Fonseca explains Loftus-Cheek’s struggles and Milan’s plan for Camarda | OneFootball

Paulo Fonseca used his post-match press conference after the win over Club Brugge to explain how the club plan to use Francesco Camarda moving forward.

The final scoreline of 3-1 in AC Milan’s favour doesn’t really begin to tell the story of the game. Christian Pulisic scored directly from a corner to make it 1-0, then Brugge went down to 10 men after Raphael Onyedika got a straight red.

Any notion that the sending off would make the game easier to manage was thrown out of the window when the away side equalised early in the second half, though Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze each set up Tijjani Reijnders to secure an eventual comfortable win.

Francesco Camarda became the youngest ever Italian to play in the UCL when he came off the bench towards the end and he was so close to becoming the youngest ever scorer in the history of the competition, but VAR intervened to give it offside.

Fonseca spoke in the press conference room at San Siro after the game to give his thoughts on the game against the Belgian champions, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.

The double substitution was positive, have you conquered San Siro?

“The credit goes to the players and mainly to those who came on, who changed the match, changing our game, the intensity.”

Good victory, but you can’t be satisfied with the first half…

“Obviously, in the first half, we didn’t do things well. We were against a team with eleven very small players, then with an even smaller numerical inferiority. And we had difficulties in this type of game, in creating and provoking space.

“Then, when we don’t find the right solution, the game starts to be too slow. When we don’t find space, we need to have a different intensity in our actions. We didn’t do well. The game was too slow. I think it was a problem of understanding the game.”

More Stories / The Match

Fonseca explains Loftus-Cheek’s struggles and Milan’s plan for Camarda

23 October 2024, 12:25

CM: ‘Leao saga remains open’ – how he reacted after being substituted vs. Brugge

23 October 2024, 12:00

GdS: Milan player ratings for Brugge win – five impress but four struggle

23 October 2024, 11:40

What do you think of Leao’s performance?

“Offensively, Leao, in the first half, did important things for the team. Then I decided to change him, as I decided to change Loftus-Cheek. But for me this is normal. I wanted to be more incisive, more energetic in the corridors. For me there is no problem.”

You gave Camarda his Champions League debut…

“I’m very sorry for the disallowed goal. But it was a beautiful moment for the team, all on the pitch celebrating a child who works so hard. Camarda will have many opportunities to score more goals during his career.”

What has changed in Okafor and Chukwueze?

“Confidence. They played a good match against Udinese.”

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

What’s happening to Loftus-Cheek?

“With me he played as an 8, as a 10, today as an attacking midfielder on the right. Loftus is a player who accelerates with the ball at his feet; when he doesn’t have space, he has more difficulty. But it’s not that he’s afraid… Those are his characteristics.

“We need to make him understand certain things better. He works hard, always, he gives everything for the team. I’m sorry he wasn’t at the level I know he can play at.”

Will you keep Camarda in the first team?

“Mister Bonera, Mister Guidi and I do our best to help the youngsters grow. We have Morata, we have Abraham and Jovic, it becomes a bit difficult for Camarda to play. And at this age it is important to play. What we do is try to give him more space to improve, between the Primavera, Milan Futuro and the first team.

“Sometimes it is more difficult to play in Serie C than in Serie A and vice versa. When he trains with us he does very well. Today he worked well for the team, with courage on the passing line. He doesn’t seem like a boy of the age he is when he plays.”