AC Milan duo Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao have each been nominated for awards in Serie A’s end of season showcase, but their nominations have caused a stir.
Leao has been put forward after a campaign in which he has racked up eight goals and 10 assists in 33 league games, while his overall record improves to 14 goals and 14 assists in 46 matches when factoring in all competitions.
There is no doubting that he remains one of the best players in Serie A and among the most entertaining wingers in the world, but by contrast last season he scored 15 goals in the league.
Meanwhile, Pulisic – who arrived last summer from Chelsea – has had an excellent debut campaign with the red and black. He has 12 goals and eight assists in Serie A, with 15 goals and 10 assists overall in 49 games.
The purchase of Pulisic for €20m from the Blurs proved to be an excellent investment for Milan, who had long since needed an upgrade on the right wing. Junior Messias and Alexis Saelemaekers were in that role before and although they tried their best, the same level of quality was not there.
What has caused a stir regarding the nominations though is the categories. Leao has been put forward for best striker despite being a winger, and Pulisic is down for best midfielder despite being on the opposite flank to Leao.
There is always a bit of artistic license with these team of the year type awards, but it is fair to say there is a bit of confusion about the categorisation.
🏆 @pulisic has been nominated for best midfielder and @RafaeLeao7 best striker in the Serie A MVP awards for 2023-24 pic.twitter.com/gqz1vCkKcr
— SempreMilan (@SempreMilanCom) May 21, 2024
Martinez will get it no doubt about that.. for midfield tho puli might have a proper chance tho he isn’t a mid in anyway. If puli is a mid so is rafa 😀
We are all fans of Leao, but he didn’t even score for 5 months at one stage, it’s ridiculous to have him included as the best striker candidate.
im not a fan of leao
Same, he drove me nuts this season.
Extremely athletically gifted but doesn’t use his brain.
you are not a fan, obviously
Why? It’s okay to critique someone even if you are a fan. A fan that is always commend his favorite even when he is doing poorly is just bad.
Well putting out articles saying Puli is a midfielder, comparing RLC to Kaka and so on kinda gives an indication of the kind of things journalists can get away with these days. Its helps to build the herd mentality that’s going around so we shouldn’t be surprised by these categorizations. After all, CDK as a centre back this year put up quite some good numbers, right? /s 😅
is dybala a striker too?
Lea is a poor soccer player. I don’t care how athletically gifted he his. One way player for the most part and I’ve seen enough.
Individuals who watch football matches with their eyes closed🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Pulisic is registered as a midfielder for those who are confused. And basically Leao is registered as a forward and has been nominated in the category of best striker. This shouldn’t be a big deal he was one of the best in the forward position last season.
Ah I see. That makes sense. But what doesnt are the comparisons with former players eg. There was an article saying he’s the first since Kaka to score more than 10…but what about Nocerino. Secondly does he really play Kaka role. Or are we just strictly going by positions. In that case then we shouldn’t be comparing his outout with that of Saele and Messias, right? The comparisons come in due to convenience moreso than anything and to hype up the new players (not saying Puli is bad tho)
Giroud is the best offensive goalkeeper in Serie A
Maybe they put Leao as a striker as he defends only 1 minute per match (max) and Pulisic does work both ways for full 90mins? 🙂