Watch: Moment of ‘Fonseca ball’ during Milan’s friendly against Rapid Wien | OneFootball

AC Milan faced Rapid Wien in their first friendly of the pre-season yesterday and while there was a clear physical difference between the two sides, Rossoneri fans still got to see some glimpses of ‘Paulo Fonseca ball’. In particular, there was one sequence.

Fonseca fielded two eleven yesterday, one for each half, and it’s clear that the second one was superior as Milan managed to take the lead with it. The best individual performances also came in the second half, as highlighted in our player ratings.

During the second half, the Milan fans also got to see a glimpse of Fonseca’s tactics and style, with one sequence in particular catching our eyes. As you can see in the video below, they moved the ball around quickly – though not looking for the vertical pass immediately – and it led to a great counter-attack.

Gazzetta dello Sport also highlighted a few tactical notes this morning, stating that Fonseca likes to build from the back with a 3+2 solution (right-back, both centre-backs and midfield pivot). Furthermore, he doesn’t require his players to look for the vertical pass immediately, as seen in the video as well.

Under Fonseca, Milan will try to control the play and pick their moments when breaking forward, not forcing vertical passes as that can leave the team stretched.