Rafael Leao has lifted the lid on his relationship with Paulo Fonseca, admitting that he never got a personal explanation for why he was benched.
To describe it as an up and down season for Leao would be an understatement. Only a few months ago, the winger was reportedly asking his agent to look for January moves because he was being left on the bench, but that seems like an impossible thought now.
The winger played a big role in the Supercoppa Italiana triumph earlier this month, coming off the bench to have a hand in each goal in the eventual 3-2 comeback win over Inter. While both being Portuguese did not seem to matter under Fonseca, Sergio Conceicao already seems to have struck a chord.
Leao spoke in a long interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport about his love for Milan, the impact that Sergio Conceicao has had and his desire to win the biggest prizes in football. Naturally, he was asked for a reflection in Fonseca’s 24 games in charge.
It seems like a clear break from Fonseca’s tenure. What didn’t work with him?
“I have nothing to say about our coach-player relationship, even though we had to resolve a couple of situations at the beginning – and I don’t mean problems, but situations. He tried to do his job, to apply his ideas and I think there’s always something to learn.
“But it didn’t work and whether he should have stayed or not, I’m certainly not the one to decide. However, I can say that everyone tried to give their all and that I wish Fonseca the best.”
Even though he left you on the bench three times in a row in Serie A? Did you get angry or did not playing from the first minute motivate you?
“A bit of both. I think that at least one explanation for three consecutive benches can be given, but sometimes coaches do that… It was the first time it happened to me at Milan and I also learned.
“If it happens again, and I hope not because I want to always be on the pitch, I will be more aware of what I have to do, that is, stay focused, not get down or lose confidence in myself, which is the most important thing to do our job at our best. In any case, the past is the past and I look to the future with confidence.”
Good answers.
fonseca was clearly the problem but wishes him the best
The full interview is very interesting. It’s in Italian for those who can read it. Many additional questions and answers, very mature answers; clearly Rafa is getting more mature, more of a professional man than a man-child. You can find the full interview in Italian at Milan news dot it.
I appreciate his comments, this is reassuring too. Really makes the ppl who paint Leao as lazy or think of him as a diva look foolish
Him having been lazy on the pitch is not dispelled by this interview. His answers were great and shows that he’s maturing. I never knew if he was a diva or not (and don’t care) as I didn’t pay attention to anything going on outside of the game or in his personal life. But having watched every game last year and this year it’s easy to say that he was lazy on the pitch very often. He has been doing much better though in the sense of working hard on the pitch ever since he got benched and I’m thinking Conceicao is going to be exactly the kind of coach he needs to bring out his best. If Leao and Puli are playing at their best Milan’s attack is going to be hard to stop.
Oh. So you’ve watched Milan for one and a half years? Well, I’ve watched every single game Rafa has played for Milan over his entire tenure with us since he was hired, without missing a single one, either in person at San Siro or on TV, almost always live but even when I couldn’t watch it live for some reason, I watched the full replay, so I never missed a second of Rafa’s plays for AC Milan for the last several years, and I’ve been a lifelong Milan fan for several decades.
Yes, I know you think he’s lazy. Me, I know that he is not. It’s just player characteristics (bursts of speed, periods of recovery), and it’s just that Pioli used to only require of him to work on offense then wait for the next ball passed to his area. Pioli NEVER asked Rafa to help with the defensive phase. This maybe is justified by Pioli’s idea that one, Rafa was (and still is) a lousy defender that doesn’t add much to the defensive phase anyway even when he tries so why bother, and two, Pioli worried that the more Rafa did for the defense (ineffectively) the less he’d be available for the offense; Pioli valued Rafa’s breakthroughs when opponents would be caught with the pants down, because instead of tracking back, Rafa was waiting up there for a ball when play was on our defensive end of the field, then that ball would come in a counter (often carried by Theo, thus the Theão thing), and Rafa would then collect it and destroy the opponent’s defense, cutting through a smaller number of defenders given that he was right up there and the opponents were more engaged on our defensive side, and had left fewer people there to stop a counter. Had Rafa tracked back, upon running from a longer distance back to the offense, more defenders would have directed themselves to the area too, making it harder for Rafa to break through.
It’s hard to know if Pioli was right or wrong on this, but remember, that worked FINE during the Scudetto season. Not sure if you CAN remember it as you only said you watched Rafa this half-season and last season so maybe you didn’t even watch when we won the Scudetto, but hey, if you watched him, you need memory refreshing because that worked VERY WELL, with Rafa then being deservedly voted by the official Lega Serie A as the Most Valued Player for the Scudetto season, all players in all 20 teams considered. No, I’m not implying that he was the only one who was instrumental like some idiot misunderstood here when I expressed this view; many others helped too, but yes, Rafa was the MOST instrumental one, as recognized by the League. I’d say Kessié was a close second, followed by Mike and our very tight defense at the time; other forwards and midfielders did well too, but nobody did as well as Rafa, that season. Nobody in the entire league. And that, without tracking back… haha. By the way, the defense was so good with multiple clean sheets, that Rafa’s contribution to the defense was really not needed, so Pioli could afford to use Rafa only for offense.
Yes, Fonseca and Conceição asked or planned for different things for Rafa, but Pioli didn’t, and endorsed him being fixed on the offensive side without tracking back, so you need to factor that in regarding your impression that Rafa is “lazy.”
As many people who think so, this may simply betray a lack of understanding of how Pioli’s Milan operated, and what Pioli expected of Rafa.
It is true that this may have spoiled Rafa a bit… as a young guy, he thought that this was all that he needed to do, and kept operating the way he was familiar with, but it’s not like it was his inherent shortcoming, as shown by his reaction when a different role was asked of him.
Rafa was very young; he did what the coach asked of him. As soon as a different coach asked him to do more for the defensive phase and track back more, Rafa complied and tried his best (although like I said, it’s not that he’s good at it, but he has tried, visibly). That doesn’t spell “lazy” to me.
It’s interesting that we have a MUCH more fixed player who doesn’t track back either, at all; and in this he is WORSE than Rafa. He doesn’t move much. He waits for a ball to come his way and tries to poach in a strike. He almost NEVER even tries to move to go get the ball. His name is Jovic, and I never heard anybody say that Jovic is lazy!!! I find it interesting, because Jovic is white so he doesn’t fit the stereotype of “lazy” which racists often throw at black people.
Like I said before, I’m not accusing YOU of being racist, as you’ve also said positive things about Rafa, including in the above post. But SOME people are, and that plays a major role for the epithet “lazy” they throw at Rafa, together with others like “only interested in rap music” and “less intelligent.” Yeah, right.
Have you read the full interview from GdS? You probably don’t speak Italian so you probably didn’t and this site doesn’t have everything. But if you can get it and paste it into a translation app, read it complete. You may change your idea about Leão.
Oh, and no, you don’t care and that’s fine, but let me just add, Rafa was never a diva like Theo. Rafa always played with a smile, had fun, and he was just a happy kid (until he started collecting rabid, hateful criticism from a segment of the fan base and the press; that did affect him, given that he wasn’t that mature; but it seems that now he is maturing and learning better how to deal with criticism).
I’m American and fully admit I only became a Milan fan when Pulisic and Musah came. That’s why I NEVER discuss or debate what happened before last season. As an American I’ve become a big Milan fan because they gave Pulisic a chance after Chelsea screwed him when most teams wouldn’t. I knew he was a great player as he showed it at the dumpster fire that is Chelsea but I never knew he would progress the way he has and become borderline world class. So I love Milan but I only ever watched them in the champions league before. So anything you say about pre last season is mostly new to me. I have no problem with Leao and knew about him before Pulisic came but I had only seen him a handful of times. The only problem I’ve ever had with him is that he comes off as lazy TO ME when he makes a run, loses the ball, then puts his head down or smiles and starts walking back. He doesn’t do that all the time or anything but I think players should work hard after losing the ball to try and get it back. At least for a few seconds anyways. And when he makes a darting half of the pitch run and lays it off to a teammate who blows it(reijnders last game) then I am totally fine and expect him to catch his breathe and walk back for a few. Anyways, I like Rafa and hope he becomes a top 5 player in the world which seems like he has the God given talent to get there. Hopefully Conceicao can help him reach that level.
I hear you; I also love Puli, a lot. Also, I have always defended Musah whom some people consider a bust. It’s again an issue of management. Pioli ran the kid to the ground. He used him in like 6 different roles and positions. Musah never knew what to expect and how to learn ONE position and how to get good at that one position. Have you noticed how well Musah did in the Juve semifinal game once Conceição helped him with a clearer set of instructions? Musah had complained that he didn’t know what to do under Fonseca. That’s not a problem with Conceição who seems to have clear ideas and who communicates well with players. Even language-wise, Fonseca’s Italian sucks. Conceição speaks much better Italian. Musah also speaks very good Italian as he partially grew up in Italy. So, I’m sure that Musah now finds it a lot easier to understand Conceição’s ideas.
I don’t think Musah is a bust. I think he has great potential as he is also very young and just needs better guidance.
I have nothing against Americans like some of my fellow Italians do. I don’t like the incompetent managers that RedBird has hired but I don’t see it as exactly an American thing. Half of the Serie A teams are owned by Americans. It’s just business. Sure, Gerry needs to surround himself with better people, but his willingness to step in, overrule his minions, fire Fonseca and order them to hire Conceição, gave me some hope.
I’m not a xenophobe; I think that there are good and bad people in all countries, including in Italy. I have no problem with any foreigner who means well and tries to do his/her job.
Yes, I can see how Rafa can give to someone this impression of laziness, especially someone who never knew how Pioli managed him. I think a lot of that is related to what Pioli wanted of him for years. Pioli clearly DIDN’T want Rafa to track back; he wanted him to be a dedicated forward and to stay up there to collect counters. Again, it did work (and very well) for a good while. But yes, it may have spoiled and distorted Rafa; it is clear, though, that Rafa is adapting and changing, and leaving that behind, as he may understand better now that modern football does require players to do more than one thing and to participate to the best of their abilities in all phases of the game.
It’s OK to be a great forward and a lousy defender like Rafa is; not every player can do well both roles (actually it is the rare player who can). But it’s not OK to not even try to help the defense. I think that Rafa now understands it better but he wasn’t given the opportunity to understand it, under Pioli, who clearly didn’t want him to have anything to do with defense.
Yeah I can see that as Rafa is working harder now. I think he’s easily the most gifted player on the team. Hoping they all play to their potential because if so they can make a run in the Champions league and hopefully fight for 4th place. That 2nd half against Inter showed what this team is capable of. They can use a striker and RB upgrade though.
Regarding trolls and anti American biases I just ignore them. Doesn’t bother me. This is just sports. I’m super competitive and love multiple sports and teams but I have a wife and 5 year old daughter God blessed me with so I’m a bit more focused on that than getting angry about what people say online. Also, America has never been known for “soccer”. It’s growing but my friends and I always viewed the MLS as a retirement league for European players and 95% of our best players play in Europe. We do have more above average players than we’ve ever had though and a few gems like Pulisic and Antonee Robinson. Musah is talented and I hope he keeps improving because he has a lot of potential but my biggest gripe with him is he makes the wrong decision too often when they get in the final third. But he is playing better.