The ‘Fantastic Four’ may well be consigned to being a brief experiment, as a report claims that Sergio Conceicao is planning further tactical changes.
As this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes, elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Feyenoord and the defeat against Torino have seriously complicated Milan’s season.
What’s more, in these three matches the ‘Fab Four’ managed to score one goal in 168 minutes together, which was Gimenez’s after less than 40 seconds of the return leg against Feyenoord at San Siro. It is not enough, despite the fact that the chances created have increased.
Conceiçao still believes in the comeback to get fourth place, but barely any more mistakes are permitted. Thursday’s game in Bologna is big and balance will be needed, so much so that there is the thought of changing the attack, and the number one suspect to miss out is Leao.
The issues
In Turin the Portuguese winger remained in the dressing room at half-time, after a listless 45 minutes, not returning to the bench even to see his team-mates in the second half.
What requests from Conceiçao were not met by Rafa? The usual ones: Leao didn’t press or track back when he lost the ball, and helped the team too little in the defensive phase. These are more or less the same accusations that are always levelled against the No.10.
In a more prudent side Leao’s work rate (or lack of) can be covered by his teammates or isn’t exposed as much. However, in the four-man attack he cannot drift out of the game especially while making minimal impact going forward. Thus, he risks losing his spot for Thursday.
Impact man
It wouldn’t be for the first time in 2024-25, either. Under Paulo Fonseca and Conceiçao, Leao has started on the bench on nine occasions, then coming on as a substitute in eight and becoming a super sub of sorts.
The only match in which he was left to watch for 90 minutes was the 1-0 win against Udinese at San Siro, with Milan down to ten men from the first half due to the red card given to Reijnders, so it was more situational.
In at least five of those games, he made his mark with a goal or an assist. From the first against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico (the equaliser to make it 2-2, followed by the cooling break) to the most recent against Verona at San Siro (assist for Gimenez’s winner).
In between came the goals against Empoli and Slovan Bratislava, plus the decisive assist to Tammy Abraham in the Supercoppa Italiana final in Riyadh against Inter. Leao is a problem for the opposing defences during the match, because his speed targets the space that opens up and the tired legs.
It is clear that there is also the other side of the coin: it is not easy to get a star like Leao – who is also the highest paid player in the squad – to accept the bench, especially in a problematic moment like Milan’s current one.
Scapegoat Leao, Fonseca did the same thing. We will lose this talent and he will be big in another club!
Scape goat? He will be big? LOOOL
he is more focused on the rapping than football. Stop defending these players with 0 consistency.
That may be so, but football, like everything, is more about context than the sum of its actual parts.
It is normal for out of favour players to flourish when they move, because it was the situation that was stalling them, not their talent. We have our own examples of this in Tomori, Pulisic, and now Walker.
Regardless of my own opinions on Leao’s talent, I think he needs the move for his own sake at this point. If the likes of Barca and PSG are actually still interested, he has to take that move now before he becomes even more jaded and his stock falls further.
Are you new to Milan? His “talent” is speed. His speed thrived on space. When there is no space, there is no speed. When there is no space there is no talent. Meanwhile he offers nothing in defense. Contemporary football requires defense by at least 9 of the outfield players (sometimes the striker can get away with it), if not all 10. Right now we have Leao, Gimenez and Felix not doing much defensively. Leao is one dimensional and can take his “talent” elsewhere. He will be replaced, just like Mike replaced Donnarumma and we went on to win a title. Theo as well.
100%. I’d say he’s on a Cassano trajectory so far.
He need to go to the bench, so predictable table this days, no team will even accommodate him with this attitude,
Looks the way Feyenord winger Paixao did to our Walker at the first leg, I think we need that guy to replace him,
Not true, Leao will start in many teams
Yep. Paixao would easily replace him with half the money. Or even less.
yes, no doubt Leao could be big at another club, the problem is he isn’t big at Milan, is so much he is so lazy, Milan cannot afford to have a luxury player who doesn’t track back and or help press the opposition.
I’m a big fan of Rafa but tired of his laziness.
He’s always running into the opponents, losing the ball, starts smiling and never tracks back.
He’s very predictable, which is sad to see.
I’ll prefer Milan sells Leao and get that PAIXÃO guy from FEYENOORD.
one game wonder PAIXAO, how do u think football, when he came to san siro what did he do
Paixao has way 6 goal contributions in UCL this year, Leao 4. In Serie A Leao has 11 while the Brazilian has 16 in Holland. One game wonder? What does that make Leao then?
Do u want to comapre the league. He is one year younger than leao, check him over the past five seasons, he is not as half of leao. Leao will start over paixao in any team, dont worry when u bring him thats how you will treat him when he is no longer making soothing your emotions
Who cares about previous seasons? Oh right, everyone defending Leao.
Also, you can see the Paixao is/has been growing. No one can say the same about Leao. Let’s see where those two are in a couple of years if they keep the trends going.
We dedicated Musah to shadowing Paixao everywhere he went the whole game. No one mentioned it live or even after, but when I rewatched the game I saw it. Even in possession Musah was still shadowing him half the time haha. He suffered the same fate as Vinny.
Yes he’s lazy yes he doesn’t do much defensive work but so what? Is Milan playing better with him on the bench? I don’t think so. We saw in Torino after he left the pitch we were almost a no-danger to Torino on the left. And there are so many examples where he is “so bad” but without him we are even worse. Are you going to be more satisfied when Sottil is going to be the starter on the left or Felix or even Pulisic who btw hasn’t scored non pen goal since October? Hate him as much as you want he’s the only X factor in this team and the only one who can actually create something out of nothing. In this Milan will never be able to buy an actual upgrade even if we sell him
Sorry who scored in supercoppa final January?
“We saw in Torino after he left the pitch we were almost a no-danger to Torino on the left.”
It seems you didn’t watch the game. Remind us again how many chances Leao created in that game. All I saw was about a dozen passes to the Torino players and ONE successful dribble. ONE. Which lead to nothing. As always.
Didn’t Milan score their goal from a cross from the left wing? From the player who playing as the LW? And his name wasn’t Leao?
“Hate him as much as you want he’s the only X factor in this team and the only one who can actually create something out of nothing.”
Remember Pulisic’s goal against Inter? Remember the Gimenez’s goal against Feyenoord after Pulisic’s magical cross?
Funny how people keep saying Leao is the only one who can create something out of nothing but fail to remember that he creates something maybe once in 5 matches and otherwise is as creative as Trump is “working for the working-class”. Sorry about the politics. Not gonna do that again.
Also… There would be no need to “create something out of nothing” with the players worked as a team instead of doing individual things like try to dribble past 3 players only to shoot the ball in the stands or pass the ball to opponents.
*with = if
Being fast is not an “X factor”. It’s just being fast. It’s the same thing over and over. Drop into a low block or double team him and he’s nullified. It’s happened countless times. Then there are a handful of games where the opposition doesn’t drop deep or doesn’t double team and Leao runs by his defender and scores a goal or gets an assist and it’s “ooh and aah” from some people. Great, but kicking the ball a couple of yards ahead and outpacing the defender is not a “X factor”. Sorry. True “X factors” are unpredictable.
Yes conceicao approach is Good pulisic should replace Leao in his wing so I will need Warren Bondo and Fofana for double pivot in the midfield is High time Acmilan should use the players who can do the job because consistently in winning is the key to success. So let conceicao experiment this line up.perharps it will bring a Good results
m.maignan
Jimenez,thiaw, Pavlovic, Bartasaghi
W.Bondo, Fofana
Chukwueze, Reijnder/Felix, c.pulisic
(Sottil)
S.Gimenez
From Now henceforth Reijnder and Felix should not start together in the line up,why pulisic and Leao should not start together in the same line up this Line is what we should go with constantly musah should come from bench to replace Fofana, terraciano should be playing defence second half not midfield because he’s not Good in midfield please Conceicao please experiment this line up in training I’m sure it will work out very Good.
Leo can’t play a main role man. He is more effective when substituted.
Someone that is not always consistent every week he can go so that we focus on the real problem let him go and shine in another club goodluck to him
many negative thing but also he can be game changer anytime,
i don’t care if he stay or go, i care about who gona replace him, any cheap player who is better than Leao? or
another Okafor/ Chuck?
but 1st we need better SD
I actually think that this is ideal for Rafa: coming in for the second half of the game when defenders are tired and his speed is more likely to be decisive.
I said so on another thread, even before this report that this is what Conceição is thinking for Rafa.
Rafa hasn’t contributed enough when starting the game, for several games. However he still has had 16 goal contributions this season, and many of the decisive ones came in second half, with Rafa coming in from the bench.
Of the supposed 3 stars, Theo, Mike, and Rafa, I think that Rafa is actually the one who can be rescued and can still contribute. I think Theo needs to go and I’m frustrated with Mike’s several mistakes, with howlers and blunders and near post goals. (Of course there are two or three other stars, and these guys have been very good and better than Theo, Mike, and Rafa; that’s Puli and Reijnders; Gimenez is the third one because he is also very promising, especially when he gets good service which has been rare).
This said, even I, one of his biggest defenders here, am growing tired of Rafa. Either he accepts the role of coming from the bench and commits to contributing decisively after coming in, or he needs to go too. We have no more space for dropped points and everybody needs to contribute, including in the defensive phase.
The worst players in the milan is Conceicao and, Mike and felix while everyone is blaming Leo Reijnder should play behind the striker letting Bennacer go was the worst mistake milan management did in this January transfer
I would say that Leao and Felix should be equally suspect to start games. Leao, because he’s inconsistent and Felix because he doesn’t really create anything so far. And frankly, they aren’t really combining well together.
However,
Leao will never be the player Fonseca and Conceicao are trying to get him to be – the all around force that can attack, press and defend.
Leao will always only be the breakaway speed. That’s it. So if you’re putting him on your team, anticipate his weakness if you bank on his strength. That’s what Pioli did and that’s why he got a lot out of him.
If Leao starts, other players have to track back for him. So you have to field Pulisic on the other side, Reijnders at the 10 and two DM’s behind him (because Santi won’t track back far either). This way the transition won’t feel like a castration every time.
So you can NOT start Leao and Felix together and play Reijnders at the midfield, because that’s three players plus Santi that won’t be very defensive when you need it. This is what creates imbalances.
Agreed 100%. But what surprised me about fielding Felix is that, not only does it unbalance the squad in terms of defensive cover, but it neuters the offense as well. He just doesn’t work well with Milan’s wingers or CF (at least so far).
Leao fanboys in shambles because of honesty 😂 get over it kids, this is reality. He’s has a god 3 minute span every other match. That’s it. We can’t afford a luxury player who doesn’t track back, loses the ball 99% of the time, and doesn’t put up nearly enough goals to compensate his weakness
Leao gets to the byline w the ball at will. Hard to believe a player with his tools is relegated to the bench. I want him on the field.
At will? He made one successful dribble against Torino. ONE! Are you saying he didn’t want to do more? If so, why would we want him on the pitch?