GdS: New coach, same approach – why Leao’s situation means ‘anything can happen’ | OneFootball

The most obvious sign that things aren’t right at AC Milan could well be the fact that the benching of Rafael Leao is no longer considered major news.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Paulo Fonseca set a firm stance when he arrived as he often repeated: “Leao on the bench must be the norm.” His aim was not to denigrate the winger, but rather to promote democratisation within the squad. Everyone useful and no one undroppable, in short.

Leao found himself on the bench at half-time on Saturday too in the defeat to Torino, a game in which Sergio Conceicao yelled at him and then withdrew him at the break, because even his patience ‘had also run out’.

Tactical issues

After coming on in Leao’s place, Youssouf Fofana transformed the 4-2-3-1 into a 4-3-1-2 which, however, had no effect and within a few minutes became 4-2-4: full steam ahead, but without the game-breaker Rafa.

In reality, the Portuguese’s first half wasn’t even among the worst ever. Let’s say it was average for matches in which he has little impact, and we may be talking about something else now if Pulisic had scored the penalty that he had earned, too.

Murphy’s law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) these days doesn’t just affect the Rossoneri, but also several individuals. Leao quickly fell into the predictable passing moves and decision-making errors that the rest of the group did.

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Leao seems to have stopped taking his man on effectively and instead what results is an endless list of soft and readable crosses, perfect for Torino who had three centre-backs and a 6ft8 goalkeeper in Vanja Milinkovic-Savic to welcome every aerial ball.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic said a few days prior about Leao: “He is one of the best players in the world, and how can you explain to one of the best in the world how to play… He knows how to do it, he is the one who explains to you how to play.”

The issue is that Conceicao disagrees and believes that he must be guided in some way on the pitch, by being told to track back and do work in both phases, in order to earn the freedom to create at the other end.

Familiarity with the bench

That being said, Leao has played 2,471 minutes this season which is fourth-highest among players within the squad. However, a look at the list of his substitutions this season – or the times in which he has not started – is intriguing.

Out of 36 appearances, he is at eight started on the bench (in addition to 15 substitutions) and the comparison with previous seasons paints the situation well. In 2024-25 the number of times he was left out of the line-up were six out of 47 appearances, in 2022-23 eight out of 48 and in 2021-22 four out of 42.

To find a greater number of exclusions from the starting XI, you have to go back to his first two years in red and black, which is obviously logical. In other words: from Fonseca to Conceiçao, the situation for Rafa has not changed.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

He has been questioned by both coaches because of his inconsistent performances, but mostly because they want to try encourage their compatriot to take the most important step for his definitive growth.

In the meantime, given the direction the season has taken – collectively and in personal terms – the feeling is that Leao’s summer will not be spent on the list of unsellable players, even if his situation is different from Theo Hernandez’s.

In the event of an offer deemed appropriate by the club (and certainly not the €175m release clause), Rafa would be set free. It would be a shame, for all that his adventure at Milanello promised, if his time were to end like this.