The victories against Udinese and Club Brugge were welcomed by fans and the media, but they also coincided with more Rafael Leao controversy.
As our colleagues at SempreMilan.it write, it seems that Paulo Fonseca has come along as head coach and has decided to issue a challenge to Leao rather than blessing him with the same ‘untouchable’ tag that his predecessor did.
The proof of this is in the last two games. Against Udinese, Leao sat on the bench for the entire match, something he hadn’t done for three years, and Milan’s defensive performance was solid. The Rossoneri played for over an hour a man down, but managed to come away with a clean sheet.
Is it all due to the exclusion of Leao? No, football is not algebraic in that way and the red card perhaps altered the plans to bring him on, but a risky choice like Fonseca’s had positive effects that were repeated in the next game against Brugge.
The Leao paradox
It could well be that we are seeing that Milan play better as a team without Leao, because as strong as he is, the Portuguese is tactically limited. In fact, the No.10 has shown several times that he is unable to express himself in areas of the pitch other than the left side and if he is not put in the conditions to run at speed, he is a player who can be kept out of games.
This makes it undeniable easy for opposing defences to handle him for most of the game through systematic double-teaming or the presence of a fixed marker who often forces the former Lille man to play with his back to the goal.
What we saw last season is that Milan’s threat was more spread, with Christian Pulisic having a career-best season on the other flank by exploiting the spaces that were perhaps opened up by the extra attention on Leao, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek even scored double figures.
On the other hand, Leao’s presence determines a limit especially in the non-possession phase. His trudging after a lost ball is now iconic, an attitude that any coach would not encourage and would like to replace with immediate pressure towards the ball.
Meanwhile, Noah Okafor already enjoys less attention from opposition defences and also allows Milan a more varied range of choices in the possession phase. The Swiss is tactically flexible, has great technique, smart movement and he works hard off the ball.
The Pioli mistake
For this reason, Leao in his current form represents more of a limitation than a resource in the way that Fonseca wants to play. Replacing him is a solution that Pioli would have also wanted to undertake, especially in his last season, but that he never had the courage to explore fully.
On the contrary, Fonseca immediately put his stamp on things, showing that he doesn’t care about the name on the back of the shirt when deciding the starting line-up, something that he admitted in an expletive press conference before the Udinese game.
These words will not have been digested with total calm by Leao and Theo Hernandez – who know that it was at least partly aimed at them, after incidents like the cooling break saga – but they found the complete support of the rest of the dressing room.
There was something striking after Tijjani Reijnders’ goal on Tuesday night to make it 2-1. Fikayo Tomori ran to hug the clearly unhappy Leao, who was annoyed by the fact he had been brought off, and it brought back a smile to Rafa’s face, making him understand that everyone’s eyes are not on him but on his beloved Milan. If the team wins, the general level of negativity and scrutiny drops.
It is always worth remembering that Leao (as well as Theo) is a very intelligent man and feels very attached to Milan. He is an extraordinary player but still limited, and if one day he really wants to take flight will have to become complete.
While Fonseca and his team-mates continue to issue challenges, the one who needs to demand more from Leao is himself. While he has that conversation in the mirror, the coach and the team put the collective good first.
As much Leao doesn’t like what Fonseca is doing, he should consider himself lucky that Milan didn’t hire someone like Conte.
Conte would have either sold Leao as his first order of business or break him mentally where he quits football forever. Watch 1 Napoli game this season and you’ll see how demanding Conte is of his wingers.
De Zerbi, mentally, is literally Conte without the trophies and success.
Motta benched Vlahovic at halftime during a game.
Allegri, Sarri, Conceicao also no pushovers.
As Milan great Carlo Ancelotti famously said, “Sometimes Leao needs to be hit. If he was coached by me, I’d hit him every day.”
Leao needs to wake up and realize that his daddy Pioli isn’t around anymore to cuddle him.
i honestly disagree with this article. what milan need is a staff that trains this boys how to shoot properly. leao is not the only player suffering from this.
leao
okafor
chuku
jovic
Tammy
Rlc
Rei
they all shoot poorly this is 7 good attackers that can’t shoot properly. we are good offensively infact i would have used the word brilliant but it is so sad that they can’t shoot.
I believe you can work on a player’s attitude while practicing technique and technical skills…
Yep, he’s a weak minded individual.
I think the comment is a little harsh as I think Leao emotions get not picked a little however Leao can clearly be held to higher standards
I’ve been saying form over 2 years that his attitude stinks and his off the ball work is frankly pathetic. No hatred or animosity when I say this. It’s just the way it is.
He had years to improve himself and never did. Pioli pampered him.
I don’t like players you need to pamper. Unless they’re truly good and gamechangers. World class in other words. Leao isn’t. He’s an A rater at best.
Maybe he’ll get over himself and realise when the team plays good the individual can play good..but idk
if he score more goals n create more assist or chances that leads to goal we don’t care about his attitude. he his not rude like balotelli nor wayward like eric catona. he only need to learn how to shoot like those names and he his attitude won’t matter
You don’t, I do. His attitude is the reason he doesn’t score more goals and provide more assist. And subsequently (do you even know what that means?) why he hasn’t improved his shooting in over 3 years here…
Since when are you an attitude expert … 🙂
Always was. Me having an attitude basically makes me an expert since I deal with myself daily.
I wouldn’t call you being toxic an attitude. Being a whiny baby, that’s your attitude
Oh infinite stupidity. You figured out how to use electronic devices? How odd
Mama finally let you use the computer after you finished your homework? Took a while 2 since you’re infinite stupid etc
The problem is not only about scoring and assisting, how about the points we drop because of goals we concede as a result of his poor attitude.
First, let’s not be too quick to jump on the Fonseca’s wagon again. This season, with the exception of the derby, each time we were challenged by a decent team, we folded in half like a transportable chair. Aside Inter, all of our wins came against tomato cans who had no chance to begin with and last of which Brugge, actually managed to get the better of us and score the draw while a man down. We have Conte’s Napoli and Ancelotti’s Real Madrid coming up next month, let’s see how we handle those.
For Leao, my assessment is that during the last game he was more frustrated by himself than sulking, although not celebrating with the team came as childish. During the game he did try to make a difference, but the finishing touch was simply not there and when he was subbed while the game was drawn it probably came as him not doing enough. Okafor assisting almost immediatly was the icing on the cake.
Up until 2023 Leao was the difference between a draw and a win and was the star in what was a shallow attack. But now we have more depth and a coach who in some ways told him “you’re not good enough”. It’s probably frustrating for a player who was the undisputed best player of a team, the number 10 and a “leader” to be confronted with the fact that he is replaceable and that others can do better than he does.
The only way forward for Leao is to admit his limitations, admit that he needs to work more on some aspects of his game, which might require him to be the first to come to training and be the last one to leave and take a page from Pulisic’s book.
That guy is lazy and will not change. He’s not going to do any of those things you mentioned. Football is a stepping stone for his music career and fashion show. Unfortunately for him, he’s not good in music. You can’t demand to be the best player in the team and just stroll around the pitch when you loose the ball while others on 1mill per season is bleeding on the pitch. It’s not fair. We will start playing as a team when Leao leaves Milan. The lost annoying thing is that Leao himself thinks that he’s a superstar thanks to Pioli that pampered him. I’m really curious on how the management will handle his contract in the summer.
He would be in tears weekly if this was Capello, Conte or even run by coaches like Alex Ferguson. If he had to share a dressing room with guys like Gattuso they would rattle him. The team itself is filled with a bunch of rebels that need to be tamed. Pioli did a disservice by giving him and Theo so much free reign that they actually think they are bigger than the club. They need to be reminded that 1 Scudetto means very little in the grand scheme of things, this is no better than the Milan before Berlusconi arrived, except we don’t have a Baresi in the locker room.
Your post made me laugh.
I was just picturing Leao in the Manchester United dressing room at half time, Sir Alex having just given him the hairdryer treatment for not getting back to help on defense, and thinking of the look on the faces of Eric Cantona and Roy Keane as they decided how they were going to split the wishbone!
I get the point you’re making however I think you’re missing an important perspective. I was 18 when Milan fell from grace and entered the banter era. I remember the wins, the trophies, the prestige before but so far none were sweeter than the surprise Pioli gave us. Every trophy means everything and once a club becomes petulant (I.e. sees a scudetto as very little in the grand scheme) is when a club falls. I agree with the point one should never be satisfied but if 1 scudetto doesn’t matter that why does inter’s one scudetto more sting so much? Winning matters every game, every competition, every day. Thats the mentality Milan need
Leao’s MAIN issues are all in his head – he has , for so long, felt like he needs to bear the weight of success or failure on his shoulders – that may have been true 2 years ago but the team has a more balanced attack now (Pulisic,Chuk,Rejndeers). Leao needs to lift this weight off his shoulder and play like he was a kid again – Have fun! – and PLEASE back track – watch the video of the Brugge goal as it built up – Leao slow walking! yesd just walkign after the inevitable goal scrorer for Bruuge
Emerson Royal was the player to go celebrate with Leao after the first Reijnders goal. Regardless of what we make of his performances, he deserves credit for trying to include Rafa in the celebration, not Tomori
Gazzetta reported that leao left the stadium minutes after the game alone. Has he been hanging around ronaldo too much?
In all seriousness I’ve been saying it for at least the last two seasons that leao is one of our most frustrating players because you know he’s capable of some magic but he’s way too inconsistent. I had said last year that he will never reach the world class level and this year has just cemented it. Pace dribbling and strength he has but lacks in the rest. What he misses the most is that killer instinct that mbappe has. They have similar play styles but when you see mbappe play for 90 minutes he’s extremely focused and with leao he’s whining half the time. The way he has been this season has been even worse and if it stays like this then he should move on end of season. Not trying to be over dramatic here but he doesn’t look into it and I’ll praise fonseca for putting the team before a player and having the guts to sit him. He hasn’t been spectacular this year to justify his behaviour. He better grow up.
If you guys attack flyingturtle on a personal level you are no different from him. You call him toxic, I call you bullies. Period.
I think the big issue is his limitations tactically. When he is playing the team has to adjust to how he reads the game offensively, his limitations on defense requires the right side to compensate, and lastly the team doesn’t spread the opposing team to attack from both sides of the field. Leão rarely makes a run into the box when the ball is on the right side or runs when the ball is in the center runs to pull defenders out of position.
For everything that is happening,Leao is mostly at fault , he is lazy, arrogant, unserious , distracted, from his attitude during matches, how he behaves , when substituted, and his other distractions, he feels he is a star, which he is not, he keeps bad company, dress like a mad man, and most importantly he thinks he is a musician, before been a footballer.
Even from the way he plays right now you can see the attitude.
If it’s true he left the stadium immediately after the match, without celebrating with his team mates in the dressing room, then the club needs to give him a stern dressing down, he left the pitch immediately after the match, so he headed to the dressing room packed his things and left .
Sometimes when you watch the training sessions, you see the players wearing jewelry, even on the bench during matches, the club needs to stamp this out, Leao has adopted a hip hop behaviour that’s completely destructive to his behaviour, thank God now we have a Coach who will not hesitate to bench him.