Davy & Chin Talk A.C Milan Weekly
Davy & Chin Talk A.C Milan Weekly
Davy & Chin Discuss Milan's New Era: Championship Hopes and Squad Dynamics
Join us as we celebrate and dissect the triumphant preseason of AC Milan and the dawn of a new era under coach Paulo Fonseca. With Zlatan Ibrahimović stepping into the technical director role, we explore his impact and the significant transformations shaping the club on and off the pitch. We brim with excitement about this new era, while we provide a balanced perspective, questioning the shift from nurturing young talent mixed with seasoned pros like Christian Pulisic, Moratta, and more. Together, we debate the ideal mix of youth and experience crucial for the club's future success.
Our conversation then shifts to the nitty-gritty of AC Milan's current squad. We scrutinize the defensive lineup, expressing concerns over Mike Maignan's fitness and the potential of emerging goalkeeping talent. There's high praise for Teo Hernandez, but critical assessments of players like Calabria and Emerson Royale. Central defense reliability is debated, featuring players such as Tomori, Pavlovic, and Malik Thiaw. The midfield isn't left out, as we evaluate the roles of Benacer, Reinders, and Loftus-Cheek, while also keeping an eye on rising stars like Yunus Musa. The attacking front, with the new signings of Alvaro Moratta, gets a thorough analysis, alongside predictions on how coach Fonseca might adapt the team's strategy.
Looking ahead, we offer our bold predictions for the upcoming Serie A season. Expect Milan and Inter to dominate the league, while Juventus may struggle and Napoli, under Conte's leadership, could stage an exciting comeback. We also discuss the potential standings of Atalanta, Roma, Lazio, and Fiorentina, focusing on their consistency in finishing within the top six. The significance of coaching continuity at Milan and the impact of new coaches on rival teams come under the spotlight.
The Rossoneri Renaissance is complete After 11 years. Once again, milan are the champions of Italy. It's they who wear the crown for the 2021-22 season. Hello everyone, this is Davey and Chin. Talk Milan. We are back again, chin. What's up, man? How are you doing, bro?
Speaker 2:I'm good, I'm good, Nice to you up, man. How you doing, bro? I'm good, I'm good, Nice to you know. Catch up with you again, Dave, I feel like so. We went almost God knows how many months without talking and now we've kind of, you know, done almost back-to-back weeks of podcasts. How are you?
Speaker 1:Dave, good, good, good, good, good. I'm excited for this season. To be honest, I think I've been seeing a lot of positive things happening, you know, on and off the pitch, which is a good thing.
Speaker 2:Tell me more, dave, what's making you excited? Tell me what's making you excited.
Speaker 1:I think it's the atmosphere in general, like it's a new vibe now. It's a new chapter, a new era for us, and not just from the coaching perspective, even like in ideas in general. Also, don't forget that this is also Ibrahimovic's first season as the technical director, right? So, yeah, it's also like I see his vision and I like his philosophy as well, what he's trying to build with Milan. So definitely, yeah, what about you?
Speaker 2:Before we move on, can you explain the philosophy to me, because I don't really understand it? You mean like for Ibrahimović.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what you think is Ibrahimović's idea? I think he's trying to build a championship team and I can tell that, even though he's not really willing to go full on in terms of signing and spending, right, he knows what Milan needs and he's trying as much as possible to fill those holes. You know what I mean. Right from the right back. You know Emerson Roya just signed recently. Even though a lot of people are criticizing the signing, I feel it's a decent signing. Same thing with Morata as well. These guys know that they're coming to Milan to work. They know this is not you know them just coming and fighting for top four. They know that there's responsibilities, right and again, if Ibra calls you to a task, you know that you have to make yourself accountable, and I feel like this is the sort of atmosphere that we want at Milan and I'm happy about it. What about you? Like? How confident are you?
Speaker 1:with this whole project so far. Let me ask you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I don't know since when Ibrahimoic became the guy. But to be honest, like I'm happy but then at the same time a little worried, I'll tell you why. So when Maldini was Milan's sporting director, you know he had this vision of I'm going to sign a bunch of young, unproven talent, you know, get them to a certain level right, and then we can either sell them on for a lot of money or they can be the core of big things to come for Milan right Now that was like four years ago, maybe five years ago, and a lot of those guys have grown.
Speaker 2:Rafael Leal, teo Hernandez, a lot of people have grown with that ideology. Now this summer, you know, with Ibrahimovic and the other group of people In fact they started last summer A lot of the people they've been buying mostly if you look at it here, I won't include Ibrahimovic in that conversation of last season signings. Okay, no, I'm just saying like last season, because it's the same people right Moncada and they haven't left, they're still there.
Speaker 2:So, Ibrahimovic is just part of the team now. So the philosophy hasn't changed much because last summer we brought in Pulisic and what's his name? Ruben Loftus-Cheek, a few other like experienced guys, maybe people that were mid-prime. You know what I mean when I mean mid-prime. They're not old, but they are just right about the upper echelon of their prime. Maybe they've tried in some clubs like Chelsea and some other big teams and they've not succeeded. And those are the kind of people that they brought in right Ruben Loftus-Cheek, pulisic, tijani, reinders Maybe he might fall under the young, but he's not too young and so on and so forth. So Milan didn't really bring in that many, many, many young players like they did the previous year right, where they brought a lot of like your Franksies and Malik Charles and you can clearly tell that I would disagree with your down chain.
Speaker 1:Are you serious? Like, literally, milan brought in Chukwu? Chukwu is not a flop in Villarreal. Chukwu is like one of the top players at Villarreal.
Speaker 2:This is my point, though.
Speaker 1:Okafor, coming to Milan, is one of the top players at RBG.
Speaker 2:No, I'm not talking about the flop, I'm talking about profile, age profile. I'm telling you that these are all players we already knew before they came to Milan, right?
Speaker 1:But I think they invested in young players last season, though Forget the fact that they brought in Pulisic. Okafor is a young player.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but we already. Okay. So let me make my point. Okafor is young, but you and I watched Okafor play in the Champions League for years and won a lot of trophies before coming to Milan. So even though he's young, he's actually like a young, experienced player. Right, he's in the same age. It's like telling me Rafael Leal is young because he's only 24 years old six years, I don't know if you understand what I mean. So, compared to did you know Vranks? Did you know Malik Chia? Did you know Pierre Kalulu? You know what I mean. Even Rafael Leal, before he ended up at Milan, he was relatively unknown.
Speaker 2:My point I'm making is those are two different philosophies. Now, the reason I bring it up is because this year, similar to that, they've continued almost in that trend. But the only difference now, friends, now, is last year the lots of the players we brought in, to your point, were very, very good players that are like middle, mid-age, right, they're all 23, 24, maybe some of them have like five, six, seven years experience in in professional football, right, but in this year we haven't actually done exactly that. Instead, to your point, they started building out a championship team by rounding them up with some very experienced players in positions that they feel they need help, and that's why I still believe that last year Milan underperformed or underachieved, because those players, to my point, in my mind, are very good players and they were good enough to help you win championships. But again, let's skip that part. The only worry with that is, while this is awesome, we're indirectly doing what Inter Milan kind of technically does, but a cheaper version of it, which is bringing a lot of experienced players. Go for it. Now, what does that make you? That makes you a competitive team this year. And then you can figure yourself out years down the road, right, when all these old guys eventually, you know, move on right. You know what I mean. But what makes me excited New coach and the fact that Milan is going to be one of the top three teams in Europe not Europe in Serie A this season. The new coach really excites me because those same players from last year that we're talking about, that have a lot of talent. They are now all going to be able to show their talent in manners that, to be honest with you, they didn't get the chance to show last year, right? So that's what really excites me about it.
Speaker 2:So, watching the preseason. I watched Milan's preseason. They didn't lose, all preseason. They played very tough opponents and I was telling Leo, off the record, you know, like hey, for the first time I can see Milan playing all these teams and they felt really comfortable and they didn't lose. So imagine playing man City, madrid and Baca in preseason. I know everyone would say it's preseason, but those are still prestigious teams and you didn't lose any one of those games. That's not something I've ever seen, even with Milan, when they were really really good right. So that's what excites me New coach, you know, new ideas and hopefully like a very competitive season.
Speaker 1:Well, I think I kind of agree, I agree with you to some point, to be honest, because I feel like, at the end of the day, this team has been, you know, in the making since last season, like you said, and the amount of players that were brought in last season, I don't think they were really matured enough to really make that sort of huge difference. In all honesty, let's forget the fact that Pioli also, you know, was part of the problem, but I kind of feel like some of those players were not really at their best. Players like Chukwueze, for example, or Kafo, they were like being on and off, like you know, not everyone would like fully switch or rub a lot of strength. That you know had a fantastic season last season. So I feel like, again, a lot of players that came in last season were not really, you know, at the level that we all expected them to be.
Speaker 1:So, but obviously under a new coach, a new system, you know we're hoping for, you know, a leap in performance this season, most especially for players like you know, chukwueze, for example, okafo, for example, like these guys, like if they come in this season again and they put in a lot of work, you know, under Fonseca, like you know, I work. You know, under Fonseca, like you know, I think they really Milan is really going to go for this season, to be honest.
Speaker 2:Again, my. So all these guys are good, right, and I said it last year, remember when we were talking about the transfer season, transfer, and I was telling you that for once, milan had a very you know, it looked like very good transfer season, like a session, summer, right, they brought in a lot of very talented players. Like when you watch all these people, like to your point Chukweze was good in Villarreal, was he very consistent? No, but, like I keep mentioning over time, these are the kind of caliber of players that Milan would basically go for, and I say that players that, in my own opinion, have the talent you can see there, but they are not really consistent. They don't produce week in weekout.
Speaker 2:A prime example? I'll give you another one Mikalo Modric. You can tell Modric is a very good player but due to situations, maybe at Chelsea or whatever, he might not really be able to deliver that week-in week-out. So if you get a guy like that to Milan, he might actually then like something might click for him or, with the right coaching environment, he might actually become that person that you saw at Shakhtar Donetsk right Before he went to Chelsea. So those are the kind of situations, because I've said this a few times. If a player is good and they are consistent, they typically end up playing for the teams like Real Madrid and, you know, man City of the world, right, milan can't afford those people today. So the fact that we get all the Okafors and Chukwueses tells me that they have something off with them. Either they are not the best in terms of technical ability or they are not really consistent. Okay, great.
Speaker 2:So what do you do? You invest in a good coach who can get the best out of those kind of players, and that, to me, was the biggest issue we had over the last few years, which is we didn't have a coach that can mold players that have flaws and just get them to raise their flaw just a little bit right. Take them to raise their floor just a little bit right. Take them to a certain level where I'm not expecting Chukwuza to turn out to be the next coming of Ian Robin, no, but I'm expecting him to be more consistent, even if he's mediocrity, but let him be mediocre, consistent. I don't know if that makes any sense. As opposed to one week, he's the best player on the field. The next week, you're wondering for two months where is this guy and where is this guy and that has been this Milan team for the last couple of years. I've got a question for you, Chen?
Speaker 1:Do you think this squad, though, do you think we have enough depth?
Speaker 2:Well, if they don't really keep getting rid of a lot of people. I think my biggest fear is still in defense. Right, because defensively I feel like Milan really need help, like if you go right in goal, in goalkeeping, like when it comes to the goalkeeping department, I have no problems. Mike mian is still mike mian. And then the kid um, yes, he has. Like I keep imagining, all all I see is flashes of a, you know, dollaruma right? Yeah, not donoruma, dollaruma right, because I remember how he made his name in that uh preseason in like asia and saved a few penalties. And that's exactly what I see in the kid. So this weekend I was watching some highlights of the Futoro team to see if the kid played and turns out he didn't play, that means he's actually going to be part of the first team.
Speaker 1:Oh no, yeah, he's been played already to join the first team.
Speaker 2:So he's going to be part of the first team, which so, and I also suspect that this year Mike Minyam might have one of those normal injury things. So this is not a bad option to at least see what the kid can do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and Sportello has been on and off too, so yeah, and Sportello, isn't he seriously hurt?
Speaker 2:He's not the guy that broke his hand in a hotel, but that's beside the point. Then you go to defense, right, if you go to the right back, I have a problem with all our fullbacks not named Teo Hernandez. Even with the addition of Ederson Emerson Royale, I still have a problem with all the fullbacks not named Teo Hernandez. So that's still a problem. Tarek Chano, to me super suspect, your boy Calabria. I don't even want to start, you know what I mean. So you know what I mean. So all the full-backs that are not named Teo problem. Then defensively, centre-back, again, I still believe that we have a lot of work to do with the centre-backs. Malik Teo, very suspicious. You can say all you want about Tomori, but that's between you and your maker, I don't want to talk about it. And then the new guy. I haven't really seen him play much, I think.
Speaker 1:Tomori and Pavlovich are really going to have a very good partnership.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so then what's the next option?
Speaker 1:The next option is Malik Thiel, malik Thiel and then Kaluluma end up going to Juventus, juventus.
Speaker 2:And then who's next? Gabia. So that's Milan's defence, going into a season where we play champions?
Speaker 1:No, no, no, but Gabia has been impressive.
Speaker 2:No, but this is the point. You cannot go into the season. Even Manchester City has like five to six solid defenders. So I'm not saying we are Manchester City, but you always need at least five centre-backs At least. So you need two and then one extra Because, remember, they always get hurt. That's beside the point. That's really. My concern is the centre-backs and the full-backs. Defensively, I'm still worried. In midfield, I'm still worried. In midfield, I'm not so worried. I feel like we have a lot of good players in midfield. I still believe Benacer is top, top notch. Reinders is very good and, like this year, I can't wait to see the game go ahead.
Speaker 1:How do you see Fonseca playing that midfield?
Speaker 2:to be honest, well, that's what I actually am curious to see because I know he's times he's actually tried to convince Loftus-Cheek to stop carrying the ball too much and get rid of the ball a little bit more quicker. So, benassi, loftus-cheek and what's his name and Reinders, I see them playing together in midfield, but with different instructions, right, other than hey, you drag the ball and carry the ball. I see those three playing there, but we have enough, I think, in midfield, in my own opinion, with those three guys and any other person rounding it up. Then now you can drop Uli Sitch also to help you as an attacking mid, if you want. So what I'm trying to say is our biggest issue, to be frank with you, is on defence, attacking-wise, not too much of a problem, right, because you have Morata and you can always bring in.
Speaker 1:Can I be sincere to you, go ahead. I wouldn't be expecting Pulisic to be playing right wing at this stage here.
Speaker 2:Well, I think he's going to be playing more attacking mid than anything, so which means that Tukwisi goes to the left, right.
Speaker 1:Even us with two midfielders?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so those two midfielders Rotation between Ruben, Loftus-Cheek, Reinders and Benassi.
Speaker 1:But who do you see? Who do you see? Because, again, these are three different kind of players Basically. You know what I mean. Yes, because Benassi plays differently. Benassi is more of a holding CDM and Tijani Reinders is more of a central midfielder who likes box to box, same thing as Loftus-Cheek, loftus-cheek as well. Right, so I don't see him playing Reinders and Loftus-Cheek together, but at the same time, I don't think Fonseca really, um, really want to leave, you know, benassi in front of the defense.
Speaker 2:So far, you still have a few other characteristics in that midfield. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Like I think in the preseason Yunus Musa impressed me a lot and the coach also said that To me, I love Musa so much, like I kind of feel like Musa is the kind of player that you know you can Fonseca can really work on to be a CDM or at least to be much more useful in that midfield in terms of the defensive face and also in the attacking face, because the way Milan plays now I kind of like it, because we're not like that, you know, milan of purely where, like we just, you know, trying to, you know, hold the ball in the, in the this, in the opponent's box, and then lose the ball out of nowhere.
Speaker 1:Because this is a more disciplined Milan now, like they always try to hold the ball as much as they can and control the game and then attack at the right time, which I think is going to help us a lot this season. Now, talking about the attack right, obviously it's going to be Morata Like, and, of what I'm hearing so far, okafor and Jovic will probably be the other strikers that we're going to be keeping.
Speaker 2:So who's yeah? Isn't that all of the players we have like in forward? Who else is yeah?
Speaker 1:well, I think Colombo left too right. Oh yeah, colombo already left.
Speaker 2:So Morata and Jovic as your strikers, okafor would deputise there. But he can also play wing right. He can play Rafael Ea's position, or even like even attacking mid Like position, or even like even attacking me, like how like that guy the thing is, sometimes his problem is that he actually isn't really great at a particular position. That you know what I mean. Like I think his national team coach said that that his issue was that when he played under purely, he was all over the place right like. Sometimes he's on the left, sometimes he's on the right. You know, sometimes he's playing as your out andand-out striker. So those are his issues, but I think he's a very good player that we should leave on the squad. Forget about the attack.
Speaker 2:Milan's problem is not going to be scoring goals this year, I'm telling you, he's keeping it out of our net. We cannot go into the season. I keep saying this and I'll say it to you. The season starts, so we still have about two or three more weeks before the end of the transfer summer transfer. You can't go into this season with Tomori, mathieu, gabia Malik, thiel and Pavlovic, and those are your four centre-backs that you have. I feel like you need one more person Either. You need somebody that can actually be a third, second to third. What are you saying?
Speaker 1:man. Are these all the players that Pioli had last season?
Speaker 2:Oh no, but Pioli had no, but he still had Timon Kiyo, Did you remember? So you can't go into the season with those guys Because at the end of the day, right, Like you and I are going to sit here and we're going to bang our head Because even in the preseason, we saw that our problem was actually defensively Right. And no matter how structured you are in terms of your defensive structure, you can limit chances, which Milan did. But man, the amount of quality chances they get because of defensive lapses here and there, right, those scare me and they're not going to go away. Because you can't play Malik Chia Like I don't think you can.
Speaker 1:You can't play Malik Chia. I feel like we still need the CDM Like. I feel like we still need the CDM.
Speaker 2:We still need the central defensive midfielder. Oh see, if you need a central defensive midfielder, then you're just looking for more like a person that To your point. I still believe you might be able to convert a Unis Moussa to that if you work on him a little bit more. But, as I said, the problem with him is he's quite aggressive, but then sometimes he's trying to do a lot. So maybe with the right set of people around him, where he doesn't have to, maybe like, think about the situation, maybe Ebenase, moussa and the Rangers like I, just using that as an example where Moussa will give him some more leg, because no matter forget how big Ruben Lozic's cheek is is he's actually not that physical in terms of tackling the ball. He's physical when he has the ball. He's not going to lose it but going to win the ball back. He's not that guy. On the other hand, moussa is and Benassi is. So you might be able.
Speaker 2:The only thing you lose with Moussa which I saw him do well is carrying the ball forward. So if you pair let's assume you pair like Moussa M, moussa, benassi and Reinders, but then you have a good balance where some they can both, they can all, they have legs, they can all chase the ball. They can also kind of hold the ball a little bit in terms of possession, and then pass the ball as well, right, so that's usually how I think of it, so, but then I feel, like what's it called Like? To your point, milan might still need an additional body, nobody in midfield, just because. But if I actually had my way and you asked me oh my God, you have money, who do you focus on? Men, I still need a defender, like a centre-back, because forget Pavlovich, like, think about it tomorrow. Pavlovich is very good, yeah, but then all it takes is for tomorrow to get hot. And then now we're back to Gabia and Malitea. I'm not against Gabia, but I'm just saying those.
Speaker 1:Not against Gabi, but I'm just saying those are the people you're relying on. To be honest, unless, again, gabi. To me, I think he's a reliable backup. Malik Thiel is a reliable backup as well when he's fit. I think there's a lot of work for him this season in terms of his defensive. You know techniques and abilities. You need to work on him so many things to if you really want to have a chance to even, you know, step on the feet for Fonseca. That's one thing I think about Omalik Thiel and I think he's really going to work on himself this season obviously I'm not a big fan of the Kanulu going to Juventus, just for the record.
Speaker 1:No, it's irritating. To be honest, it's very irritating. I can imagine Kanulu going to black and white and facing Milan.
Speaker 2:I don't know how many times Milan would have to do this to realize Like you never. So two things I've learned from my years watching Serie A Milan shouldn't be buying players from Juventus and they shouldn't be selling players to Juventus. I know right. I don't know if that makes sense. I feel, like anybody leaving Juventus to come to Milan over the last 15 years, at least I know of, then something is wrong. Right that player like you. Get the Bonucci of your world right Of this world.
Speaker 1:I don't mind, I'll take the Chiesa.
Speaker 2:I'm just saying it usually doesn't go well, then, on the other hand, anytime a player leaves Milan and goes to Juventus, then all of a sudden that player becomes like you know, like think about it. So we shouldn't be making those trades. I don't like the Kalulu. I feel like Kalulu is very versatile, whether he had the lapse last year where he was injured and he was also out of but there was a time two years ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think the player, the kind of player that fits Juventus, is probably Calabria, but obviously oh yeah, let them send Calabria to Juventus.
Speaker 2:Who's talking about that? Like, yeah, they can take Calabria. I knew you were going to say that. So yeah, if Juventus wants Calabria, I'll help them package him and send him over so you don't get shipped, so you don't feel Like they took your captain.
Speaker 1:Are you kidding?
Speaker 2:me, who's my captain, he's your captain, so they can take Calabria Like you know what. We can send them Calabria and then we can get Chiesa. The only issue with Chiesa Coming to Milan, for instance, is the fact that, like he's who's, what is he going to? Like the positioning, like he's just he ends up on the right-hand side, right or left-hand side, like it's a position that we don't really need. If Keza was the centre-back, then I don't mind that. Right, if they can give us Calabria or Gatti or somebody like that for Calabria, I don't mind that. But I also believe that Milan like to be honest. They need, they really need like a very solid centre-backs can make up.
Speaker 2:Take a look at Liverpool. You think they are good defensively, but just because when Virgil van Dijk is doing a great job, everybody else looks good, trent can decide to do nothing and the teams still look solid. You need a very, very solid centre-back to pair with Tomori or to pair with Pavlovic. I know you rate Tomori very highly. I don't. I think he's a good player, but he's not as good as you think. So for me, we need another centre-back.
Speaker 1:Let me ask you a question, please. I have a question that I really want to ask you. Go ahead, so let's talk about the main point there. What are your expectations for Fonseca going into this season?
Speaker 2:Oh, I expect him to be competing to win the league because I think he's an upgrade over Pioli and the squad hasn't changed much. Simple that squad. In my own opinion, last year, if they had a better coach, inter Milan would not have won that league by 19 points.
Speaker 1:What do you mean? The squad?
Speaker 2:No, no, I mean it hasn't changed much. Yes, exactly Like, aside from changing Morata for Giroud, how many more changes have you seen?
Speaker 1:Pavlovic, these are the key areas. These are the key areas where he's supposed to solve. Yes, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:The squad hasn't changed much. You know what changes Changes. Last year, when they brought in 10 new players and then kicked out 22 players, or whatever.
Speaker 1:You're right, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 2:There's no more Krunic right that we have to worry about. I know Krunic is there rolling in his grave somewhere wondering like what's wrong with this guy. So we kicked out a lot of people, right? Junior, messias, krunic all those people are gone. Now we've I keep saying it last year we upgraded the squad. Today, this year, we just, you know, topped up on an upgraded squad. This team should not be that far off from Inter Milan, but you, you would never listen to me. Inter Milan players went to the Euros and they all showed their true colour, which is they are not really that good. That means why the Milan players went to the Euros and everybody shouting oh my God, these guys are really good. Theo Hernandez, tijani, reinders, rafael Leal, mike Mignan these are the people that Inter Milan will whoop their ass six straight times. And you sit here and defend the coach. Think about it.
Speaker 1:Can we talk about the current?
Speaker 2:We are talking about current.
Speaker 1:All I'm saying is that it will not happen again.
Speaker 2:It will never happen again.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is it, this is it here, right? Obviously, like you know, I'm very confident, I'm going.
Speaker 2:This is one of the the very races in that, oh and, by the way, I haven't talked about Alexis Salamakas a few times. Maybe they will make him send me right back or send him away.
Speaker 1:I don't think playing right back is the best thing, Anyways yeah, like I'm saying the thing is right now. Right, because I kind of feel like obviously Fonseca has really come in to you know the atmosphere is there, like you know, players are really hungry, you know everybody's happy and you know well you are letting that this team is an emotional team, right, like we've always said. Right like our team is an emotional team, like where they are.
Speaker 2:No, no, milan is emotional because their coach was emotional. Like you do know, most teams take the take the personality of their coach right. So now.
Speaker 1:So now, what do you think would be Fonseca's biggest obstacle, like, in achieving his target?
Speaker 2:His biggest obstacle in achieving his. This is the haters like you and that guy Dami in the group.
Speaker 1:I don't understand that.
Speaker 2:Praying that he loses, so that he can remember purely.
Speaker 1:So let me explain no, you, you, you and I forgive you.
Speaker 2:You know why I forgive you. You know why I forgive you because I've known you for years and I know you genuinely care about Milan and your desire for your too much desire, for your fear of Milan going back to dark ages is the reason why you didn't want Pioli to go. But that's okay, You're forgiven. But the point I'm making is Chid.
Speaker 1:Yeah, give you for anything.
Speaker 2:Well, whether it's Ekita or not, I'm forgiving you, but let's move on my love for Milan is always going to remain so anyway.
Speaker 2:Fonseca's biggest pitfall for me and that's why I was so happy with the results they got in the preseason. And I'll tell you why. Forget about the fact that it's preseason when you have a new coach and players are and the system, it's good to be getting reasonable results. If Milan went to the preseason and they were losing all their games and looking very horrible right, that carries over and people think it's actually it's just preseason. That's how players work, because the players are human beings. They look at the new system, the new coach. They are all asking themselves who's this guy? Show us what you've got. Do you go? You beat man city, you beat madrid and you beat the barcelona. Then the players are going okay, this guy must know what he's doing. Whatever it is, we're working, it's believed. And then all of a sudden they have that belief in the system and it's going to work for them. Now his biggest issue is going to be when the season starts. If the first few games go sideways, then all of a sudden everyone goes oh well, I guess it's just pre-season, whatever, whatever, right. So for me, seca needs to show these guys that whatever he preaches, he believes it to the point that even when he's going south. He's all on board with it Because that's the only way he can keep this thing going, because, trust me, it's not going to be smooth.
Speaker 2:I know I'm here talking right now, I'm praising him, but I like coaches that believe in what they believe in and they stick with it. It's not one day you're playing 4-5-2. The next minute you're playing 3-3-1. And the next minute you're playing whatever, nobody knows. The next minute your goalkeeper is now your center back. Those are not. That's not your formula for success. So for me, be stubborn with your formation. You can tweak things, you can adjust based on the teams you're playing. Your philosophy of football should not deviate that much and that's how most coaches achieve great success. You cannot be flip-flopping because the players will not trust anything you're saying. So the biggest threat is that Is that things go south and he starts acting like Pioli Because he's at Milan now. If he remains true to who he is and Ibra and those guys, they believe in him and they trust what he's doing Things are going to go okay, even when they go bad.
Speaker 2:Secondly, defensive injuries. I keep saying this part in your mind you're trusting, you're trusting this defense. Keep trusting. I personally believe that we need at least another human body in there to just help uh, what's it called? Just help, be a number, because people will get hurt and eventually you would need think about it in every other position. We have at least two to three people that legitimately you can say they are fighting for a position, maybe a self-referral position. But if you bring Okafor, the drop-off is not, like, you know, going from heaven to whatever. It's still very serviceable, right, but then you go to the center back. It's like okay, I watched Malik Teo this summer. Man, I've watched him last year.
Speaker 1:I don't think he's really that guy, but anyway, I've been saying this since last year though you thought I was targeting him I've been saying this.
Speaker 2:No, no, yeah, so last year you were saying it and I agree.
Speaker 1:But then you were saying against Moise King too, against Juventus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, but anyways, yeah, anyway, that's it. Defensive issues and not starting the season off the right way is the only thing that I believe might derail Ponceca. Other than that, I think we're going to have a fun. See, we're going to have a fun year, and I say fun year because you're going to enjoy. Now you understand what. Like you enjoy watching Milan play, it's not the one where we get tortured. You know you have to watch Krunic pass the ball backwards, sideways, backwards, sideways. Oh Okay, go ahead.
Speaker 1:Anyways, like right now, what do you think Fonseca can do with this team in the Champions League, though?
Speaker 2:In the Champions League it depends on the draw. If you have a horrible draw, like last year which I agree was horrible and then you decide to do some additional things to make your life even more miserable, well then, yeah, you're going to struggle in the Champions League. But if Milan has a good draw this next month or in two months' time, when they do the draw, well then they have a chance to actually, because if you rank all the teams in Europe, no matter what anybody thinks, Milan will be the top 10 teams in Europe. So, depending on how things fall for you, you might end up getting as far as your quarterfinals or even potentially semifinals. It's not far-fetched, but it all depends on how things go for this team. And then also, you have to remember there are two stages to the Champions League. There's a group stage which then takes they to the Champions League. There's a group stage which then takes they take like this whole two-month break or whatever, and by then they've gone for transfer market. So if Milan is doing well, right, let's imagine they are doing quite well in the league and then they are looking like they are doing okay in the Champions League, Well, they may end up investing in the team in certain areas, and then the think they are obviously the Madrid's of the world. Of course they're still Madrid, man City, bayern, whatever. But Milan can at least do better than they did last year, which is get knocked out of the group stage and then go lose in the quarterfinals against Roma in Europa League.
Speaker 2:But for the league, the league is what I'm actually more excited about, because there's a lot of teams that are unsettled. With the exception of Inter Milan, everybody else looks suspicious. Even though I like Thiago Mota, whatever he's doing at Juventus is already worrying. When you decide that people like Chiesa is no longer needed, those ones bother me, right. So my suspicion is that Morata will have his own learning curve with Juventus. Conte has decided that the OC men of the world are no longer needed to him. He's already started his house clearance.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's already complaining. He complained.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So he's already complaining that they need players, that he wants the best for Napoli. So those guys are going to go through their normal struggle. For me, fonseca is stable. He looks stable. Milan players are happy. Everybody is saying positive things. I watched Rafael Leal. The issues he still has he still has. But I can guarantee you, come the middle of the end of the season the guy will be much better because he will know when to pass and to shoot the ball. I guarantee you that. And then all the other key players. They look excited, they look rejuvenated. So Milan has a friendly match tomorrow. We'll see what it looks like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we play Monza tomorrow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then the season kicks off on Saturday yes, against Torino.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm just excited.
Speaker 2:I'm excited for the new coach mostly. I can't wait. I was tired of watching your boy Pioli. Sorry, can you give me a prediction for for the top four this season? Well, last year we should talk about my predictions. I think they almost all came true.
Speaker 2:I said milan inter will compete for the league. I was far off. It was inter winning the league by a lot and then I think I ended up saying napoli will end up third or fourth. I was also horribly wrong with that. But this year, this year, for me it's almost similar where it's going to be a Milan Inter right For the top two, milan Inter top two, juventus will fall off, like just because, again, I like Mota, but it's different than Juventus. I think Napoli will step back up, and the reason I say that they will be in the top three this year Because Conte, regardless of what we say about him, he's a crazy person and he doesn't really joke with winning right. So they will come back up, they'll come back to life and then after that they will basically burn down the whole stadium and you know, and close the club. But that's beside the point.
Speaker 1:You're not putting Atalanta in the conversion at all.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, Atalanta. Like I feel like they will also finish between five and six. So it's going to be Roma, atalanta in that range, right, Just like that. So Roma, atalanta, juventus, everybody there. But top three for me is going to be Milan, inter and Napoli. Yeah, the Atalanta, like you know, they are usually that team. They are not like they're not going to win the league, they're a cup team. They're not going to win the league, but they are going to basically be there when the season ends and be like top five or top six. Same with Roma, lazio. We know how the result team plays out Fiorentina. So basically not a lot changes.
Speaker 1:I just hope that Milan finishes the season on top so we can yeah, my own thing is I don't think I remember the last time like a coach you know just took over Milan and won the Scudetto right away, like that for sure.
Speaker 2:The only reason is because I'll tell you why.
Speaker 1:I can't remember the last time, like I think Fonseca would do it, and I'll tell you why he would do it, simply because continuity.
Speaker 2:This squad has not changed much. These were the same players from last year. They coach, that's all. So a better coach will be able to compete with Inter Milan. Now they will not be out-coached when they go play Inter Milan, because that's usually what breaks you you go play Inter, they just run over you like a headless chicken, so that should help them. And then the other teams in Italy. They are all figuring themselves out. Almost every single one of them have a new coach, and then they don't have that many good players as Milan does. And I'm saying this because I know that Milan has a lot of good players, and you know how I know. In the summer they were all having a great summer in their national teams because they are good players, except when they go back and Pioli is telling them to shoot when they're supposed, to pass and pass when they're supposed to the level of consistency is really going to play a huge role this season, to be honest.
Speaker 1:Well, they could be helped with that I'm hoping that Fonseca is able to tackle that part, because I think that would be Fonseca's biggest struggle in terms of being able to communicate and get through to these guys and make them consistent in terms of the Champions League level, the top level, because, again, I don't want to go into the season and say Chigui is good this week, then take a break for the next three weeks, we'll not see him again. You know those kind of things. Let me tell you how you know.
Speaker 2:Watch even the preseason. You see every break. You see how, fonseca, the way he's coaching them, he's telling them he's like you. I think you should be here. Those things are not things you saw with Pioli. I'm telling, even during the training sessions you were saying his first session. The way he was telling Chukwuzi how to use his body and know when to pass, that this is your moment to pass. That's what coaching is, Even the best of them all. Pep still does that with his players. Every minute. He's telling them what he thinks ideal situation looks like. That's how you get there. Anyway, I know you're worried.
Speaker 1:So go ahead and give me your prediction, Dave. Oh yeah, definitely, Again, I was going to put Milan.
Speaker 2:You said Milan would win the league if it was a match, Of course.
Speaker 1:Milan would win the league. Of course I'm very confident. This is Milan winning the league. Inter will come second, obviously, and I think the third position is going to be between I don't see Juventus in the third position. I think Atalanta and Napoli will become third and fourth, but I don't know. You know what other?
Speaker 2:It's funny how we didn't name Bologna, but because we just assumed that it would just fall back, to fall back to their normal whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like it's normal for teams like Bologna to, like you know, just hit for me one season, they regress back to the mid by the time Champions League and they see serious beating. They will probably just they will fool the game. So but anyways, yeah, I'm looking forward to the Monza game tomorrow though, like you know, definitely watch the score prediction for tomorrow's game. I know it's a friendly, but at least it's a friendly.
Speaker 2:I don't like, honestly don't care, I just want to go watch and see how they progress and see that everybody five or six days right. So that's it, just to see.
Speaker 1:I hope that nobody gets hurt and they all come out in one piece. One more thing, one more thing, please. How confident are you in Mike Minyan going into the season?
Speaker 2:That's what I said. I think he's going to get hurt at some point because he's played a lot of games in the last few months. But I'm also like that's no more Teresanu, right, teresanu? Whatever you call him, teresanu, no, teresanu, did you forget him? Yeah, teresanu, no more that. So now I have good goalkeepers that I'm not worried about, right? So, yes, even if Mike gets hurt, it's okay. I also believe that this might be Mike's last year at Milan, just for the record definitely anyways, definitely anyways.
Speaker 1:It's been a pleasure talking to you, chin. Thanks, dave. I'm so looking forward to the first season on Saturday and we should probably definitely get together on Sunday and, you know, do a review of the game yes, I hope it's a blowout and Milan wins for nothing.
Speaker 2:Everybody gets excited and we see Fonseca ball in full flow. Anyways, thank you, have a good one, take care of yourself and for Zamizan take care. Okay, bye-bye.
