A challenge after autonomy: Why Fonseca’s management could get the best out of Leao

SempreMilan

·24 de octubre de 2024

A challenge after autonomy: Why Fonseca’s management could get the best out of Leao

The victories against Udinese and Club Brugge were welcomed by fans and the media, but they also coincided with more Rafael Leao controversy.

As our colleagues at SempreMilan.it write, it seems that Paulo Fonseca has come along as head coach and has decided to issue a challenge to Leao rather than blessing him with the same ‘untouchable’ tag that his predecessor did.

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The proof of this is in the last two games. Against Udinese, Leao sat on the bench for the entire match, something he hadn’t done for three years, and Milan’s defensive performance was solid. The Rossoneri played for over an hour a man down, but managed to come away with a clean sheet.

Is it all due to the exclusion of Leao? No, football is not algebraic in that way and the red card perhaps altered the plans to bring him on, but a risky choice like Fonseca’s had positive effects that were repeated in the next game against Brugge.

The Leao paradox

It could well be that we are seeing that Milan play better as a team without Leao, because as strong as he is, the Portuguese is tactically limited. In fact, the No.10 has shown several times that he is unable to express himself in areas of the pitch other than the left side and if he is not put in the conditions to run at speed, he is a player who can be kept out of games.

This makes it undeniable easy for opposing defences to handle him for most of the game through systematic double-teaming or the presence of a fixed marker who often forces the former Lille man to play with his back to the goal.

What we saw last season is that Milan’s threat was more spread, with Christian Pulisic having a career-best season on the other flank by exploiting the spaces that were perhaps opened up by the extra attention on Leao, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek even scored double figures.

On the other hand, Leao’s presence determines a limit especially in the non-possession phase. His trudging after a lost ball is now iconic, an attitude that any coach would not encourage and would like to replace with immediate pressure towards the ball.

Meanwhile, Noah Okafor already enjoys less attention from opposition defences and also allows Milan a more varied range of choices in the possession phase. The Swiss is tactically flexible, has great technique, smart movement and he works hard off the ball.

The Pioli mistake

For this reason, Leao in his current form represents more of a limitation than a resource in the way that Fonseca wants to play. Replacing him is a solution that Pioli would have also wanted to undertake, especially in his last season, but that he never had the courage to explore fully.

On the contrary, Fonseca immediately put his stamp on things, showing that he doesn’t care about the name on the back of the shirt when deciding the starting line-up, something that he admitted in an expletive press conference before the Udinese game.

These words will not have been digested with total calm by Leao and Theo Hernandez – who know that it was at least partly aimed at them, after incidents like the cooling break saga – but they found the complete support of the rest of the dressing room.

There was something striking after Tijjani Reijnders’ goal on Tuesday night to make it 2-1. Fikayo Tomori ran to hug the clearly unhappy Leao, who was annoyed by the fact he had been brought off, and it brought back a smile to Rafa’s face, making him understand that everyone’s eyes are not on him but on his beloved Milan. If the team wins, the general level of negativity and scrutiny drops.

It is always worth remembering that Leao (as well as Theo) is a very intelligent man and feels very attached to Milan. He is an extraordinary player but still limited, and if one day he really wants to take flight will have to become complete.

While Fonseca and his team-mates continue to issue challenges, the one who needs to demand more from Leao is himself. While he has that conversation in the mirror, the coach and the team put the collective good first.