Rafael Leao’s position change has caught the attention of many, and Fabio Capello has suggested that he may be AC Milan’s best option.
If Milan were to lift the Scudetto this season, at least right now, several people could be credited with that success. Mike Maignan’s saves have been pivotal, Massimiliano Allegri’s tactics have been near perfect and then there is Leao.
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In the summer, it seemed a lot of attention would be paid to the Portuguese, and this has remained the case. Allegri has taken him under his wing and moved him into a central position.
Right now, the results speak for themselves. He is among the best goalscoring forwards in Serie A, and this is with him also missing quite a few games with injury.
Leao and the Scudetto
Today, Fabio Capello has spoken to Gazzetta dello Sport about his and the Rossoneri’s seasons so far, and his opinion is extremely positive.
Capello, did you think you’d find Milan up there at this point in the season?
“Honestly, no, I didn’t expect it. I had faith in Allegri’s ability, but I didn’t think he’d be able to get into the players’ heads so quickly, especially considering what happened with AC Milan last year.
“A year ago, the team absolutely didn’t know how to position itself and defend. Max was able to bring order and balance. The players are the same as last year, but Rabiot and Modric also make the difference, a crucial filter that was missing the previous year.”
The wingers, Saelemaekers and Bartesaghi, are also different. How much of an impact do they have?
“The left flank with Theo, he had it. First, when he was going full steam ahead, and then last year when he wasn’t doing well at all. He had become the weak point of the line; opponents were broken down too easily on his side, and as a result, many goals came from there.
“I like Bartesaghi, on the other hand, and I judge him based on the games I’ve seen, but not only. I spoke to Mauro Tassotti about him, and he told me he’s good and has a future at AC Milan.
“You can trust anyone who sees him at work every day.”
Another key aspect of Allegri’s game is in attack: finishing off the chances he creates to the maximum. Is Milan succeeding with Leao?
“I think like Max: the one who concedes the fewest goals wins, not the one who scores the most. This doesn’t mean we can or should do better up front, and I’m referring to both Milan and Napoli. At first, I saw Leao uncomfortable in the centre-forward role, but then the goals gave him confidence, Allegri convinced him, and in the last two games I’ve seen him truly more relaxed, free, and cheerful.
“He also helps the team, participates, is involved, and probably also athletically fresher: he runs less because he’s not forced to drop back. But he’s equally responsible, he knows he has to be more clinical in the penalty area than ever.”
With Rafa like this, is there no need for a new centre forward on the market?
“A centre forward? Where are they? The ones who make the difference are held on to by the clubs that have them, and if there are any around, the English arrive first, then the Spanish, and finally us. Leao is the best possible No. 9 option.
“But, transfer market aside, it depends on the coach’s tactical ideas: if necessary, he would need a player who fits his vision. Or someone who scores goals: you can never make mistakes there. Football is a simple subject: strikers have to score, goalkeepers have to save…
“It’s no coincidence that Milan have returned to the top right now that Maignan is making great saves.”
Disappointed with Nkunku?
“Against Lazio, for the first time, I didn’t mind him; I found him engaged and eager. We could call it a ‘waking up’. As for the goals, we’ll have to wait a little longer.”
On Theo Hernández
“He had become the weak point of the line; opponents were broken down too easily on his side, and as a result, many goals came from there.”
Some of us said it while it was happening, as bad as Emerson Royal was, or whatever fullback Milan had on the right, the clown on the other side was worse.
He had 9 goal contributions in g/a over all competitions in 24/25. I will say though that he partook in some of the worst low points of the season like for example the side line situation with Leao but don’t even come and say his performances was on par with the brazilian as he exceeded the right back with many lengths.
Fact is Theo has been a worldclass offensive back almost since he joined us contributing consistently but nevertheless never was that great in the defensive phase of the game I would argue in the defensive phase he has only been above average as it has never really been his forte.
He is a clown. If our left MC wasn’t Reijnders but Rabiot – Theo wouldn’t be the problem. For the same reason we ended up 8th, our midfield was defensively 0.
I often tend to disagree with Z and I definitely also think with a different midfield and approach we would have been far better protected in that side as well.
Theo is supposed to be a defender, but people again like to neglect that fact and talk only about what he does going forward, meanwhile as Bozo Sure proved again, Reijndiers who is a midfielder, was judged based on what he did defensively. Reijndiers had 20 goal contributions but as Sure pointed out besides providing goals, covering the most ground in almost every game, he should have also doing Theo’s job while Theo, the defender, should only run forward and not be burden with doing his job as a defender. That’s why he is playing his football in the desert.
He was never a great defender but a worldclass offensive back simple as that and as Ive already explained we played with a complete gung ho style so yeah it is correct.
while agree with you that a defender primary objective should be defending and he should do it well, but same you always complain about Leao’s(Milan and serie A best) defensive ability, you speak from 2 side of your mouth, If you don’t like a player, try and be more objective and truthful, don’t be a politician
he is meant to be played the same way salad is .
No, he wasn’t worse. You just pathetically hate him.
Capello literally said that HE WAS THE WEAK POINT OF THE LINE. It’s the same line Emerson Royal was playing in, yet Capello, arguably the greatest serie A coach said that Theo was the weak point of that line. He must pathetically hate him too.
You and Capello do realize that we pretty much played with a super offensive gung ho approach with no midfield cover for the defense, right ? So unless you actually expect that the player should play differently than what are his best skills you both should know better as we played with a very high defensive line without any players in the midfield with actually defensive cababilities covering them.
I for sure doesn’t dislike Capello as I’ve always adored the man but I nevertheless are of the view that he is wrong here and its not like he hasnt been that before as Savicevic probably would have left the club at an early stage had Berlusconi not interfered with his team selections.
You are right.
I guess Capello and almost every club in Europe is wrong here because none of those teams wanted Theo, and because of that he is playing his football in the desert nowadays. I guess teams didn’t want a fullback who is terrible defensively and who needs another player to carry his weight.
He was also lazy, getting unnecessary yellow and red cards, diving, creating problems within the squad because there was no midfield to cover for him.
Capello is talking about his defense while your counter argument was that he had 9 goal contributions offensively. How many goal contributions he had for the opposing teams by being horrendous defensively? Was it more or less than 9?
Milan wanted more than what for example atl. madrid was silling to offer and I’m sure you realize that in the end clubs has the final say right ?
My initial counter arguments was against yours saying that he was far worse than Royal as that was downright preposterous bs.
was willing to offer…
If you actually read my comment you would see that I quoted Capello where he was talking about Milan leaking goals from the left side and Theo being the weak link in that line. So yeah as bad as Emerson Royal or anyone else that played right back for Milan last season was Theo was worse than them defensively. So no thats not preposterous BS. Emerson was awful going forward, he was bad on defense but he wasn’t as bad on defense as Theo was.
When it comes to Atlético’s offer, they only wanted him as a favor to his agent. They weren’t willing to pay a cent over 15 mil for Theo Hernández and after 2 days of negotiations they turned around and paid 20 mil for Ruggeri from Atalanta. Milan sold Theo for 25 mil. Its not like they were asking for 50 mil for him.
And again you are right. Atletico was willing to pay more money for Ruggeri than they were willing to pay for the, as you said, world class offensive fullback.
I know you quoted Capello but you took it beyond that in the last part of your comment saying he was worse than Royal which I find ridiculous. i definitely disagree with Capello here as well and doesnt have to agree with everything he says but my initial comment was nevertheless also pretty clearly a reply on that last part of yours.
Atletico reneged on their offer also because their fans was loudly disgruntled that he had left the club for the arch rival Real Madrid.
Either way we wont agree here but I feel fairly confident that Theo will be back in an European top club in a year or two but only time will tell. One thing we can agree upon though is that he has sometime behaved unprofessionally and with his contract expiring in 2026 I can sorta understand that we moved on from him.
And Capello also pointed out that Leao is the best, I hope you agree too.