The most obvious sign that things aren’t right at AC Milan could well be the fact that the benching of Rafael Leao is no longer considered major news.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Paulo Fonseca set a firm stance when he arrived as he often repeated: “Leao on the bench must be the norm.” His aim was not to denigrate the winger, but rather to promote democratisation within the squad. Everyone useful and no one undroppable, in short.
Leao found himself on the bench at half-time on Saturday too in the defeat to Torino, a game in which Sergio Conceicao yelled at him and then withdrew him at the break, because even his patience ‘had also run out’.
Tactical issues
After coming on in Leao’s place, Youssouf Fofana transformed the 4-2-3-1 into a 4-3-1-2 which, however, had no effect and within a few minutes became 4-2-4: full steam ahead, but without the game-breaker Rafa.
In reality, the Portuguese’s first half wasn’t even among the worst ever. Let’s say it was average for matches in which he has little impact, and we may be talking about something else now if Pulisic had scored the penalty that he had earned, too.
Murphy’s law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) these days doesn’t just affect the Rossoneri, but also several individuals. Leao quickly fell into the predictable passing moves and decision-making errors that the rest of the group did.
Leao seems to have stopped taking his man on effectively and instead what results is an endless list of soft and readable crosses, perfect for Torino who had three centre-backs and a 6ft8 goalkeeper in Vanja Milinkovic-Savic to welcome every aerial ball.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic said a few days prior about Leao: “He is one of the best players in the world, and how can you explain to one of the best in the world how to play… He knows how to do it, he is the one who explains to you how to play.”
The issue is that Conceicao disagrees and believes that he must be guided in some way on the pitch, by being told to track back and do work in both phases, in order to earn the freedom to create at the other end.
Familiarity with the bench
That being said, Leao has played 2,471 minutes this season which is fourth-highest among players within the squad. However, a look at the list of his substitutions this season – or the times in which he has not started – is intriguing.
Out of 36 appearances, he is at eight started on the bench (in addition to 15 substitutions) and the comparison with previous seasons paints the situation well. In 2024-25 the number of times he was left out of the line-up were six out of 47 appearances, in 2022-23 eight out of 48 and in 2021-22 four out of 42.
To find a greater number of exclusions from the starting XI, you have to go back to his first two years in red and black, which is obviously logical. In other words: from Fonseca to Conceiçao, the situation for Rafa has not changed.
He has been questioned by both coaches because of his inconsistent performances, but mostly because they want to try encourage their compatriot to take the most important step for his definitive growth.
In the meantime, given the direction the season has taken – collectively and in personal terms – the feeling is that Leao’s summer will not be spent on the list of unsellable players, even if his situation is different from Theo Hernandez’s.
In the event of an offer deemed appropriate by the club (and certainly not the €175m release clause), Rafa would be set free. It would be a shame, for all that his adventure at Milanello promised, if his time were to end like this.
Neither Pioli, Fonseca or Conceição can teach Leão how to cross. At some point he has to up his accuracy and be a better decision maker if he wants to be considered as a good player and let’s not even talk about his defensive work.
From a watcher’s perspective, it’s frustrating to watch him get to the penalty area or near it only to cross to nowhere or shoot towards the crowd.
90% of those crosses are just horrible. Especially when we’re trailing and need a goal. All of them go out or to the first opponent.
It’s not just Leao – I don’t know why we’re sending endless balls into the box (in theory) when nothing ever comes of it. Baffling..
There is only one time when they need to cross : when they have set pieces. But surprisingly they take short pass and then take cross…
And in the game when they need to make difference on the pitch they do crosses.
It is frustrating to watch those individuals.
They don’t have team play and team work.
Pioli had knowledge to use rafa and theo on left and even Ruben Loftus as second striker.
New coaches are not able to point them when and how to cross and how to make difference specifically against “small teams”
Agreed. We aren’t built for air balls into the box. Ball to feet, and run at them. Preferably on the counter, otherwise we can’t break down the deep defenses.
There is no team play
Football is not about one man play or several man’s.
Football is collective sport. Which they had only against Inter and one time Real.
This.
Seriously, I hope players and coaches don’t follow the media on their clubs.
Media is the first killer. It’s mostly negative news, comments, bla bla bla.
Things are bad, but these guys need 100% focus and unity to survive this season. I can’t think of anything else that can help.
Maybe only Pioli who can bring back Leao and Theo to their best form again.
I wrote this earlier. Is the club willing to trust fully the coach or are they more concerned about the players? The former may mean parting with cherished as.sets while the latter requires you to select a good man manager. Seems we haven’t or are willing to do either and this is where we are. You can build around your player or you can build around your coach.
The problems aren’t Leao, Theo, Mike or whoever per se, neither is the problem Fons or Sarge. The problem is putting a team together and knowing which combination would work. And that’s why without having a proper sporting director or similar figure who has their pulse on team needs and squad building, we end up in a predicament of blame all around. It’s because whoever made these decisions simply don’t have an idea of how to make a team work.
Napoli’s biggest signing last summer was their coach and they were willing to build around that. They let their very good players go on account of the coach’s needs as they value winning. Are we willing to go that far given our penchance for player value and appreciation?
On the flip side one of our cheapest signings was our coach (twice). We obviously didn’t want to build around the coach’s needs as they could be gone in 6 months and we’d be left with a team of misfits (again twice over). Management need to select a lane. What we’ll be left with by season end is a bunch of players, some suited to Pioli, some to Fons and some to Sarge and another revolution trying to please the new incoming coach.
Poorly Built Team! 100% That’s what I had said on another post.