Paulo Fonseca is ready to welcome Alvaro Morata to Milan, and Wayne Girard notes that the Spain captain will be his key to dominating matches and building a new character for the Rossoneri.
Upon returning to Italy, Fonseca finds himself making the leap to a recent Scudetto-winning team, chock full of star players, and one of the most commercialised clubs in the world. For a manager who’s been taking his career step by step, always upward in European football, he inherits a team that is still trying to build an identity through a magnitude of player and personnel changes.
Over the past three seasons, Olivier Giroud has been the Rossoneri frontman. A surefire goalscorer, the Frenchman was one of the best strikers of his generation, but a change was needed for the club and the player who decided to end his career in the MLS. Despite a positive campaign, especially for a 37-year-old striker, Giroud had become quite immobile for a team that used to play through him, but, as time went on, it played around him instead. After much deliberation in the transfer market, his replacement has finally been found and signed in Álvaro Morata. Although exceeding the 30-year-old Mark, the Spaniard has a completely different profile than the Frenchman. He is the forward to pull Milan together from the top.
Watch: Pato reacts as Milan show Morata’s shirt for the first time
Fonseca’s Lille were defensive and offensive masterclasses, achieving 22 clean sheets, the most in Ligue 1 this past season. They also scored the second most goals—with 86—only behind Paris Saint-Germain’s 124 in all competitions. For Roma, his time wasn’t too shabby either. He took a team that often fielded Federico Fazio and Amadou Diawara as starters, with Bruno Peres on the right. There were holes all over for a team that made it to the Europa League semi-final.
Offensively, he could play in a 3-3-1-1 as seen in his early days for the Giallorossi, or a 5-2-3 that requires the wing-forward to make key passes to the centre-forward, carry the ball into space, or take a shot themselves. Considering Theo Hernandez’s role, Milan can continue to create chances for Morata from defensive actions by pressing with two or even three players at a time. This will allow the Rossoneri to maintain their shape throughout the lines without overcommitting, and keep Morata centralised.
Fikayo Tomori is keen on reuniting with his former teammate for these very reasons, telling Gazzetta dello Sport, “I played with him at Chelsea, I know the qualities he has, he has speed and strength, he can score goals, we will need him for this season…We hope he can be the ideal replacement for Giroud… We are running a lot. Changes? We have worked a lot on how we want to defend, attack, build from the back. We must improve the intensity with and without the ball…”
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While this would have been next to impossible with Giroud, Morata opens tactical possibilities that change the character of the team.
With the 31-year-old’s high work rate, Fonseca will surely carry his high press over to Milan and use the striker as his first line of defence. Winning the ball back in their offensive third will count for at least half a dozen goals before Christmas.
In a recent interview on his tactics, Fonseca noted, “Maybe I’m a little romantic, but I’m a coach who likes to dominate games. I’m a coach who wants to be in style in the offensive midfield. I want to have a team which creates chances to score all the time.”
Milan’s new No.7 will be able to dominate through hard work, and his veteran Spanish striker will be his starting point.