Fonseca in TROUBLE? Milan superstars in open revolt after rocky start

Muhammad Butt

1 Sept 2024 14:00 BST
3 min read

AC Milan manager Paulo Fonseca could be in real trouble with his star players seemingly in open revolt.

Article continues under the video

Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez snubbed their coach during Milan's recent draw with Lazio, electing to stand apart from the squad as they were receiving tactical instructions during a cooling break.

"We’d be on for two minutes; we didn’t need the cooling break," said Theo Hernandez to Milan TV after the game.

"People talk; they say a lot of untrue things. Rafa and I are always with the team and ready to help. That’s the most important thing."

For his part, Paulo Fonseca echoed these sentiments when speaking to DAZN: "They had only come on two minutes earlier, so did not need a cooling break. It’s not a problem, they gave a good reaction when coming on."

But it all feels a bit disingenuous given that during the cooling break, it wasn't just that Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez didn't join the team to receive tactical instructions, but they stood as far away from Fonseca as they reasonably could and Theo Hernandez was seen drinking water!

Why did Paulo Fonseca drop Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez?

You might be wondering why players the calibre of Leao and Hernandez were on the bench anyway, especially as Milan have not won so far this season, drawing twice and losing once.

The reason is that Paulo Fonseca dropped them.

Fonseca justified his decision by saying "people might see this as punishment, but that will never be the case. It is a choice for what we need," continuing "I need to make choices for the good of the team. We must be a team, if we want to win."

Dropping your two best players is almost never to a team's benefit, but is usually what happens when a new coach is trying to establish their authority.

However, Fonseca's attempts to do this were undermined by his team's collapse and having to turn to Leao and Hernandez to save him, which both did.

Fonseca has not started his Milan career in good form and with huge clashes against Liverpool, Inter Milan and Bayer Leverkusen coming up after the international break, the Portuguese coach could soon find himself out of a job if he doesn't get on the same page as his star players... for the good of the team.