08-07-2020, 01:40 AM
If we want to make a transfer plan, IMO we have to address our current condition of our team, next season's minimum goal and club's financial capability. After Covid-19 break, our forms were outstanding, probably the best or second behind Atalanta. I think, this is the starting point if we want to talk about our transfer plan. If we keep our form, could we achieve our lowest goal (it should be CL spot)? Yes, we definitely could. Those kind of forms could also lead to Scudetto. There was similar situation like we have now, collecting a lot of points in the second half of the season like the one with Gattuso's first season with Milan IIRC. What makes different is that the games we won, we conquest them convincingly not by one goal or lucky 3-point. We were not inferior to the big clubs, moreover we got 3 points against almost all strong Serie A teams. We also did not suffer to make a goal versus small teams who usually apply tight defense. In addition, we won those games with many goals. We have not experienced such kind of results for at least a decade. So, keeping the good forms of the lads should be our ultimate plan in this transfer window.
Maintaining our top form is not an easy job. We would face many challenges. If the stadiums are open for spectators, the pressure on players' shoulder raises. Our ultimate problem in the last couple of years is player's mentality. It needs to be seen if our players could beat the atmosphere of the games. If the players could keep their attitude, other problem could appear. Our team consist of a lot of young players who would have ups and downs in their performance. Our core of the play, the pivots, are quite young. Kessie is 23 yo while Bennacer is only 22 yo. Unfortunately, these positions have no genuine and reliable backups. Krunic is not an anchor while others are offensive midfielders. We certainly need one player to cover both Kessie and Bennacer. Like has been said by many people here, the player should have the quality to bench one of our current DMs if their form drop. Seeing our financial capability, the type of Bennacer's or Theo's last season is welcome. A talented player but not inexperience one that costs around 15-25 mil euros corresponds to our ability. Therefore, a midfielder for our central midfield is a must.
Our biggest improvement in our series of wins last season was the defense especially the CB's duo, Romagnoli and Kjaer. As I have said before, if one of the defender miss games, we could replace him. Gabbia has been done relatively good job but again he is so young. I am worried if Gabbia to be our starter in defense in important games or in an uneasy situation like when the team form are declining. Though we still have backups here. Musacchio is experienced player and there is also Duarte. The difficulties might appear if both our starting central defenders could not play since Musacchio has shown so many shaky performance since he arrived in Milan while Duarte is still in question-mark with regard of his reliability. A reliable defender should be our second priority. He should have strong mentality, a player who doesn't need to be guided when he has to replace one of our center-backs. However, I am afraid that we need to sell one of our current players before we can buy new one since already have 6 players for CB position (if we include Kalulu).
Beside central-midfield and center-back, forward department could need new player. After the departure of Bonnaventura, we might need one offensive midfielder or a striker as backup for the four positions upfront. We only have 7 players for 4 positions. If Ibra could not play for example, only two players would be available as subs which are Paqueta and Saelemakers (assumption: Leo, Rebic, Hakan and Castillejo play). Laxalt might be forced to play on the left wing but the quality on the left side could sink significantly. For fullbacks, we have enough players. A lot of fans want to recruit right fullback. The fact is our right fullback is not a major problem for us. It indeed could be considerably improved but it should not be a priority. If we have enough money for that (after selling Calabria for example), I don't see why we should not buy reliable right fullback as it could extensively improve our quality.
So, based on club's target and economic point of view one central midfielder and one center-back should be our top priority in this transfer window and an attacking midfielder or a striker is suggested to be bought if we plan to continue our last season's top form. A reliable right fullback is a bonus.
Maintaining our top form is not an easy job. We would face many challenges. If the stadiums are open for spectators, the pressure on players' shoulder raises. Our ultimate problem in the last couple of years is player's mentality. It needs to be seen if our players could beat the atmosphere of the games. If the players could keep their attitude, other problem could appear. Our team consist of a lot of young players who would have ups and downs in their performance. Our core of the play, the pivots, are quite young. Kessie is 23 yo while Bennacer is only 22 yo. Unfortunately, these positions have no genuine and reliable backups. Krunic is not an anchor while others are offensive midfielders. We certainly need one player to cover both Kessie and Bennacer. Like has been said by many people here, the player should have the quality to bench one of our current DMs if their form drop. Seeing our financial capability, the type of Bennacer's or Theo's last season is welcome. A talented player but not inexperience one that costs around 15-25 mil euros corresponds to our ability. Therefore, a midfielder for our central midfield is a must.
Our biggest improvement in our series of wins last season was the defense especially the CB's duo, Romagnoli and Kjaer. As I have said before, if one of the defender miss games, we could replace him. Gabbia has been done relatively good job but again he is so young. I am worried if Gabbia to be our starter in defense in important games or in an uneasy situation like when the team form are declining. Though we still have backups here. Musacchio is experienced player and there is also Duarte. The difficulties might appear if both our starting central defenders could not play since Musacchio has shown so many shaky performance since he arrived in Milan while Duarte is still in question-mark with regard of his reliability. A reliable defender should be our second priority. He should have strong mentality, a player who doesn't need to be guided when he has to replace one of our center-backs. However, I am afraid that we need to sell one of our current players before we can buy new one since already have 6 players for CB position (if we include Kalulu).
Beside central-midfield and center-back, forward department could need new player. After the departure of Bonnaventura, we might need one offensive midfielder or a striker as backup for the four positions upfront. We only have 7 players for 4 positions. If Ibra could not play for example, only two players would be available as subs which are Paqueta and Saelemakers (assumption: Leo, Rebic, Hakan and Castillejo play). Laxalt might be forced to play on the left wing but the quality on the left side could sink significantly. For fullbacks, we have enough players. A lot of fans want to recruit right fullback. The fact is our right fullback is not a major problem for us. It indeed could be considerably improved but it should not be a priority. If we have enough money for that (after selling Calabria for example), I don't see why we should not buy reliable right fullback as it could extensively improve our quality.
So, based on club's target and economic point of view one central midfielder and one center-back should be our top priority in this transfer window and an attacking midfielder or a striker is suggested to be bought if we plan to continue our last season's top form. A reliable right fullback is a bonus.
"When Costacurta and Maldini won they didn't celebrate much. They were thinking about winning the next game" - Alessandro Nesta