Rafael Leao was one of the worst players on the field during the first leg between AC Milan and Roma last week, and he was unable to redeem himself last night.
This morning’s edition of the newspaper Corriere dello Sport (via PianetaMilan) writes how Leao effectively made himself evanescent when his team-mates needed him. Aside from drawing the red card from Zeki Celik and crossing for Matteo Gabbia’s goal, it was a performance that fell short of all expectations.
The Portuguese winger was powerless in the face of a Milan team that sank with each passing minute. There were many confused and ill-executed ideas, few dribbles, few crosses/passes and often done badly, and far too many stumbles. It was reminiscent of the first leg.
The most symbolic moment of the night came when Olivier Giroud was furious at a poor choice by Rafa, namely when he sent in a cross without looking that totally overshot everyone and went out for a goal kick. The Frenchman looked perplexed at the ex-Lille man, who responded with a grimace.
The assist for Gabbia’s consolation goal cannot be enough to save him from an insufficient performance. Yet it is from him that Milan expect a spark given he is the highest paid player, and instead he failed to show up in the two biggest games of the season.
I reckon if we lose to Inter we should:
– sack Pioli (before the end season, don’t even give him the opportunity to make to the end, the bastard);
– sell Leao;
– sell Calabria;
– sell everyone!
– change the name of the club.
This is no time for calm assessments.
Everyone. FREAK OUT.
PS We may have more points than the Scudetto season but Napoli have had a bad season – get it?
You forgot
– sell Maldini’s Heir to whatever mid table club Pioli is going to.
I know you’re joking but the fact that you think fans can be sold is another reminder of your obsession with the transfer market.
No doubt you’ll put your hand up if Milan don’t qualify for the Champions League next season?
After reading your comments, fans like you are the reason management did not sack Pioli long time ago. You still give hope and chances after chances even though we lost every thing and what is left is for Inter to take their second star in the derby in front of over 50K fans attending the game.
The hell with you and all the rest of Milan fans that keep on denying what is in front of everyone 2 since Oct 2023, Cottee was ready to take over on the spot, but noooooo give baldly a chance and another and another. Inter beat us 5, no problem. we crashed out of CL. no problem. We crashed out of the Coppa, no Problem. Crashed out of the EL, no problem. Bested over and over and over by teams that on paper that we would should have cruised through them
I wanted Pioli replaced last summer.
I was also critical of the transfers.
But once the season started……guess what?….I supported the team and didn’t moan and criticise the manager and players after every game.
Pioli gets criticised after wins.
And boy do the defeats bring out the real fans!
I have said all along we should take a stock at the end of the season.
It’s very hard for me to justify calling for Pioli to be sacked if we finish 2nd with more points than our Scudetto winning season.
And the only way we could justify it is if the new guy won the Scudetto next season.
How likely is it that some new manager is going to win the Scudetto next season?
Is it not more likely they’ll be sacked by Christmas?
If the goal is to build more while staying at the same level, you might be right about Pioli. If the goal is to try and make the next step, it’s a big chance you’re wrong.
The reasoning is the following…
– Pioli rarely is able to push players to perform when they really need to and I’ve never seen him come back when he’s two goals down.
– Players seem to have gotten used to Pioli and might (or might not) benefit from a wake-up call. Leaving aside the growth in prior years, I’m not sure if any of our young(er) existing players had a good growth this year (Leao, Theo, Thiaw, Tomori, Calabria)…
– I also blame Pioli for not being more explicit with what he needs, maybe he doesn’t know or maybe he doesn’t like to make a scene. It was obvious that we needed a DM before season started and no, playing Calabria to add more defensive filter won’t cut it. Also getting Jovic on the last second is something that another coach would be a lot more vocal about.
– New players are being brought up to speed much more slowly. Maybe these players are not what Pioli needs and take more time to adjust, or Pioli relies more on players that know the movements, etc… but if we are buying 7+ players every season, he needs to adjust (make movements simpler, etc)
To summarize, I understand the need to build, but with Pioli a lot of the hope on what can be achieved seems gone. I have very little hope that the next time we meet a bigger team, we’d be able to get a good result, and even with lower teams, I’m hoping they’re not good and disciplined enough to park the bus in front of goal otherwise Pioli doesn’t know how to break it (before Roma, there was Torino in the Italian cup that won with 10 players )
I’m not sure how you even have any pearls left to clutch. Surely You’ve clutched them all to absolute dust by now.
Sack Pioli !!! Bad Tactics,Bad decision making. Sell Leao !! Get players who want to give 100 percent. Sell Bannacer!! (told you not to play him) Too slow & head down, cannot give first time pass. Sell Calabria !! Gives 100% but just doesn t have it. Maidinis Heir…. Want to play with the big boys than we cannot play favorites and need to improve talent!
Within the first 18 minutes Leao was standing completely free twice to receive the ball but no one played him. After the second he complained to a teammate. How to create something in these situations if he isn’t played? Don’t go for one player. They are 11 on the pitch.
Pioli should have been kicked out after the humiliation from Inter, or in December, when we were put in UCL. To trust him and his crazy explanations was a huge mistake.
Leao was the least of our problems. He is not and never was very good agains low blocks. He had bad 2 games and yet he still managed to set up multiple chances and get the assist.
They needed to get the ball to him more. Imo he should have been used way more. Roma defenders feared him. Instead we had a first half where I saw Musah (not even Pulisic) being the one trying to set up attacks. It was painful to watch.
Keep playing favorites !! Leao who plays NO DEFENCE & GIVES 80% SHOULD START AND PLAY THE ENTIRE GAME . Haha WHAT A JOKE !! Sell Leao and get players who want to give 100 percent . He will never be the next MBAPPE !!!!!!!!!!!!
I thought that the goal of the frenzy last summer was to add depth so Leao would not be the only focus of opponents and we would not have to rely on him when he’s not in good form. I guess it’s a complete failure.
A player that is supposedly worth $120m should rarely not be in good form. That has hardly been the case.
Let’s place a bet. Pioli will start the same people that messed our chances of progressing up