The Calcio Commentary: Fonseca at a Crossroads with AC Milan Due to Leao and Theo

The issues in Milan, specifically on the Milan side, are incredibly complex. The events witnessed during the Lazio-Milan match left all Rossoneri fans, as well as Italian sports commentators and journalists, in disbelief. At the cooling break in the second half, Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao made a bold decision to ignore coach Paulo Fonseca and their fellow teammates. This defiant act was a clear indication of their lack of respect for the coach's authority, essentially undermining his position in front of everyone.

In order to apply his principles of play, he made strong choices in the first place, excluding important names, players who have written the history of this club in recent years. Among them, of course, are Theo and Leao, who evidently did not take the coach's choice well. 

Fonseca is a courageous coach, he has proven it in his career, regardless of the results produced, he is a coach who has never been afraid of anything. Even when he was in charge of Roma after a series of unpleasant episodes he took the captain's armband away from Edin Dzeko and gave it to Lorenzo Pellegrini, who has not lost it since.

In short, he has already shown in the past that he has ideas and the courage to apply them, but it is the club that has to support him, defend him from players' misbehavior and from undue criticism by some press organs.

Patience is needed, the Portuguese coach's ideas are not easy to put into practice and time is needed, but the team must be on the coach's side and not against him. The problem is that reporters were told by one of Milan's top executives, Giorgio Furlani, that it was not an episode to discuss and that they 'were amazed at people's reactions'. Now read it again. The hope is that he was protected at least within the locker room, because otherwise it will be difficult to move forward. 

Barring rarities and very good and serious directors, only one thing can save coaches and give them additional time: results. Winning always helps, and Milan since the beginning of the season has still failed to do that. Alvaro Morata arrived, scored and got injured, now Tammy Abraham has arrived on loan from Roma, but the English striker needs to revive himself and return to the player who did so well in Jose Mourinho's first year in the Capital.

The midfield has been reinforced and also the defence, the management now demands positive results, but the feeling filtering from Milan is always of precariousness, of instability and this does not help anyone. 

In the coming weeks the locker room situation will have to be seriously evaluated, and within the club they will have to do it thoroughly. That behavior of two of the team's top players may have raised a wall, or at any rate undermined Fonseca's credibility. The Portuguese is a hard worker, he will try hard to make the problem go away, maybe he will have to build a dialogue with the most important players in the team. The alternative is the opposite, which is to go straight for his own way, as, for example, Thiago Motta did in Turin. 

In any case, the situation is delicate and never before has Milan needed three points more than at this moment. The next game will be against Venezia, the most struggling team in the league, it's almost perfect, but right now the Rossoneri can't underestimate anyone, because first of all their own ghosts have to be beaten and they have to work on the things that are wrong within the team. 

Surely Leao and Theo will have to make it up to them, perhaps with a great performance on the pitch: it would be the first of the season in their case. They need to act like true leaders, solving problems and not creating new ones. Then the ball will pass to Fonseca: it's not easy, but he has to resolve the situation.