Sunday's match had everything. Three saved penalties. Managers carded or sent off. A player scoring against the team that owned him (but not celebrating.) Five yellow cards amongst some very questionable refereeing. A captain sent off after the final whistle. And amongst all the insanity, Milan lost 2-1 to Fiorentina, dropping another three points. But the real chaos began with Fonseca's postmatch press conference when he raised some questions about some of the players' behaviors. Which in turn raised more questions about his man management and overall competency. So, once again, we have two weeks of an international break with Milan fans and the media in a complete state of pandemonium.
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| It felt like this for 90 minutes. |
Brutality was a running theme in this match. By the 18th minute, Dodô had earned both a yellow card and then a penalty, when Theo was judged to have fouled him in the box. It was one of those where both players went for the ball, Dodô got to it first, and Theo's boot just caught his leg. Moise Kean stepped up to take that penalty, and Maignan actually caught it, saving it to keep the score goalless. Then Tomori earned a yellow to mark his 150th Milan appearance. Then Gosens may have elbowed Emerson Royal in the chest, but the Milan player fell to the ground and grabbed his face, much like his infamous Brazilian teammate. This had better not become a habit.
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| Maignan getting things started with a penalty save. |
Kean scored a goal in the 29th that was called back for offside, so the score stayed 0-0. Leão had a shot that De Gea saved by tipping just over the crossbar. Fonseca earned a yellow card for dissent. And then, and every Milan fan knew it would be him, Adli scored a fantastic goal from distance. 1-0 Fiorentina. To his credit, he did not celebrate. Although the camera did pan to Rocco Commisso's face, and the glint in his eyes and the slight little smirk was communication enough to Milan's management that he thoroughly enjoyed this Karma. (As if Milan fans were not already upset enough that they sent Adli on loan to a rival.)
Leão has been hypercriticized for everything, but specifically for not doing enough in defense. So in the 37th, he tackled Dodô to win the ball back, and although he wound up on the ground, he stood back up with the ball, dribbled it all the way down to the goal himself and took the shot, forcing De Gea into a save. And that was still not enough for the haters, proving my point that it's not about him, it's about them.
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| Leão will never please the haters, so I hope he's at least pleased with himself. |
Maignan made a double save on Kean and Colpani, then Morata earned his yellow for stepping on Comuzzo. Then it was Milan's turn for a penalty. Reijnders was taken down by Ranieri in the box, so captain Theo stepped up to take the penalty. Of course, De Gea also saved his penalty, so Fiorentina still had the lead going into halftime.
After the half, Kean scored again, but was very offside, so no goal yet again. Shortly after that, Tammy Abraham's knee wound up in Gudmonsson's back, a very dangerous foul, but no card. Maignan was sick of Kean scoring and did not want to risk him not being offside, so he came way out of his box to head the ball clear.
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| Tammy Abraham went from a leader to a villain in this match. |
Milan reacted, however, and Theo crossed a ball across from the lefthand side of the pitch, with Pulisic creating some artistry of his own with an exquisite volley that was perfectly placed, and not even De Gea's heroics could save it. 1-1 all. Milan looked a bit more dangerous, but for an excellent tackle from Ranieri on Pulisic and Gabbia's header going just wide.
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| Pulisic's goal was a like fine art. |
In the 69th minute, Theo fouled Colpani in the top of the box. And while it was as much a foul as some of the others deemed penalties, even after a VAR review Fiorentina were not awarded a penalty. I don't know if Pairetto the referee just felt like he wanted to keep the perfect three for three goalkeeper penalty save record, or if he was too lazy to give another penalty, or what, but the inconsistency of refereeing is what makes everyone so suspicious of Serie A refs in the first place.
De Gea had another one of his big saves on Tammy Abraham, then Reijnders was shown a yellow after fouling Richardson. Fonseca for some reason pulled off Leão, subbing on Okafor, in the 73rd minute. Not only was this his first sub, it made no sense whatsoever. And, as soon as the change was made, Milan conceded again, this time a goal from Gudmondsson. 2-1 Fiorentina.
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| Adli had a great night, Theo not so much. |
Fonseca made his second and final substitution, pulling off Pulisic to bring on Chukwueze in the 82nd. He said after the match that it was preventative, because Pulisic risked some kind of muscle injury, but Pulisic did not seem to know about this problem, he was uncharacteristically angry for being subbed off and questioned why as he went to the bench. Some of us fans were also questioning why, but perhaps with less restraint.
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| Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe... |
The final whistle blew, but that was not the end of the madness. Theo was shown a straight red by Pairetto for something he said, and he will now serve a two match ban for it. So his night was conceding a penalty, a penalty miss, the assist, nearly conceding another penalty, then a red card. And it got better, because Fonseca, in a rage and with even less discipline, called out both Theo and Abraham (without using their names) in his press conference for taking the penalties instead of Pulisic.
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| Theo almost made it without losing his mind. |
Keep in mind, no one outside of the team knew that Pulisic was the designated penalty taker. But fonseca wanted everyone to know that his players defied his orders. (Although he likely would have said nothing had De Gea not saved their penalties, so it really was about losing.) Most managers would have kept an issue like this in house and dealt with the players' defiance internally. So why drag the dirty laundry into the spotlight? He had already embarrassed himself and shown that he was not worthy of his players' respect by his attempted dominance with the benching of three starters "for the good of the team" and the ensuing Waterbottlegate debacle and dropped points of the Lazio match. His attempt at looking strong made him look like a clown instead, with Papa Ibrahimović having to call the players from his vacation to scold them.
So you would think he would have learned his lesson. But no. He demonstrated his impotent leadership style once again through his angry outburst, only calling more attention to his poor results and worse man management. And while some fans and a few journalists have discussed the players' lack of respect/discipline, more journalists immediately questioned once again whether or not Fonseca should continue as manager. Which is where I'm at, too. If this is how he's treating his players publicly, how does he treat them in training? Or in the dressing room?
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| Fonseca's behavior has been far more egregious than our players. |
Now, most of the players are on national team duty, so he has no way of mending the huge rifts he caused in the respect and trust of his players with his selfish, angry outburst on Sunday. So many of the players are going to be in squads with good morale and healthy player-manager relationships these two weeks, only to come back to an arrogant, selfish man who has caused irreparable damage to the team morale and has failed to at least even prove himself with results as a decent manager here.
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| Should he stay or should he go? |
Milan News pointed out that Fonseca and Lopetegui, this management's top two choices for managers, both had the exact same poor starts. Lopetegui at West Ham also has three wins, two draws, and four losses in his first nine matches as well. And now, there are even have many managers to choose from if they were to sack Fonseca. It was clear they needed to hire the right manager in the first place, and most people have been concerned about their choice from day one. How long will they wait to correct their error? Until we have lost Champions League again? Until we no longer have a chance for top four? And if they sack Fonseca, are they even capable of hiring a proper manager? My guess is that they will wait until success is out of reach for our season, and with big players up for renewal, we could reach all new levels of pandemonium.
Milan Futuro End on Nine Men with a 1-0 Loss to Pianese
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| Nava came up big with the penalty save to keep it only 1-0. |
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| Minotti will have a 5 match vacation, and while his first yellow was warranted, the red may not have been. |
To be fair, Nava did save the penalty to keep Milan Futuro in the game. The 1-0 loss to Pianese also hurts, because Fonseca had called up Camarda and Zeroli to the first team for Sunday's match, but obviously did not use them. This match also saw them drop to 19th on the table, I'm not sure when they start discussing whether or not Bonera should stay. Atalanta's U23 are in fifth place in their group, so it's not just about being young. Milan Futuro's previously scheduled match vs. Pescara for Saturday will be rescheduled due to having so many players called up for international duty. Their next match will be after the break, when they host Legnano Salus.
The Primavera Fall 3-1 Away to Bologna
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| Bonomi's goal was a great start, but not nearly enough in Bologna. |
This post inspired by the music of Måneskin's "Gasoline"
Serie A Week 8