Solidity and fluidity: Why a three/five-man defence could be Fonseca’s Milan foundation | OneFootball

AC Milan came away feeling very encouraged by their 3-1 win away from home against Real Madrid, one that they obtained with a new tactical approach.

As our colleagues at SempreMilan.it write, the basis of the excellent performance from Milan was certainly the change of attitude by all the players, especially the most talented ones like Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao among others.

However, many have underlined how Fonseca’s preparation for the match was excellent and looking at the formation chosen by Milan at the Bernabeu you can also understand why.

The five-man defence

Unlike what he has done previously, the Portuguese coach surprisingly chose to field his XI with a very compact 5-4-1. It included Malick Thiaw as the middle centre-back, Fikayo Tomori and Emerson Royal to his left and right, then Theo Hernandez and Yunus Musah as the wing-backs.

This initially led to a much tougher defensive phase capable of systematically doubling up on Real’s left side, where Vinicius Junior often causes carnage. On the other side, the presence of two pairs of pseudo-full-backs (the centre-backs and the full-backs) also gave a lot of fluidity to the build-up phase.

The positional structure promoted by Fonseca consisted of the continuous movement of key players in order to never find themselves in numerical inferiority in the sector where the ball was passing through. It was implemented thanks to the extraordinary contribution of no less than five players.

Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/AC Milan via Getty Images

First of all, the two midfielders – Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders – were crucial to this approach working well. They dropped deep when not in possession and rose when the ball returned to the feet of the Rossoneri, making the transition phase fluid and difficult to contain.

In addition to them, Alvaro Morata’s extraordinary work in the defensive phase allowed Milan to never find the midfield uncovered, adding an extra metronome in the middle without dangerously sacrificing a defender (who would have had to move up).

When Morata dropped in Leao pushed up: the Portuguese winger was fundamental in attacking the space in behind to keep Real Madrid on their toes. On the other side, Musah acted as a balancer, facilitated by the always punctual movement of Pulisic who roamed across the forward line.

It was a set of instructions and combinations that worked perfectly and above all were successful, but they will not be replicable on every occasion for a whole series of reasons.

‘Monza more complicated’

Fonseca explained the concept very well in his post-match comments: “Playing against Monza is more complicated than against Real Madrid.” It is of course not a phrase about the qualities and value ​​of the two teams, but rather how each game developed.

To simplify, Monza played deeper and were happy to counter-attack while Real Madrid looked to attack and keep a lot of the ball. Facing two antithetical styles of play would be dangerous, which is something to think about when it comes to the five-man defence.

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In European competitions virtually all the teams try to play expansive and aesthetically-pleasing football, which opens up spaces. Against lower-ranking sides (and some higher) in Serie A, Milan are called upon to find spaces, because the impetus is on them to pick the lock.

That is why voluntarily giving up an attacking player to better balance the defence would be counter-productive against teams that close shop with 8-9 players behind the ball. In Serie A there are many more games decided by incidents than the kind of open-field duel we saw in Spain.

Filling the area becomes important, yet this does not mean that the formation necessarily has to alter from a three/five-man defence. What changes is the interpretation of certain roles and movements, much less focused on balance than what has been seen in Europe.

Why the change must be maintained

In the past few years it has always been said that the three-man defence was the right weapon to win league titles – as Antonio Conte, Simone Inzaghi and Max Allegri have shown – but not the path to follow for success in Europe.

Now the opinion seems to have been reversed, with Manchester City and Atalanta capable of winning the Champions League and Europa League playing with three or five defenders on the pitch at the same time.

In this sense, taking Gian Gasperini’s side as an example – a true revelation of last season – they maintained the same principles in terms of their system on paper, but the tweaks came from the roles of individual players and the tasks they had.

Photo by Claudio Villa/AC Milan via Getty Images

The structure of the 5-4-1 was seen in the 3-0 win for Atalanta against Bayer Leverkusen in the UEL fine, a masterclass in containing and countering. That said, is not the same as the 3-3-4 (or 3-4-3) admired in the league, where La Dea were more oriented towards possession-based domination.

Coming to the case of Milan in the league, the Rossoneri could adopt a more unscrupulous approach without having to completely revolutionise their renewed structure.

The three-man defence in the league can be a resource, as they would find a formation that is more accepting of any counter-attacks from the opponents because they would not be as exposed at the back.

In turn, they could commit an extra body or two in attack to help pick apart even the most resolute defences. The most important thing is to have a foundation made of solid brick; from there something more beautiful can grow.