Rafael Leao was given a place on the bench for Saturday’s clash against Udinese, and this has sent a message to the AC Milan squad – for Paulo Fonseca, the needs of the team will always come first from now on.
When it comes to Milan stars at present, Leao is at the top of the list. The Portuguese winger is the most valuable on the mercato, but his value to the team is lessened currently. For this reason, Fonseca opted to bench him on Saturday.
Corriere della Sera (via Milan News) writes that the Portuguese winger should find himself in the starting eleven against Club Brugge, but there is no longer a ‘divine right’ to be in the starting squad. Instead, each chance must be earned, and if performances drop, then there are no guarantees of a position.
Of course, this takes courage from the manager, and with the management firmly behind the Portuguese head coach, making moves like this will be appreciated by them. After all, if they get a better Leao from this decision, it only benefits the club.
A warning has now been offered to Leao – even if it was not the sole intention of the move – and he must show a reaction on Tuesday night in the Champions League. If he doesn’t, he could return to a familiar position this weekend.
Not the biggest fan of fonsesca but I don’t mind what he’s done to leao at all, hopefully he becomes more humble and plays more consistent
Hope this is not a power struggle otherwise the coach will have a bigger task managing the locker room and that is gonna be his undoing. Sending a message that the team comes first is noble just don’t cause bigger ruptures in the process. And here we are talking about contract talks for Theo and Mike that might be affected by a disgruntled Leoa. Also make sure that the 11 you field will do the job otherwise you might have to come back and restart with a demoralized Leao.
leao & tomori? i rather have leao than tomori..for leao, if he cannot scored what he can do?assist-no, running at player, make opponent closed on him, for tomori,if he cannot defend, what he can do? give ball to abraham?
Fonseca is doing the right things and it is justified. I remember Piatek was a beast under Gattuso but struggled under Pioli because he was required to do different things and he wasn’t able to play the same way under Pioli.
Leao is now in that situation and therefore he should be on the market next summer. Fonseca needs every player to play their part in defending and playing like a team which Leao is having difficulties doing that because under Pioli the plan was to just give the ball to Leao.
That doesn’t work anymore because teams are now putting 2 players to mark him and when he loses the ball from a failed dribble Milan are getting counter attacked by the opposing team and that sometimes leads to us conceding goals.
To make matters worse Leao doesn’t track back to win back the ball when he loses it from a bad pass or a failed dribble attempt.
The reality is that Leao is not a team player and unless he adapts to Fonseca tactics I think he should be sold.
There’s plenty of good options out there to replace Leao. Milan can even move Pulisic to the left wing, sign a proper attacking midfielder and get another player for the right wing.