Fabio Capello has given his take on the early-season struggles that Rafael Leao is enduring, admitting the forward seems ‘lost’.
There has been a lot written and said about Leao since Massimiliano Allegri’s arrival, given that the coach has publicly declared his admiration for him but also his desire to help him finally reach a consistently elite level.
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The noise has only dialled up since the game against Juventus on Sunday. Leao missed two good chances to win the game off the bench and Allegri apparently berated him in the dressing room after the full-time whistle, making it clear he expects more.
Capello was present in Trento at the 2025 Festival dello Sport and he gave an interview to TMW (via Calciomercato.com) in which he offered his thoughts on Leao’s more difficult moment.
Leao is being spoken about a lot…
“He has great skills, but he gets lost during the game. He’s not always in the game, especially in the defensive phase. He’s found a coach who seems to have his nails down on him. Let’s hope he doesn’t hurt him, but manages to wake him up.”
Who is in the Scudetto race?
“From Napoli’s total competitiveness, Inter’s return as a team, their confidence in the coach, and Milan, who with two ‘seniors’ like Modric and Rabiot are doing something interesting: making young players understand that with quality and determination, you can go far.”
It’s no coincidence, he’s always had a concentration problem, along with Theo. Now that there is a Regista who is the orchestrator instead of the kind of attacking chaos we had before players like Leao tend to struggle. A lot of players struggle with that, Bergkamp couldn’t do it at Inter, Rivaldo struggled with us, world class players who just couldn’t adapt.
He did not develop good match habits when he was younger so now the struggle is clearly showing. Pioli is a good friend but never a good manager/mentor.
Lost?
I prefer another word with L…Lazy
Rafa misses a goal opportunity against a top team after missing more than a month from injury and he’s lazy and lost. Santi Giménez? Everyone is pleading for patience.
When they sell Leao for 70M and replace him with a 20M player that’s either 18 years old or 35+, people will complain they miss Leao.
As long as that 20 m player isn’t lazy like Leao we’ll be good
Santi never stops running and giving his all. goals will come. we got other scorers atm. I wish Leao would run like that for 1 game. just one.
I agree with you bro santi put pressure and keeps running but Loe will allow defenders to run free to join the attack
“Rafa misses a goal opportunity against a top team after missing more than a month from injury and he’s lazy and lost. Santi Giménez? Everyone is pleading for patience. ”
What on Earth makes you think Jon there meant Leao was lazy due to missing two sitters? 😀 😀 😀 😀
It’s clear leao is lazy and I’m his number one critic. He didn’t concern himself with good football habits at his early years and thought talent was everything. Now, it’s either he gets lots of allegri ‘s screams, or he works his *ss for the team. Glad we have a proper manager now, just like Conte who can stand his ground against de bruyne
Were you training with him in his early years?