Rafael Leao has made his thoughts on the criticism he received from Antonio Cassano very clear with a post on his social media account.
After yesterday’s match between Milan and Borussia Dortmund there were a lot of differing views on the performance and the result, which was a 0-0 draw in which the Rossoneri had chances to win but didn’t take them.
Cassano also spoke on Bobo TV and he decided to heavily criticise Leao and the fact that he himself did not have a threatening shot on goal, with his comments relayed by PianetaMilan.
“Leao made two or three runs, but he never shot on goal, zero assists, you miss the decisive play. Leao makes two runs, it’s all speed, the ball forward and that’s it. Then you have to make the difference,” he said.
“You can’t throw a point away, but the next one you go to Paris. He always makes the wrong play: the only right one is the idea of a one-two with Pulisic. He never defends, you have to create 10 scoring opportunities for me.”
The response from Leao himself was not long in coming. He quoted a video clip of Cassano’s comments on Bobo TV with five laughing emojis and four clown faces.
Nobody can doubt Leao’s status as a leader of this Milan team but it does often seem that he is singled out above almost all others to be put in the firing line after a game that doesn’t go to plan result-wise.
😂😂😂😂😂🤡🤡🤡🤡 https://t.co/YSFPmRe22n
— Rafael Leão (@RafaeLeao7) October 5, 2023
His kinda right though if you want the superstar status and team leader you have to put in the work and carry your team on your back , his attitude these days is becoming more annoying. Wrong choices of play , I miss the days coaches calls out players to do better rather than baby dem , this is the UCL ForzaMilan
How many goal scoring chances did Milan have and how many did Leao create? Just answer that question. Let me know.
Irrelevant. Each player should do their best for the team. Leao doesn’t.
To be fair, he’s not 100% wrong.
Leao is an incredible player, but he had a poor game.
He had more turnovers himself in this one game than an entire NBA team.
He missed obvious passes and he never covered back on defense. Ever.
Now to Cassano: it was one game. Try looking at the other dozens of Leao games.
I looked at an entire Cassano, especially Milan, career as one big disappointment. Leao has already far surpassed Cassano in skill and it’s not even remotely close.
How many goal scoring chances did Milan have and how many did Leao create? Just answer that question. Let me know.
How many times did he lose possession? 20+
According to whoscored. His passing rate was 67.5% (!!) off 63 touches. Only Giroud and Pobega were worse. Both of those guys got low ratings for the match as well, do you understand why?
On top of that, he never tracked back to help out on defense on over 90% of the plays. Perhaps that’s Pioli’s choice but it is fact regardless.
As I said, it’s just one game but it’s horrific by any standard. If he wants to become a superstar, he cannot be coddled. He needs to help the team out more.
Even the almost 40-year-old Giroud presses and defends 100x more than Leao. That says a lot.
Relax guys
Cassano is always the attention seeker type, even during his playing time
just take it as a joke
Yeah, whoever listens to Cassano, you know the level of intelligence of that person. Cassano was a clown even while he was playing, nowadays he has nothing else to do but be a clown.
Sure Cassano, we all know that you are famous for your work rate and leadership on the field.
Imagine if sheva or kaka playing like that. Will they won ballon d’or? Never.
Look how amazing kaka carry our team on ucl 2007
@Blog, Rafa Leao ain’t no Kaka, Sheva, or Inzaghi. Leao is Leao. So get that.
Are you serious comparing our legends to Leao who is still young and getting better? Kaka and Sheva were in a class of their own – plus played on the best team in history of futbol. Leao plays on medicroe Milan team.
Sheva was great from the moment he put on a Milan jersey.
He scored 24 goals in each of his 2 first seasons in serie A as a Milan player, age 22 and 23, playing as a winger in a 343. And that team he was playing on the first couple seasons was on the same level with the teams Leao has been on during his Milan time.
Leao is 24 BTW and barely scores over 10 goals in all competitions, not just serie A.
Kaka had it easy. From the moment he came to Milan till the moment he left for real Madrid he was playing on a super team with great players. Sheva was totally different story.
Go check Milan squad in 1999/00 and 2000/01.
LOL you must be drunk. When Sheva joined Milan, Milan had Maldini, Albertini, Costacurta, Gattuso, Leonardo, Boba, Seginho and Bierhoff – yup, totally same level as the team now. LOLZZZZZZ. WOW.
Ha ha 😂
Look at the names you mentioned and check their ages at the time.
That’s like saying leao had Ibra, Giroud, Kjaer, Florenzi.
Maldini was in his prime but the rest were either too young like Gattuso and Ambrosini, or way past their prime like Boban and Bierhoff.
Sheva was an all time great player from day 1 at Milan.
Stop with the excuses.
Sheva also was doing that work when serie A was the best league in the world. This serie A Leao plays in isn’t even top 3.
Leao might play 9n a mediocre team but also he plays in a mediocre league.
What has he done outside of serie A? 3 goals combined in 4 years of European football with Milan.
You shouldn’t even mention his name in the same sentence with Sheva and Kaka
He’s right. You’re either high or drunk at this point by saying these 2 teams are on the same level. The team from the 2000’s was one of the best teams in the history of football from the best league at the time and you’re saying they’re on the same level as the Milan of today? Please go get checked.
Cassano is correct but that shouldn’t undermine leao abilities Ratner than showing how stupid Pioli is. Pioli has no clue about exploiting his player capabilities…zero
I don’t think anyone is undermining Leao’s abilities. It’s his (lack of) motivation and attitude that prevent him from becoming a superstar.
There’s a reason why he wasn’t amongst the Ballon d’Or candidates. And if he continues like this, he will never be either.
I wonder how some of us think a times, Didn’t Rafa Leao create chances that was wasted by favourites of the coach?
How helpful was Giroud, and why is Noah still considered a substitute instead of a starter?
On the other hand Pioli is supposed to shoulder 65 – 70% of the blame but no, instead you guys keep pointing at Rafa.
Why is these set of Milan players scared of shooting from outside the 18 yard box, is it the tactics or instruction given to them by the coach?
These are questions to consider before blaming Rafa, so you guys should stop blaming him, because he is try his best
*He is trying his best
Chukwueze was a starter before coming to Milan but see now he is a bench warmer. Pioli should try other tactics to ensure he use the players at his disposal well. It’s not all the players that have the patience to wait like Yacine Adli.
When i saw Pibega in that line up that i knew we are achieving nothing. Pioli out!!!
Leao alone creates two good assist to his team mates,one to giroud another to pulisic.
Rafeal leao is the best we have in this team,those criticism is always to heavy.
Football matches last for 90mins. Two decent passes per match isn’t enough. There’s also many other things going on during the matches – like defending.
In order for Leao to move to the next level, he will need to leave Milan unfortunately. Yes he has faults, he’s human, but he is also Pioli’s primary weapon and it becomes a tiring watch using the left side for the majority of your team’s goals, especially as tracking back is not one of his primary attributes.
He needs to play in a team of stars (R Madrid, Man City etc) to realise his full potential. Even players like Ronaldo couldn’t carry a team. He needed to play with the best to get the best out of him.
If Pioli has long term plans at Milan then he needs to start thinking about life without Leao, but I don’t imagine he believes he will be here long term.
In many fields past personalities who want to be relevant have to make outrageous comments or they won’t be reported. To agree with other commentators gets no space at all – we see this constantly, it is a bit sad really for them, being reduced to loud squarks to be noticed.