Sky journalist Peppe Di Stefano has offered even more background on what led up to AC Milan’s derby win over Inter at San Siro on Sunday night.
With his job on the line as per numerous reports, Paulo Fonseca knew that his side needed to perform well and that he needed a result. The decision to switch to playing a 4-4-2/4-2-4 was seen by many as a desperate last roll of the dice, and yet the outcome could hardly have been better.
The bold choices paid off as the Rossoneri not only won the game thanks to goals from Christian Pulisic and Matteo Gabbia but they were dominant too, having far more shots and big chances than their hosts, who are of course the Italian champions.
How did they manage to find this success and this performance after such difficult days? Sky’s Peppe Di Stefano spoke to Radio Rossonera about the approach to the match.
“[The days were] The opposite of what we think. They were beautiful days, absurdly, at Milanello. Four things happened: the first is that the team had hit rock bottom. And when you hit rock bottom you get back up,” he said.
“The second thing is that Ibrahimovic was at Milanello and compared to other times he was a much less invasive presence and much more supportive of the team. Third: after the match Fonseca locked the team in the dressing room and spoke for an hour and forty minutes with the team, understanding their problems, their difficulties…
“And the fourth thing is that the group appreciated the new tactical system because, despite Fonseca saying that everything is the same, Milan played with two strikers. In the middle, a nice barbecue was held on Thursday at Milanello (when there was still a nice temperature).
“The sum of all this led to a euphoria and a form of greater awareness. It couldn’t have been the Milan of the start of the season. Fonseca’s starts have always been slow statistically. We knew there had to be a match for the spark and no one believed it could be the derby. Milan not only won but convinced.”
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