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Over the past 10 days, Rafael Leao has been the focus of much attention around AC Milan. His performance against Juventus has lingered.
Two missed chances that could have gotten Milan the win against Juventus. Naturally, mistakes like those stick in the memories for a while, even if they are not a hindrance to the season massively. However, the international break has been a frenzy about Leao.
It is worth noting two things here: Fabrizio Romano stated that the club are not worried about his situation primarily, and also that the talk about him would continue through the international break, which has been the case.
Leao and Allegri’s anger
Nevertheless, there have been suggestions that Leao must do better quickly, with reports suggesting that he has five days to restore the ‘hierarchy’. Antonio Vitiello, this afternoon, has looked at the situation and how the Portuguese plans to react in an editorial for MilanNews.
“Rafa Leao returned to Milanello yesterday afternoon and has already completed an individual training session. The Portuguese will resume training with Allegri this afternoon and is eager to move on from the media onslaught he endured in the week following the Juve-Milan match.
“After all, he’s destined to always be the centre of criticism because everyone expects the best from him. That’s his destiny, and it always will be.
“However, the time has come to shift gears, as the injury is now behind him, but he needs to regain his athletic condition. So much so that the Portuguese national team coach sent him home precisely to work on his fitness.
“The saying uttered by Mr Allegri a few days ago about Rafa still resonates today: ‘God will help those who help themselves.” It’s up to the player to be the first to want this change of pace, to raise the bar, to make a definitive leap.
“At 26, there’s no time left; either he remains a good player or he tries to be something more. And the first to want it must be Rafa. He must always be supported, however, because he’s a crucial asset for AC Milan.
“After just six games, where he’s played a handful of minutes, it doesn’t make much sense to blame him.
“More than a week has passed since the draw in Turin, but the anger hasn’t faded. The feeling at Milanello is that we’ve thrown away two points in a direct clash, because the goal is, of course, to win the Scudetto.
“Even though the coach doesn’t say so in his comments—and rightly so—internally, everyone wants to try. And that’s normal. At a club like Milan, everyone must aim for the best possible result; woe betide anyone who settles for fourth place.
“When you have players like Modric, who has won the Champions League six times, in your squad, how can you not think about the title? Maybe in the long run, the Rossoneri won’t succeed, but you can’t start out defeated, and it’s right to try.
“This is why the two points lost against Juve still hurt, because victory was so close. Pulisic ‘s missed penalty, Gimenez’s two chances, Leao’s two wasted goals—in short, there’s a lot of regret, and Allegri will work hard on this desire for revenge.
“The Tuscan coach will capitalise on the anger of many players to return to the pitch against Fiorentina with the desire to return to winning ways immediately.
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