CorSport: Empty battery and no continuity – the reasons for Fofana’s ‘inevitable’ decline | OneFootball

There are not many players at AC Milan who haven’t suffered in some way this season, but Youssouf Fofana has had a noticeable drop-off.

As Corriere dello Sport recall, Milan have kept just three clean sheets in the Sergio Conceição era with 29 goals conceded in 22 games. Not only that, but they have gone behind in 13 of those matches, suggesting big problems.

Among the issues that have caused this are drops in performance levels from some individuals who, at least until January, were doing better. Fofana is a good example: a regular starter until the new year, but a shadow of himself from February onwards.

Battery empty

One word was the Holy Grail first of Paulo Fonseca and then of Conceição and that was ‘balance’, without any solutions being found. It cannot be only a consequence of the choices of the coaches, though.

Indeed, the players are the ones who go on the field and they are the ones who are called to make the difference. Fofana has, however, an extenuating circumstance: the management did not provide him with a credible deputy in the first part of the season.

The Frenchman, who arrived in mid-August, played every game as a starter without ever catching his breath from the third round onwards until his suspension in the derby on February 2. Only afterwards did Warren Bondo arrive, when it was already too late.

Milan lose balance

Fofana felt the impact of having so many minutes in his legs and needed a month to regain a decent physical and athletic condition. Once back in the starting line-up, however, Milan did not show any great progress.

Obviously, it is not only the fault of No.29, but it is clear that the performance of the former Monaco midfielder depends a lot on the team’s game.If he does not provide balance, the team have none and huge gaps open up. Under Conceicao, it has happened more than it ever had before.

The match against Fiorentina was almost emblematic: Milan suffered from switches of play, continuous counter-attacks and had no control. Fofana didn’t help things though, with several misplaced passes and lost duels.

Lack of continuity

Fofana must be granted a further mitigating factor: Conceição always changes the starting eleven and his partner is often different from the previous match. The most used is Tijjani Reijnders, yet he is not a natural defensive midfielder.

Against Fiorentina, Yunus Musah started in the double pivot and was taken off after 25 minutes. In Naples it was Bondo. In the last three games played by the Rossoneri, the midfielders have always rotated and, by doing so, it is difficult to develop cohesion.

At Milanello, they are working and will continue to work on things. There was even a report last night suggesting that Conceicao will use a two-striker formation against Udinese, which could add even more pressure on Fofana.