Davy & Chin Talk A.C Milan Weekly
Davy & Chin Talk A.C Milan Weekly
Davy & Chin Explore AC Milan's Recent Form: Fonseca's Leadership Woes & The Rafael Leão Dilemma
Why has AC Milan stumbled in its quest for dominance under Paulo Fonseca compared to the leadership of Stefano Pioli? We tackle this pressing question by tracing Milan's evolution into the 2021-22 Serie A champions, spotlighting the crucial management decisions that fortified the squad. Yet, recent inconsistencies on the pitch have sparked debate about Fonseca's impact, particularly regarding star player Rafael Leão. With recent losses to teams like Fiorentina and Bayer Leverkusen, we dive into the need for a fresh leadership approach and enhanced player discipline to restore Milan's winning edge.
Delving into Fonseca's leadership style, we expose the challenges Milan faces in crafting a cohesive tactical identity and the alarming gaps in midfield that have left the team vulnerable. Using insights from matches against formidable teams like Liverpool, we examine player discipline issues, with a focus on Rafael Leão and Theo Hernandez's on-field decisions. We discuss the importance of honing individual strengths within a unified team strategy, envisioning how Milan can overcome its current hurdles to regain consistency at the top levels of football.
In our candid discussion, we scrutinize AC Milan's title aspirations amidst fierce Serie A competition, measuring their capabilities against powerhouses like Napoli, Inter Milan, and Juventus. We discuss the dynamics of player contributions, contrasting Rafael Leão's offensive flair with his defensive responsibilities, and his impact on team morale and leadership. Our conversation wraps up with a look at the anticipated clash between Milan and Napoli, pondering the possible outcomes in light of key player absences and Napoli's grueling schedule. Through a mix of skepticism and optimism, we share our enduring passion for Milan's journey and the hope for a return to glory.
The Rossoneri Renaissance is complete After 11 years. Once again, milan are the champions of Italy. It's they who wear the crown for the 2021-22 season. Hello everyone, this is Davin Chin. Talk, milan. We are back again, chin. What's up, bro? It's been a minute, man. Yeah, hi, dave, how are you? I'm good.
Speaker 2:I'm good. I'm good, hey, it's been a minute, but I, man, like the amount of hate you have for Fonseca man, oh, I don't know how. I think the most comparable thing is the amount of love you have for Pioli.
Speaker 1:But hey, it's been a minute, but we've been in touch quite often the thing is, look, you guys have opened my mind to some certain things and make me believe some certain things Like what, okay, so Chin, when Pioli got fired last year, right, the impression was that trying is not enough, like we need identity, we need this, we need that and all those things, and we believe that a better coach can do better with this squad. Right, and, in all honesty, the management did an amazing job during the transfer window. They were able to at least add some value to this team, the values that have been to me, that have been advocating for quite a while. So I'm really impressed with them in the market this season.
Speaker 1:But the reality of the matter is I'm not just impressed. I'm not really happy with the way things are at Milan at the moment. To be honest, we're not playing well, even though we're winning games. To be honest, and you and I know it's changed, because, unless it's something that you just don't want to talk about much, maybe this, maybe look like you're not seeing the better part of Fonseca or whatever, because I don't understand. You've been silent for a while now. So whatever Fonseca is doing to you, I hope it's working.
Speaker 2:So I'll tell you this right. I have said it to you multiple times and I'll say it again I am not a Fonseca fan. I've never been a Fonseca fan. When you got hired, I was excited with what I saw in preseason. I will say that part that was kind of one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it won me over a little bit. But again, when you turn around and you look at what some other top coaches are doing around the world, then you realize that Milan chip went out and got Fonseca, that Milan chipped out and got Fonseca. That being said, it's still not going to change my mind about whether or not Pioli should still be the head coach. I still believe 100% His time was up, right, his time was up. Is Fonseca the right guy? That's a different discussion. Now, you also have to give the guy a little bit of room to breathe, right, because I feel like you're always on his case.
Speaker 2:You know, and you're right, milan has not been doing a great job. They have not been playing well. The team has looked, um, you know, very, very inconsistent. There's been lots of issues with players, right, and to your credit, you've called it out purely didn't have this many, this much issues with players, because I guess, in a way, that was one of his strengths was managing people. But Fonseca, on the other, maybe his strength is not really dealing with people that don't like to follow his instructions, so he wants to get his way regardless.
Speaker 2:So you see him butting heads with Theo Leao, especially Leao, right. That being said, leao has been at Milan for five years. Honestly speaking, at this point, if the guy is not going to grow up and start helping the team win consistently, well then, what do you want, dave? Like, eventually let me put it this way Fonseca will get fired Eventually. Now, would it be today? No, would it be tomorrow? No, at some point he will get fired, but I feel like at some point too, leal has to have someone kick him on the backside. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1:have someone kick him on the backside.
Speaker 2:Does that make sense? So if that takes one second, if it takes sacrificing for a second's head to get Leal to wake up, well then I'm okay with that. You know what I mean? Because at the end of the day, we can't keep babying the guy. He's not a child anymore and every coach that comes in wants what you want them to all turn around and say do whatever you like, rafa, you no. At some point someone has to. If this was Conte, we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we? Because, conte, you would literally be on Conte's side 100%, because you know that. Guess what, at the end of the day he would be top of the league, right, okay, chin?
Speaker 1:You know, look, we have a lot to debunk with this short period of time that we have today, so let's just get to the main points. To be honest, the the thing is right. We played Fiorentina and lost to Fiorentina. We went to play Leverkusen. We lost to Leverkusen right in the Champions League.
Speaker 2:But they played well. They played well against Leverkusen.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, they did no no Chin, they played the second half better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they played the second half better. The way you brushed it with the Fiorentina one, that was a debacle because they had two penalties and they missed both penalties right and it led to a lot of issues with you know, blah, blah, blah, but again a lot of differences.
Speaker 1:Which kind of brings the conversation down to again Fonseca's, you know, leadership right, because there's so many. You know, there's so many reflags that I'm seeing in this team as a whole. Let's forget the fact that, okay, maybe the guy is trying as a tactician right To me, which I think. I say questions sometimes because I've seen games that we just switch off completely and then we keep piling pressure. We keep piling pressure until something happens and we just find ourselves in a situation where we're either considering goals or maybe someone got recorded for no reason. You know what I mean. And I feel like this, those moments that what is the problem like I know you've noticed it too, because I think we talked about it right in the group like what do you think is happening? Like what do you think is doing wrong that's even creating that sort of situation to even start with, or what do you think he's not really paying attention to?
Speaker 2:well, I think, honestly speaking. So there's. There are two things here. So for second, is trying to be a hybrid of purely and a hybrid of, let's say, the idealistic. For what do I mean by that? Like, maybe if this wasn't milan, he would have literally benched half of those players and guys that he thinks would work for him, and then they would lose a bunch of games and eventually he'll get fired. So now he's trying to placate, to upper management by playing certain guys that he thinks would work for him, and then they would lose a bunch of games and eventually you'll get fired. So now he's trying to placate, to upper management by playing certain guys, while also trying to force his mentality into people. Because if you watch the team right, we can week out.
Speaker 2:I can tell you there's no consistency in what they're trying to do. Like a lot of players, it feels like they are. They are playing almost like a positionless football, but without any idea of it's. Almost like positionless football, but in a bad way. Does that make sense? Usually you say positionless basketball, everyone assumes everybody can play every position, but in Milan it's almost like it's positionless because the guys have no clue. The best I've seen them play this year was against Inter Milan. Yeah, that was it. It felt like they spent the whole week in training preparing for that game, so they knew what they needed to do. But since then it feels like everybody just come back to their old self, which is play whatever you like, do whatever you like, and so on and so forth.
Speaker 2:Now, that being said, I think the issues with Leao and some of the key players on the team key players on the team it doesn't help. So you know how you have to get rid of your old self to get a new self, to allow a new self. Milan are metamorphosizing, so they are trying to basically shed some of those bad behavior or character they had from the Pioli era, while also assuming the new so-called behavior right. So sometimes for players that are not very, very, very elite in terms of their mindset or in terms of their footballing IQ, those players struggle with such transition. Right Now, the one that shocks me is even some of the new guys are also struggling, which might kind of go back to maybe Fonseca's ideology. Maybe it's not as easy or straightforward, but then again to maybe Fonseca's ideology. Maybe it's not as easy or straightforward, but then again, let's go back to preseason.
Speaker 2:Everyone swore that you know his ideology, like the way he communicates, oh my God, like everyone in Milan, in Milano, in Milanello, like everyone loves him and he's very easy to deal with, right? So to see that it just tells me that maybe when the games got going, the pressure got to him. That you know. You know, we all change our personality and our behavior under pressure. So when he was under pressure, he reverted to his more his side. That isn't really very conducive for everyone and therefore he's now losing the team and he's getting a lot of players on the other side instead of being on his side.
Speaker 2:And all that benching of leo and teo kind of kicked everything off, even though I never still liked how Leal reacted, and he still hasn't mentally recovered from that because he's a child, but that's a different question, because that was the beginning of it, right? Even though Milan won the derby, he didn't really erase all this, because all he needed was a stupid display against Fiorentina for everyone to go back to their old way, right? So what am I trying to get at? Fonseca has not truly been himself, because since he has been at Milan, because of the way the season started, he's been under immense pressure since day one. He got a little bit of relief against Inter Milan, but it didn't last long, because the following week they went and lost to Fiorentina, right? So if they were actually, you know, if Milan kept winning, kept on winning after the entire game, things would be a little bit different Now, that being said, I still believe that you, dave, you're unfair to him. That's just me, I think you're being unfair to him. Okay, okay, go ahead.
Speaker 1:I just want to quickly just point out some key things that I think I kind of like Some red flags. I discovered about Fonseca that you and I have not really had the opportunity to actually talk in depth about Chin. Do you see that squad that he used to beat Inter? The guy wore it like he's wearing a wedding dress, like three, four days, like he wore it back to back in all these games. He tried to use the same squad for like literally three, four games back to back, like literally, until those squad got tired and the rotation wasn't there. Like these are the things that we're talking about.
Speaker 1:Purely last season that will say, oh yeah, you know, puyol doesn't rotate the team enough, like that's why people are getting injured and stuff like that. Now, this one here is a different thing than Tardy, because if you notice the intensity that Milan used to play on that Puyol compared to what, miles apart, like the way this team is playing, this team is not even using any energy, which is the more reason why you see that most of those guys they're not really getting any sort of like physical problem or muscle problem I used to talk about, whereas if it's under Peoli, you see, they will have to pick up injuries here and there. You know what I mean Because of the intensity round. Like when we start playing games, we can just realize that we try to manage the game after, like, maybe leading one nail, or you know what I mean. Like we don't really play to, like some sort of identity that okay. Like if you make an attack now, for example, from the right flank, it has to end in the left flank. Like you, you have to find a way to get the ball to. Like, for example, jerud, or like you know, back in the days of pewdie and all those things, there's no sort of reference point. Sometimes you see Morata, like dropping way deep into the mid and you're like, okay, who is the reference point? Up front? There's nobody. So the way he plays sometimes is so hard to define.
Speaker 1:To be honest, like again, you know, I said this in the group the other time. I was like can someone please tell me like, how are we playing? Like how do we attack? What's our style of play? Because I don't get it. I don't understand. Like against Edenisi we got lucky. Forget the fact that our record. Like if Edenisi was a better team, we would have probably lost points in that game Look at, against Club Bridge in the Champions League the first half was the same thing, like we were playing, like we don't want to attack but we just want to manage the game, and then we just left the entire midfield open and have Bruges run us over, thanks to Mike Mignan.
Speaker 1:Literally in that first half we'll have considered two or three goals. You know what I'm saying? So, again, we might be getting away. We're playing a club like Bruges, like Udinese, but if you look at the big games that we're losing, for example, so far like we lost to Farrington and we lost to Leverkusen, right, these are games that are like games that we need to win and we need like a proper Milan and the Milan would have an identity. We can't win these games, chin.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but Dave, no, but be fair too. Like a team that is struggling with their psyche and their identity, and then they are playing a team like Leverkusen and Liverpool, like, come on man, like, even on their best days, playing those teams would pose difficulty for you. Make it seem as though, like previous Milan coach was killing it with all these teams in the Champions League. Come on, I have memory.
Speaker 1:Don't let us go there. Don't let us go there, please, please.
Speaker 2:All I'm trying to tell you is that it is unfair to expect that a team that you and I know fully well, that is struggling with figuring out what they want to do, will then show up in these games and magically figure it out. So, against Inter Milan, like it's kind of funny, because if you're not watching Inter, you realize that maybe you know Inter themselves. They're not that fallible, right or infallible, because it looks like a lot of people can't get to them, right. What am I trying to say? Milan, technically, has been mediocre all year. They haven't actually shown any consistency in form or in anything they're trying to do. Consistency in form or in anything they are trying to do, there's a lot of.
Speaker 2:It looks like Fonseca is running a loose ship because people have lack of discipline. I could see that in some of the decision making on the field too, like even Fofana. Fofana sometimes, like in the way he makes decision to pass the ball, tells me of a guy that maybe has never been corrected on the fact that he keeps trying to pass ball that he doesn't have in his, you know, in his cabinet, right? So yeah, because you have to know what you can and can't do, right? So I was watching something recently and one of those discussions they said the difference between the top, top top footballers right, that make it to the pros, and the just regular guys that don't, is that those top guys, they know exactly what their strengths are and then they walk to those strengths, right. It's not about trying to be the best all-round footballer that can shoot, run and do whatever everything. No, it's understanding what you're like. You know what I mean, you know what you're good at and you just do that so consistently at a level. Think about it, go ahead.
Speaker 1:Gene Gene.
Speaker 2:For you? Do you have to give it up for those decisions right Now? For some weird reason, a lot of players are just playing like they are out of form. It could just be distraction, right Even, especially defensively. It could be that they are mentally not sharp enough to read games the way they are supposed to read them, to make those decisions as quickly as possible.
Speaker 2:But all this comes back on the coach, and that's what I was saying. Like I feel like Fonseca is running a loose ship at Milan and it doesn't help him that all his star players and best players on the team are not really that disciplined. And I mean that in all words of it, because imagine, like you, you a Milan player, would you then start getting all foresee when the coach really needs your help? Unless, of course, like you've concluded that you don't want the guy? Well then, that's a different conversation. But at the same time, you guys showed up two weeks ago and you're already saying you don't want him. You know what I mean. Have you given him a chance to prove to you that he's actually that guy? I'm talking specifically about Rafael Leal and Theo Hernandez and those guys, because half of their behavior Theo's behavior against Fiorentina is all lack of discipline. He literally acts. He's basically acting like what's his name, rafael Leal, and the only difference is that he's a defender, so he's not expected to score goals and create that Chin, chin, go ahead.
Speaker 1:Talking about Rafael Leal to be honest, because this is it here, Like you, just like you said, right, Like, the difference between the top top players right In the elite football level is they usually work on their strength, right, and I feel like, if we look at all the criticism, this is against Rafael Leal as much as I want to say yes, on some point, I think he deserves what he gets.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean In terms of sometimes his attitude and his ego, right, which I can kind of like understand at some point, because, okay, yeah, I bought you guys a scooter, right, so if I'm going through, you know some situations and stuff like that you guys need to understand. Okay, yeah, we have to go through it together. You know what I'm saying. However, though, like the reality of the matter, is Rafael Leão on the pitch, right the, if he contributes, you know a lot in terms of going forward. You know his passes, his goal scoring, his assists, you know his burst and all the stints, right, If he's, if he's doing well at that level, do you think he deserves to be caught a slack in terms of the defensive face of his ability?
Speaker 2:Yeah, but the question is is he doing well? At that point you just said, if Avilea was scoring every game and assisting every game, do you think anybody would be sitting here complaining? So the point is that you can't be either. So when people say Linemesi is not defending, but then he leaves the game with like five goals, what are you going to say about it? Like you have to help, right, so you can't be the guy that pulls your pants down half the time. You're not helping defensively, oh God.
Speaker 1:Like you're not. You are just pulling pants down.
Speaker 2:That annoys me because the it down, it's like you're sagging. You know when you're sagging on the field. It's like bro, sit off him to play football with his chair tucked in, and then there's Laferley trying to pull his pant down like he wants to bring the trash. Let me go back. Christian Pulisic, right, even though he has a lot of energy. But you of, he had a Martin Royale, you know what I mean. So what I've done to get at is but he won't complain about Pulisic because he's pulling his weight on the other end of the field, right. So you have to give something.
Speaker 2:Rafael Leal, this year, how many goals and assists does he have all year? I'm sure he only has this whole season. No, no, no, he has the one goal against Lazio. He's got a couple of assists, though, well, again, he has one. Doesn't he have one goal this whole season, yes or no? But anyways, yeah, I don't think I'm telling you that he has, he doesn't have. Okay, he has one goal and three assists in the league, right, yeah? So what I'm trying to tell you is Pulisic, on the other hand, has like four goals, or five goals and like a few assists. So if you're Rafael Leal and you're not going to contribute defensively, then you should be killing it offensively.
Speaker 2:Now am I excusing his lack of defensive contribution? It's just that he's not a team player is his problem. So, because things are not going his way, then he's not going to do that. Because basically, I think not going to do that, because basically I think I might have mentioned this here before that in my own opinion, what makes you a team player is knowing that today is not my day offensively, so I'm going to give something else. Right, you have to try to give something else. You can be there sulking and walking around other guys are present is a tamir braham is his scoring goes every day when he plays, no, but at least you can tell that he's giving his all. He's pressing, doing, doing a lot. The same with Morata.
Speaker 2:The point I'm trying to make is you have to show through your work ethic and your body language that actually, even though I know I'm not scoring, so okay. So the only reason Leal sits on the field is to come and score, go and assist. So let him just go sit up front now. Let us, when they are ready, they give him the ball. He has to make sure he scores the goal and gets the assist right. So all I'm trying to tell you is he's part of the problem Because of his bad attitude. Everybody's following his cue. Whether he likes it or not.
Speaker 2:He is one of the best players on the team. So, psychologically speaking, people look up to him. So you know when they score a goal he assists. You see everyone pointing at him, celebrating the team extra. The reason is they're trying to cheer him up, but the guy does not want to be cheered up. He just doesn't want to grow up. It's almost like he's telling himself that he's bigger than the coach, which he might be. But how can your best player always have this mentality that he's bigger than your coach? So that means anybody that comes there, rafaelia will get this idea fired. I don't think that's a good precedent to set.
Speaker 1:anyway, so that's just. I think Zlatan already spoke to him, because I think something came up online this evening that he spoke with the management about his attitude and stuff like that. It's going to work on it. Oh really, yeah, so he did. Look, this is the big question here, chin. Do you think Milan are still credible title contenders or it's too early?
Speaker 2:Honestly, no. You know why? Because, basically, milan gives me the Napoli vibes of last year. And it's funny because you know the reason why I say no is because when I watch other teams play right, I just realized that we're a little bit far away. If Milan plays Napoli today, we won't even get God knows how many shots on target we'll get in that game, because they are like a world-old machine already and it's like eight games into the season, right, yeah, you know what I mean. So, like Napoli looks very consistent, inter Milan looks inconsistent, but they too, they look very, very good. And then there's Juventus who, well, guess what? Mota is actually a good coach, apparently, because he can get Juventus to play very free-flowing attacking football. Right, has scored four goals in Sassuolo, exactly against Inter Milan. Right, it's like he was very, very upset, of course. So the point I'm trying to make is there are a lot of good teams this year, right, that are looking like they are steady. And anytime AC Milan plays, even like against, like you said, against Klopp it literally looked like they were going to get run out of the stadium the first half. Right, and I'm thinking this is the team that wants to go and win the league right. So to me they are not there yet.
Speaker 2:The sign of a team that wins the league is consistency. You know what you want to do. Guys are disciplined. Everyone is pulling in the same direction. If they hang around and then maybe the team turns things around and then they start buying in, right? Do they have the talent level to be considered types of contenders? Absolutely, In terms of squad and talent on the team, right In Italy, milan might be top three, right, they are up there.
Speaker 2:Between them, inter Milan, what's it called, and Napoli, no, roma, even Juventus, the Juventus players. What's special about them? They're all young guys, you know, with a good coach trying to kind of get them all working together, right? Just to even give you an idea, kalulu, that you guys tossed away from the squad, is a starter with Juventus. So what I'm trying to get across is we're not that bad in terms of talent, but it's just that, you know, when the coach cannot get his house together or get his house in order, well then all of a sudden the team looks shambolic. A different coach might come in and get them together or eventually something might click for Fonseca, we thought it clicked against in Tamil Nadu, but it turns out it didn't really click. So something might click and turn around, or maybe, who knows, in general it might end up selling Rafael Leal, take his money and buy you three new wingers and then you know, all of a sudden everybody's kind of happy, relieved right.
Speaker 2:All I'm trying to say is that, as of now, milan is not a title contender, but they do have the capacity to actually get there. But would they? Would they? I was looking at the table today already. It's like how many points? 22 versus 14. That will give you eight points. They have a game in hand, but eight points already with Napoli, and Napoli does not concede goals, which is crazy. So anyways, the point.
Speaker 1:I'm doing. Yeah, let's talk about Napoli actually. So let's talk about Napoli on Tuesday, because this is a very big game.
Speaker 1:So, oh, yes, yeah, yeah, and unfortunately, unfortunately, unfortunately we're going to be missing Theo Hernandez, we're going to be missing Tijani Reinders, and now Gabriel is not playing as well, so, which means that we have to see either Moussa stepping up let's just quickly preview the lineup here, because with Theo not playing right, I'm guessing he will be starting Terrasiano, on the left, emerson Royale, on the right, tomori, and probably going to be Tomori and Pavlovic now, obviously. Then we'll probably have what? Fofana in the middle with Ruben Loftus-Chig. Oh, you're back with Ruben Loftus-Chig again. Yeah, because Chig is not playing right. So, yeah, because of the game that was postponed over the weekend against Bologna.
Speaker 2:Wait, I'm just thinking when did he get the red card? Wasn't it two games ago against Udinese? Oh, that was the game before the weekend. My bad, my bad. And then Teo.
Speaker 1:Hernandez had two bans, two.
Speaker 2:I guess we're going to get Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Speaker 1:Wow, he said wow, what's your problem with Ruben Loftus-Cheek? To be honest, go ahead, dave, go ahead, but anyways, yeah, like I was saying, right, so we're probably going to be having Terrasciano playing left and Fabluvic at Tobori with Emerson Ria and, to be honest, I really want to give shout out to Emerson Rhea, because I can't remember the last time we actually have a right back that will play this long stretch of games without being injured.
Speaker 2:Wow, this is a shot at your guy Calabria, who's currently injured.
Speaker 1:I'm also very unhappy about the way his contact with me has been treated, to be honest, because I feel like we are beginning to lose a lot of, you know, again like the way Calabria has been treated, right, I don't like the way Fonseca just tossed him aside, you know, even before the injury. I don't like it. I don't like the way, you know, the whole leadership in the dressing room has even been managed to be honest. But anyways, then Ataka will probably going to have what Pulisic playing right. Rafael Leal.
Speaker 2:I was going to say is he back? Did they forgive him? Like I'm just kidding, even Rafael.
Speaker 1:Leal. He's going to play Like look, this is the issue here. Like, whether Fonseca likes it or not, he has to go and find a way to resolve Rafael's situation. He's not going to help him If things can just get ahead without him. He's not going to help him, to be honest, because that thing will go beyond Rafael. It's going to damage the dressing room. So he has to find a way to let's take it again. Maybe take him out and go and have a broach out with him and say yo, I understand that, you know you, you know you're upset or whatever. This is the situation here. I just what I want is best for the team. The team is playing well.
Speaker 2:So sorry, dave you're making it seem as though, like the issue. The issue here is that, like, rafael Lua does not want to do what the coach is asking him to do, so therefore the coach is angry. And then he said well, very, very high level kind of explanation, right? So how are you going to resolve that? Because they had an impasse here. Where is the coach going to say I'm okay with you, rafa, not contributing anything defensively, as long as what you keep doing your rubbish football up front, because it's not like he's lighting it up up front I'm not kidding, because you and I are watching the games. You know like it's so sad to see, because it's like now maybe he's a very confident, he's a confidence kind of guy where, because he doesn't have confidence, everything he does now looks like very odd, right, but he's still a very good player.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying Rafael Leal is not good, so what I'm trying to ask you is what happens? Does the coach say oh yeah, rafa, you talk, good, you be, you be like your. For myself, do absolutely nothing defensively, I'm okay with that. Or does the coach go okay, rafa, like I don't know, what are you expecting out of Fonseca here, because I assume that this conversation has happened, right when the coach is literally laying the groundwork and saying my expectation for you is to do X, y, z, and then Rafa Leao is literally just not doing those things. So you, if you were the coach, what would you do, dave, apart from take him out and get him drunk, which is your advice.
Speaker 1:The truth is, at the end of the day. One thing I realized is a player like Liao, his level of contribution to Milan, will really play a huge role in the kind of support he gets from the fan base. If he's putting in his own fair share of weight in terms of the attack and assisting and scoring goals consistently, I think he'll win the fans' heart. And regardless, there has to be a balance in terms of his contribution defensively. There has to be a balance. So if I were Fonseca, I'll first of all have him work on his current form in terms of his contribution going forward, like why are you not your best? What's, what's? What's holding you? Like, why are you not scoring those goals? Like no, why are you not creating those assists? You know why. What's going on? Why are you not helping the team to build up? Like? So those are the things I'll first of address.
Speaker 1:If there's extra work that needs to be put in place for that to happen, let's make it happen first, then we'll now start talking about your weaknesses later on. I want to see you play first. I want to see that join you. I want to see that smile on your face when you dribble All those things To me. I feel like that's the way this situation needs to be addressed. Then we'll see what comes after. But anyways, another question I want to talk to you about, cheney. What's your take? Morata drops too deep for me.
Speaker 2:I don't like when strikers Honestly speaking, if you ask me, I think the best player to put in that position for me now would be someone like Okafor. Now, why do I say that? Because then you can actually get Morata causing chaos. But it works when he drops deep, because then he can have Tamir Brown causing chaos.
Speaker 1:The question is do you think it's just a case of Fonseca telling him to do so, or he's just not the kind of striker that likes to play in the box? No, no.
Speaker 2:Morata. What do you mean? He has always all his career he wants to play in the box. I think it's the coach asking him. So between the two of them Tammy or Fonseca, and not Fonseca Morata he ended up deciding that Morata is the more, I guess, smarter version of a forward that can drop deep and help occupy, because all Fonseca wants is someone to occupy the space in midfield when we don't have the ball right, or even when we do have the ball, sometimes to go help create. So that's, if you have like a hurricane, that would be perfect, but the unfortunate thing is you don't. So I think you want a player that like to your point. The question becomes where do you want Morata to reside? In the box, being a poacher looking to help cause chaos or dropping deep and then not being as involved with what's happening in the box? For me, I would rather have him there in the box than dropping deep. I can find alternatives to that, like I can drop.
Speaker 2:I think okafor would do a great job. He tried that in preseason, right, like I did once, yeah, yeah. So something like okafor would be good because he has, he's good on the ball, he has the energy. You know, in fact, like I know, the problem with playing Okafor and Rafael Leal and together would be who's going to do the defending. So that would be the issue, because Morata is disciplined, that he still helps and tracks back and, you know, does a lot defensively, right, he has good work rate, but maybe that's the issue. Meanwhile, I'm surprised you have not mentioned Jovic in all this conversation, did he?
Speaker 1:go on his conversation. No, he freezed him out of the squad. That's what he did the guy, to be honest. Anyways, I'm not going to.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to talk when he froze Kroen out on the square. It's not going to play. Coaches do that a lot Chin, chin, chin.
Speaker 1:Forget about Kronich's situation. That's a different thing entirely, but anyways. So what's your prediction for Napoli's game on Tuesday?
Speaker 2:Oh, I think Napoli beat Milan. What do you mean? What's my prediction? You think so. Have you looked at Napoli's records? They don't concede goals with. Is Milan concede goals? Milan concede chances. In fact, forget goals. Goals are different from chances, so the level at which the chances are created is of the chances being created against Milan. It's too easy. That means that if you get a clinical team like Napoli, there's no way you're not going to convert one of those right, at least two of those. And then now on the flip side, milan is not like bubbling with attacking flair that you're going to say, okay, well, they are going to you know what like match them. Like Milan is not going to play a 4-4 game like Inter Milan and Napoli played, juventus played right. So there's a good chance that Napoli will end up winning the game. I think it will be one of those 2-1 games or 1-0 games for Napoli. That's how I think of it, especially with, like, theo Hernandez not playing tomorrow, being tomorrow, you know, top five defender in the world kind of tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, tough like that, it must be real man, Michael, my concern, to be honest, is like I don't even know what to expect from this game. Chin I, I won't lie to you, because it's a game that Well. So what's your?
Speaker 2:prediction, dave, let me take, let me, let me pick your brain, because let me think you get 2-1 for Milan.
Speaker 1:Cheat by yourself. But anyways, I'm thinking to be honest, I don't see us, no, not considering that game. I don't see that happening. I don't see that happening. However, however, I know that if Pulisic and Morata and those guys show up, it can cause Napoli problems.
Speaker 2:Yeah, of course Milan will always cause problems, right? Milan cause Liverpool some problems. Milan cause everybody problems. Milan cause what's it called Bayern-Liverkusen problems.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I'm just hoping it's just going to be one of those games like that of Inter, that we just showed up and we're at our best and we're able to secure a 2-1 win at the San Siro the only thing that might actually benefit AC Milan, to be frank with you, might just be the rest.
Speaker 2:So it's funny because we complain about the fact that they cancelled the Balogna game, right? Might just give them a little bit more time to work with the coach as well as to kind of rest their leg, right, Because Napoli played this over the weekend and then in the next couple of days they will be playing again. Meanwhile, Milan hasn't played since last midweek, right, so it will be a whole week. So that would help, especially to your point about not rotating the squad, If you're going to try to do the same thing you do all the time. Which same thing you do all the time, which is play all these guys.
Speaker 2:The only unfortunate thing is Milan are missing so many key players and creativity will drop significantly, because I don't know how you're going to pass the ball now without Renders or even carry the ball forward. Neither do I know how you're going to again carry the ball forward without Theo Hernandez. So it's going to be one of those games where Milan will look very clunky, attacking-wise and thenly we hope to hang on, and then eventually Lukaku will just call one of those his momugos, and then Lukaku will win.
Speaker 1:Now that I heard that the beginning is safe.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so it's going to be.
Speaker 1:I think it's going to be a very good career.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know, with Napoli winning. It's unfortunate because once they beat Milan, then they will be 11 points ahead already, and Unfortunately, because once they beat Milan, then they will be 11 points ahead already and the season has not even started.
Speaker 1:You know how honest you are right. You know how honest you are Like I don't even and I'm going to be real Like this is just one of those seasons that I don't expect. Milan, You've already given up on the season. Look, let's just be real. Like we're not playing well, we're not at our best and we have a lot of issues in the team. So this is not a case of maybe everything is looking fine and stuff like that. No, that's not the case. We're having internal issues to even deal with and, again, we're not playing good football. We've not found our identity yet, so that's a big problem for us.
Speaker 1:That's a big problem for us. That's a big problem for us, to me, hopefully, hopefully, we just have this miraculous night that Milan come and win two games. Who knows?
Speaker 2:Milan. Always to be frank with you, I remember last year was it last year or two years ago? When Napoli were flying high and I was here sitting down thinking how are we going to do this? And then somehow we magically beat them for nothing and then we ended up taking them out of the Champions League, right, but that was when your magical coach Pioli was the head coach. That being said, now, even if Milan loses to Napoli, Napoli has like a run of tough games because they play Milan, Atalanta, Inter Milan, Roma and Torino. So, to be honest, those are like crazy games for them, right. But I think Milan has a slight chance Doesn't mean that I think Milan is going to be the favorite to win the game Because, honestly speaking, what I saw against Club Brugge, which is in Napoli, wasn't anything to write home about, right.
Speaker 2:Now it's also Champions League football, especially, you know, in that environment where we had to go for it, right. So, mentality-wise, we didn't have a choice because we needed that win. But maybe against Napoli they may just, you know, maybe come up with a different idea of what they want to do, but the unfortunate thing is that Napoli is not like a lot of all these teams that will just attack you because that's not how purely he plays football, right? You know what I mean. So I think it's going to be a tough game. It might be very boring because both teams you know Kante is not playing entertaining football, Neither is Milan Really this Milan version playing entertaining football, but eventually it's going to be 1-0.
Speaker 1:It's been a pleasure talking to you, Chin.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I hope Milan wins and then we can come back here all celebrated. Yes, hopefully Rantelier can get out of these feelings too.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening guys, thank you so much. Have a good one Bye, ciao, okay, bye-bye, bye-bye.
