Rafael Leao continues to play through the pain barrier in the hopes of helping AC Milan’s cause, but he is having to play with the handbrake on.
As MilanNews write, Leao’s season is a story of ‘brilliance and resilience’. The forward has been productive despite numerous physical issues since August, which have limited his consistency and the levels he is able to perform at. Yet, even in less than optimal conditions, his impact remains evident.
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Still hurt, still decisive
Nine goals in 20 appearances this season, spread across just 1,281 minutes overall, is anything but a modest haul. It means making an impact frequently despite not being at peak condition for large stretches, like on Wednesday night when his goal earned a draw versus Como.
It also means Milan have been able to count on their most decisive player at 50%, perhaps even less, without ever truly having him at his best for a prolonged period. This fact demonstrates how Leao’s talent can still shift the balance of power, even when his athletic brilliance isn’t at its best.
Given this, it’s natural to wonder whether a longer lay-off, perhaps a full month, could have guaranteed Leao’s return to at least 80% fitness, thus ensuring greater consistency in the season’s crucial moments.
Management of discomfort is always the result of medical and technical evaluations, but the numbers suggest that a fitter% Leao could have made an even greater difference, earning his team even more points. If these are the results at half-power, what could he have done at top speed?
Wow injured/unfit and still producing. Both him and Pulisic. I long to see both of them play together again.
I hope we don’t catch a feeling of what if at the end of May if we lose out on a trophy by only a few points.
If Pulisic and Leao can recover and actually have pretty non injury prone season and play together and find a good partnership Milan definitely can go far in all competitions
I just don’t believe he’s still injured. And even if he can’t sprint at 100%, his ball handling, passing and progressive movement have been really, really poor the las months. Of course the goals and assists keep coming, but the numerous turnovers and progressions he f’s up are also potential goals.
If you don’t believe he’s injured, you haven’t paid attention to his Milan career. There’s no data to suggest he has ‘numerous’ turnovers that could lead to goals.
What assists keep coming?
Haha you must have never seen when fit. In fact you seem to be one of only a handful of goofs who just can’t give Leao any credit. You anti fans are literally the worst
right on point, most of them can’t just stomach it
Good production, but how much does he hurt the team’s ability to play for the other 88 minutes? We’ll never know.
And yes, I believe he is injured.
Thanks for believing in his injury, but it’s not even a question of belief, given that the head coach who is obviously a truthful gentleman, has confirmed it himself multiple times in multiple press conferences. Because the roster is so short, and because other forwards are also injured, and because of the wicked fight for the top 4 spots, the coach has never been able to properly rest Leao so that he would fully recover.
This season could have been very different if both Rafa and Puli were at 100% in all games. We’d probably be in first place.
As for how better we’d be doing without him, no, not that well, because there are no alternatives. Gimenez had surgery. Puli has been injury-prone too. Nkunku rarely plays well. Fullkrug has a broken toe, is irregular, and doesn’t have too many minutes in his legs. So, who would magically step up and produce 1 goal contribution every 100 minutes and change, if Rafa weren’t playing??? That is just wishful thinking because we don’t have a healthy alternative (and that’s precisely why Rafa keeps playing, without being able to enjoy a long rest for proper healing).
See if you convince Lautaro Martinez or Nico Paz to dump their teams and join Milan; then you’d have a point.
If you say that Nkunku rarely plays well than you gotta say the same about Leao.
It looks like you like numbers and excuses.
Lets use numbers and excuses for Nkunku too.
He has 6 goals and 2 assists. Thats 3 less goals participations than Leao in 1123 minutes. He dealt with injuries after coming on to a new country, new league, new team, new style of football.
He is playing out of position in a formation that he isn’t suited to play. Would you say that production is NOTHING SHORT OF EXTRAORDINARY just like Leao? Still, the haters keep bashing him. Aren’t you one of them haters? Or its okay to “hate” on every other player not named Leao?
Nkunku production comes from the PK line. He’s a drawn to fouls, was able to pounce on one rebound. I’m not here to bash Nkunku but to suggest he’s been as productive as Leao is so stupid.
Nkunku has scored 3 of his 6 goals from the penalty spot.
Leao has scored 3 of his 9 goals from the penalty spot.
We are still at the same numbers.
Leao has contributed only 3 more goals for Milan this season than Nkunku in more minutes. But, one of them production is nothing short of extraordinary while the other rarely plays well according to Luigi here. How does that work?
BTW to respond on another of your comments, Leao missed the start of the season, Guess where Milan was in the standings by the time he came back? Top of the table. This isn’t Pioli’s Milan anymore. Milan does just fine without Leao.
You gotta at least look at the stats before you embarrass yourself.
Nkunku – 946 minutes 19 matches played xg+xa-pk: .38 g-pk: 2
Leao – 1169 18 matches played xg+xa-pk: .62 g-pk: 6
So by expected goal contributions Leao is almost twice as effective. Buy raw open play goals Leao is 3 times more effective. Basically the same minutes, with Nkunku getting one more match. I don’t think you actually understand this game or how to evenly evaluate players. The fact you just assumed Leao played significantly more minutes is the perfect example of how out of touch with the club you actually are. With you, it’s kinda like arguing with a flat earther while on an airplane 😂. You can look out the window and see the earths curve but not of your eyes are closed
Yes, Nkunku has occasionally done well. The reality remains that he is not a consistent alternative to Leão. That’s what I was saying. 50% of Nkunku’s goals came from PKs while only 33% of Leão’s came from PKs. Nkunku is somewhat of an alternative when he does well, but actually he is overall a WORSE alternative, and that’s a fact that in your extreme hatred of Leão which is well-known to everybody here, you continue to insist on.
Thinking that an alternative is someone who scores 66% less when not from the spot (in which he is no better than Leão from the spot) is really pathetic.
So, when you think of substitutions to provide a better alternative, you think of someone who actually performs less well? Great, just great (insert rolling eyes here).
The problem here isn’t that people hate Leao but that you worship Leao.
You said NOTHING SHORT OF EXTRAORDINARY for a player who has scored 6 goals from open play and 2 assists. Outside of the goals Leao gives nothing else to the team.
You used a bunch of excuses that all apply to Nkunku and there is more excuses for Nkunku by this being his 1st season in serie A, missed the preseason, and was signed against the coaches wishes who publicly said he doesn’t have a clue how he would use him.
We don’t see you listing excuses for Nkunku like you do for Leao.
And again the difference between the 2 are 3 goal participations. You can do all your math gymnastics all you want. THE DIFFERENCE between Leao and Nkunku are 3 GOAL PARTICIPATIONS.
One of them according to you is nothing short of extraordinary while the other is bad alternative for Leao.
Speaking of pathetic.
3 GOAL PARTICIPATION is the DIFFERENCE.
We do know, we seen whole a$$ GAMES without Leao and the team DEFINITELY doesn’t look better.
All that useless numbers and yet the difference between the 2 are 3 goal contributions.
One of them has been nothing short of extraordinary while the other rarely plays good. 😂😂😂
I never assumed Leao played SIGNIFICANTLY more minutes, I said he has just 3 more goals in MORe minutes, which is a fact. You add SIGNIFICANTLY to push your weak ass narrative.
Luigi already posted Leao’s minutes, then I posted Nkunku’s. There is nothing to assume.
Let me quote you:
“With you, it’s kinda like arguing with a flat earther while on an airplane 😂. You can look out the window and see the earths curve but not of your eyes are closed”
And if you watch Milan with open eyes this season you’ll be able to see that they play better without Leao.
And the other issue is, Nkunku hasn’t been injured while Leão has.
I don’t know if you are a recent Milan fan or not (I’m a lifelong one). If you are a recent one, you may not have realized what Leão has consistently done in other seasons when not injured. In past seasons he was in the 28-30 goal contributions range. A fit Leão, fit to 100% of his power, would leave Nkunku even farther behind.
Nkunku hasn’t been injured?
Did you start watching today?
Stop embarrassing yourself.
Go check Nkunku stats when he was playing in the same league for a longer period of time like Leao has. Go check his numbers. Leao needs 3 seasons to have Nkunku numbers in 1 season at Leipzig.
But don’t move from the point. This is about this season.
MKD, Nkunku is mostly a has-been, unfortunately (and there is no hatred in this statement; it’s just facts). He was spectacular with Leipzig (I’m well aware of it, no need to go check it) but that’s been a while ago. He has had a steep decline after some serious injuries and was a flop in the EPL. Yes, he did join us out of shape, but after the first few games and after being more game fit, he hasn’t been seriously injured and limited by chronic pain like Leão has. I appreciate Nkunku’s 6 goals and he is a very good PK taker. I actually profoundly defended him when he scored from the mark his first PK for us, that appeared as not well-taken, when people here criticized that; I said, sure, the goalie got to the ball, but still, it was a powerful shot that went in under the goalie’s body despite the goalie touching the ball, and was still a score, so there’s merit there; also, he earns some of those PKs himself, and the other two he took were things of beauty. I’ve rated him highly in games in which he made a good contribution. I don’t hate Nkunku. Still, I do think that his SPECTACULAR form in the Bundesliga is a thing of the past and will never repeat, unfortunately. Some players decline sharply after serious injuries, even the greatest ones like Brazil’s Ronaldo, the “phenomenon” who almost single-handedly won a World Cup for Brazil; his prestigious and exceptional career was then decimated by injury.
What I’m just saying, is that regardless of the reason, Nkunku has been LESS productive for AC Milan than Rafael Leão despite the latter being MORE injured. So, to pretend that a valid alternative is someone who has been LESS good and 66% less productive not from the spot (and just as productive from the spot) is what I called pathetic.
What is pathetic is to hate a player so much, that you propose as an alternative another player whose numbers are CLEARLY less good!!! To say someone is a valid alternative, that someone needs to be at least as good, if not better.
So, I appreciate Nkunku and have even granted him the MOTM distinction in a couple of my post-game ratings… just, I don’t think he is a valid alternative to Leão, and especially, clearly not an alternative to a fit Leão, who unfortunately we haven’t seen this season since the very start of the Bari game, before his first seasonal injury.
My “weak” narrative happens to coincide with our professional and experienced head coach’s who has won so many Scudetti, and who clearly knows of Rafa’s importance to AC Milan. It also matches what the club has done, imposing a HUGE release clause on Leão’s contract, the highest of the entire roster (maybe the highest in all of Italy?), because the club DOESN’T want to lose him. So, we the weak people who according to you have only recently started watching football (reality check: I’ve watched if for several decades, likely more than your years of life; Allegri is no spring chicken) have the same opinion of our professional head coach and our club… but I’m the one who is the flat earther, right? I’m in the good company of other flat earthers like Allegri and the managers who set his release clause… (insert rolling eyes here).
Look, if I need to side with these other flat earthers rather than with a hateful and clueless Internet dude who has demonstrated a profound lack of knowledge of this club’s history, then, yes, sign me up to side with Allegri and the other flat earthers. Much better than siding with you.
There is no point arguing with MKD a known Leao hater, He doesn’t understand the game and what statistics is all about. He thinks the difference between Leao and Nkunku is goal difference of 3, but in reality Leao is 3times more productive and decisive than Nkunku the numbers don’t lie, while i believe in giving players time to adapt, comparing Leao to Nkunku is like comparing night and day. Call Leao Mr. Decisive
Not to forget two assists, so 11 goal participations in 1.281 minutes (not bad!) while obviously injured and in chronic pain, and obviously unable to exercise his hallmark characteristic which is bursts of speed (these physical ailments are not fictional as Allegri himself has confirmed them many times) and while playing out of position and in unfavorable formation (he’s best when playing as a left winger in a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3, with a true striker anchoring the offense in the center, rather than playing more centrally in a 3-5-2) is nothing short of extraordinary. Still, the haters keep bashing him.
Despite all the non-ideal conditions for him this season, without his goal participations we’d be in 10th place.
The same applies to Pulisic. They are both saving Milan this season despite injuries, few minutes, and a formation that doesn’t fit them.
It is absolutely uncanny how part of the “fan” base loves to criticize them, instead of being grateful to them for their persistence in helping the team despite injuries. The haters say that Leao is lazy and Pulisic is lucky, and anyone who actually sees the big picture and appreciates them is dismissively labeled a “fanboy.”
With “fans” like these, Milan doesn’t need enemies.
Absolutely spot on
Thanks, Nelli. You get it. Unfortunately here at SempreMilan, the fans who get it are in the minority.
It’s interesting to notice that in Italian-language forum sites, which gather a majority of lifelong fans who truly understand the history of our club, the vitriol against Rafa is much less pronounced and immediately derided when it rarely surfaces. We don’t much hear the “lazy” stereotypes in forums that gather a strong majority of Italian fans.
I suspect that a lot of the “fans” here who bash Leão are recent additions to our fan base and likely are not Italian, therefore are less equipped to understand even the recent history, much less the 127 years of our club’s history.
That doesn’t mean I dislike the expansion of our fan base internationally, especially in the United States after the club was purchased by an American, and after the club hired the USA’s most prestigious footballer, Christian Pulisic, whom by the way I love. I think the more fans, the better; more revenue for the club in merchandise and international TV rights, which is good for our bottom line, therefore good for signing good players.
Just, many of these new fans are still quite clueless… Maybe one day they will get it.
As for the hatred against Pulisic (called just lucky for being in the right place at the right time to score, without understanding that this is out of high football intelligence, not luck), maybe it does come mostly from Italian fans who dislike the owner (who yes, has made a number of questionable decisions) and then, that spills over poor Pulisic.
Me, I appreciate good players regardless of their nationality or skin color. I understand the importance of Rafael Leão to AC Milan, and despite being Italian, I also appreciate all the good foreigners who play for us, like Rafa, Puli, Modric, Rabiot, and Maignan.
Still, this is all so funny… if I say something good about Bartesaghi, Ricci, or Gabbia, I’m immediately accused by some here of only saying those good things because they are Italian. But then if I say something good about Leão who is not Italian, the criticism shifts to calling me a Leão “fanboy.”
The bottom line is, people here should be more objective and should look at a players current AND historical contributions to the club, regardless of skin color or nationality. There is so much bashing of players here because of off-pitch issues, it’s uncanny. Some are bashed for being black… others for being foreigners… others for being Italian…
Me, I try to pay attention to what they do as footballers, period. Nationality is for national teams. We’re a club. And racism is for Lazio’s fan base. Not ours.
I guess you have the definition of being a fan as being a fanatic. When a player really only plays for a few minutes a game I guess we should not question how that impacts the team. I believe even forwards can have good games without scoring and players can have cRap games having scored. Football is a 90 min game. My point about Leao and his injury is I don’t get on him about how fast he runs now or for how long. But I think it is legitimate to wonder how that effects the team and how they play.
There’s two types of fan, the supporter: these fans back their club, their players and generally take a more optimistic approach to developments with the club. They still disagree with management or coaching decisions and definitely aren’t afraid to criticize actions they think are detrimental but they will also acknowledge the things they like and the hope they have. The there’s the anti fan: these are people who struggle to cope with disappointment, they have their personal self worth tied to actions and decisions made by people they never met. Because their self worth is tied to things they have no control over they live in fear, every roll of the dice has them holding their breath afraid that if their club loses they will be viewed as a loser.
Jim, Luigi like most football fans understand what Leao is, a very very good player, not ballon d’or but still very very talented and a huge asset for any team. I know Leao would be a starter and an upgrade on all but a handful of clubs. I’m not sure why you are suggesting Milan would be better off with out him. It’s a truly silly suggestion. And they to say Luigi is fanatical for just stating an obvious fact has you kinda off the plot…
I am questioning when someone plays at 50 percent capacity and as noted in articles does not perform many of the activities that a player in that position should be doing- ie. runs, taking on players, etc. We’ve already accepted he’s not going to play defense.
What? You’re asking why an injured player can’t play at 100%? You expect a number 9 to play defense? What are you talking about? You’re not even making sense at this point
“Rafa sucks because he’s not tracking back into Milan’s penalty area to win the ball back so he can then single handedly beat all 10 opposing outfield players to score a goal”
Do you ppl even hear yourself!
“You expect a number 9 to play defense? ”
In more than 90% of the clubs they do. It’s a team sport with 11 players on the pitch all working for the team. In theory. Then there are CR7s and couple of other exceptions to the rule.
I would disagree. The team looked it’s best this season while Leao was out at the beginning. Gimenez and Pulisic combination was the best this team has looked attacking wise. Just see the Udinese and Napoli matches. No Leao – no problem.
Scoring 1 goal does not make up for 89 minutes of negative impact on the match. Overall it’s a net negative.
Terrible take only person on this planet to suggest the team looked best the three games Gimenez played 😂😂😂 you gotta stop
You might want to actually watch the matches. It’s undeniable if you know what you are looking at. There’s not a single match this season where milan looked better than they did in the Udinese game. The offense flowed, more people involved, more chances created. Pulisic had a bunch of chances, Gimenez had a number of good chances even if he missed his.
As opposed to when Leao plays, where everyone just stands around, no movement, just keep kicking long balls over the top hoping Leao can get to one. That’s no kind of strategy.
No INJURED Leão, no problem. However in seasons when Leão was mostly healthy, he had 28-30 goal contributions. He was matching Lautaro Martinez’s numbers. You people seem to have either very short memories, or you are very recent fans who haven’t really realized what Leão has done for this club since he joined.
In the relatively recent Scudetto-winning season, Leão was the most productive league-wise player, and was unanimously voted by the official league as the season’s MVP, among all 600+ professional Serie A footballers. Remember, we won that Scudetto by ONE point. We would NEVER have won it without Rafael Leão. He almost single-handedly won that Scudetto for us. I’m grateful for it.
Did you know that since 1899, that is, in the freaking 127 years of the ENTIRE prestigious history of this great club, only FOUR players in our history have contributed simultaneously with more than 50 goals and more than 20 assists?
You know who these players are/were? Kaká, Seedorf, Rivera; and…. drum roll… Rafael Leão. He’s in great company, huh?
That’s the ineffective and lazy player you guys love to bash.
This is not being a fanatic. This is KNOWING the club’s history and understanding how Leão has helped us since he joined.
Unfortunately there are people here who don’t understand the big picture, don’t understand or remember the club’s history, and just assume the stereotypes uttered by racist “fans” or ignorant “fans” or misguided “fans.” (I’m not saying that everybody who expresses this uncanny hatred for one of the most effective players we’ve ever had, are racist; but some are. Others are probably just ignorant, or just can’t understand the game and the characteristics of this player and then they accept what the racist ones say – by the way, when I question if this “lazy” stereotype is racist, I’m not by reflex defending my own race: I’m a white male).
No, Leão is not perfect. He is notoriously bad at tracking back and defending. He is a bit of a one-trick pony because he can’t play very well when out of his preferred left wing position. He has this characteristic of bursting ahead in speed when he receives the ball and has space to roam from the left, and rarely goes get the ball himself; after his burst of speed he mostly rests for the next one and becomes more static – not unlike what LIonel Messi does (thus the people who misunderstand it as laziness). Also, he is a mixed bag in finishing – sometimes brilliantly, sometimes producing wild misses. Still, with all the booboos, he is still highly effective when you look at a whole season, ESPECIALLY when not injured.
So, you might say, OK, he’s imperfect even according to you, someone who praises him, so now what?
Here is what you and others don’t understand: because he is imperfect, he plays for us. We are not a high-revenue club. We are not Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, PSG, Real Madrid, or Bayern Munich. If Leão were perfect without the shortcomings I’ve just listed, he WOULDN’T be playing for AC Milan; he’d be playing for one of the high-revenue European powerhouses. No, he’s not Mbappé. No, he’s not Vini Jr. He’s just Leão. But that’s why Mbappé and Vini Jr. don’t play for us, while Rafa does.
We can afford Leão precisely because he is imperfect. Still, with all the imperfections, he has helped us quite a lot in his tenure with us, and I’m grateful for it.
Sure, there are real fans who are not racist, misguided, or ignorant, and question Leão for his imperfections – maybe you’re one of those, and that’s fine; good for you if that’s what drives your criticism. But see, we CAN criticize Rafa, but what we CAN’T do is erase his great contributions to this club, ever since he joined. Those are FACTS that can’t be denied. Those 28-30 seasonal goal contributions did happen, and are demonstrable facts. Simply erasing those in the context of a season in which Rafa has had few minutes and has rarely played while 100% healthy (maybe the ONLY time when he was at 100% was in the first 15 minutes of the Bari game when he was devastating to their defense and rapidly scored a great goal – and then had to leave with the first of his 3 successive injuries he had this season), that’s what is not acceptable.
Yes, we should criticize his failures, and I’ve rated him several times with low numbers such a 5 or even 4 when he did poorly, but what we can’t do, is simply stereotype him as lazy and deny his numerous fabulous contributions to AC Milan.
History is not a guarantee of future perform. I am looking at the team as it is currently playing. As Lautaro is injured this would seem to at least open the door to catch Inter. It also looks like he’ll be out for the Derby. Does ACM just play it safe?
It’s a bit unsportsmanlike to root for an injury for a professional footballer even when he plays for our main rivals… so I hesitate in being very excited about Lautaro being injured. We’ve beaten them consistently in the last few derbies even with Lautaro playing. But yes, just like it’s been bad for us that Rafa and Puli have been mostly injured or out of 100% fitness for the entire current season, and we might even be first in Serie A had they been healthy, it will be more difficult for Inter to beat us if Lautaro doesn’t play the upcoming Derby.
Catching Inter, though, will be difficult. There aren’t many games left, and Inter have a DEEP roster; they can do well even when a star player is injured. I was hopeful that their UCL commitment would make them drop points in Serie A… but they continue to consistently win, even when fielding second stringers in order to rest their starters to play in the UCL.
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History is not a guarantee of future performance, but gratitude for a player’s accomplishments in GREATLY helping the team, is still a good attitude to have, instead of badmouthing this player as lazy and ineffective when he is visibly having a hard time with injuries and chronic pain, this season.
What concerns me a LOT more than the current season, is if Rafa will ever fully recover. Football is full of cases of great players who declined sharply after a series of injuries. We currently have in our roster such a case, in Nkunku who is a shadow of his Leipzig self.
Accumulation of muscle injuries and skeletal inflammation can derail a players’ speed and proprioception. Sometimes even after the injury is gone, the player is never the same. I look at Rafa this season with very concerned eyes, because I know very well that we can’t afford to replace him with a player of similar quality. Most likely if Rafa never recovers fully and becomes ineffective (it is still remarkable that so far, despite an injury-plagued and chronic pain-plagued season with few minutes, he has still made 11 goal contributions), he’ll end up sold and our cheap managers will hire some Joe Nobody to replace him.
That’s when maybe people will finally understand how important to AC Milan Rafa was.
Luigi, how am I rooting for a player to be injured? It’s just a fact that he is injured. If a team is weaken by an injury that’s sport.
I was talking about me, not about you, explaining why I don’t get very excited because Lautaro is injured. I didn’t say you were rooting for it. I simply said that I don’t root for it. Then I said the same thing you are saying (with more words because I’m verbose) that yes, Lautaro’s injury weakens Inter, of course. It’s just that they do seem to have a deeper roster; for them it is less of a disaster when they miss even a star player; for us, things have been more difficult because two of our good ones, Puli and Rafa, have been repeatedly far from 100%, physically. Did you see how we were unable to beat Como without Rabiot? When we miss a star player, it hurts us more. When Inter miss Lautaro, they still have Thuram and Esposito.
Thanks for clearing that up Luigi. I never want to see a player injured and actually prefer teams to be at 100% as I like good football.
Right; it’s more fun to beat Inter if they are complete so that they don’t have any excuse. I also prefer to see a great game with both teams having their best players in-form; that’s what makes the Derby della Madonnina one of the best derbies in the world. But hey, I hope that we win! If Lautaro is not there, it does slightly increase our chances; although I’ve been worried at seeing Esposito’s growth; initially the kid appeared green and imprecise but lately he’s been impressive. That’s good for the Azzurri; we’ll need him for the decisive World Cup Qualifiers in March; but it’s bad for Milan…
I’ll be there at San Siro; I’ve already purchased one of the hospitality VIP tickets because when it’s the Derby, I like to splurge! Forza Milan!
They have esposito, Bonny, and Thuram, I am sure they will raise their games, the first 2 are really young and ready to prove a point, might not be as prolific as Lautaro but they are equally devastating
Keep going back to the Scudetto season that was 4 years ago now. That’s a lifetime in sports. Leao relies totally on his speed and atleticism and he’s approaching the age now where that’s starting to decline. It’s not just that, but this Allegri system doesn’t play to his strengths either.
You can make all the excuses you want, but there is no excuse for lack of effort. I don’t know whether it’s laziness, I think he just doesn’t care that much. He doesn’t take it seriously enough. No matter how big the game he plays as if it’s a casual Sunday game in the park. Some players have that drive to be the best, to prove themselves, to suffer and give everything in order to win. I see it in Rabiot, in Modric, in Pulisiic. And others just don’t have that. I don’t think Leao has that. He’s never shown it.
By that parameter, Lionel Messi didn’t have that drive either, because just like Leao he’d disappear for long stretches and would be static like a traffic cone… just to, in other moments, spring to action and decide the game. It’s player characteristics. Players are different in WHAT they contribute with and in HOW they contribute.
Look at Musah. Great work ethics. Tries super hard. Runs all over the place. Has that drive you mention. But he is 1% as efficient as Leao. Basically Musah runs around all the time but is a headless chicken. Leao, static as he is, is 100 times more efficient than Musah. That’s why we sold Musah but didn’t sell Leao. That’s why Leao’s contract has a high release clause, and Musah’s didn’t. So that drive, that effort, is just ONE side of it; it’s not all.
Sure, when players have that drive AND the skills, they are world class. Rabiot and Modric are world class, no doubt. Even Pulisic is world class; that’s something I firmly believe in, although many here dispute it (mostly, I think, out of anti-American sentiment). Leao however is not world class. But he is still a very good player who has been immensely helpful for us.
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Haha. It’s too funny that talking of Leao’s superb Scudetto season 4 years ago is not fair game, while talking about Nkunku’s season with Leipzig also several years ago, is perfectly fine, huh? Unbelievable. And that benefited a different club but it’s OK to mention, while when similarly Leao benefited AC Milan, that’s not OK to mention. See how partial people are when they hate a player?
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As for the risk that Leao will never be the same again as his athleticism declines and the effect of repeated injuries takes a toll, yes, that’s a real concern and I’ve already expressed it in a reply to Jim right above this post of yours. But that’s really different from being lazy or having no drive. Declining with age and injuries is not Rafa’s fault. Nobody plays well forever, or at least, those who do for decades are the absolute exception like Modric. Almost all others have a few years when they shine, and that’s it; they may remain good for a few more years, but not brilliant, given that modern football relies a lot on youthful athleticism. That’s what it is and that’s nobody’s fault, and players shouldn’t be hated because they naturally decline. This is precisely why some players rush to a Mickey Mouse league like the Saudi Arabia one, to cash in while they can, because careers in modern football are short.
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It’s not a question of “excuses.” I have acknowledged these issues that you quoted, and many other shortcomings of Leao that you didn’t quote (I listed many in another post further up in this thread). It’s not an issue of excusing him; it’s more an issue of understanding his context. It’s just that I approach him with a more global understanding of his assets and shortcomings, his history of contributions, and the reality of both his victories and his struggles, without stereotyping him in hateful ways.
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I’m sick and tired of these “fans”, more akin to trolls, who keep foaming from their mouths and screaming “lazy, sell sell sell!” Frankly those who act like this are just hateful and unintelligent.
Here is a fact: if Rafa goes and scores a hat trick against Inter and then we beat them 3-2, that is, we only beat them because of him, it’s still GUARANTEED that these hateful trolls will still scream that he was just lucky despite being so lazy and the goals were easy ones that a grandmother could have scored. No matter what Leao does, they will never acknowledge any qualities. It’s like talking with conspiracy theorists: reality won’t sway them.
So, the conclusion is that the hatred doesn’t come from his actions or lack thereof as a footballer. The hatred comes from other factors, like his skin color, his high salary (people are envious), his love for fashion and rap music, etc. They just can’t stand him regardless of how well he may do on the pitch.
These are not real AC Milan fans. They are just anti-Leao trolls, and they are despicable. It’s as simple as that.
I don”t know what you are bringing up Nkunku for, I never mentioned him and never would, but in sports, especially football, bringing up what someone did 4 years ago is irrelevant.
Also using the Messi comparison to justify lack of effort on Leao’s part is not a good one. Messi gets away with it because he is Messi. If he wasn’t an all-time great he would not. Leao is nowhere close to that level of production or skill, so he doesn’t get a pass.
Bringing the race card into it is completely unfair and just untrue. I said the same thing about Theo.
Nobody is calling Fofana lazy. Or Tomori. Nobody called Kessie Lazy. It’s simply about the way he plays and the effort he gives. Nothing more.
You critiicize Fofana quite harshly, more than he deserves. Is that about skin color?
My apologies; looking back, the user MKD is the one who mentioned Nkunku’s Leipzig season; with the similar screen names, I mixed you up with him. What I meant was that Nkunku’s excellent Leipzig season was also several years ago and that user was perfectly comfortable with quoting it, while dismissing Leão’s past accomplishments. I thought you were him. I realize now that you are a different poster, so, sorry for that.
While 4 years ago for the Scudetto season is indeed a lifetime in sports, that doesn’t mean I can’t be grateful to a player who helped us get an important title, even if his form now is not as good as his form in that season (but again, largely out of injury).
My comparison with Messi: while I didn’t mention the following aspect in this post when replied to you, I did mention it in another post about the same issue: I clarified that I never pretended that Leão is as good as Messi. I was simply saying that even some great players (yes, the example is of one who is way better than Rafa) can be static for 89 minutes and decide a game in 1 minute. This was to counter the argument that Rafa hurts the team in the other 89 minutes. Funny how nobody ever said that Messi hurts the team in the other 89 minutes. Sure, that’s because he is Messi, but it’s still a double standard. I meant that for me, forwards or attacking midfielders shouldn’t be blamed if they score but are otherwise not that helpful, because goals are what wins or draws games. I couldn’t care less if Rafa is static but scores the ONE goal that earns us a point or three points, like he’s done multiple times. If he does that, he fulfilled his task, even if he didn’t play well for the remainder of the game. It’s a simple point. Futile passes, work ethics, running around do not win or draw games. Goals do. So it irritates me when people still bash Rafa in games in which he scored our only goal which nobody else did, or scores the tying goal preventing a loss, or the winning goal earning all 3 points for us. People still criticize him when he does that, which in my opinion is excessive.
Bringing the race card: sorry, I don’t know if you’re Italian or not, but in Italy unfortunately racism is big in sports. I’ve read people here, yes, here at SempreMilan, say that Kean is not Italian because he is black. Lazio fans draw swastikas with stand choreography. Certain comments here saying that Rafa must be irresponsible with his training (with not an ounce of evidence) because he likes rap music, do sound racist to me and are never said of other young white players who also like rap music. I also said in another post that I’m not implying that all or even most posters who hate Rafa are racist, but some are. As for our other black players, racists sometimes target specific individuals and not others. Look at Real Madrid and Vini Jr. Vini is routinely targeted by racists and called a monkey, including in their latest UCL game, while other Real black players are left alone. So saying that Fofana, Tomori, etc. are not target by racists doesn’t mean that Rafa is not. Sure, nobody called Kessie lazy, but that is probably because if they could, they would, but it would sound ridiculous to call lazy a guy who was so dynamic and ran so much. Rafa is an easier target for this due to his characteristics of bursts of speed then periods of rest. It’s funny how when he is bursting ahead and running like crazy passing the defenders, nobody focus on that, but when he stops and rests (to be ready for the next burst) people call him lazy. It’s very stereotypical: the black guy is lazy. I don’t like it, and I think SOME of the people who say so, say it because he is black. I don’t recall people ever calling the white players, lazy. You may dislike my use of the race card, but I reserve to myself the right to dislike the use of racial stereotypes against a black player. I’ll respect your take on this, but please also respect mine.
Nice talking to you; you are a good poster.
Not going to get involved here but comparing Leao who perhaps isn’t even in the top 50 players of today to the best player who has ever played this game is “bit of a stretch”.
Yes 100% let him rest, even if it means dropping points. I’d rather have no Champions League and the real Rafa back next season than the reverse. Champions League would only be humiliating anyway with the brand of football we play.
Clarification AGAIN: when I talked about Messi I was in no way, shape, or form, pretending that Leão is as good as him. I said that, numerous time. So, no “bit of a stretch.” I was simply making the point that EVEN Messi disappears from games for 89 minutes, then scores. So, we shouldn’t be bashing Rafa for doing the same. That is NOT the same as saying that Rafa is as good as Messi. Of course he isn’t. I never said he is. Much the opposite, I said he isn’t.
It seems like reading comprehension is a problem, here.