Fonseca: ‘When Milan improve, other problems crop up’ | OneFootball

Paulo Fonseca has admitted that Milan are still far from the finished product after their 3-2 victory over Slovan Bratislava, explaining that ‘when we improve on something, other problems crop up’.

The Rossoneri are unbeaten across their last five matches in all competitions, including a 3-1 win over Real Madrid, Serie A draws with Cagliari and Juventus, plus the midweek 3-2 victory over Slovan Bratislava.

Though Milan won their most recent outing, they still faced criticism for their defensive output.

Using the 0-0 draw against Juventus as an example, Fonseca said that Milan were strong defensively but lacked creativity in attack. Against Slovan though, the coach felt that the team were decent in their attacking play but lacked solidity defensively.

MILAN, ITALY – NOVEMBER 23: Rafael Leao of AC Milan is challenged by Francisco Conceicao and Teun Koopmeiners of Juventus during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Juventus at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on November 23, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Fonseca on Milan form: ‘When we improve on something, other problems crop up’

“We were more organised against Juve, we were better in transition against Slovan,” he said in his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s visit from Empoli in Serie A.

“It seems like when we improve on something, other problems crop up. Just because you win doesn’t mean that we can close our eyes and pretend everything is fine. We have to look at the problems.

“Problems arise game by game. We were well disciplined and worked hard against Juve, while we were a better team in transition in Bratislava. We’ve always spoken about defensive problems, but we have the fifth best defence in the league. We’ve conceded the same as Inter and Lazio.”

Milan currently sit in seventh place in the Serie A table after the first 13 rounds of fixtures, although they do have a game in hand on every team in the division apart from Bologna.

The Rossoneri have an interesting run of fixtures lying ahead of them, as they will face Sassuolo in their first Coppa Italia fixture on Tuesday, before a tough test against Gian Piero Gasperini high-flying Atalanta the weekend after.