Paulo Fonseca has given the captain’s armband to five different players this season, certainly adopting a different approach than most managers. While some absences have been at play, they are not the only reasons.
Ahead of the game between Milan and Leverkusen in the Champions League, during his press conference, Fonseca made his stance on the captaincy clear: “When I arrived here I saw that the captains are the players with the most games. I want to respect this, but I also want a shared leadership, more extended”.
Sure enough, as highlighted by Gazzetta dello Sport, Milan have had five different captains in the first ten games this season. Mike Maignan was the latest addition to the list yesterday, wearing the armband amid several absences. Below are the captains listed, as well as the games.
Mike Maignan: The Frenchman got to wear the armband amid the absences of Calabria and Hernandez, while Leao was on the bench. He has always been a leader for the team but seeing as the captain must speak to the referee often, this is more difficult for a goalkeeper.
Davide Calabria: Due to dropping down the pecking order, as well as injuries, the OG captain has only worn it three times this season (Torino, Parma and Liverpool).
Fikayo Tomori: He was the captain for 90 minutes against Lazio at the Olimpico, though it could have gone better as Milan conceded twice in the game.
Hernandez: Aside from Calabria, the left-back is the player that has worn the armband the most with a total of four times. Currently, he’s suspended in the league and it remains to be seen if he will wear it against Club Brugge on Tuesday.
Leao: Like Maignan and Tomori, he has only worn it for 90 minutes and that was against Lecce. The game ended 3-0 and he got a great assist for Hernandez.
Merry go round for Captain role? Is he playing computer games…
😂😂😂😂
we need a captian and stick to it this isnt fifa
Fonseca isn’t adapting anything new.
There is context to all of this which is even explained in this article.
Milan captain is Calabria, and he is always the captain when he is healthy and playing.
Vice captain is Theo, followed by Leao, Tomori and Maignan.
If anyone higher on the hierarchy doesn’t play the next one wears the armband.
The only time Fonseca broke the captains hierarchy is when he gave Leao the armband to make him feel better about himself vs Lecce even though Theo was on the pitch.
BTW same is happening at Juventus. Danilo was Juventus captain but he is mostly bench player this season. Bremer was the captain while he was healthy. Locatelli was the captain too, Gatti was the captain this season too. And with both Gatti and Locatelli on the pitch, Cambiaso was Juventus captain vs Lazio yesterday.
We don’t hear and read about Juventus and their captains armband getting passed around.
But of course the conversation is only about Milan and Fonseca.