GdS: ‘New Leao, old mistakes’ – Cagliari trend repeats for Leao and Milan | OneFootball

In the past few months, Rafael Leao has been slightly transitioning from a stereotypical winger to a more central role, and AC Milan are not seeing consistent results.

The Leao debacle is a really difficult one to assess. A few years ago, he was projected to hit the top levels, and now, he still can, but whether he will is in his own hands. Since the 2022/23 season, most of the things about Leao have been about ‘re-finding’ him, rather than him progressing further, unfortunately.

Because of this, the two new coaches have had different ideas on how to bring about Leao 2.0. Paulo Fonseca initially tried to make him more all-rounded and focused on his work rate and defensive work. For Conceicao, the solution is making him more central to the team, literally.

However, this idea has stalled.

As Gazzetta dello Sport write, against Real Madrid, we saw one of the best versions of Leao. Then, in Riyadh, when the Portuguese entered the pitch, it was a similar story. After both games, the Rossoneri faced Cagliari, and in both games they, and more specifically Leao, struggled.

Given the events in Arabia and also Madrid, it is frustrating to see the drop in performance, however, this is the task for Conceicao, as it was for Fonseca and Stefano Pioli before him. How do you get the best of Leao consistently?