The relationship between Rafael Leao and Massimiliano Allegri is perhaps what AC Milan’s season hinges on, and Sunday was not a positive moment.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Allegri criticised Leao in front of part of the team in the dressing room after the match against Juve, a moment not caught on camera but noted by many. The point of the outburst was clear: Leao must give more on the pitch if he wants to get a starting spot back.
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Otherwise, he risks being sidelined, as happened (at times) with Paulo Fonseca, with Sergio Conceiçao, and in the last two games after he has returned from injury.
Allegri’s criticism
The evening in Turin involving Allegri and Leao was a difficult one, and it unfolded in three moments. The first two, documented by Dazn. Before coming on, Allegri, in the heat of the match, says to Leao: “Don’t p*** me off…”
How did it go? Well, let’s just say it could have gone better. The final minutes of Juventus 0-0 Milan bear witness to this. First, Leao unleashed that left-footed shot from a few yards out. Allegri, looking at the bench, asked himself the same question as many fans on the sofa: “How did he miss?”
Then Leao wasted an assist from the usually phenomenal Modric, and Allegri went berserk. He banged his fingers on his head and screamed. He paced nervously. He shouted: “Nobody in the dressing room say anything.”
In the dressing room, Allegro told Leao that the right attitude for playing for Milan can’t be the one he saw in Turin. Easy conclusion: if the Portuguese wants to be a starter for this team, he must raise his intensity on the pitch.
Being clinical in front of goal can’t be learned in two weeks, but the approach can change quickly. It’s no coincidence that among Allegri’s remarks captured by the cameras is a “Rafa, come back!” with some symbolic meaning.
The key now is to understand how Leao’s season and his relationship with Allegri will evolve. The incident in front of the team may not have pleased Leao, but these things happen in many teams and certainly Allegri’s.
Leao returned against Napoli and Juventus after a month and a half out with a right calf problem, so he cannot have been 100%, or even 80%, and it’s unfair to judge him for these matches. However, it feels like a crossroads has still arrived: Leao must step up or be remembered as being inconsistent.
Rafa is currently playing international duty in Lisbon, the city where he grew up. It’s the perfect place to unwind, not dwell too much on the disappointing night at the Allianz Stadium, and move on. In an interview with La Gazzetta, Rabiot said: “Rafa is 26, time flies. I hope he realises he can compete with the best.”
That’s what Pioli and Fonseca thought before him, with mixed successes. Leao began the current season as the team’s star, but in Allegri’s 3-5-2 formation, there’s only room for one forward alongside Pulisic. Santiago Gimenez and Christopher Nkunku are his competition, the duo who cost €70m+.
Leao is not inconsistent. He has an attitude that isn’t that of a winner. I’ve never heard any top manager say he has to be more consistent, but more decisive, have a better attitude and so on. Only news reporters write about incontinency that doesn’t exist. At least write how it is. You aren’t inconsistent if your numbers in the past 3-4 years are comparable to the best wingers on the planet. Or comparable to a Milan legend Shevchenko. That isn’t inconsistency…It would be really cool if you actually wrote facts. Leao needs to improve his attitude, but his numbers are 100% consistent in the past 3-4 years.
One of the dumbest sentenced ever wrote on this platform.
“Or comparable to a Milan legend Shevchenko. ”
Shevchenko as a Milan player
322 games, 175 goals , 46 assists.
Leao as a Milan player
263 games, 71 goals, 62 assists.
Yeah, Leao’s numbers are comparable to a Milan legend Shevchenko.
“At least write how it is”.
Also, comparing player stats across eras is one of the dumbest arguments.
Hakan Calhanoglu has better numbers as a Milan player than Rui Costa but no one with a brain would say that Hakan is comparable with Rui Costa.
Hakan as a Milan player
172 games, 32 goals, 48 assists.
Rui Costa as a Milan player
192 games, 11 goals, 45 assists
Rui Costa as a Fiorentina player where he was at his best
277 games, 50 goals, 52 assists.
Today’s player numbers are inflated because of the style of football, way more open, way more up and down, terrible defenders and even worse goalkeepers.
If Shevchenko played today, his numbers will be way up. If Leao played in Shevchenko’s era, his numbers would be down.
Can you even read? “You aren’t inconsistent if your numbers in the past 3-4 years are comparable to the best wingers on the planet. ”
Do you understand what 3-4 years mean? I think I need to explain this to you again, but usually it is a really simple concept to understand. ? But let me ask you this, can you tell me how many wingers had as many dribbles, created as many chances per game and finished the season with 25 or more goal contributions, in the past 3-4 years? How many players do this every season? Since Leao is inconsistent, bad player etc. How many players do what he does every year? Because his numbers are consistent for Milan.
Also when you write stupidity like he would score more if he played today and similar stuff, do you think any player would do better with a team of
Pirlo, Gattuso, Seedorf, and all the top defenders we had behind them? And Kaka ? Or with the current team or last years? Are you being serious? That is such a stupid comparison to considering that was the best Milan team in history of the club. Shevchenko played with 10 world class players. Milan has had 0 until this year.
I mean this is the most stupid attempt I have ever seen. Just go and flat out copy paste the raw data and pretend that means everything. Not mention that Leao joined Milan at how old? With which experience? Which teammates where at Milan when he came? Do the same for Shevchenko, that played over 200 games for Dinamo Kyiv and joined with over 30 CL games in his boots. There are way more nuances but the fact is that in Serie A Shevchenko has 112 minutes per goal and assist and Leao has 117 minutes per goal or assist. So if Leao is so bad Shevchenko wasn’t that good.
Ha ha 😂.
Just take the L for the dumb comment you made and move on.
I can read just fine, you said COMPARABLE TO A MILAN LEGEND SHEVCHENKO.
Shevchenko in his first 2 years as a Milan player scored 24 goals in each of those serie a seasons. Leao needs 3 seasons to score 24 goals in serie A.
He didn’t have neither Seedorf, nor Pirlo, nor Rui Costa, nor Kaka.
Shevchenko came to Milan in ’99.
Pirlo, Rui Costa in 01
Seedorf in 02. He wasn’t dependent on them for goals.
His midfielders were older albertini, young Gattuso and ambrosini, Federico Gunti, Diego de ascentis.
What does the great defenders behind him got to do with his offensive stats?
You wrote something stupid, admit you did it and move on, stop digging a bigger hole.
No you can’t read just fine, ” if your numbers in the past 3-4 years are comparable “. Obviously. You can’t read a basic sentence with understanding. Yes, their numbers in Serie A are comparable, will be whatever you write. Numbers. Try reading again, you need 2-3 times.
Shevchenko is a striker, you are of course cherry picking like you always do. Shevchenko also made about 4 assists per year, Leao has over 10. Not the same position. That is why obviously I am including assists, you can’t compare a striker and a winger based on goals only?
Having world class defenders behind you means nothing for offensive play and stats? What? Having security and trusting players behind you at all times is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT things for offensive play and stats. There wasn’t Seedorf and Pirlo the moment he came, but Albertini old in 1999? He was 28? And Leonardo was a top player for Milan. Are you being serious? His midfield wasn’t what you wrote but it was mostly Gattuso, Leonardo and Albertini. Which one was bad of these 3? Top players, all 3 of them. Shevchenko spent his career at Milan when Milan was the strongest club on the planet, easy. You are trying to paint a picture like that isn’t true. 😀 He had old midfield, bla bla. No. Lie.
So if Leao is so bad, which players do what he does every season? How many are there? You can’t reply to that? It solves everything, you prove I’m an id*ot easily. How many players have that number of chances created, dribbles, goals and assist per game? It is a layup for you, you can’t do it.
Stop embarrassing yourself.
Shevchenko was a winger in his first 2 seasons as a Milan player.
He played in Leao’s position as winger in Zaccheroni’s 343.
Leaonardo played on the other wing, not in midfield.
Shevchenko in his 1st season in serie A, week 5 went to Olimpico and put 3 goals on Nesta’s head, one of the greatest defenders to ever play.
Leao needs 3 months to score 3 goals ans its usually vs a relegation team.
That excuse that someone benefited from playing with great players all around applies to Kaka, not to Shevchenko. Sheva was great prior to Milan surrounding him with top players. Kaka came in with all those great players already being there and majority were there in his entire Milan first tenure.
As I said, stop embarrassing yourself and never compare Leao or put him in the same sentence with arguably the greatest striker of his era and one of the greatest footballers ever.
Leao.
– 21/22 11g 10a 21gc
– 22/23 11a 15g 26gc
– 23/24 9g 10a 19gc
– 24/25 8g 10a 18gc
Observation – Leao productivity is eroding.
Pulisic (not one of the best on planet)
– 23/24 12g 9a 21 gc
– 24/25 11g 11a 22 gc
Observation – Leao wasn’t even the best winger on his team the last two years.
Using the same stats and transfermarkt you can see Leao compares about the same as Vini Jr (usually seen as one of the best) over the last 4 years. Vini shows a similar decline and is similarly embattled.
Using the same stats and comparing Leao to Mohamed Salah there is simply no comparison over the last 4 years. However, Salah is in a class of his own.
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I believe that sure is talking about Raphael leow’s consistency and we can see that he is right. Rafa is consistently one of the better wingers in the world each year.
What others seem to do is compare Rafa to whomever is the individual best that year. For example, Salah was lights out last season and Raphinia was as well.
This year. Michael olise looks to be setting the world on fire.
But it is true that statistically we get about 20 goal contributions per season from Leao.
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The perception is that for the last 4 years Leao waited out on the touch line and did very little until the ball came to him.
My personal observation is that when he was on the field with Pioli and the Portuguese Pair that our entire offense was forced out to the left towards him and this harmed his ability to perform as teams would just triple him. It also caused the rest of the team to move less and watch what would happen more.
It would be interesting to do a side-by-side comparison of all stats to get more complete view of what the player is doing on the field at all times.
General consensus seems to be that in Rafa’s case it’s not that much. But there is no denying that he has been a consistent top winger in the top five leagues for the last 4 years
This
STATS DO NOT TELL THE WHOLE STORY OF A PLAYERS WORTH TO HIS TEAM. WAKE UP out there !!!
Uu know ball!!!
Sure, you are NUTs if you think you can go by stats that are 100 % consistent in the past 3-4 years when there has been ” NO CONSISTENT PLAY THIS YEAR or LAST YEAR ” WAKE UP ! STATS don t always tell a players performance or their WORTH on the team.
There has been no consistent play this year because there has been no play.
You call for paying attention then make such a poorly informed critique
My assumption is we will continue to play 3 in the back. It works and works very well. So firmly believe we should sell Leao and invest in someone like Conrad Harder (potential and target man) and a lock down winger or lock down CB.
Indeed even if we were to move back to a winger system we have too much attacking talent to play (hockey term) dump-and-chase up the left with Leao.
There are months for Leao to show he wants to evolve, but there is no history showing he will. Let’s see how this plays out
LAZY LEAO……… no room on this team for half commitment . SELL !
he needs to get off twitch and stop his other business ventures. He’s all over the place. I love Rafa and his ceiling is massive but what good is that if he doesn’t reach it?
You are 100% right. Rashford all over again. He did the same and almost messed up his career. If you are being paid over a 100k a week to play football that is what you need to focus on.
Who is comparing Leao to Shevy? Were you born yesterday? Are you just supporting Milan? Are you a baby fan? Can you compare sleep and death together? What are you saying? Wake up and go back to watch Shevy against the greatest defenders and goalkeepers of all time. Leao is infant a toddler compared to Shevy. Did you watch shevy against Buffon or the tempo and mood all Milan fans were during Milan vs Lyon in 2007 champions league when it was 1-1 in Sansiro after the first leg ended 0-0 and Milan was about to be eliminated but few minutes to go Ancelloti was shouting Shevy do something and he brought out his best and scored where inzaghi tapped in the ball. Who is Leao who compared Leao to shevy are you drunk?
Leao is very good when he wants to be serious and I love him and won’t judge him against Juve
Of course, still, their numbers in Serie A are comparable. Do you understand what that means? You can write as many stupid sentences as you want in one comment, that won’t change what I wrote or that it is true.
The drumbeat is rising. Leao as a no. 9? Nope. Doesn’t work. Has never worked. Even the player himself has said he does not like playing centrally. Leao pressing hard? Nope. Leao is a winger who needs to play in a system that both plays him out wide and expects only minimal defensive effort. Basically that limits him to a 4-3-3. I’m pretty sure the odds of him moving on next summer are greater than 50%. And I think the hardcore Leao supporters need to start making their peace with that. He’ll be replaced by a more traditional no. 9, so that we’ll have two no. 9s (new one and Gimenez) and two supporting forwards (Nkunku and Pulisic) for the two attacking positions available in Allegri’s 3-5-2, and that will be that. We just need to hope this doesn’t become a drama sideshow that distracts from our baseline goal of qualifying for the CL.
Yes, that is probable. What you wrote I’d also add, he is an around 30 goal contributions per season winger. Not 50, not 200, not 40. That is what he is. People seem to expect Haaland numbers from everyone today.
It’s true that expectations are really high one way or another. I think the main issue, at least for me, is not that I expect him to score 25 goals and get 25 assists (his recent misses from point blank range notwithstanding), but that he be a better all-round player. You are right to point out that, statistically, in terms of goal contributions, Leao has very good production. But it’s as if, when looking at his radar chart, he’s got this great performance in the offensive set of metrics, while the rest is minimal. And my expectation, and I think that of many others, is that Leao’s ought to have a larger positive values in other areas, in other words, be a better all-round player than just this narrow area relating to goals and assists (and some other offensive categories). Again, he does do this quite well, and I think we would certainly thrive in a certain system, and quite possibly truly be one of the top wingers in the game, but given the expectations of the contemporary game and the system that Allegri uses, it just seems as though Leao, regardless of statistical accomplishment within that narrow area where he is really good, is just not a good fit for this Milan and probably not a good fit for many clubs where defensive workrate and certain off the ball movements are expected from all ten outfield players. Like, I’m not sure Leao would make it in a Guardiola or Klopp side, for example. With a player like Leao, the formation/tactics need to be fully adapted to him, as opposed to him adapting to the formation/tactics, and there are very few coaches who will do this for a single player nowadays, and Allegri is definitely not one of them.
Great article on FootballItalia on the matter.
TIME TO ACCEPT RAFAEL LEAO WILL NEVER BE ANYONE ELSE
FOR MILAN
By Susy Campanale OCT 8, 2025 15:15
Every few months the debate rolls around again, with the same critics pointing out this is the season when Leao will finally move to the next level in his career, start working for the team, tracking back to defend, being more tactically versatile, and focused for the full 90 minutes. As Adrien Rabiot and Alessandro Florenzi quite rightly pointed out this week, he is 26 years old, he cannot still be referred to as a young player finding his path in life. That time has been and gone. Let’s just accept this is who he is and always will be.
Sometimes football fans can be like those women you see in terrible relationships, convinced they can ‘change’ the man in their life. It is far healthier to simply accept someone for who they are, in the good and the bad, or leave him, because trying to force them into a box is just going to create resentment on one side and disappointment on the other.
RAFAEL LEAO CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO TRANSFORM
How many years have we been having this conversation about Rafael Leao? I don’t know what has given people the impression he is in any way capable of becoming a focused, committed football player who will help the defence and unite with the midfield. It would negate all the positives about his game, which are that he has these sudden bursts of life, and always plays with a smile on his face – often literally. Take that away and all you have left is someone with lightning pace and usually poor finishing.
If Milan want Leao to be more consistent in front of goal, then using him as a centre-forward isn’t necessarily the answer. He enjoys running at players, which means needing space to surge into, and he won’t get that when he’s the most advanced figure on the pitch. Giving him extra duties like keeping an eye on the offside line and holding up the ball for teammates is just going to eat into his already limited concentration span.
We also need to acknowledge Leao has never been particularly prolific. Only twice in six seasons has he gone into double figures for Serie A goals and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. The more extra work you give him, whether it’s positioning or helping the defence, the less he’ll be ready to put the ball in the net when he has the opportunity.
So either Milan and Max Allegri accept Leao as he is, or they can do what probably should’ve been done a few years ago and sell him to the Premier League for a ridiculous amount of money. Hopefully their directors will only watch the highlight reels and not the frustrating figure he often cuts when wandering around the field aimlessly. The pace of the game might suit him better there, fewer chances to get distracted and less defending required. The worst scenario for everyone concerned is to continue this annual routine of demanding a change that simply isn’t in his nature.
I was about to reference this article because Susy C. perfectly summarized where and what Leao is ad has been.
I’ve always said that this is the only version of Leao Milan can afford. If he played to his full potential he’d be at an elite club, not Milan. This is the only version of Leao we will see here.
Expecting more out of him is pointless. Use him in his present capacity, or use this opportunity with Max to transition away from him, since Milan has been doing without him quite well in the last 5 games.
Like Susy said, sell him to the PL for a stupid amount of money and upgrade the rest of the squad. Or else just work with what you have.
Otherwise these Leao conversations are so old.
Could not have said it better.
SUSY IS 100% CORRECT about Leao !!!!!!!
You are correct about the false position Leao played against Juventus which was to me a wasted angle instead of keeping him on same wing and use Nkunku as a striker no one should judge him with that game as he’s coming back from 40 days absence from competitive games BUT THE FACT REMAINS whoever and whosoever compares him to Shevy is a baby fan who needs to wake up and upgrade his brain but on a fair side to such person maybe he’s a Milan fan who joined last 2 seasons
That’s the third coach, who is complaining about Rafa, it is not a coincidence.
Leao is a great player, who can make the difference IF he wants to. For some time it seems, that he just doesn’t care.
His body language just screams “I just got out of the bed, what do you want from me?”.
Seriously now. I think we all can see, that Rafa is not essential anymore, which is a shame, because of his potential. The team works good without him.
I really hope, that he will get his stuff together and work hard for his starting spot, because it does not look good for him. But as I wrote in the beginning – it’s not the first time that we see this situation.
I hate to hear “he isn’t 100% or 80% fit”. Someone should tell me how fitness relates to scoring in a better position? This is a useless excuse for a professional. Being not fit can only affect your stamina, pace and understanding with the team not passing or shooting. These have nothing to do with fitness at all.
Leao is pathetically poor and isn’t worth 50 million as a player.
Millimeters matter.
At less than 100% fitness you arrive to the situation out of breath or even with you vision narrowing and thought processes degraded.
So in the milliseconds of making the decision on where and how to shoot the intent is ever so slightly off.
In your head nothing feels right. You constantly make adjustments based on those inputs and …
In the millimeters that is making precise contact with the ball you are ever so slightly off.
These and other factors compound.
In the case of Musah, he was exceptionally fit but simply didn’t have the actual talent to make those millimeter perfect motions, so in his (admittedly extreme) case fitness would play as big a role because the skill is simply not there.
Absolutely ridiculous take. A whole month out of the game and not fully training absolutely affects not only fitness and skill but also mentality. Have you ever played a sport? Have you ever been in the position of producing athletically at 75% fitness and 100% fitness?
Leao consistently plays like a world class winger. Is he the best player ever, no, is a suitable to be a striker maybe, will he ever win a ballon d’or I don’t think so. But he guarantees 20+ goal contributions a season. How many players can you say that for? On Milan there’s only one who can match (Pulisic). These articles come out every international break. Ignoring realities and talking about hypotheticals. Think about the debate; do we really think a consistent 20+ gc is terrible? Absolutely not! We know he’s one of the best wingers in Europe. Do we really think Leao is going to be the next Ronaldo? Absolutely not! He is what he is a world class player that has some characteristics that will prevent him from becoming the generational player he has potential to believe.
I agree with but what’s stopping him from being serious (not judging against Juventus) let him come back stronger and be focused. Theo wasn’t a bad player but arrogance ruined him last year he would have been one of the leaders in Milan but today at his age playing in Saudi league
I love Leao and as a dad (he’s my son’s age) I would have said be more serious and prove Italian media wrong
Susy 100% correct !!!
Sell it that dump barbi…..
honestly i think d italian media has got something against milan with the way they pick and escalate every little issue abt milan.then the fans join and then comes d chaos. all preseason leao scored,scored an individually brilliant goal against van dijk one of the best defenders now, and even our first game before he got injured.he missed two goals in a game and everybody wants his head.it was just not our day against juve,we dont need to bash leao always.not like am siding him but no good will come from we bashing our players along with d media.