GdS: Leao is ‘still decisive’ despite benching – the truth about the player ‘not like others’ | OneFootball

Evaluating a player like Rafael Leao is infinitely difficult, yet so simplistic. On the face of it, he’s a brilliant player, but the deeper side of this is what creates a problem for AC Milan.

The situation is a paradox, and whilst he represents a Milan shirt, it always will be. Yes, he is a phenomenal player, but there are too many limitations with him and his situation that always seem to hang with him.

Unfortunately, this is where problems arise and now, there needs to be a solution found.

Gazzetta dello Sport write that against Lecce, he was ‘decisive’, which no one can really argue, and once again, he reaffirmed that he is a player massively ‘not like others’. However, this is where we must question things.

Brilliant, yes. Frustrating, equally. For 45 minutes, the coach preferred others, and he is not the first to do so, yet when he came onto the field, he was fantastic, which is now a growing trend. Leao, in fact, is beginning to look like a better player from the bench, where he can run and do better against tired legs and minds.

Perhaps, this can be viewed that he has added another string to his bow, or perhaps, the fact that his role has now shifted, and his value with it.

After the game, he demonstrated his leadership role once again, after getting closer to the ‘double double’ (10 goals and 10 assists) again.

Leao, as an idea, a player, an asset, is so contradictive, and that is, in some ways, what makes him so brilliant. He will never be ‘perfect’ by definition, but he can be Leao, and that is what matters.