After the win against Croatia, Portugal and AC Milan star Rafael Leao looked at his performance and discussed the difficulty of the game.
For Leao, this World Cup has been bigger than any other tournament before. He is further away from Milan than ever before and clubs are welcome to come to the table to discuss his future. So, strong performances would benefit all parties.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
If he shows his best, he can earn a better move. Failing that, he may be more likely to head to a destination where he is not particularly looking at right now.
Leao back to his best
He did not start the tournament in the best manner; it was certainly difficult. However, he has grown into the World Cup and his best performance came last night against Croatia, where he played on the wing (who’d have thought it!).
Speaking after the game, the Portuguese looked at his season and the win, as MilanNews relays.
“I’ve had a very difficult season in terms of injuries, and with a match of this intensity, it was just fatigue. But when the team has this spirit, the fatigue disappears, and I kept going until the last minute.
“Even with the tiredness in my right leg, I managed to provide the assist. We were all pushing in the same direction, and that’s what gave us the victory. We believed in it from the start. There was an extra factor that proved crucial: Diogo Jota, who is always with us and helped us with this too.”
Hit the crossbar. Has a very nice assist on the goal, couple of clearances and an important tackle to stop a break away.
And how many pass backs did he do in that game instead of taking his defenders on? It was infuriating to watch. The team played slow until Croatia scored. Maybe on Martinez but Leao’s highlights were limited.
If you noticed, he is particular about when to attack. Ithink he waits to see the positioning of the defenders before he makes the move. And it’s usually when the defender give him a little extra space on to the right. Not sure if this is him maturing and picking his spots or if it was by coaching instructions. Like you, I thought he could have taken on his man a bit more given his pace but he did pick his spots. However, that would mean he’ll tire quicker. The weather also plays into this as Toronto was extremely hot yesterday. I understand why both teams took it easy in the first half. That heat was no joke and the hydration breaks made actual sense.
I’m more frustrated with his positioning in the defensive phase tbh where a few times he could have been closer to his man to prevent some of the attacks. Also the right wing wasn’t doing anything of note. It was basically left wing or build up centrally. They also doubled up on Leao and were free to roam on the (Croatia’s) left as evidenced by Perisic, who was playing left back, playing almost all the way up the pitch almost as LW. Whereas Stanisic never went past the half way line as he had to man mark Leao.
He’s a one trick pony. He’s useless anywhere else. Can’t play as a back up striker, can’t help defend. All he has are his runs into space and taking on his defenders. If he doesn’t showcase that, what does he have to show?
If you want to leave for another club, put your best foot forward, sunshine. Drum up some buzz. I don’t know if he has done that so far this WC 🙂
The smart thing to do would have been to STFU after last season, play the WC then see if offers arrive – then talk about new experiences.
Great to Rafa make a difference on both sides of the pitch. Made at least 3 great defensive plays and tracked back quicker than I’ve seen him during Milan games. Made me question why Rafa cannot duplicate the effort when playing for Milan.
Must be tired of not tracking back, missing most of the season, and strolling around the pitch, or has fatherhood been a tough mountain to climb for him?
Maybe too many long rap sessions in the studio? 🤷♂️
He never had 90 minutes of football in him when he bulked up. It is his Achilles heel of his game. It was so obvious he was running on empty as the clock was winding down and he was trying to literally push the opposition player to the ground. It was hilarious to see but disappointing as well.
What is disappointing, he was literally the best player on the pitch with one of the best assists in this tournament so far, yl our most expensive acquisition was on the bench though decisive at the end, I think some section of Milan fans should be more appreciative of Leao
He was trying to foul the player to prevent a break away. Professional fouls happen and are needed in such circumstances. Other than that I do agree that his size contributes to his fatigue as well as the explosive pace of his runs.
Should be more upset with Concecaio not taking the ball to the corner flag and running out the clock
After his run in the first minute Croatia said no more, and had three closing him down every time. In second half Martinez dropped him back and he got a bit more space. did a few things. Fatigue or laziness IDK, I was hoping for more explosiveness. I’d bring him back with no guarantees for playing time. but would rather sell him and get a great player with a motor.
glad he got that assist if it means a bigger transfer for Milan. That was a nice ball in.
Ironic how our laziest player is the only one claiming to be tired…