Leao claims Milan are only ‘starting to understand the coach’s ideas a bit’ | OneFootball

Rafael Leao has claimed that the AC Milan squad are only just starting to get to grips with coach Paulo Fonseca’s tactical ideas, after the 0-0 draw against Genoa.

Milan were celebrating 125 years of history in front of their fans and together with some of the most beloved legends like Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Pippo Inzaghi and Clarence Seedorf.

However, the performance was not up to the occasion as they failed to break down a resolute Genoa side, eventually drawing 0-0. The full-time whistle saw fans protest and the team were jeered off the field.

Outside San Siro, the Curva Sud Milano in fact displayed a banner towards the ownership, singing chants such as ‘These owners do not deserve us’ and ‘we are not Americans’.

Leao was the only Milan player to speak after the game having worn the armband given Theo Hernandez and Davide Calabria’s absences. He spoke to DAZN, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.

Milan are lacking consistency…

“It takes time, we’re starting to understand the coach’s ideas a bit, but in my opinion sometimes the problem is us inside, small things that we can change like the nastiness in front of goal, finding spaces on the pitch.

“The coach has good ideas, he wants to play a lot, press the opponent. I really feel the difference because when we press we have the ball close to the opponent’s area and we can score, but it takes time.

“We’ve had a good period, now we’ve drawn but it can’t be the end of the world. We have to get up all together, work because today we almost won, we hit the crossbar. Football is like that.”

Do you realise that you are dropping very important points in terms of the table?

“Yes, clearly. The coach also told us that it was an important match. We on the pitch must also understand that, that every match must be like a final.

“Today we did not lack attitude, but it is one of those matches in which even if we had played another 30 minutes we would not have scored. We cannot lose any more points along the way, because otherwise it will become difficult.”