The ‘cooling break saga’ has been dominating the media headlines and the social media feeds of Milan fans since last night’s game against Lazio.
La Gazzetta dello Sport talk about an image that sums up the crazy week of Theo Hernandez and Rafa Leao. There was the cooling break in the second half, with all the Lazio and Milan players around their coaches but Theo and Rafa were not.
Instead they stayed on the other side of the pitch, drinking from water battles and watch from afar. The simple interpretation: they dissociate themselves from the coach Paulo Fonseca. However, the full-back had a different explanation.
“We had been on the pitch for two minutes, we didn’t need the cooling break. It was nothing against the team and the coach. Now we have to continue working to win all together,” he said.
“We had been on the pitch for two minutes. We didn’t need it. Then people talk, they say things that aren’t true. Rafa and I are always with the team to help, and that’s what’s important.”
Then Fonseca added his thoughts: “There is no problem and I think Theo has already explained. We must not create any problems, this week I spoke with the players who accepted the choice.
“The response from the players was good and we must not create problems when they are not there. I do not run away with excuses and at this moment there is no problem.”
Despite the explanations, the climate around Fonseca’s Milan is already tense and to understand it we need to reconstruct the last week. Last Saturday Theo and Leao play very badly in the defeat against Parma.
What was especially striking is the lack of application, with Theo running at limited speed, responsible for the two goals by Man and Cancellieri. A few days passed and then on Thursday Fonseca tried the team with Filippo Terracciano and Christian Pulisic on the left.
What happened at the Olimpico, for this reason, is making noise. Theo and Leao were at the centre of the day even without what happened just after the equalising goal. Milan went behind, conceded two goals in five minutes and Fonseca pushed the button for plan B. In came Leao and Theo, with Musah and Abraham.
A minute or so later, Rafa scored the 2-2 goal, something Theo also had a hand in. He didn’t celebrate – that’s normal – and immediately afterwards, in the 73rd minute, he and Theo went to the other side of the pitch to talk to each other during the cooling break.
The post-match words will serve to defuse the situation, but the scene suggests a tense relationship with the coach, in the eyes of La Gazzetta. Theo Hernandez is the vice-captain of this team, Leao is the number 10 and the symbol of the new Milan era, the front-page man, the highest paid player.
I think I’ll watch this team as a comedy show now, at least I’m not disappointed. I guess if Fonseca wanted to make a statement that Théo and Leao are still the best players on the team, that’s a success. Big up to Mike also, what a player.
How some people can complain about the players’ ego trips or asking for money when the top of the club is made from greedy ego maniacs like Jerry and Zlatan haha this management and coach make Maldini and Pioli look like Olympian deities.
Please Jerry release a documentary on this team, you can call it « The Right Direction » or « Winning is Boring ». Yeah for sure we’re entertained
It’s what happens when non footballing people try and build a football team based around analytics
Toxic management. Remember Scaroni saying « we don’t need Maldini anymore » haha is that so?
Leao and Théo are the problem? Not Scaroni saying « I’ll pack Leao’s bags » or Zlatan saying « Théo is happy »? These idiots don’t have any idea of how to manage human resources and then we should be surprised that there are mental issues with the players?
Fonseca is already fired, he just doesn’t know it. I think Milan played better under Giampaolo. Midfield is again trash.
Media takes every single thing under a microscope and goes on making speculations clicks.
They got instructions 2 minutes ago when they came on… logical? Yes. Generates clicks? Nope.
They git their instructions when down 2-1. You don’t think there was anything to add when they had drawn level?
Ot ended 2-2. They didn’t win. Whatever it was They needed or didn’t need did NOT result in a victory.
Weird that these two players decides they didn’t need it, but the ither two who just came on did.
What is particularly concerning about this team is not the results, nor the performance.
What is concerning is that the coach clearly didn’t do enough research and didn’t study his team well before taking the job.
He’s surprised that Ruben Loftus-Cheek can’t play as a CM in the double pivot system.
He’s surprised that Tijjani Reijnders can’t defend.
He’s surprised that Leao doesn’t press, nor does he like to cut inside.
He’s surprised that Noah Okafor can play as a false 9.
The guy doesn’t know his players, and most importantly doesn’t understand their limitations.
That’s not a coach who needs time, that’s a bad and lazy coach. THAT is what I find really concerning.
Mind you, he could’ve picked any 10 games randomly from last season and watched the tapes. That doesn’t require any thorough study. What I mentioned above is just the obvious problems that any average Milan fan knew. Nothing tactically nuanced there. But Fonseca is still discovering all of that.
I do not believe Theo’s explanation for a second. Musah and Abraham came on at the same time and they joined up with the rest of the team. Even if they did not need new instructions, they could’ve joined in on firing the other players up for the last 20 minutes.
True, Theo is the vicecaptain and Leao is next after. They should have been there encouraging the other players.
Maybe they can’t listen to Fonsecas useless instructions? When Musah tells publicly he doesn’t know what the coach wants of him I think the situation paints itself a bit.
Last night was a Sh!t show. even 1-0 up we didn’t look dangerous, not sure where Fofana was playing at times, he was as high as Ruben, much as with Pioli, we don’t control the game, there’s so much pass to winger, who stops, passes it back to fullback then back to defence and keeper…I fear Fonseca is done, dropping Theo and Leao may have been the right thing, in fact due to their immediate impact it may well have been, but the overall result had to go in the favour of Fonseca and it didn’t. I feel sorry for him, we have a midfield full of bang average players and Redbird just keep adding and adding to them rather than address the problem and buy quality.
Nothing will change until we hire an elite coach, tactically astute who can manage egos.
On a positive note, Tammy looked lively, he out an immediate spring in our step
Bring back pioli!
This cooling break issue is been overblown, yes both of them should have come to the other side, but yet again, they just came into the game, so let that be the end of it, with a warning to them.
Secondly the management from the top to the bottom has to be reviewed, their are clear flaws in the Mercato, the first issue is an over reliance on foreigners, can they honestly tell me they could not find better players than Chukweze and Emerson Royal in Italy..?
The most annoying player who contributes nothing to that team is Chukweze,he is a one trick pony, he is not strong, loses the ball easily, and honestly has no concept of being a Milan player, since the Saudi and Turkish leagues are still buying, the club needs to rid itself of him
The Coach needs to either partner Fofana with RLC in
midfield, then push Reinjders forward in the attacking midfield role, or play the 3 of them as a midfield 3 in a 433.
Buying Abraham was a master stroke by the time he Morata and Jovic and even Okafor and Leao understand each others movements, we will have a very capable and lethal attack, then Gabbia needs to be in that defence, he is the right partner for Pavlovic.
The good thing about this club right now is the Futuro project, and stadium project, and I have noticed a lot of good young Italian players of the future in that team, it was a mistake to do away with Daniel Maldini, hands down he is better that Chukweze, in terms of physique, technical and tactical intelligence and the Italian aspect.
Milan needs to get an Italian general manager along side Furliani who will deal specifically with the sporting side, someone like Gandini or Albertini, the lack of a strong Italian core is evident, I even noticed players coming to training sessions with jewerly, that should stop, sagging shorts or wearing socks half way should also stop, it makes it look like they are at traing sessions, the last thing the Coach needs to also analyse himself and the players properly
It was a ‘we are in charge here, not you’ statement. Schoolboy petulancr, but highly damaging for morale. I’m surprised we manage to tempt any player to this club tbh.
What was worse was, they came on, scored the goal and then went straight back to doing f&@k all.. Get rid of the pair of them (and Fonseca – who thinks RLC is a talented player) and start again
Isn’t it just the case that they had only come on so didn’t really need the water break?
Inter are loving seeing us implode and the season has barely started, this is the problem when you bring in an average coach that is not known for producing good football at a high level, Motta or Sergio Conceicao would have been better I feel, Fonseca still has to win the team over
I don’t blame Theo or Leao. If this is what it takes to get rid of Fonseca and for the management to appoint a proper coach… so be it
Having appointed Fonseca, the players should support him as the job is difficult enough.
The problem with condoning that kind of behaviour from your vice captain and star player, undermines the team as a whole.
They either fall in line or are dropped or sold.
Osimhen is currently learning that lesson (albeit under different circumstances)..