After the conclusion of Stefano Pioli’s adventure on the AC Milan bench, the Rossoneri square awaits his successor, that the rumors indicate in the person of Paulo Fonseca. But today he thought about shuffling the cards around (maybe, who knows). Zlatan Ibrahimovic, posting what appears to be a clue as to who could fill the role of team coach starting next season.
Ibrahimovic’s cryptic social post reporting the 4-3-3 formation: a reference to Fonseca?
The current Senior Advisor of Milan has in fact published a photo on X that portrays him placidly on the bench, the one reserved for the coach. And already this image could walk on the thin ridge between the said and the unsaid. But the caption is even more cryptic. It reports laconically and verbatim: 4-3-3. A module that could belong to the future Rossoneri coach, but here comes the twist that would seem to cause Fonseca’s prices to drop (assuming that the exegesis of Ibra’s post, which many are puzzling over, is the right one).
The Portuguese former Roma player in Lille, the team he joined in 2022 on a two-year contract, he often resorted to the 4-2-3-1 which has characterized his idea of play since his debut as a coach (and then perfected after the Giallorossi experience), with a slow constructed maneuver, high defense and ball possession. However, the 4-3-3 is not excluded a priori, given that Fonseca can insert a three-man midfield based on his movements (a sector where Milan needs a new director, among other things).
The interpretation of Ibra’s post: still open to Fonseca?
Be that as it may, Ibra’s post would not seem to have been made by chance. The former striker has often left clues via social media about his future, and perhaps even in this situation there could be some concrete foundation. If not about the next Milan coach, at least on how he should deploy the men on the field, if nothing else in terms of the attacking trident (which will lose a player like Giroud), with a midfield to be defined in terms of individual roles and player dispositions. However, between the 4-2-3-1 set up by Fonseca and the 4-3-3 there is no conceptual abyssand much will depend on Milan’s new additions resulting from the summer transfer market.
The other key: assist to Van Bommel
Looking at Ibra’s post instead as an attempt to undermine the Fonseca choice, Strength would be given to the thesis reported by L’Equipe according to which the Portuguese represents the club’s choice, determined to snatch him from Lille who would instead like to renew his contract. But according to the transalpine sports newspaper Ibra would prefer Van Bommel as the next Rossoneri coach. If this were the case, the social clue would acquire a meaning, even a polemical one towards society. We are obviously speculating, but we must remember that there is a very offensive formation that the Dutchman has used most often in his career. And that formation is the 4-3-3.
