AC Milan were generally excellent during last night’s victory against Atalanta at San Siro however Rafael Leao once again was not at his best.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews) write that Leao did not convince against Atalanta as his decision making on the ball was sloppy, he got a yellow card for protesting that will make him miss next Saturday’s away match against Fiorentina and his only real moment in the game was the assist for Junior Messias’ goal to make it 2-0 goal.
Admittedly Leao accustomed everyone to a completely different level of performance because of his Serie A MVP-worthy season, but the feeling is that the Portuguese forward has not yet returned to his best levels in 2023 so far.
Added to all of that is the issue of the renewal of his contract which seems to be stuck, even if the player had his say before the game: “I’m fine at Milan, I’m talking to the people who deal with this. Let’s see what happens at the end of the season, now the match is important.”
Therefore, everything is still, as confirmed also by Milan sporting director Ricky Massara prior to the game:: “On the renewals of Leao and Giroud, we are stuck in the previous chapter but we are always ready to write new ones. We are working to find a solution and also in a short time.”
The management continues to work on extending Leao’s deal and hopes to soon arrive at a long-awaited agreement, but from Leao’s words it emerges that there is no certainty.
“Admittedly, Leao accustomed everyone to a completely different level of performance because of his Serie A MVP-worthy season”.
What completely different level of performance?
The performances are the same from last year, one good game a month and almost always vs a mid to lower level team on the table.
His numbers are even better up to this point this season than they were last year.
People put too much importance to a popularity award as the mvp award he received and that’s why they confuse him for a great player and are somewhat disappointed with each game.
If after majority of the games we read that Leao wasn’t up to his standards, maybe what you see most of the time IT IS HIS STANDARD.
He still doesn’t know how to shoot, in the 1st half sent one to the 3rd tier of the stadium, and in the 2nd he was so lazy, on something that should have been an easy tap in, that he allowed the defender to get to the ball before him.
Nice assist on the goal though, he finally moved the ball without holding on to it pointlessly and losing it.
Leao is a good player. His athleticism makes him a weapon, but if Milan wants to be great again Leao cannot be ypur best player or the player you build the team around. He doesn’t have the quality nor the mentality to be a great player or a leader of a team. He can play the supporting role in the movie but he can’t be the main character.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
But if we continue to be honest, even Tatarusanu could have delivered that throughball to Messias. It was a basic pass they teach players already in the first year in junior teams.
Everything about his contract is postponed until end of the season.
It is hard to guess what did management decided about Leao.
Even with his ups and downs, he’s still leading the chart as our top goal scorer and top assist so far. How crazy is that. Imagine if he can always put his head every time he’s on the field.
With all that, the next summer will be the last chance for us to renew or sell (and find proper replacement). No more grey area please.
Even at worst form he is the best Milan player by far. And whoever wrote “his only real moment in the game was the assist for Junior Messias’ goal to make it 2-0 goal.” was blind. He was actually involved and had over 70 touches yesterday, and yeah, he isn’t at his best but only the assist? LOL. Idiotic news reporters.
And Giroud played a first good match in the last 10 for Milan, first time he DID NOT misplace most of his passes and it was actually useful to go with a long ball towards him.
Honestly it felt tough to publish that part. The assist was word class. But it’s what Gazzetta said
The media slowly is taking off the kid gloves when it comes to their treatment of Leao.
Now Imagine their treatment if/when he signs a new contract for 6,7 million a season.
To whom much is given, much is required.
Can Leao handle the expectations, pressure and criticism that will come with that big salary?
How could he handle it when he can’t even handle the ~2M€ he now gets? Did you see the amount of hand-waving and complaints to teammates yesterday? He used more time and energy on that than on playing.
Leao also…..pressed yesterday *gasps*. He was involved in alot of the creative output but he also pressed and when we do from the front we’re a totally different team..I hope they keep this up
Exactly. Well said. Lots of Leao haters on this site. Kinda like when a dude likes the prettiest girl in school but he know’s he’s doesn’t have a chance because he’s a ugly, overweight loser with no friends – you know like @bb – so they just trash the girl cause they have zero hope. LOLOLOLOL…. According to that loser @bb – anyone could have made that pass. Yup. Sure. LMAO. I forgot @bb scored 200 goals in the under 7 co-ed church league!! Let’s sign him up as our new #9 – not sure we can afford him but it’s worth a shot! Hahahahahahahha
Not sure why your reaction to an opposing view is so venomous? He/she is entitled to their opinion, just like you are.
Anyone who has played football – and anyone who plays professionally – could have made the pass.
I get it that people like yourself who have never even touched a ball simply don’t understand the sport. Not really your fault. It’s like I don’t understand anything about weaving as I’ve never tried it but that’s OK. I’m fine with that and I’m not going on weaving websites to try to teach others to weave with zero experience or know-how.
” I forgot @bb scored 200 goals in the under 7 co-ed church league!! ”
You keep forgetting the facts. It’s lower divisions (4.-6.) and no churches involved. Maybe next time you’ll remember. 🙂
“Let’s see what happens at the end of the season”
Translation: Let’s see what kind of salary and signing bonus offers I’ll get elsewhere in the summer.