“On what basis is Rafael Leão a top player?”
Antonio Cassano once again points out the Portuguese player’s poor performance at Milan: «On a small pitch, he doesn’t know how to play»
Former Italian international Antonio Cassano spoke about the current situation Rafael Leão is going through at Milan , where he has scored seven goals in 26 games this season, criticising the Portuguese player’s lack of goalscoring instinct.
“ Milan , apart from the goalkeeper, who for me is one of the best in the world, does not have a strong player at the highest level. People say that Leao is very strong, I see him differently. The question I ask is this: on what basis is he a top player? A player who plays as a left forward, who claims to be at the highest level, in this Serie A has to finish the season with at least 20 goals and 20 assists,” said Cassano, on the Twich programme Viva El Futbol .
«In terms of quality and imagination, it has none»
This season, Leão has four goals and four assists in Serie A, where his best record was the 15 goals he scored in the 2022/23 season and Cassano, already used to targeting the Portuguese player, insists: «In terms of quality on a small pitch, he doesn’t know how to play. In terms of quality and imagination, he has none. He only has one thing: playing in open pitch at high speed. But even so, he doesn’t know how to shoot at goal.»
“With top-quality players, if you gave Ronaldinho the open field, the games would end 10-0. If you gave Pato 10 meters of the field, which was a phenomenon that didn’t show itself because of injuries, he would break everything, scoring three goals per game. This player has an average of 5 or 6 goals per season,” continued Cassano.
Finally, the former Milan and Real Madrid player extended his criticism to what happens off the pitch: “What bothers me is that he feels like a phenomenon, a champion, with his attitude and he earns eight million euros. I judge him for that. In the national team, he has never made a decisive decision, in Italy, he has scored very little over the course of six years. So, on what basis do they consider him a phenomenon?”
