A familiar problem was exposed for AC Milan during their defeat against Torino at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino regarding the balance of the attacking department.
It was a damaging night for the Rossoneri who put in a sub-par performance against Ivan Juric’s side as their away league unbeaten run was ended at 17 games and they also fell to six points behind Napoli in the table.
Calciomercato.com recall how Rafael Leao’s performance is worth putting under the magnifying glass as he missed two huge scoring chances that happened in the first few minutes of the match.
The Portuguese winger has plenty on his mind given the big Champions League game coming on Wednesday and the World Cup next month, but to take that step to being a world-class player he must become more clinical.
The former Lille man was not the only player responsible for the defeat in Turin though, as Milan made many individual mistakes and ultimately have shown again that they are too dependent on the Portuguese at an attacking level.
I am not defending Leao’s mistakes, but what kind of team is this that depends on one man’s show?
A team who lost the other man (Maignan).
And didn’t fix the main issue they have had for years now: RW.
@bb exactly!
I don`t think we actuelly want leo now in milan he totaly don`t worth what he need milan to pay him plz allowed him go plz
seriouslly!! tell me who is better than Leao, that can singlehandedly deliver victory in that team? serie A mvp should go? just one bad 45mins he should go? you are obviously very biased
He should be able to score on his chances. Especially if he wants 7-9 mil contract.
He had 2 inside 5 minutes.
Remember this guy plays every damn game ..
Haaland doesn’t rest that much either. Hasn’t rested for years but the goals keep on coming. Same goes for Lewandowski who is almost twice as old. 😀
Plus how do you get tired when you walk throughout most of the games
LOL! Touché!
Leao is a winger that save the day all the time, he is not a striker, one bad night shouldn’t affect his quality, he is a game changer anyday
Well… Since you’re making a distinction between strikers and wingers… I’d say it’s more OK for a STRIKER to have an off day and be missing since his job to score goals. Wingers usually have more defending duties and are should definitely be participating in the build-up plays so it’s even more important NOT to bad nights.
It’s hilarious. The same ppl who bash Leao say we don’t need him are the same who get frustrated when he doesn’t carry the team and score. Which one is it? LOL. Can’t be both gents. When Leao scores your quiet. When he doesn’t and we lose the boo birds come out and say he’s trash. Comical. And Leao doesn’t play with the players Haaland does. Just an observation 😉
The biggest issue with these bad misses is not only the end result of the game, but that they affect the entire way the game happened in the first place. He had a similar issue with two golden chances in the first ten minutes of the game at Empoli.
These away matches against teams who aim to make playing difficult for Milan can be made so much easier with an early goal. It forces them to come out and leaves more room for Milan to attack in behind. These misses aren’t just about the points that may or may not be dropped as a result, they tax the whole squad with a difficult game when it could have been a routine one.
Of course Leao is a fantastic player and it’s not exactly fair to say he is the reason the team has had difficulty, but the fact remains that if he had scored the early chances he had (as he should have), it would have completely changed things.
“Of course Leao is a fantastic player”
Small correction if I may: “Of course Leao can be a fantastic player sometimes”
People please stop this Leao bashing,thing guy had always had Milan but he’s played almost every single match of this season and he’s still gonna play on Wednesday,to me I think Pioli should have rested him and start Rebic in his place to keep him fresh for the break or Mar match of Wednesday,the boy is not a robot,so please.
Maldini,Massara and Moncada who been doing magnificent since they came on board should just fix the problematic right wing and find a suitable backup for Super Mike, probably bringing Gabriel back and we are covered with Cdk,Adli and Diaz,they just need time,I believe.
Did anyone notice that Rebic is not capable to nicely receive the ball without the ball bouncing at least 5 meters away from him!? How can a ‘professional’ player afford himself to not know that??? Also, his movements are very useless and he often fouls opponents without reason and gets yellow card for that. Really not the player that ACM needs.
I don’t think we need origi at all the guy is finished
Well I don’t think we need origi in Milan at all bcoz the guy is finished
Leao is a fantastic player but he is not giving his all for Milan.
He has the same body language Kessie had before he left.
I am very sure Leao will leave next summer but will also struggle like Kessie because they both lack the hunger and fire to excel despite being incredible talents.
If Leao plays up to 80% of his abilities, there’s absolutely no one in the world that can stop him.