After AC Milan’s performance against Fiorentina, hearing the news that Paulo Fonseca had some stern words with his squad does not come as a shock, especially considering that he is once again under pressure.
Milan find themselves in a horrible position entering the international break. In an ideal world, Milanello is sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns – a happy squad led by a manager who is content with his players and there is no pressure.
For the second consecutive international break, there are no unicorns, there are no rainbows. Pressure is once again mounting on the players and the coach, and as Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes, he has put his foot down following this weekend’s performance against La Viola.
A similar path
After the last international break, Fonseca’s pathway has changed – or at least it had. With wins against Inter and Lecce, and a positive performance against Bayer Leverkusen, things were seemingly shifting. His team was listening to them, and as a group, they were growing.
With the cooling break incident, Fonseca and the squad kept things enclosed. To the public, things were resolved and nothing more came of it. This has not been the case after the Fiorentina debacle.
Fonseca’s anger was clear and displayed to the squad in an outburst in the locker room and to the press. There are clear expectations to stop this from happening again, and the club have matched his anger, directing things at the players who are seemingly not listening rather than at the coach.
Diplomacy
In the opening 45 minutes, the Rossoneri were poor, and the Portuguese head coach’s disappointment was visible. Whilst there was a reaction from the players in the second half, there were too many poor incidents to overshadow it.
A fourth win would have been significant for the mental level of the squad, instead, they failed to perform, their manager has vented his frustrations – rightly so – and their mental levels are being questioned.
No leaders at Milan
Revisiting the Lazio draw, Fonseca aimed to keep things serene in the public eye, and in some respects, he has done the same here. Rather than name and shame the poor performances of certain players, he pointed a finger at everyone.
With several players departing on international duty, Fonseca is once again left revisiting the incident, and there can be no signs of improvement until the Diavolo return to action.
Should keep shifting the armband around to help make clear who the leaders in the dressing room are
Yes, you find leaders by putting a piece of cloth around their arm? What? Leaders stand out themselves, you don’t “look for leaders” after 3-4 months together. Only Maignan in this team. Evident to anyone with 2 working eyes.
I saw Lukaku the other day, guy looks 10 years younger. As fit as he can get. Because Conte told him he can join and play if he will work hard, if not don’t come. That is what Milan should have, a proper coach that isn’t a coward. There are more than a few available, I hope they are considering them for next season already.
It’s time for the other players at Milan to step up. I suspect this is happening because the players outside of the starting 11 are not at the same level. They don’t feel like their starting spot is threatened.