Paulo Fonseca put his head down and prepared the Derby meticulously without paying attention to the incessant buzz about his dismissal. He insisted on the mental elements to revive his squad before the big match, Corriere della Sera informs.
After the dud versus Liverpool, he and the players had a long meeting. Rather than discuss the errors of the Champions League game in detail, they had a frank conversation about how to move forward. The manager realized that the group was still following him. He organized a barbecue to increase the camaraderie the following day.
Milan got ready in the guests’ locker room in the Derby. Fonseca invited the footballers to stick the word ‘courage’ in their language on each seat. He doubled down on that with his tactics. He with two pure strikers together from the start, Tammy Abraham and Alvaro Morata.
While the Rossoneri brass had some contacts with outside coaches, especially Maurizio Sarri and Igor Tudor, Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a standard pep talk before the match rather than rip into the squad as he did after the loss to Parma. The boss has bought himself time with the recent result.
Our Take on Milan and Fonseca
The outcome was surprising because the management had already started to go scorched earth around him, but he was capable of isolating himself from the buzz, and his adjustments paid dividends. They have to do it consistently now. Prevailing in the Derby is important but it’s still worth three points as usual; plus, the Rossoneri hierarchy is very quick in pointing fingers behind the scenes.
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