Fonseca: ‘Not sending message to Milan’ with revolution | OneFootball

Paulo Fonseca insists his radical changes to the Milan line-up are not ‘sending a message to anyone’ because he believes this is ‘the best team’ to face Udinese right now.

It kicks off at San Siro at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game and Juventus-Lazio on the Liveblog.

As expected, there are some radical changes to the starting XI following the controversial fall-out from their 2-1 defeat to Fiorentina.

That match saw both Theo Hernandez and Tammy Abraham see penalty kicks parried by David de Gea, despite the fact Christian Pulisic was meant to be on spot-kick duties.

Theo Hernandez was later sent off for insulting the referee and therefore starts a two-match ban, but Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Rafael Leao are all dropped over poor performances.

There are also injuries, as Matteo Gabbia is not even fit for the bench, joining Davide Calabria, Ismael Bennacer, Alessandro Florenzi and Marco Sportiello on the absentee list.

Fonseca keeps Milan on their toes

AC Milan’s Portuguese coach Paulo Fonseca (C) gestures with Milan’s players at the end of the Italian Serie A football match between AC Milan and Torino at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, on August 17, 2024. (Photo by Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP) (Photo by PIERO CRUCIATTI/AFP via Getty Images)

“It is not a message to anyone, it is a desire to win the game and these I think are the best players at this moment to take on Udinese. I did not send messages, I just wanted to pick the best team for this particular task,” Fonseca told DAZN.

Noah Okafor and Pulisic are very versatile forwards, with the USMNT star seemingly in a trequartista role behind striker Alvaro Morata tonight.

“Pulisic has more flexibility to cut to a more internal role. Noah plays wider, but Pulisic has greater freedom to change position.”

Mike Maignan is chosen as captain this evening, the fifth different player to wear the armband for Milan this season, but Fonseca had little time to prepare.

“We coaches always want to work with our players, but the break for international duty is always tough for a side like Milan, as we are left with only five or six players. I think we need everyone today, both those who start and come off the bench, they must be ready to help the team.”

Fonseca was asked if Rafael Leao was left out to push him into a reaction, or is it just natural squad rotation with seven matches in the next 21 days?

“We have many games over the next few weeks, I have to think about everything. As I said, we need everybody. Today I am starting with Okafor, we’ll see who starts the next game.”

Going into this match, Udinese are two points above Milan in the Serie A table, making it worth far more than just a confidence-booster.