AC Milan have had some very positive performances this season, the most recent being on Sunday, but their lack of consistency is what will hold them back.
This morning’s Corriere della Sera (via MilanNews) writes that space of a few days this Milan can offer an excellent display and then flop hugely in the next game. The victory over PSG in the Champions League was followed three days later by a collapse in Lecce, for example.
Milan took the field at San Siro on 10 January in the Coppa Italia against Atalanta and after a good half-hour they took the lead, but then they seemed to implode and La Dea probably emerged deserved winners.
Four days later, the Rossoneri welcomed Roma to the same venue and beat them 3-1 thanks to goals from Yacine Adli, Olivier Giroud and Theo Hernandez, opening up a 13-point gap above the Giallorossi and nine points to fifth.
This is a two-faced Milan, which knows how to be ruthless with its opponents but also – in a negative sense – seems to coast in certain moments. In the second half of the season this cannot happen if the Rossoneri want to at least cultivate a hope of a Scudetto comeback.
The paper goes further by remarking that this Milan are a bit like what Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao are showing. The former has 11 goals and 7 assists this season and takes charge of the team in moments of difficulty, as the match against Roma could have been.
Leao on the other hand smiles a little less. Giroud is putting together the numbers that were expected of him whereas the winger has been stuck in three Serie A goals since September 23rd: far too little for the highest paid player on the team.
In Udine, on Saturday, there will be another opportunity to escape from this unwanted goal drought. Milan not only need continuity to hope for a comeback, but also and above all the best Leao.
Maybe our 10 can put on some nice designer clothes and rap about how he will go from being a hologram on the pitch to being a leader that he for whatever reason thinks he is.
Touché.
Those were the times when footballers were footballers. I saw these quotes from Miroslav Klose (you know, one of the best strikers in the World Cup history) and this sums it up nicely:
“During my career with Lazio and the national team, after every training session I would put myself in an ice bath to avoid injury. But the younger players on the team constantly refused to do this. When they saw me putting away the bags of balls myself after practice, they asked me: “Who told you to do this?” In response, I told them: “You 20 years old, and you can’t help a 60-year-old hard worker?”
They were more interested in whether their cleats matched with stylish socks. That’s why I said stop. Football as I knew it no longer exists. Today’s young players think first of all about cars, sponsorship contracts and new boots. Football comes second to them. Their image is the most important thing. And for me the main thing has always been football in its purest form,” said Klose, who retired in 2016.”
Times have changed. For worse. For sure.
Agreed.
Giroud is 37 and was being overplayed. Jovic having a surge in form helped him rest. Nonetheless, Giroud has been one of our
better performers. Leao doesn’t have an excuse. He is young and plays like he doesn’t really care anymore.
It’s a shame to watch. I do hope he rediscovers his form. And I still believe he can. Maybe I’m a foolish optimist.
I think Leao will change his attitude when it’s too late. He has the superstar mentality without the actual performance. That’s why u think someone like Conte is needed. Paoli can’t handle big egos. This is very apparent with Leao and Theo. Although Theo performs consistently.
Conte would ruin this team and the entire project. You’re out of your mind. Oh and he’s been fired a number of times for doing the opposite of what you claim. Conte is overrated.
I don’t know why fans complain so much about Leao. He’s always been like this. THIS is the only version of Leao – hot & cold. That’s how we have to accept him.
Yeah, the “off” mode is frustrating to watch but it will cycle through to the “on” mode when he carried this team to the Scudetto. He can do that too.
He is not what we want him to be. He is what HE wants to be. He will never have the work ethic of Ronaldo, or the greats he wants to compare himself to. Maybe that isn’t important to him like he says it is.
Either way. He is what he is. Accept it. Move on.
He takes a salary from Milan and Milan expects more for him as far as work ethic.
“I don’t know why fans complain so much about Leao.”
LOL. It’s REALLY simple actually. Gets paid for two or three and plays well once a month. And when he’s bad (which is often) he looks as he doesn’t give a damn.
Anything else you don’t understand? We’re here to help. 🙂
If that is the case we need to sell him while we still can. If he is not a leader, he doesn’t have a mentality of a champion, and work ethics to archive that, he should seek his bliss elsewhere.
He is not a TikTok influencer nor he is he an Instagram moder, he is a professional athlete and the highest paying member of Milan squad, he hasn’t earned 1% of what Milan is paying him since his renewal.