‘A decent copy’ – Di Canio and Capello disagree over Leao’s performance vs. Brugge | OneFootball

Paolo Di Canio and Fabio Capello were both covering the AC Milan game last night for Sky, and they argued over Rafael Leao’s performance against Club Brugge.

Milan got all three points thanks to goals from Christian Pulisic and Tijjani Reijnders (a brace), yet it is Leao’s name that is in the headlines again despite the far he had far from a terrible performance. He was taken off in the second half, with Noah Okafor replacing him.

The issue is that the Swiss made an instant impact by setting up Reijnders for his first goal, all while Leao trudged around to the bench. At full-time, the Portuguese winger did not celebrate under the Curva Sud with his team-mates but instead chose to go down the tunnel.

The Leao saga therefore continues to rumble on, given he is without a Champions League goal this season and has just one goal in 10 games across all competitions, albeit with four assists to his name.

Capello and Di Canio were part of the Sky panel that covered the game and they each gave their thoughts on how he played, with Football Italia relaying how their interaction went.

Capello: “We shouldn’t think of Leao as a leader but as an uncommon player. You have to accept this. He must also understand all these things. He is no longer a crucial player, and he must change his attitude.

“To do so, he must be accepted and supported by his teammates. He hasn’t yet understood the lesson. He played a good game.”

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Di Canio: “It was a victory, an important victory. If Milan had lost, they would have been nearly out,” said the former striker. I disagree [with Capello]. Three successful dribbles don’t make a good game.

“He didn’t move much, it’s my idea. We can’t become accustomed to mediocrity. He may have dribbled past Brugge players, but Okafor and Chukwueze were better in terms of passing. I’ve understood what’s Leao. It’s a fantastic watch when you look at it from afar.

“Is he a Vini Jr? Is he a Thierry Henry? No, wait, is it a Robben? Ah, no, it’s a good copy. When you look at it closely, you realise it’s a decent copy. From afar, it’s a nice watch.

“He’s great when he has a lot of space, but then he is not too smart when he has to link up with his teammates. Why did Fonseca replace him with 30 minutes remaining? What did he see?”