Read every word Paulo Fonseca said in his first press conference as Milan‘s new coach about the Rossoneri’s transfers, his ambitions, how the team will change and Rafael Leao’s role.
Fonseca addressed the media in his first press conference as the Rossoneri’s new head coach on Monday morning.
The Portuguese tactician, an ex-Roma coach, replied to questions from reporters for more than one hour and was joined by Red Bird advisor Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Fonseca and Ibra confirmed that the Rossoneri are no longer in the race for Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee, but said they were confident that a new centre forward would soon move to San Siro.
Fonseca has signed a three-year contract at San Siro and will start the pre-season with the available players at Milanello later today.
The Portuguese will sleep at the club’s training ground, Milanello, during the first few weeks, given that his family still hasn’t joined him in Milan.
During his first press conference, Fonseca, a former Shakhtar Donetsk coach, wore a Ukraine flag pin.
Here’s every word he said today:
“First, I am grateful for how I was welcomed these days. I want to thank the club for trusting me and my job. I am highly motivated and confident of doing a great job here. I join a club that want to win. I’ve just visited the museum, I’ve seen Milan’s history and I have great ambition to be part of this history. Zlatan has shown me the space for a new trophy. I want to be part of this history and I am ready to start. I can’t wait to start.
PLANS – “I am here with great ambition. I know that any coach who comes here comes to win. I’ve watched Baresi and other players who made Milan history many times. I am proud, and I know it’s a big responsibility. It’s a universal club, and I am aware of my responsibility, but I am confident I can let Milan win and continue this great history.”
TRANSFERS, FIRST OF MANY QUESTIONS – “I strongly believe in the players we have. I believe in this team and I believe that we need a few players, not many, because we have a lot of quality. It’s true that we must upgrade the team in a couple of roles.”
MOURINHO THE LAST FOREIGN COACH TO WIN SERIE A – “I want to be one more. I am different from Mourinho, but I am proud a Portuguese has already won here. I want to do the same for a different club, Milan. As I said, I have great ambition and I want to win.”
IDENTITY – “Milan are a club with a history of attacking football, and we want to dominate proceedings. That’s what I want to build here: a reactive, attacking-minded team that does not let others think and plays well. I want to win, but the playing style is important, so I want to make the fans proud. I think this is important: build a team with a strong identity.
UKRAINE PIN – “It’s a personal thing. We have a responsibility to don’t forget what’s happening in Ukraine.”
NEW STRIKER – “We all know that we need a striker. We are together trying to bring a striker with appropriate skill sets. We want to play in the final third so we need a strong striker in this regard. We know which player we want. We are waiting to have him here shortly.”
INTER – “I can promise that we’ll fight to win every game. Inter will make no difference. We know we have a strong team and that Inter are one of the strongest. We must play with courage and no fear. With the ambition to win.
DERBY TOO SOON? – “I expect to see my ideas on the pitch in the first game against Torino. Of course, it will take time; we start today without important players. Some will join us later. We won’t be perfect on Matchday 1, but I think we’ll start seeing a different team soon.
RAFAEL LEAO – “Leao is an important player for Milan, a decisive player. I expect a motivated player ready to play for the team. I think Leao is young and can learn every day. I want to work on this and improve the team.”
TRANSFER PRIORITY, STRIKER OR CENTRE-BACK – “I don’t want to make comparisons. One of the things we must improve is how balanced we are on the pitch. We must improve in this regard. I think it’s connected with the way we defend. What I can say is that we want to be more aggressive, press more and defend far away from our goal. This is one of the concerns I have, and I will work to improve on this. We have good defenders and I don’t think it’s an individual problem. We must improve collectively. I think the priority is the striker right now.”
FANS – “I have a great desire to start and convince the fans. I want to show them that we will be ambitious and we’ll play to win. I know I have a great responsibility, and I must convince the fans. I am sure they will always be with us and I am confident we’ll be very strong together.
WIN THE TITLE – “As I said, any coach joining Milan comes here to win. I say this without problems. We can’t escape from this truth.
MILAN PLAYERS – “I don’t have a personal rapport with anyone, but I know all of them.”
FLORENZI – “He is a first-team player and right now I rely on all of them, including Florenzi”
THEO – “Theo is an important player to us. I think I play with a different style, and I must understand the characteristics of the players we have. Theo is an attacking full-back so sometimes we can play with a defensive right-back. What I want is to have adequate structures to our plans.”
MORATA – “I don’t want to name anyone. As we said, we clearly know who is the player we want. What we know is that we want great quality for this position, which is very important. We lost Giroud, so when we change, we change to improve. To us, it’s clear. The striker must give a lot to the team. We know the characteristics and the player we want. I believe he’ll be here soon.”
MANY INJURIES LAST SEASON – “I don’t know the reasons, but we’ve been talking to Milan Lab since yesterday to avoid having more. The number of injuries is increasing because there are many games, but I am confident we won’t have many problems.”
RETURN TO SERIE A – “I have a great passion for Italy. I had a great time at Roma and it was important to return to Italy. Those are different contexts; I know the Italian league well, the other coaches and the Serie A’s characteristics, so I am ready.
MILAN FUTURO – “It’s one of the most difficult leagues in the world. Right now, I know there is a concern regarding the lack of Italian players. With Milan Futuro, we are preparing the present and the future of the club. I know many talented players that we have. I have no problems in playing young players if they have courage and quality.”
DEFENCE – “I don’t want to make comparisons. I have a different way of defending compared to the past. I know that in Italy there is a tendency to play man-on-man. Sometimes, we’ll do it, too, but I am not a coach who always plays like this. The approach will change with a defensive midfielder.”
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – “We want to go as far as possible. We know it’s hard. We have the ambition to win every game. We’ll need to be lucky as well, but we have the ambition to win every game.”
SECOND STAR – “It’s a motivation.”
CARDINALE – “He told me an important thing, the thing I liked the most. Milan don’t only want to win today, but also tomorrow. There is an important project for the future. This is important.”
KALULU – “He can play in two positions. I am satisfied we’ll have almost all defenders to start the job. Usually, I start with the defensive phase, and it’s important to have almost all players. Only Theo is missing. It’s positive that Kalulu can play different roles. We know he’s not very attacking-minded. But it depends on the structure we choose. I am happy he can play in different positions.”
OKAFOR – “I believe we have a lot of quality here and we have many solutions for the different positions. I think all the players will be important to me. One oft he most important things is to see players grow and improve. If the players improve, the team will improve.”
SLEEP AT MILANELLO – “It’s very simple. It’s time to work hard for me. We don’t have a lot of time available. My family is not here. Normally, I work many hours, so it’s easier if I stay at Milanello. The staff member and I can work longer, so it’s more practical for me to live in Milanello right now.”
ROMA – “These are different clubs. I don’t want to talk about the past too much. What I want to say is that we all know Roma is not an easy place, but I was very happy there. Now, it’s the past. For the Milan fans, I want to build a team that makes them proud in a clear and honest way.”
HIS MOTTO – “We always have a motivational thing. But I haven’t thought about it yet. It’s about the feeling and knowing the players well to create this sort of situation.”
NEW STRIKER – “It depends on the players we have and the structure we want to use. At Lille, I even played without strikers. I believe we need a different striker in different parts of the pitch. It depends on the strikers’ skill sets. What we know is that we want to play in the last 30 meters. So we need a player who is able to play without much space in the last 30 meters.”