Milan Could Give the Leao Treatment to a Different Star | OneFootball

Theo Hernandez is under heavy fire for his paltry defensive performance against Cagliari and a very up-and-down start to the season. He was overwhelmed by Nadir Zortea and Gabriele Zappa, who were involved in every goal by the Sardinians on Saturday. He was wearing the captain’s armband but didn’t live up to it, La Gazzetta dello Sport informs.

The Frenchman is facing the same criticism as Rafael Leao. He was too disengaged and not determined and aggressive enough. The winger turned things around in the last couple of matches. Paulo Fonseca could try to do the same thing with the defender.

The attacker was benched in three consecutive games and then roared back against Real Madrid and Cagliari, producing two of his best showings of the season. Theo Hernandez was used as a sub in the early going, but primarily due to physical reasons.

Fonseca would have a couple of options if he went ahead with the plan. Davide Calabria is back into the fold after multiple injuries. Both he and Emerson Royal can adapt to the left wing in a pinch. Filippo Terracciano has played in the two fullback spots with decent results so far.

Our Take on Theo Hernandez

He doesn’t have the same track record of inconsistency as Leao but rather he’s occasionally hampered by lapses and lack of focus in the back, which is somewhat not unusual given his style. They could try since it worked for his teammate, albeit in a small sample size, but they’d surely hurt their offense, as his potential replacements are very different.