As we enter the second international break of the season, AC Milan are in a mirrored situation to the post-Lazio break. Serenity is a million miles away, the pressure is on, and key players are missing.
The Fiorentina defeat has revitalised old feelings. Confusion at the management for hiring, and perhaps even persisting with Paulo Fonseca. Anger towards key players for not showing up, and this is most clear when it comes to Theo Hernandez.
Already this season, the Frenchman has been a topic of controversy, and it’s not been a one-time thing either. Against Parma, he failed to show enough effort full stop, against Lazio there was the cooling break incident – coincidentally right before the international break – and here we are today.
Once again just before the international break, Theo has had a horror show. Not only did he give away a penalty – a harsh one at that – but he also missed his own chance from 12 yards and to round it off, he got sent off after the final whistle.
As Calciomercato write, the Frenchman should get away with missing the Napoli game with him only set to receive a two-match ban, but a heavy fine is expected. A night where Milan were not good enough, largely due to the performance of their key players, rounded off by a horror show from the captain.
With Theo demanding €7 million per year, performances like Sunday’s are exactly why the Diavolo may look at a lower salary.
That is why we need conte to handle player like him and leao.
Not tuchel, not even sarri.
For me gasperini is always an interesting option. At least for mid table club (as we are heading to be), he guarantees attractive football with a bunch of unknown players.
There is is a reason big teams stay away from Gasperini and why he failed at inter. He isn’t a coach for big players.
And Conte would have just sold Theo and Leao. That’s how he would have handled them too.
When he got to inter, he sold Icardi, when he got to Napoli he sold Osimhen
Conte sold Osimhen? Conte doesn’t sell players and Osimhen was out of the team long before Conte even joined. Don’t lie.
If Conte wanted to keep Osimhen, Osimhen would have still been Napoli player.
If Conte wanted Icardi, I cardio would have continued to be inter player. He replaced both with Lukaku.
Conte doesn’t waste time dealing with petulant players. He just gets rid of them.
His job is to coach, not babysit and trying to fix a players bad behavior.
A player or a bunch of players can always be desobedient if they so choose. Under any coach, if in the end Theo takes the ball and goes to take the penalty, the coach ain’t stepping in the field to stop him from doing that. If a player is so stupid so to shout at the referee at the end of the game, there is nothing a coach can do.
I have no doubts that someone like Conte would probably be more severe towards Theo, but in the end the problem is the player not the coach.
IMO, the management needs to step up and impose fines and sanctions towards some types of behaviours.
Papu gomez, josip illcic, lookman, koopmenier, etc. are the name we never heard of before.
Player like these won’t create problems (or least problem) rather than players with big name already. I know gasperini cannot handle the pressure as well as conte in a big club like milan. I admire a coach that capable of delivering magic from scratch. Of course, it is not just one man show, there are strong management behind atalanta.
SM
A. This article does not update anything that was not written yesterday.
B. Trying to read SM articles on a mobile has become very difficult.
Barely a quarter of the screen is visible between pop up banners and videos you constantly need to keep closing.
It’s very frustrating.
Theo, Tomori and Abraham should be dropped from the match day squad for the next couple of games and some of our younger players given their places. That’s how you deal with them and that’s on the coach. Let’s see how strong he is after the break.
They should have brought in a proper manager. Beating Inter and Lecce won’t change the fact that Fonseca is a huge mistake.