Paulo Fonseca expressed his disappointment with Milan’s defensive performance in their surprising 2-1 loss to newly promoted Parma on Saturday. The Rossoneri were caught off guard just 83 seconds into the match when Dennis Man gave Parma an unexpected lead. Christian Pulisic managed to equalize for Milan after the hour-mark, but substitute Matteo Cancellieri secured the victory for Parma in the closing stages of the game. This marked Parma’s first win over Milan in Serie A since March 2014.
Fonseca, who recently took charge of Milan, acknowledged that his team needs to improve defensively if they want to succeed this season. In a press conference, he expressed his disappointment and frustration with Milan’s defensive attitude, stating, “It’s difficult to explain our defensive attitude. It’s clear that we have a defensive problem. For Parma, it was too easy when they attacked. I’m not just talking about the defenders, but the whole team and how they defend collectively and individually. I take responsibility for what the team does, but we have to recognize these defensive problems.”
Despite creating better chances during the match, Milan struggled to convert them into goals. Out of their 17 shots, only five were on target, the same number as Parma managed from eight fewer attempts. Milan also underperformed their expected goals (xG) by 1.01, missing three big chances and hitting the woodwork. In terms of duels, Parma had a success rate of 54.4% compared to Milan’s 45.6%, leaving Fonseca puzzled by his team’s lackluster display.
Fonseca emphasized the need for improvement and teamwork, saying, “The team works well during the week, and I see improvement leading up to the match. But today, we arrived here and conceded a goal in the first situation. We behaved poorly defensively throughout the entire match. There’s a problem to solve in terms of attitude. We need to work as a team. We lose the ball too easily, which allows a team that defends deep to create chances. We have made mistakes in preventive marking and defensive recoveries that we do not do together.”
Overall, Fonseca’s disappointment with Milan’s defensive performance highlights the areas they need to work on in order to achieve success this season.