Fonseca urges Milan to improve and find balance

Paulo Fonseca has urged Milan to find a balance between defence and attack after displaying a variety of weaknesses in their last two matches.

Milan were toothless but defensively sound in a dour 0-0 draw at home with Juventus last week, before having the opposite problem in a midweek 3-2 Champions League win over Slovan Bratislava.

After opening the scoring, the Italian side twice conceded and had a nervy finish to the game as their Slovakian opponents pushed hard for an equaliser.

Milan are already 10 points behind leaders Napoli in Serie A, though with a game in hand, and Fonseca is keen to find a solution to their problems when they face Empoli on Saturday.

“With Juve, we were more organised, with Slovan better in transition. It seems to me that we improve in something, then other problems arise,” Fonseca told reporters.

“But it’s not because you win that you have to think everything is fine by closing your eyes to the problems. I can’t close my eyes. We talked about the problems.

“It’s important to work on the problem. We won [against Slovan]. Is everything OK? No. When we work on the problem we had in the game, the team has a positive response.”

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Milan have managed just one win in their last four league games, but have failed to score in their last two Serie A games played at San Siro (D1 L1). They last went without a win in three home matches between February and April 2021 (a run of four).

A home match against Empoli, who Milan have won six of their last seven Serie A meetings with (D1), could help the Rossoneri narrow the gap to the top and build some momentum.

“It’s not easy in Italy to be dominant, it’s not easy against Empoli,” Fonseca said.

“What we want is balance, to feel that the team creates chances by having defensive security. In Bratislava, after scoring 0-1, there was a chance to dominate the game, but we conceded the equaliser and the team took it.”

Midfielder Youssouf Fofana, a key player in Milan’s set-up, is on four yellow cards and could receive a one-match suspension if he is booked on Saturday, which would rule him out of a key trip to second-placed Atalanta next week.

Asked if the Frenchman would be rested as a precaution, Fonseca said: “I can’t take the risk of resting him, because tomorrow is the most important game.

“I expect Fofana to play an intelligent game. If Fofana makes mistakes, he makes mistakes, but I expect the others not to make mistakes.”