Capello praises Fonseca for showing ‘courage’ with potential Leao exclusion | OneFootball

News has filtered through this morning that Paulo Fonseca is planning on benching Rafael Leao for tonight’s game against Udinese, and Fabio Capello has praised him for showing bravery.

Fonseca has already shown in his nine games as Milan manager that he is not afraid to send a strong message to his players, such as Leao and Theo Hernandez who were benched for the away game against Lazio after a poor showing in Parma, which led to the cooling break saga.

The hardline approach – especially after winning the derby with Inter – seemed to have turned a corner but then the defeat against Fiorentina before the break, however, brought back all the doubts from the beginning of the season, not so much from a playing point of view but rather on attitude.

There was the penalty debacle(s) in which Christian Pulisic was meant to take both spot kicks but had them taken off him by Theo Hernandez – who saw red later in the game for dissent – and Tammy Abraham, leading to questions the dressing room are not listening to the coach.

On the eve of the Udinese game Fonseca uttered some strong words in his pre-match press conference, and now Capello has given his take on the notion that he may bench Leao for the game tonight in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

We certainly weren’t used to seeing and hearing such a strong Fonseca…

“After the defeat in Florence, many had reproached the Rossoneri coach for lacking authority. And honestly, seeing the chaos on penalties, the doubt was legitimate. Yesterday’s press conference is a signal in this sense: enough is enough, I am the coach and I make the decisions, the players must adapt.

“And don’t think that Fonseca went to the press conference to put on a show just for the sake of it, I’m sure that before he had used equally harsh words inside the dressing room.”

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Not just words, but also choices. Leao, for example, should start from the bench…

“If Fonseca thinks it’s good for Milan, it’s right that he also makes strong decisions like keeping out one of the most important players in the team. I don’t know if he’s doing it for behavioural reasons, if he hasn’t digested certain phrases from Leao in the national team or simply for technical-tactical reasons or rotation, but it’s legitimate anyway. In fact, I think that Paulo deserves a bravo a priori for his courage.”

Also because, if it doesn’t work, there will be a lot of criticism…

“Of course. But who is (almost always) pilloried when you lose? The coach. So, if he is responsible, at least let him follow his own thoughts and who cares about the controversy. Something similar happened to me with Ronaldo at Real Madrid. And it was Ronaldo the Phenomenon, not Leao, with all due respect to the latter…”

But isn’t there a risk that Leao will take his exclusion badly?

“At this level, players must be able to receive the coach’s messages and react positively. However, I expect his teammates to also explain to Leao what is right and what is wrong, how he can improve, especially in certain attitudes that are a bit like that.”

Not just Leao. From the return of Chukwueze as starter to Pulisic as attacking midfielder: the feeling is that Fonseca wants to return to certain summer ideas, abandoned after the first few bad results…

“He certainly makes courageous decisions, then the pitch will tell if he was right or wrong. The point is always the same: a coach must follow his ideas, even if someone from the outside doesn’t understand or share them.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, on the other hand, was not seen at Milanello. Up until now, in difficult moments, the Swede had always kept the team in touch: after the defeat in Parma or before the derby, for example…

“I won’t go into the merits. I happened to ask Ibra on TV what his role was exactly, because it wasn’t very clear and not only to me. He simply replied: ‘I’m the boss’. And then, if he commands, he will decide as he pleases…”

Could the Swede’s absence be interpreted as a desire to leave the field free to Fonseca?

“Here, this is an interpretative key that I like and I would agree if Ibra had acted with this intent. It can’t always be the club that raises its voice, otherwise the coach makes a fool of himself, losing credibility in front of the players.

“Fonseca instead, also using colourful words, made it known that from now on he won’t look anyone in the face. A message that this Milan needed, at least from what I could gather from the outside. And perhaps also from the coach himself, to demand with a certain authority from his players what he has in mind.”