Tribal Football

AC Milan coach Fonseca: We're ready for Napoli - both teams are title contenders

Carlos Volcano
AC Milan coach Fonseca: We're ready for Napoli - both teams are title contenders
AC Milan coach Fonseca: We're ready for Napoli - both teams are title contendersAction Plus
AC Milan coach Paulo Fonseca says their clash with Napoli will be a test of where they are as a team this season.

Milan meet Napoli after not playing on the weekend after their clash with Bologna was suspended due to weather concerns.

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Fonseca spoke to the media today ahead of Tuesday night's clash with Napoli at San Siro stadium.

 

Napoli very consistent and very solid, with a lot of self-confidence...

"Napoli is a very strong team, as the standings show, with a very strong coach. They are in good form, they are winning, they are in first place, they will arrive very motivated. But so are we."

 

What days were those of the postponement of Bologna-Milan?

"It was difficult to manage this moment. The day before the match we didn't know if we were going to play or not, we could have done another training session... We wanted to play. We were very penalized by the postponement."

 

Important absences tomorrow...

"We wanted to play Bologna also because now against Napoli we will be without two important players suspended. Then, the team trained well and I have faith in all the players, including those who will play in the position of Theo and Reijnders. Nothing has changed about Camarda: he always works well and what I think of him has been confirmed, that is that he is a player with a great future."

 

How did you see Rafael Leao?

"I won't give you the lineup today. I understand the curiosity about Leao. He worked well as always: it's not a problem, it's not a coincidence. I'm sure he will soon return to being what he knows he is and what we all expect him to be. I don't want to say if he will play tomorrow."

 

Napoli favourite for the Scudetto?

"At the moment they are in first place: they are one of the teams that can win the Scudetto."

 

What's not working with Leao?

"That the coach is not playing him, because if I played him there would be no problems. But these are normal things in football: some play, some don't. I always think about different things when I choose. For me this is very normal."

 

Is Milan still in the running for the Scudetto?

"For me, yes. We are a strong team, we are growing and we believe we can be a team that can fight for the Scudetto."

 

Calabria left back?

"Yes, he could play."

 

Many would have wanted Conte on the Milan bench...

"My motivation is to be the coach of Milan, period."

 

What do you expect from your team tomorrow?

"Our focus is to see what we did well in previous games and what we need to improve. Tomorrow will be a different game, balanced, against a team that defends very well. We have had great growth in terms of defensive organization. Offensively we are growing in possession in these last games. Maybe tomorrow we need to play more in the last 30 meters, because Napoli press high and defend with a low block. We need to improve our choice in the last 30 metres."

 

Pulisic's ideal role?

"I don't want to talk about it today. In general, you know I like it better when Pulisic plays inside the field."

 

Conte said that 'those who have won know what it takes to win'...

"We want to continue fighting to win the Scudetto."

 

In a Milan-Napoli in 1988, Sacchi's Milan was born...

"We already talked about this before the match with Inter. Victories bring confidence, they bring more against stronger teams. But the growth of a team does not depend on one match."

 

Attacks bring money, defences bring titles. But then there are too many goals in every game: don't we teach defence anymore?

"It takes two hours to talk about this. In Serie A you can't say that coaches don't work defensively. I'd like to work more, but I don't have time. Here we play every three days, there's practically no time. There's a trend now in football which is individual work. In many games there are no errors in the department, but errors in the decisions of the defenders.

"Today, however, it's more difficult to attack because teams defend better than in the past. The trend is man against man and this leads to the creation of more opportunities. In Barcelona-Bayern: in the first phase, Bayern press man to man, then they don't do it anymore; Barcelona scored when they defended low."