‘Only the shirt suggested a special evening’ – Voetbal International

It was supposed to be a party night. Milan existed for 125 years and took on mid-table Genoa on Sunday dressed in special retro uniforms. Club legends Clarence Seedorf, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, among others, traveled to Italy to attend the anniversary. After ninety minutes the least festive score imaginable was on the scoreboard: 0-0. AC Milan is currently eighth, fourteen points behind leaders Atalanta. Achieving European football will be quite a task for the Rossoneri.

The shirt was the only thing that suggested a special evening Tuttosportwhile The Corriere dello Sport saw that ‘Milan cannot meet the standards that the past has set for the club’. La Gazzetta dello Sport stated that Milan lacks leaders on the field and that the management is also to blame. There is little communication from the club management. Only Zlatan Ibrahimovic makes himself heard on Champions League evenings, because UEFA asks for it. The Swedish club icon has been the recipient of boos several times at the San Siro.

The transfer policy is also a point of discussion. Tijjani Reijnders, Christian Pulisic and Youssouf Fofana turned out to be a bull’s eye, but the newspaper also sees plenty of purchases in recent years that do not bring what people expected in Milan. Supporters, meanwhile, do not see trainer Paulo Fonseca as the problem, but rather Journal the Portuguese symbolizes the disappointment in Milan.

The coach was not the first choice after the departure of Stefano Pioli. Antonio Conte, Sergio Conceição and ‘even’ Julen Lopetegui were approached before Fonseca got a call. Moreover, the Portuguese’s results leave much to be desired. Left winger Rafael Leão stated after the draw against Genoa that the trainer is not to blame. “He has good ideas, and we ultimately make the decisions on the field.”

The trainer and the group of players still need some time, Leão thought. “We’re starting to understand what he wants and as players we can change things too.” Fonseca also put things into perspective afterwards. ‘We played well and created a lot. The only thing missing was a goal,” the coach said afterwards. That’s not the fault of the strikers, he thought. ‘We have good attackers. Sometimes people talk about strikers, but there was also a lack of good crosses today. I have every confidence in our strikers.’

Before the match, club icon Clarence Seedorf also asked for patience. ‘The coach has good ideas. It just needs to be more consistent. They have too many ups and downs, but from the outside it is difficult to say why that is. Milan has interrupted the era of Pioli and Paolo Maldini. Many things have changed and that takes time. The club must now be patient and support the choice they have made. The team has already shown in some matches that they can do it.’

Watch all our videos here