to put pressure on them, it’s the truth. Napoli is a real candidate for the Scudetto.
“We are in a time of growth. It’s not the case that we’ve made it because we won against Lecce and Inter, we need to carry on growing. We are improving, but we have a lot to improve on still. The real Milan is not close yet, we have to do more.”