Against Fiorentina, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori ‘disobeyed’ Paulo Fonseca’s orders and a report has suggested that serious repercussions could be shown in AC Milan’s next fixture.
From start to finish, Milan’s game against Fiorentina was very poor. The result has reopened conversations, and once again, they are not solely about the manager. Throughout the game, there were several damning moments, and the Rossoneri have a mountain to climb.
Christian Pulisic is the penalty taker, but when Theo Hernandez took the ball for the first penalty, the American did not contest the decision, as Gazzetta dello Sport recalls. After giving away the earlier penalty, the captain wanted to make up for his mistakes, and the winger did not want to undermine the armband. Theo missed, though.
Fonseca questioned the decision from the touchline, and in the dressing room, he reiterated the fact that Pulisic was the club’s penalty taker. Therefore, when the Diavolo were awarded their second penalty of the night, of course, the American should take it.
Instead, Tomori passed the ball to Abraham – who ‘pushed away’ his former Chelsea teammate – and the Englishman missed the third penalty of the game. Again, Fonseca was baffled, at the English duo and his captain for not enforcing his wishes.
As a result of the dismissal, it would not be a surprise to see Abraham and Tomori benched in Milan’s return fixture against Udinese. Fonseca must prove that he has the nerve to make such a big decision, especially with his job being questioned once again.
He needs to put his foot on the ground or they’ll keep disrespecting him
The result v Udinese is less important that making a statement and dropping these players.
If the club can’t back Fonseca to do that; then they may as well sack him now. But nothing will change if they cannot support the coach.
Few decent coaches will want to come and work for this current weak management who won’t stand up to selfish players.
I would remove them for 5 games. Not even on bench and they would train with Primavera or Futuro for 4 weeks, whatever.
And Abraham I understand, he is a striker and he has to push to take the penalty, want to score a goal. It is natural, if he didn’t he would be bad.
But Tomori, coming in and pushing Pulisic out. I would sell him in January or at the end of season. He obviously values his childhood friend Abraham more than his other teammates (and the best Milan scorer at the moment) or the club. He should not be a Milan player after this season. I’m sure West Ham or Bournemouth will pay more than enough for Milan to find a good replacement.
I agree. At least the next three matches they shouldn’t even be in the match day roster. And we won’t lose anything. TA is a striker who can’t score, and Tomori has been inconsistent at best, and when he has been bad, he has been dreadfully bad. If Fonseca lets these guys start or play in the next game or two, he should resign. He has to take control of the team. He should talk to Rafa and Puli, get them on his side (tho Puli probly already is), pump them with confidence (both players need it to play well), and have them “lead from the front”. Not counting Maignan, they can be/are the two best players on the team (Rafa can be, Puli is right now). Get them going and the rest should follow.
Players don’t respect Fonseca so he must be fired. This should have happened weeks ago and winning the derby only prolonged the inevitable. Fix yet another mistake this trash management team has made and move on from Fonseca. We play poorly and now the players don’t listen to the coach? He must be fired. Period.
Is there a beaf with Puli and the rest?
Pulisic hardly looks like THAT guy though. He’s a feet on the ground type of player and not a troublemaker. Unlike some…
Exactly. Tomori, Abraham and Loftus-Cheek all grew up together at Chelsea. It’s an obvious clique.
This is a problem that Milan management needed to nip in the bud after the Lazio cooling break circus.
Those 2 clowns should have been fined, suspended, properly reprimanded right after the game. By Theo’s interview right after that game it was obvious that he thought he didn’t do anything wrong. The club did nothing and most of Theo and Leao fanboys were blaming Fonseca, while defending Theo and Leao.
That set a bad precedent where the players think they can do whatever they want without any consequences undermining tge coach or hierarchy of the team.
That led to Leao taking the ball away from Pulisic in the Venezia game for the 2nd penalty and giving it to Tammy, even though Pulisic is the designated penalty shooter.
It’s one thing if Pulisic decides to give the ball to another player but is totally different when of the captains on the team takes it away from Pulisic and gives it to Tammy.
Leao is one of the captains that took the ball away from Pulisic on the 2nd penalty vs Venezia.
Theo was the captain that took the ball away from Pulisic on the 1st penalty vs Fiorentina.
Tomori is one of the captains that took the ball away from Pulisic on the 2nd penalty vs Fiorentina.
Tomori was BTW captain in that Lazio game.
The blame is in those 3 “captains” and “leaders”.
Not only are they awful leaders but they have also been 3 of the worst Milan players so far this season.
The club and the coach need to address this issue ASAP and whoever has a problem with that can leave as soon as possible.
No, they haven’t been the 3 worst Milan players this season. You can’t use your angry subjective opinion to evaluate players.
Learn how to read.
It says 3 of the worst Milan players this season, not the 3 worst.
Excellent comment Z
How’s Clint? Tell him I said hi
So many problems to address in this team since Zlatan is “the boss”. This management is clownish, that’s it. You can waste your time asking for new scapegoats every week. They’re just the consequences, not the causes.
And don’t forget, Ibra wasn’t exactly easy to manage as a player. He showed up his managers from time to time, too. I doubt his attitude about himself in relation to others (“I am the King; you others are peasants”) has changed, so Milan won’t have stability as long as he is in that leadership position. However, when Ibra was a pain, he also scored. He showed up on the pitch. This current batch of “leaders” are tearing the fabric of the team without stitching it back together thru performance.
I also remember Ibra shrinking and disappearing in big European games. He wasn’t very cocky then, he practically hid from the ball
Don’t just discipline, get rid of Leao and Tomori. Leao doesn’t have the character to be a top player and Tomori doesn’t have the skills. We’ve been watching the Leao show for five years, it’s always the same. Time to move on. Sell RLC and Chukwueze as well. Let Puli play in his natural LW position, bring in Lewis Ferguson for AM, Ricci for DM, another RW, a CB to replace Tomori and an RB to replace the out of contract Calabria who would also send Royal to the bench. And get rid of Fonseca.
Just purchase John Duran
I doubt he said anything to them about that on a halftime,otherwise there is no explaination why he didn’t sub both of them as soon as they did what they did…
LOL. No. Fonseca wanted to get points. That’s why he didn’t sub them. You don’t ruin a match just to punish someone. Or at least no professional would do that – the minor leagues are/can be different.
Are you guys related?
The bb brothers!
He ruined the match by keeping them on the field ,if they don’t want to follow your orders about penalty kick taker how do you think they would follow any of your tactic ?
seriously are they all out of names on this website or is this a Jekyll and Hyde scenario?
Who to support….
the players who helped drag Milan back from the brink, delivered a Scudetto and a return to the Champions League including a glorious run to the semi-finals, and who never showed any disciplinary issues in 4-5 years
OR
the man who so far has undone all of that
???
Pioli made them stars, the success went to their heads.
Or Fonseca isn’t doing a very good job….
And whoever sacked Pioli isn’t doing good job either.
They shouldn’t have sacked Pioli imo. They finished 2nd in the league. I know Europe wasn’t good but he only had 1 year left in his contract. I would have given him the final year after what he had accomplished.
Remember that Zlatan said that Théo is happy. No panic, everything is fine.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
That is all that matters. He’s probly happy that he got red carded and will sit the next two matches, too, so he can celebrate his birthday by taking all the booze for himself, miss his mouth as he tries to drink, and thus ruin the party for everyone else.
And don’t you think that senior players who have won the scudetto as you said, who wore the captain armband more than once should lead by example ?
Don’t you think that a player who is a “title winner” as you said, should behave in a selfless way and showing his teammates the way, rather than being handled so carefully in order to accomodate him ? Do you think it’s ok for Theo to shout at referee and confiscate his teammate’s penalty ?
Or better question when did ever Theo and Leao behave as leaders ?
Should Pulisic start to feel anxious and angry and start having bad games, what would you feel ?
Lead by example, that’s something Milan lacks at the very top. Arrogance, greed, PR oriented, failure prone. There were signs for an upcoming downfall.
Instead of those clowns at the top, we should have hired a proper sporting director.
Management 101
Play to players’ strengths and compliment their weaknesses.
Management 102
Don;t rock up and try and replace the club captain with Emerson Royal.
Does that “player’s stength” include their temper tantrums, dips in form and disrespecting their teammates ?
You seem to argue that because Theo and Leao won a title “once” we should reveer them as gods ? Might as well built a temple in Milan for them and bring stuff as sacrifice.
Lautaro Martinez is a multi-title winner, including 2 scudetti, UCL finalist, won titles with Argentina, current captain of inter while having the same age as Theo. He has a dip in form, but do you see the same behaviour from him as from Theo and Leao ? Of course not
Or here is another one, Pulisic is a UCL winner, was decisive against Real Madrid, and won multiple titles with club and country. Yet here is a humble man, tracking back, helping the midfield, working hard,…
It’s Theo and Leao, we just have to find an excuse for them each and every time.
And why do you bring Calabria and Emerson in this ? This has nothing to do with them.
Players/humans lose their tempers, and erm have dips in form….(they are not robots).
As for this whole disrespecting nonsense – were you there???
Theo and Leao and the few other remaining Nineteeners are legends.
Lautaro Martinez is some c##t who plays for the Scum.
I don’t care about their players.
As for Calabria, as I keep saying he was the club captain and Fonseca specifically sought to undermine him (and Gabbia).
And then Ibra declared himself as the only Boss….
Honestly Fonseca is toast.
“As for this whole disrespecting nonsense – were you there???”
It was on camera for the world to see.
If you think that taking away the ball from the designated penalty taker twice during the same game isn’t disrespectful, I’ll have to leave it there as I have nothing more to add.
Glad you mentioned the Real Madrid game. That was not the only one. Followers of Chelsea know that A) they would not have qualified for the Champions league without Pulisic and B) they would not have won it without him.
I really hope Pulisic’s confidence and comfort in the dressing room is not badly affected by this as you say, it’s certainly not helpful for a guy who has finally found himself.
Those 3 sh1tbags, Theo, Tomori and Abraham need to be punished and made to apologise to the team and to the manager and to Pulisic.
Otherwise they can all leave and they won’t be missed
Nothing more pathetic than people making excuses for adult professional players who get paid millions and behave like spoiled children. Theo used the armband to defy the coaches wishes for his own selfish purposes. He disrespected his teammate and put himself over the good of the team. He set a terrible example which was then followed by Tomori and ABraham. This is the opposite of what a captain should be. He should never wear the armband again and honestly I think he should be sold. Leao is a follower and looks up to Theo and this is not the type of leader we need on this team.
I feel bad for Fonseca because it seems that he is being sabotaged by his own players, but part of this is on him that the players feel they can get away with this type of stuff. He should have read Theo the riot act during halftime in front of the entire team and they would not have tried what they did on the second penalty.
This is honestly the dumbest thing Abraham could have done. He’s been good since signing, brought great energy and hustle, he had pretty much everyone on his side and now with one selfish act has turned all the fans against him.
Nothing more bizarre than hating the players of the club you support!
Especially when said club and said players are pretty middle of the road.
I mean surely the simplest thing is to shop around for a better club/sport/hobby?
The question is: should Pulisic ever have a recede in his current amazing form how would we feel about it ?
Could we explain it by his teammates basically alienating him and disrespecting him ? One of those teammates Tomori who was his former partner in Chelsea and prefered the new player ?
If there is now tensions in the locker room between players, whom should we sacrifice ?
This what happens when discipline isn’t enforced and players are allowed to behave as they wish.
Sacrifice Tomori and Abraham
Theo was being selfish but the other two absolutely disrespected Pulisic
The gall of Abraham to do what he did and he’s only here a wet week and on loan, it’s incredible. If I was in charge and be looking at canceling his loan and sending him straight back to Roma, I don’t want trouble makers.
Tomori spends half his time now, complaining and shouting at his own team mates and referees. He needs to be taken down a peg or two. I’d start by dropping him for a few games and hope Pavlovic or Thiaw step up
So after that happened and he missed both him and tomori should have instantly been subbed and you should have scolded them on the bench
Personally I wouldn’t be afraid to take the heat of my decision if I had a say but if it actually is as described in the article I would fine them both a months wages and bench them at least for a few matches. If that doesn.t sink into their thick skulls and egos then nothing will.
As a side note I’ll rather lose heavily with a bunch of kids that actually works for each other and the team than a bunch of self serving pros who cares most about themselves.
I hope Pulisic gets the full and clear support of San Siro next time we play against Udinese.
Completely agree Martin. Their behavior has made me furious
Absolutely and it takes a lot for me to become furious well after a football match as losses are to be expected from time to time but if they on top of that showcase bad attitude then my patience wont last long with them.
Yeah same here, I couldn’t comment after the game as I’d had enough.
Now is when someone (previously Maldini) should be coming out to diffuse things.
Who would that be, Zlatan?
Someone needs to explain what has happened and what has been said.
ie The club are very annoyed by the behaviour of certain players etc etc, they have been spoken to and fined, they are sorry and have apologised, we move on…
Yeah me too and I even stopped watching the match 10-15 minutes before it ended and I very rarely do that as I usually also watch us lose even though I clearly dislike it but was pretty damn irritated towards the end of the match. Yeah Maldini could have been useful right now, not sure Ibra has that capacity within him even though he is great in a locker room he isn’t the same type of leader as the Italian.
I doubt that they will further air their dirty laundry in public but unfortunately its already out for all to see. Considering we already has had a case this season this is an unfortunate situation and everybody needs to man up from now on and if they can’t do that then they isn’t fit to represent the club.
Tomori and Abraham should be left out of the match day squad until their behaviour improves. Theo should join them as well. Tomori has been a liability at the back for a long time and the fact that Kalulu is doing so well at Juve suggests that he was the strongest CB in that partnership. Tomori lucked out in being part of the Scudetto winning team imo
100%
I have said this time after time that tomori is not our player at all I advised Acmilan to bench him I prefer Gabbia and Pavlovic/Bartasaghi let’s sell tomori out
There should be High Calibre of Coach for High Profiled Players
Conte…
It may be time for Pulisic to leave. It appears he has loss the support of his teammates. You see it at times in games when he makes runs and is not passed the ball. The next game will be interesting to see how much he gets the ball. The reality is that Pulisic gets over the top press being American. He’s our only class offensive player. ACM has been smart in not putting Pulisic out for press more than is needed to minimize the trouble. Add to that the fact he is doing well rubs players’ egos wrong. I don’t see this team playing together.
I was wondering the same thing. After Puli scored on that amazing volley (and credit for to that undeserving armband wearer, Theo, for that good cross) I didn’t see a “team” celebration. Just a couple of players on his side of the field came to him. I’ve been trying to figure that out. Was I jealousy bc the rest of the guys aren’t scoring? Were those involved in the penalty fiascos embarrassed to congratulate the guy they should have let take the penalties? Puli looked a bit pissed, too. His face seemed to say “see what happens when you give me the ball?” Or, at least that’s what I shouted at the TV.
In a perfect world, Fonseca displays some testacles, Tomori and Abraham don’t even dress for the next match, and Pulisic grabs a brace, or even a hat trick (including converting a PK), for the win.
In AC Milan World, Pulisic endures an injury during the international break, and misses the next two to three months.
Let us pray for the first scenario!
Best regards, all.
Haha let’s hope for the first.
I wouldn’t hold my breath. US plays Panama and Mexico. Panama play rugby on the pitch, and Mexico HATES Puli bc he has stuck some serious dagger into them over the years. CONCACAF friendlies are anything but. The minnows go studs up against the US. I’d be happy if he didn’t play at all.
Pretty simple explanation. Pulisic is off to a hot start and they’re jealous of his goal total so far. That hot start should be celebrated and encouraged by true teammates; not squelched by petulant children.
Players only meeting must happen. Otherwise nothing
Gets resolved. No Ibra, Mike if he is a true leader should call for it. Only way they will ever play as a team.
In this situation now, I think this can make a change in our tactics and formation, now that Theo is on suspension, we can switch to 3-5-2 formation, so that we can use wing back, So chukueze can play as right wing back and maybe Jimenez on the left wing so fofana and Reinjar can play behind pulisic as 10 so we can have Rafa Leo and either Tammy Abraham or morata in front.
This isn’t a new problem…musah got punched in the back of the head and no one said/dis anything to nandez last season. pulisic took a ridiculous tackle from kean in the 65th min of this game…unless I’m missing something that should have been a straight red…no one reacted. Until they put out 11 guys who will play for each other they just aren’t going to go anywhere.…I can’t image Theo is getting resigned and now they are gunna get much less because teams have seen this.
Pulisic is the problem. he is making ppl jealous.
Even Fonseco threw Cp11 under the bus but saying he was Pk taker. Now ppl say CP is weak.
they put CP11 in a No win situation.
Noone on the pitch that let this happen can be a Captain. excpet cp11