from Mbappe to Niang, the pace is short

NEWS MILAN – Another, heavy defeat for the Milan of Stefano Pioli that, last night at ‘San Siro", Has been overtaken by the Lazio of Simone Inzaghi by virtue of the networks of Ciro Immobile (100th seal in biancoceleste in just 147 tenders, a phenomenon) e Joaquin Correa; the Angolan defender's goal has therefore been useless for the Rossoneri Bastos, if not for the momentary and illusory draw.

Milan, it must be said, would not have deserved to lose: the performance offered by the Rossoneri was undoubtedly positive, albeit studded with the usual individual errors, and positioning, which are now becoming the sad ‘leitmotif‘This season, many setbacks, many goals collected (15) and the sliding towards less noble areas of the Ranking of the maximum championship.

Pioli paid duty when, at 53 ', he took one of the Rossoneri on the pitch, perhaps more on the ball, the Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta, to insert Rafael Leao, passing, in fact, to a 3-4-1-2 with Hakan Calhanoglu behind Krzysztof Piatek and the young Portuguese striker. In the technician's intentions, as he himself confessed at the end of the match to the microphones of ‘Sky Sports', There was a desire to seek tears and frequent play of Rafael Leao in one against one to trouble the guests.

None of this was seen in the field. Rafael Leao, who on other occasions had often been among the best of the Devil, betrayed his coach and all his teammates, entering the field in an annoying and unwilling way to sacrifice for the team. Arruffone, disorderly, imprecise and with little desire to run, Rafael Leao made a mistake in everything that had to be wrong, putting the group in difficulty rather than helping it and depriving the Rossoneri of its ‘variable madness.

"I expected more from Rafael Leao, he has great potential: can and must do more", Pioli commented laconically at the end of Milan-Lazio, when he was asked to judge the performance of the young Lusitanian striker. For the coach, Rafael Leao is not an outsider, but a first striker, albeit with different characteristics from Piatek: those features that, against Lazio, would have served Milan as bread.

Probably, putting in field Rafael Leao, Pioli had imagined, in red and black tones, what instead happened in his own area with the assistant of Luis Alberto for Correa launched at speed to pierce Gigio Donnarumma. In his mind, instead, the protagonists of thehappy ending they should have been Calhanoglu and Rafael Leao himself. The former Sporting Lisbon is Lille, however, did not provide the team with either the necessary contribution or, even less, allowed the coach to have doubts about who to deploy next week against the Juventus between him and Piatek.

Often, in the course of his career, although this is still quite short, Rafael Leao, for field characteristics, has been compared to Kylian Mbappe, phenomenon of PSG: fast, fast, with an enviable basic technique, good at goal. Peculiarity that the number 17 rossonero certainly possesses, but that he should begin to express with greater continuity to avoid, on the contrary, that his career can undergo an inverse parabola … to M'Baye Niang.

The Milan fans will remember that boy who, in the summer 2012, the then managing director Adriano Galliani fished from Caen, just paying for it 3.5 million of euros, which arrived in the Rossoneri as a "crest mate" of Mario Balotelli is Stephan El Shaarawy, but, above all, as a potential heir of Thierry Henry. Niang, today, is back to playing in France, in Rennes, also quite well, though, passing through the flops with Montpellier, turin is Watford. An honest career, but light years away from what he could give and do.

The head, in this sport, has enormous importance. If the mental attitude does not support the technical qualities in the field, it hardly makes its way. Rafael Leao has everything, but really everything, to establish himself as the undisputed holder of a high-ranking Milan team. Now, however, the time has come to prove it with continuity and self-denial, because from new Mbappe to Niang's heir the step risks becoming too short.

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