Rafael Leao and Paulo Fonseca are still in the early stages of figuring out their relationship together at AC Milan, but it would be fair to say that it hasn’t got off to a perfect start.
Calciomercato.com write how Leao and Fonseca’s bond ‘has not taken off’ yet, and the most recent story to make the headlines is the fact that the winger decided to imply that he feels more trust from Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez, as well as from the squad there.
Udinese, Club Brugge, Bologna and Napoli: the next four games will decide a lot for Fonseca, who is still not 100% stable in his role, and Leao can offer his compatriot a hand. Incidents such as the cooling break saga against Lazio and the various episodes against Fiorentina have not helped this.
Following the same path taken by Stefano Pioli during his management at Milan, Leao ‘demands a freedom of expression’, in essence wanting to be less required for defensive schemes and tasks, which Fonseca cannot allow in the high-risk 4-4-2 that he is insisting on.
Here we come to the crucial point, to the crux of the matter: can Milan, given how the team was built and the players that the usual XI is made up of, allow itself to exempt even just one of its outfield players from the defensive tasks required to maintain a team balance?
As a follow-up, is Leao the man that deserves to effectively be given a free pass? The long-awaited consistency has not yet arrived from him despite being at Milan for five years, and he gives the feeling of always being capable of more.
Leave a Reply