Fonseca reveals who will replace Morata and where Milan must improve | OneFootball

Milan coach Paulo Fonseca confirms that Noah Okafor will replace Alvaro Morata against Parma and insists the Rossoneri must increase ‘intensity’ in defence.

Milan meet Parma at the Stadio Tardini tomorrow. Both sides secured draws in the opening league fixture last week. Milan recovered from two goals down for a 2-2 home draw against Torino, while Parma held Fiorentina to a 1-1 stalemate.

“The lads trained well, but we must understand that some are not on the same level [of fitness]. Some are closer to the ideal fitness, but everyone worked well. It was a good week of work,” Fonseca said at a press conference on Friday.

Morata will remain out of action for at least two weeks, so who will replace the Spaniard at the Tardini?

“I must be honest. Okafor will play tomorrow,” Fonseca replied.

“He will play because I think it will be a different game [from the first one]. We want to press high, differently from the first match. We tried it during the week, and Okafor’s reaction was good. The game’s characteristics fit Okafor’s skill sets. I think Luka [Jovic] will be useful at another point in the game. It will be difficult, so we must press differently; that’s why Okafor will play.”

Morata suffered a muscle injury after the game against Torino last week, but he had already felt discomfort before kickoff. Will he return after Venezia in the first game after the international break?

“It depends on how the situation evolves. It’s not a big problem,” Fonseca said.

“He felt something before the Torino game, but exams didn’t highlight anything. I was unsure about starting him because the player had just arrived. I took a precaution with Morata. He wanted to play, but with the medical department, we showed him that it would have been risky to play 60 or 90 minutes. When players arrive later in the pre-season, it’s a problem because they must play. I think we handled the situation well. We didn’t take any risk. It just happened.”

Despite Morata’s injury, Francesco Camarda won’t even go on the bench and will be available for Milan Futuro.

“Camarda won’t be with us, and I must say that we are very focused on young players,” Fonseca said.

“These guys have already played well with us, but we must understand they are in a different moment. Our young players are of high quality, so we must choose the right moment to make them play and create the conditions for them to be successful. I think this is not the right moment to put pressure on a young player. This is why they are working close to us. When the right moment comes, they will play.”

Fonseca hinted that new signing Strahinja Pavlović “could” start, and the same is true of Tijjani Reijnders and Theo Hernandez.

“I think Reijnders and Theo are closer to being fit. Fofana and Emerson arrived later. Fofana trained alone for many days. They still need more time to understand our playing style.”

Fonseca continued his press conference, explaining what he expected to see from his players against Parma.

“It is clear to me that we must be a different team from what we were vs Torino in the first half.

“Against any team, not just Torino, we can’t allow opponents at San Siro to build up like Torino did. For this reason, I want a different team. We improved in the second half, but we must be consistent. We can’t give away 45 minutes.

“I’m never really satisfied. I always think that teams aren’t a finished product. We have just started. The pre-season was very positive, with different games and good performances. We took a step forward in some games against Torino, and I want to have the chance to bring the team to the same [fitness] level.

“We did very good things during the pre-season. It’s not a game against Torino that will put into question what we’ve done. We follow our path confidently, knowing we have much to improve.”

Fonseca seemed particularly concerned about Parma wingers and the Crociati’s solid identity.

“Yeah, I must say that this team has played together for a long time,” he noted.

“They have a strong identity, are very aggressive defensively and are strong on counter-attacks. Their wingers are really very dangerous, so we must pay attention when we lose the ball and avoid counter-attacks. I do not doubt that it will be a challenging game.”

As for the transfer window, Fonseca refused to rule out a new signing in the final week of negotiations.

“The club has done great work until now,” he said.

“Honestly, I think that a team like Milan is never closed. There are always opportunities to improve the team, so let’s see what happens. However, I have to say that the club has done an excellent job.”