Official: Rafael Leão Thread

nanook · Jan 10, 2021

replay - https://i.imgur.com/Te8zocv.gifv

tonyb · Jan 11, 2021

Very happy with his development lately.
I was a little surprised by the love he was getting a few months ago. As at that point, all I saw was a very talented player that is far from performing as well as he should be, given that talent.

However, I've seen a slow change which I'm excited about. In the past he had a tendency to be slightly lazy. It was as if he lacked hunger. He should be driven by goals/assists, not a fancy dribble. The fact he is literally always smiling is infectious though! Hopefully his focus continues to grow. He needs to constantly be thinking where should I position myself, where should I run. I heard Pioli screaming a well done to him for a particular move last night that didn't materialize. Pioli is doing a great job with him. When Zlatan returns, I'm excited to see how they link up again as he was setting up the big swede with a lot of goals.

mleite · Jan 11, 2021

Love this player!

Benz_1803 · Jan 27, 2021

https://youtu.be/soKfvOoCKuE

00:38
So when we will see this again mr. prade pioli?

Charbel · Jan 27, 2021

He’s progressing, even as a LW. I don’t like him there, but he’s better than before.

Benz_1803 · Jan 28, 2021

Charbel said:
He?s progressing, even as a LW. I don?t like him there, but he?s better than before.

I want to see lw rebic, rw leao

jawz10 · Jan 30, 2021

Had a great game IMO.

He got brought down for the 1st penalty.
He played Ibra in on goal in the first half with a great pass.
He had a great shot from the left that Skoruskpi had to parry.
His cross-field pass to Ibrahimovic led to the 2nd penalty.
He even came back and won the ball in the midfield/started counters.

Bravo Rafa, avanti cosi!

milanator · Jan 30, 2021

Very attacking but good alternative as CAM

Sognatore · Jan 30, 2021

His understanding of positioning in Serie A has improved a lot it seems

jawz10 · Feb 1, 2021

jawz10 said:
Had a great game IMO.

He got brought down for the 1st penalty.
He played Ibra in on goal in the first half with a great pass.
He had a great shot from the left that Skoruskpi had to parry.
His cross-field pass to Ibrahimovic led to the 2nd penalty.
He even came back and won the ball in the midfield/started counters.

Bravo Rafa, avanti cosi!

https://twitter.com/CompsACM/status/1355597041611796483?s=20

MilanMB · Mar 3, 2021

This is a Balp.

The sooner we accept it the better, he'll play in Portuguese second division before 30.

Goodfella · Mar 3, 2021

The most extraordinary thing about him is his inability to lose his marker. Always a step behind.

MilanMB · Mar 3, 2021

It's hard to lose your marker when you're planted like a tree.

Fabio · Mar 3, 2021

MilanMB said:
This is a Balp.

The sooner we accept it the better, he'll play in Portuguese second division before 30.

You are very quick to turn on young players. Leao needs the bench for abit but to say he will never make it is just stupidity

Massaro94 · Mar 3, 2021

Only four U21 players have at least 5 goals and 5 assists in the 'top five' European leagues.

➤@RafaeLeao7
➤ Pedro Neto
➤ Amine Gouiri
➤ Jadon Sancho

[Via@ACMilanGoleador]

https://twitter.com/acmilandata/stat...37790961504257

Ronin · Mar 4, 2021

MilanMB said:
This is a Balp.

The sooner we accept it the better, he'll play in Portuguese second division before 30.

Even Balp didn't jog this much and put in the effort once in a while. Plus, he was the type of player that could decide a game by himself with a moment of brilliance.

Pingu · Mar 4, 2021

Such a frustrating player. The quality is clear as day, the effort and workrate is not. The first 30 minutes I thought he was fine, even if we couldn't break Udinese down. He was tracking back, pressing well... what we need him to help the team with. But rest of the match? Literally invisible. He is a gamechanger, he has the tools to beat their defense solo but just doesn't try to receive the ball enough or do anything with it but backpass.

Goodfella · Mar 4, 2021

It's like he can't anticipate anything because he plays with a 2 second input lag.

Thenebra · Mar 4, 2021

Goodfella said:
It's like he can't anticipate anything because he plays with a 2 second input lag.

Dude is buffering...

Casualista · Mar 4, 2021

Goodfella said:
The most extraordinary thing about him is his inability to lose his marker. Always a step behind.

He's never lost a marker from drifting into the right position as good box players do.

His idea of losing marker is getting the ball wide and then either running head first or using the edge of tbe pitch and shielding the ball past a close marker.

Playing central he could still potentially do the former during a counter attack but with the way Udinese setup ? He was dead on arrival.

I have sympathy for him. He was never meant to be vice ibra and rebic should have started cf. But then Theo leao become a massive liability on the left.

There's no way to square this circle until mandzukic returns.

vB9 · Mar 4, 2021

So you guys are saying Leao cant do...

These players have no room at Milan.

kevin_dk · Mar 4, 2021

Give vape pen. Lagging issue will be solved.

Extended response time might be caused by excessive usage of grass. Looks like it

Speaking from personal experience

Goodfella · Mar 5, 2021

Casualista said:
He's never lost a marker from drifting into the right position as good box players do.

His idea of losing marker is getting the ball wide and then either running head first or using the edge of tbe pitch and shielding the ball past a close marker.

Playing central he could still potentially do the former during a counter attack but with the way Udinese setup ? He was dead on arrival.

I have sympathy for him. He was never meant to be vice ibra and rebic should have started cf. But then Theo leao become a massive liability on the left.

There's no way to square this circle until mandzukic returns.

If that was the extent of his off-ball problems then I would be very satisfied with him.
But how many times have we seen opponents intercept the passes that were meant for him even out wide because they were a step ahead of him?
It's like his idea of losing marker is to make them try and somehow fail to intercept the pass coming his way.

He's always a step behind because he has a remarkably poor anticipation and awareness off-ball.
It doesn't end when he's the target of the passes. The problem extends in the other direction as well.
I'm not sure I've seen a player as bad as him at pressing and intercepting passes.
He's just generally bad at anticipating stuff when he doesn't have the ball at his feet.
Like Pioli said, it's like the lights are turned off until he has the ball.

Casualista · Mar 5, 2021

Goodfella said:
If that was the extent of his off-ball problems then I would be very satisfied with him.
But how many times have we seen opponents intercept the passes that were meant for him even out wide because they were a step ahead of him?
It's like his idea of losing marker is to make them try and somehow fail to intercept the pass coming his way.

He's always a step behind because he has a remarkably poor anticipation and awareness off-ball.
It doesn't end when he's the target of the passes. The problem extends in the other direction as well.
I'm not sure I've seen a player as bad as him at pressing and intercepting passes.
He's just generally bad at anticipating stuff when he doesn't have the ball at his feet.
Like Pioli said, it's like the lights are turned off until he has the ball.

That's always been his game. He has always looked to compete with an opponent in a 100m dash rather than a shoulder to shoulder. His early season success was because we could transition wings quickly and find him in space on the left as the opponents had lost their shape when we loaded up the right. (Ibras second goal vs inter in the beginning of the season)

Our transitions currently suck because we don't have bennacer around.

No one leaves that big a gap down the center so as a CF he is destined for failure unless we play a pure counter attack game.

He might succeed as an SS if the CF is some big guy who can hold up the ball and create space for him. But as a focal point we have no way of getting him in the game right now. He doesn't have the style to compete and we don't have the means to take advantage of his natural game there.

Goodfella · Mar 6, 2021

Casualista said:
That's always been his game. He has always looked to compete with an opponent in a 100m dash rather than a shoulder to shoulder. His early season success was because we could transition wings quickly and find him in space on the left as the opponents had lost their shape when we loaded up the right. (Ibras second goal vs inter in the beginning of the season)

Our transitions currently suck because we don't have bennacer around.

No one leaves that big a gap down the center so as a CF he is destined for failure unless we play a pure counter attack game.

He might succeed as an SS if the CF is some big guy who can hold up the ball and create space for him. But as a focal point we have no way of getting him in the game right now. He doesn't have the style to compete and we don't have the means to take advantage of his natural game there.

Yeah, he thrives when teammates and careless opponents like Hakimi hand it to him on a silver platter.

Casualista · Mar 6, 2021

Goodfella said:
Yeah, he thrives when teammates and careless opponents like Hakimi hand it to him on a silver platter.

Not necessarily on a silver platter (he's not as bad as andre Silva) but he thrives in 1 on 1s. Hakimi was busy with Hernandez, which ensured he got to run at dambrosio.

More than getting into space the most annoying thing he was doing as CF was dropping deep , receiving the pass from center back and then instead of turning and trying to move the ball forward he would pass it right back to the other center back. So even when when he decided to move it was wasted effort.

Pioli should go back to rebic CF and try Hauge at LW. At this point it won't make a difference.

Goodfella · Mar 6, 2021

Casualista said:
Not necessarily on a silver platter (he's not as bad as andre Silva) but he thrives in 1 on 1s. Hakimi was busy with Hernandez, which ensured he got to run at dambrosio.

More than getting into space the most annoying thing he was doing as CF was dropping deep , receiving the pass from center back and then instead of turning and trying to move the ball forward he would pass it right back to the other center back. So even when when he decided to move it was wasted effort.

Pioli should go back to rebic CF and try Hauge at LW. At this point it won't make a difference.

Busy with Theo? Hakimi wasn't even on the same flank.

Next time we face a parked bus I'd go with a 4-3-3 with Diaz as false 9, Rebic-Leao as wingers, Krunic-Tonali-Kessie midfield.
3 attackers that all can make quick turns and run at defenders.
I think a deeper starting point for Krunic will lead to a less crowded final third and more space for the front 3.
He will also have more horizontal defensive duties, which could offset having Theo and Leao in the team.

Casualista · Mar 6, 2021

Goodfella said:
Busy with Theo? Hakimi wasn't even on the same flank.

Next time we face a parked bus I'd go with a 4-3-3 with Diaz as false 9, Rebic-Leao as wingers, Krunic-Tonali-Kessie midfield.
3 attackers that all can make quick turns and run at defenders.
I think a deeper starting point for Krunic will lead to a less crowded final third and more space for the front 3.
He will also have more horizontal defensive duties, which could offset having Theo and Leao in the team.

False 9 you say. :monto:

So we don't need a traditional hold up CF to survive?

That Ben Yedder idea I floated earlier last year for a more dynamic formation suddenly seems viable :proud:

Goodfella · Mar 6, 2021

Casualista said:
False 9 you say.

So we don't need a traditional hold up CF to survive?

That Ben Yedder idea I floated earlier last year for a more dynamic formation suddenly seems viable

Midget false 9 can do, as makeshift. Worth a try at least.
But as main plan? Pass.

I'm not as desperate for an aerial beast as I used to be in December though. I enjoyed watching Milan have a frontman that presses like a maniac and reaches over-the-top balls. Ideally we'll have a versatile striker who is not as static as Zlatan, or as unreliable as finisher and targetman as Rebic. Maybe Belotti?

MilanMB · Mar 7, 2021

Had a much better game today than in recent weeks.

Official: Rafael Leão Thread

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