After the defeat against Fiorentina, Paulo Fonseca spoke to the media about what went wrong for AC Milan at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. Among other things, he also explained why he replaced both Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic in the second half.

That was clear from the start It would be a difficult evening for the Rossoneri with Artemio Franchi. Milan loanee Yacine Adli scored the first goal (of course), Christian Pulisic equalized and then Albert Gudmundsson took advantage of a defensive error to make it 2-1.

Speaking to DAZN after the game, which was transcribed by MilanNews, Fonseca shared his thoughts on what went wrong for Milan. He also explained why he decided to take off both Leao and Pulisic in the second half.

Would you like to say something about the penalties?

“I don’t want to say anything.”

How do you assess the missed penalties?

“I love football and don’t want to contribute to this circus. Everything was a penalty, and I’m not talking about things that are for or against, but football isn’t like that. I don’t want to talk about refereeing.”

Who is the penalty taker?

“The penalty taker is Pulisic, I don’t know why the boys changed. I’ve already told them it won’t happen again.”

Were there any line-up changes today?

“I think we have managed well with this structure so far. It’s not because Fiorentina created too many chances. We lacked aggression in the first half, their first goal was too easy. It was clearly a problem of aggression and tackles, I told the players. I think if we miss two penalties and then concede a goal like the second one, it’s difficult to win, even if you create so many chances.”

Can you explain how it is possible to concede goals through throw-ins and long balls from the goalkeeper?

“It’s hard to explain. For me it’s a lack of aggression, I don’t think it was a structural problem. The players at the top have not closed the spaces rigorously and if we are not aggressive with them, the team stretches out and we lose second balls…”

When you put the ball in the box, there aren’t many there…

“I think we usually have 3-4 players in the penalty area. I have to watch the game again, it seems to me that the crosses were not made with quality. But it seems to me that we had men in the box.”

Why did you replace Pulisic and Leao?

“It was my decision for Leao. I wanted more depth with Okafor. Pulisic was out of caution as he had a problem with his flexor muscle during the week. Chukwueze came in well and created chances.”

After the final whistle, Theo got a red card…

“I don’t know what happened.”

After the break, Milan will face Udinese and then Club Bruges will be waiting in the Champions League. There’s a lot to do next week, especially on the left as Theo Hernandez could now miss the next two games (due to the red card he received).