GdS: Cooling breaks, penalty mutiny, verbal clashes – Fonseca’s turbulent Milan start

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·13 de diciembre de 2024

GdS: Cooling breaks, penalty mutiny, verbal clashes – Fonseca’s turbulent Milan start

Paulo Fonseca has now done five months as the head coach of AC Milan, and it would be fair to say that they have been turbulent.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, if he has reached ‘a point of no return’ after his comments following the Red Star win we will probably find out soon. However, the certainty is that from now on, nothing will be the same as before.

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The day after Fonseca’s accusations against the team very little happened, yet it was impossible to ignore what was said. There was no big team meeting at Milanello nor did the management break their silence. Instead, focus went onto the Genoa game.

The shock treatment

The first problem is that Fonseca’s words after the game were not a gut reaction but rather something that was gnawing at him inside and so he decided to communicate externally with the obvious aim of giving everything a shake.

Perhaps his aim is to reset everything, or at least a good part of it, and start again. After all, the Portuguese coach had used the same method with Rafael Leao and in that case he deserves credit for getting it right.

Here we’re not talking about one individual, but several individuals. In general, we know how these things usually end: when a team isn’t working, even if the players’ faults are obvious, in the long run it’s always the coach who pays.

The good news is that we’re not even halfway through the season and so there’s still time and a way to correct the course of the ship. For the rest, the good news ends here because the team are struggling in the league and remain inconsistent.

The stance of the club

There were no directors at the training ground yesterday because the meeting to discuss things had already been scheduled for the afternoon at San Siro, on the occasion of the Christmas party for the youth sector.

Everyone was there – Giorgio Furlani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Geoffrey Moncada – and Fonseca was there too. There was a calm discussion between the former Lille boss and the directors, in which he explained that his tough stance is part of his strategy to give the team a jolt and raise the level.

From the outside, Fonseca’s adventure at Milan continues to convey a certain feeling of loneliness. A lot of that certainly also depends on the management’s approach because they do not believe it necessary to be at training each day, nor to speak to the media too much either.

The words Zlatan Ibrahimovic said before the match against Club Brugge revealed a lot: “Fonseca should be himself, he is the coach and certain issues must be resolved from within. They are adults, they must take their responsibilities.”

The past, present and future

Fonseca arrived under a cloud given that he was the alternative to Julen Lopetegui, who the fans didn’t want either, and his first few months have been littered with difficult situations to manage.

For example, he declared the transfer window closed in terms of signings in mid-August. Then, Ibrahimovic shortly thereafter replied: “The coach is the coach, the club does the rest.” He was put back in line immediately, in short.

The rest of the season did not provide much tranquility. The first real rift with some players was very clear against Lazio, with cooling break incident involving Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao standing alone on the other side of the field.

Breaking point was almost reached in the loss to Fiorentina amid total anarchy, with players stealing penalties by snatching the ball from each other’s hands. It gave the impression of a dressing room that had spectacularly gotten out of hand.

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Then, the soap opera with Leao began, most notable the comment: “I don’t give a f*** about the names of the players.” He benched the winger for multiple league games in a row, though he does seem to have come out of it a better player.

Finally, before the post-Red Star outburst, there was the post-Atalanta one against the officials. Scaroni and Ibrahimovic distanced themselves from his comments, also because the ownership had not appreciated the Portuguese’s statements on that specific topic.

Now we need to understand what will happen: more punishments like what happened after Fiorentina by benching stars? Face-to-face discussions to address the problems like mature people? The management of the dressing room, after Wednesday night’s words, will not be easy.