Paulo Di Canio gave a ruthless assessment of Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez after their on-pitch antics in the second half of Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Lazio, claiming ‘in my day, they would have been punched’.
In a big call by coach Paulo Fonseca, Leao and Hernandez were left out of the Milan starting line-up for Saturday’s clash at the Stadio Olimpico. They both emerged as second-half substitutes and were both involved for the Rossoneri equaliser almost immediately afterwards.
Moments later, as the players gathered on the touchline to listen to the coach’s advice during a mid-game cooling break, Leao and Hernandez stood on the other side of the pitch on their own in a show of defiance.
Di Canio, assessing the incident after the game, had nothing but harsh words for the Rossoneri players. He suggested that they would not have been able to get away with their actions in most other situations.
He also hinted that, as star players, they should have known how to better handle their feelings towards the coach.
“I hear people say that they are just kids and that’s how it goes, (but they are) worth 8 million, to Milan.
“If something like this happens after work, even with my friends messing around and playing, if someone sits there on the side with his belly hanging out, I tell them: ‘hey, what are you doing? Come and help us’. And you have to pay €10 to play on the pitch. It’s a disgrace.”
Di Canio also said that Leao and Hernandez would not have been able to get away with what they did during his playing days.
“The captain starts piping up, as if to say ‘oh look at this’. It delegitimizes the situation. The coach, the teammates who were put down by that attitude, in my day, would have been pinned up against the wall and punched. It’s a disgrace.”
