AC Milan have been on a great run without having Rafael Leao available, leading to question marks about his return.
As Calciomercato.com write, Milan have ‘shown they can do without Leao’, but they don’t want to do without him. The Portuguese forward returned to the sidelines on Sunday evening against Napoli after a 40-day absence following an injury sustained in the Coppa Italia match against Bari.
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Having come on in the 69th minute for Santiago Gimenez, Leao, clearly was lacking fitness after his long absence and he struggled to lead the attack while the Rossoneri were a man down, especially as a pure centre-forward with little support.
His future under Allegri remains as a striker, even if his return to the starting lineup in Sunday evening’s match at the Allianz Stadium in Turin against Juventus is not certain.
A question of balance
Balance is the key concept behind Allegri and his men’s recent excellent results: they’ve conceded just one goal in their last four games, a penalty from Kevin de Bruyne, and their defence appears to have been honed with years of work.
Fikayo Tomori reiterated this loudly after the victory against Napoli: “We defenders are no longer asked to roam the pitch, leaving gaps that are difficult to fill.” This change in strategy inevitably also affects the attack, because defending starts from the front.
Allegri has now established a well-blended 3-5-2, in which Youssouf Fofana and Adrien Rabiot do the running, Luka Modric conducts the orchestra and Christian Pulisic is free to roam, thanks also to the dirty work of Santi Gimenez.
Leao will be called up to the Portugal squad for the next international break, and will have time to regain his fitness after the Juve game. When back to 100% his starting spot isn’t in doubt, but he’ll certainly have to put in a lot of work to keep it.
The coach reiterated this on the eve of the game: “There are four up front: Gimenez, Pulisic, Leao, and Nkunku. Whoever deserves to, will play.” So, there’s no one untouchable, not even the No.10, who Allegri plans to use alongside Pulisic.
Leao, who scored 10 goals and provided right assists last season, will never be a problem for Milan. His impact has often been evident even when he came off the bench, and he must be careful to regain his fitness after a serious injury.
Therefore, his contribution against the Bianconeri could come as a substitute again, both to test his playing time and because the team that won against Napoli provided plenty of guarantees, allowing him to leverage his speed and technical ability to create opportunities when spaces open up.
This will be interesting to see how Max can mix it up making us unpredictable going forward into the season. I can smell a second star, it’s obvious that we have a fighting chance this year.
As always,
Forza Milan and FU Gerry!
I have a feeling he will put Puli and Leao and rotate with Nkunku and Santi. If we are losing the game, he might take fofana out and go with Leao – Nkunku- Puli.
Most fans would love to see that every game but it is understandable how risky and unbalanced that is. Plus, playing that front 3 will have midfield headaches. I mean, Jashari, Luka, Adrien, Fofana and RLC for only 2 spots.
Regardless of formation, right now it seems some are guaaranteed if healthy
Mike, Gabbia, Saladman, Luka, Adrien, Puli, Leao.
Perhaps a back 4 will open up a spot for a midfielder? Allegri has some thinking to do.
Show the man some respect, he has def earned it, it’s Saele for short, never saladman or heavens forbid, saladmaker
Gimenez maybe dont score but he runs, press and do dirty works, something that Leao doesnt do
I think people underestimate the importance of the frontline players slowly down the first pass. Gimenez has worked hard to contribute to this.
…. slowing down
Leao is very lazy, i hope Allegri beats him to become a hard worker
Let’s Leao sits on the bench the team is doing wonders without him, Leao has the skills but not a worrior and doesn’t help the team.