Paulo Fonseca’s usage of Rafael Leao, or lack of it, has been the big talking point for AC Milan this season, and it is having an effect.
This weekend saw Leao on the bench once again, and whilst Fonseca has stated that the decision was made for the sake of Tuesday’s Champions League clash, the story does not change. At face value, the Portuguese head coach is not using the club’s prized asset.
Whilst there are reasons for this, there is a disappointment about the lack of minutes available for Leao from everyone, and the winger is on a mission to prove himself. However, the damage could already be done.
A report this morning suggested that the situation is similar to one Fonseca experienced at Roma, and Pietro Mazzara suggests that the head coach’s ‘moral fundamentalism’ is affecting things. With each game Leao is not utilised, his value drops.
Of course, with an extended period of first-team absence, the amount his value drops raises – not starting one game does nothing compared to three consecutive games.
A solution must be found, and the Portuguese duo must find common ground, for their sake, and Milan’s. Failing to do so will possibly affect both of their Rossoneri futures. Overcoming the current moment, though, could re-write the future.
I’m fully aware of Leao’s liabilities. The man is lazy, doesn’t track back and when he does doesn’t actually defend very well. His shooting and passing are subpar and his high G+A is mostly due to his dribbling which allow him to get into good positions which he still manages to ruin sometimes because of his poor decision making. He didn’t progress at all since 2022.
I was also in full support of Fonseca when he decided to bench him during the Lazio game as form of sanction.
With that said, Okafor isn’t better than Leao. Okafor’s finishing is perhaps even worse than of Leao. He doesn’t get as much attraction when he dribbles and the only positive about him is that he tries to do more work defensively. Okafor is sometimes good as a starter against smaller teams (and not always BTW) or coming of the bench, but that’s about it.
The coach has in my opinion the responsibility to make the best use of the assets provided to him. So far, the way Fonseca is dealing with the left flank (among other things he has plenty of problems elsewhere) is faulty and doesn’t have a good reason.
Because if you’re gonna say that Leao is lazy and therefore deserves to be sanctionned until he improves, then why is coming in at around the 60th minute ? A sanctioned player shouldn’t play or brought in to make a difference.
If on the other hand the argument is that it’s better to start with Okafor and have Leao come in later on against already tired players, I think so far it’s clearly working against us. With the exception of Udinese game, Okafor has been largely ineffective when he starts and I thinks he’s the one who would thrive more against tired teams rather than Leao.
But putting Leao’s aside, we have too many players underperforming under Fonseca but it just to be a player problem. Loftus-Cheek was mediocre but did score, now he is mediocre but can’t score and I’d rather have him poor but with goals instead of just altright trash. Tomori is decling, and this a player who didn’t play with the England NT and did take part in the US tour, so he didn’t miss the preparations. Calabria was completely sidelined but we brought an arguably worse player than him for a huge chunk of money. Theo is not doing well although he has the same attitude problem as Leao so he doesn’t count and while Okafor and Chukwueze did look well sometimes then they were quick to remind us why they’re not starters. And finally this whole 4-2-3-1 has forced Fonseca to put Pulisic as the attacking midfielder and it’s clear that his contribution is not as great as when he was playing on the wings.
Regardless of who is at fault, but when the relationship between players and the coach doesn’t seem good, it’s not going to end well for the team and someone has to be kicked out otherwise everything will sink.
So right now Milan is damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. Because only a handful of players eg Pulisic, Gabbia, Fofana, Mike and maybe Reijnders are close to the word performing. And a handful does not make a team.
You think firing Fonseca might help issues?? real question no sarcasm. You are one of the few people here whose opinion is highly valued.
“You think firing Fonseca might help issues??”
That’s a good question and a difficult one. There are too many parameters to consider and the most important being: who is going to replace him and when ?
During the 2023/24 season, I was in the camp that believed that we should get rid of Pioli. Not to disrespect what he achieved, but I saw that his time was over and that not only the team wasn’t progressing, but that certain opponents had a fiedl day against us. The problem is that when you get of a coach, the priority should be to “upgrade” that coach. So what did our management do ? call Lopetegui, then Fonseca, clearly not an upgrade. So even in the event that Fonseca is fired, I’m afraid that the “good names in everyone’s mind” are not going to be considered as a replacement.
Also, if Fonseca, who was working with the team since July, who was able to request certains players (Abraham and Royal) and who did a good US tour still ended up with such horrible performances, how are we sure that the new coach is gonna transform the team ? Don’t get me wrong, it might work (Zidane with Real Madrid in 2015 is a good example) but it’s a risky gamble.
Ultimately, I think Fonseca is going to get fired when the management thinks he won’t be able to meet the minimum requirments (top 4 position, unless a miracle happens), but I don’t know if it’s wiser to wait until then or try to salvage this reason ASAP risking of course sinking even further.
But I guess so far, as you’ve said : “Milan is damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.”
Thanks for the detailed reply.
Oh this management. Still can’t believe Milan escaped the banter Era to become this static pole.
You clearly having watched much of the banter era to have made that statement … LOL!!!
Long read but couldn’t have said it better and worth the time to read. I’m one to stick by a coach (Pioli for instance) but only when there’s something that he can back it up for. Fons doesn’t have that. Sure you can win titles in smaller leagues but he will always be judged by his time at Roma ..aka the big leagues and that’s all he has. The players here have more bigger trophies than he has so I get why they might even see themselves above him. Why listen to a non winning Serie A coach when you yourself are a proven Serie A winner. Also like Braieroes said, your posts are probably the best on the site. Keep it up
This here is another excellent reply.
I too felt that Pioli’s time had come. He gave his all and proved his mettle with Milan, but teams now had his calling card and the team was in a sort of limbo. BUT RATHER THAN UPGRADE ON SAID PIOLI,
I forgot our “generous management where going to manage”. And they sure did. Who can’t be grateful for this series premium that is airing at Milan right now 😫😩🤦♂️
I don’t care if Leao is benched just as long as the coach has a plan/solution for the state we find ourselves in. Guardiola got rid of Eto and Ronaldihno, but there was a succession plan
Ronaldinho – Messie
Leo – Okafor
The comparison shows where Milan is nowadays…
The issue can be solved by playing Theo at LW as he is clearly lacking in defense, but would track back, which Leao doesn’t.. then bring Leao in and drop Theo to LB if the situation dictates.
Also, no-one is ‘devaluing market value’ Leao except Leao himself..
I’ve also suggested replacing Leao with Theo. Theo could easily be the next Gareth Bale.
While Fonseca is putting in the effort to help the team succeed, Leao’s actions are undermining the group. It’s clear who needs to be let go: Leao.
I see what you did there🤣