Fonseca: ‘Strong Milan identity to make the fans passionate’ | OneFootball

New Milan coach Paulo Fonseca sets out his vision for the team, which involves ‘not just winning, but with a ‘form’ that gets the fans passionate. It’s fundamental we create a strong sense of identity.’

The Portuguese tactician is no stranger to Serie A, having already worked at Roma from 2019 to 2021, and returned to replace Stefano Pioli at San Siro.

Having arrived this week to begin the new chapter of his career, he spoke to Milan TV about his initial “very positive” sensations.

“As coach of Milan, I feel great responsibility, but also great pride. When you arrive at a club like Milan, there is the responsibility to defend a side with history known all over the world. We must have the ambition to win and will work to win.

“Milan is a universal club, the whole world knows about them. I used to watch the team with Gullit, Rijkaard, Van Basten, Baresi, Costacurta, Maldini and Tassotti. It’s not difficult to remember these great moments of Milan history.”

Fonseca returns to Serie A for Milan

This is Fonseca’s second experience in Italy after Roma, but he struggled to truly experience the country that first time because it was during the pandemic.

“I am passionate about Italy, it is a beautiful country, you eat well, the people are very emotional and fun. When I left Roma, I genuinely thought about coming to live in Italy, so now I am very satisfied to return here. We’ll see what happens in future, we could come here to stay.

“I married a Ukrainian, I’ve lived in Mozambique, Portugal, Ukraine, France, I was enriched by all these experiences.”

It is also going to be a new experience for Fonseca to see the Serie A stadiums completely full, as he only got to enjoy that early in his Roma career.

“I think all Italians are passionate about football. I saw an incredible atmosphere at San Siro and hope to build something here that makes the fans happy and gives the sensation we are all as one with the crowd when playing at San Siro.

“I think in life you need to risk and that means having the courage to be different. We coaches have an obligation to people who love football, which is not just to win, but to have a ‘form’ that gets them passionate. We must create a spectacle and to do that we need courage, for those we work with to have courage and experience football with joy. That is my way of thinking.

“I think it’s fundamental we create a strong sense of identity within the team, which allows us to have quality in our play and ambition to win every game,” concludes Fonseca.