Until recently, the rule at AC Milan was that whoever had the most appearances for the club would be the captain for any given game, but Paulo Fonseca has changed things in his own way.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, there was some surprise when Fonseca gave the armband to Rafael Leao for the Lecce game but he explained it as follows: “In my head there is a ‘rotation leadership’, I don’t want just one captain.”
On the eve of the Bayer Leverkusen match he reiterated this concept: “When I arrived here, the captain was chosen from the players who had played the most games for the club.
“I respect this principle, but I want a shared, extended ‘leadership’. We want to share this responsibility with more players. At the moment there are five who can be captains, but it’s a number I would like to see increase.”
The intent is clear: to make everyone feel part of the project, to further empower the highest number of players. Who are the five men Fonseca is talking about though, and who could join the club?
Davide Calabria: It goes without saying that Calabria is the official club captain. He is a product of the youth system, he took the captaincy from Alessio Romagnoli and has the most appearances, but at present he is out of favour and struggling with injuries, so the armband is currently elsewhere.
Theo Hernandez: The left-back been the vice-captain for a while now but even in this case it is appearance-based. Theo was given the armband because he has been at Milanello for over five years and is one of the leaders. Nonetheless, he still alternates magnificent games with more difficult one, something the fans want to end.
Rafael Leao: The latest to be bestowed the honour was Leao, and Fonseca hopes it will accelerate his maturation. After all, in recent months the player himself had assured that he felt ready to be a leader.
In terms of seniority, Leao is at the same level as Hernandez, but compared to his team-mate he is going through a much more complex journey. As captain he has that responsibility he craves, and it might be a message from the coach to avoid responding to criticism from fans and the media so publicly.
Fikayo Tomori: He too, one of the possible candidates. Tomori was the captain in Rome against Lazio (Calabria, Theo and Leao were not in the starting eleven) because he is a leader of the defence, he talks a lot with his team-mates, he orders the whole department and he keeps calm.
Of course, the Englishman is still not at the consistently high levels of the Scudetto season, but simply performance levels are not the first parameter that a coach uses to make this type of choice. What counts, for example, is the importance in the dressing room, which Tomori has.
Mike Maignan: A section of the fanbase have been pushing for Maignan to get the armband for some time because they believe the French goalkeeper is a perfect example of a natural leader and one of those players who pushes their teammates to give 110%.
He is ‘a maniac of his own sports management, a perfectionist and a curious person who informs himself about everything and doesn’t want to leave anything to chance’ as per the report. He is a candidate, even if not all coaches are inclined to have the goalkeeper as captain, because of their distance from the referee.
Other possible candidates: One name could be Youssouf Fofana, increasingly the heart of the midfield, but above all Alvaro Morata. Regardless of the seniority, which Fonseca has made clear he does not want to abandon completely, the Spaniard is the classic leaer who takes everyone by the hand.
Well in regard of wearing a captains armband I will NEVER and I mean NEVER accept this sort of stuff.
A captain/vice captains should always stay the same if fit and available to the squad.
They should have certain qualities. Not necessarily technical ones but character ones. Always showcasing fighting spirit and a never give up ballsy attitude. Being outvoiced when needed both in regard if players needs a scolding but also being able to pick up players when they need a shoulder to lean upon.
They need to be able to transmit the coach’s idea to the team mates when needed. They need to be able to be cool headed with the refs but also be aggressive if that is needed. Basically the one who leads the way and who can unite the group as a whole.
Swapping captains all the time or even regularly is bs in my book and it doesn’t give the coherency that a team needs and is basically just some kindergarten stuff trying to make all feel important.
Agree 100%
What i circus. Another idea from the american woke culture i guess. Everyone is a winner, everyone can be captain lol. The armband always goes to proven leaders who are attached to the club, this is not something to be taken lightly and just be pass around for making everyone feel validated. This is just one more step towards this club losing it’s pedigree. From one of the greatest and most classy clubs in the world to a club that can’t even have a proper captain. What a joke.
I think this is just a tactic to take it away from Calabria and hand it to somebody else. By December, are you going to have gone through the whole team rotating captains? No. It will probably become maignan or theo if they renew
I think you are making sense.
Tomori, Morata and Fofana but not Gabbia. What a joke management.
Maignan should be Captain. Theo Vice. Gabbia third, Reijnders fourth, Pulisic fifth, Morata sixth. This should be Captain hierarchy.
He is having open tryouts for who is going to be the captain because he walked into a locker room with no captain in sight. If Milan had a player who is a leader, the captain armband wouldn’t be passed around like a baton in a 400 meters relay.
I agree with him that a player shouldn’t automatically be the captain just because he has played the most games for the club. You gotta have certain characteristics to be the captain.
If Gabbia is going to be the starter moving forward, he should be the captain, with Morata the vice captain. Theo and Leao are not leader material players, while I don’t like Goalkeepers being captains. The play is usually happening far away from them and they are the least involved players on the pitch. Outfield player should be the captain.
Seems like a diplomatic way to phase out Calabria as a captain and altogether apparently …
Given that we are no longer an ambitious football team but rather just a circus show, then i think everybody should have his chance.
At least, they were a former milan captain when they sign for a new club. If that could be useful for salary booster, let’s do it for the sake of humanity.