11-14-2014, 11:26 AM
There's an interesting interview with Boban on GDS today:
http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Nazionale/...0838.shtml
He's quite clear on his opinions on the state of Italian football. A quick summary of these areas is:
- He's not the biggest fan of 3-5-2, feeling it doesn't cover space.
- He says Italian football has kind of betrayed the development of talent for the collective/tactical game at grassroots level. This is why players tend to struggle in the 1 on 1 situation both offensively and defensively.
I'm in agreement with both parts. Regarding a 3 man defence, I've never been a huge fan for the reason he states.
What I find interesting is his comments on how players are being developed in Italy. Again, I think there are issues around this and generally agree to an extent with what he's saying. I remember about 2-3 years ago I wrote a post about how I thought that Italian players are being developed in a very specific way, much in the way of being like a production line. Tim Vickery of BBC has often commented of something similar in Barcelona, where he says they have an incredible youth development system, but ultimately they often buy in South Americans for areas where they've not been able to create the players they want (notably in attack and wingbacks).
I think European sides maybe need to take an introspective look at how players are being developed, as while it's invaluable that players learn the importance of the team game, it shouldn't be at the expense of their individuality or creativity. Internally I think Mastour's a very interesting case in this aspect. Brocchi seems to want him to make sure he's a teamplayer, but again, you have an incredible player to beat opponents 1 on 1, so it'll be interesting to see if he's forced to compromise this element of his game.
Regarding recent outbursts at Milan, I think the comments by numerous players and their agents now are just indicative of how poorly the squad is constructued. Mexes (kind of), Van Ginkel's agent, Armero (as Acmir posted) and Pazzini (or his wife) have all shown frustration at their lack of opportunities, never mind others who haven't played. It was also reported by Gazzetta that Inzaghi is yet to field the same starting 11 in two matches this year. For me, that suggests that amongst Inzaghi probably having his favourites, the squad is simply far too big for what the club is challenging for this year. If as suspected the club does reinforce in January and doesn't actually get rid of some players, then the situation will only worsen.
I think there's also a problem in terms of the hierarchy Inzaghi has set up. The likes of Pazzini, Van Ginkel and Armero have every right to take issues at the moment. Neither Torres nor Menez have performed in recent weeks while Pazzini continues to see the bench, while Van Ginkel (who I've never been in favour of getting) has to watch mediocrity take the field ahead of him. Then there's Armero, who it seems is less likely to play than even Poli at fullback. These players have every right to question Inzaghi's choices.
Is it that surprising though? Galliani has often said how we wanted a player years ago, but finally we got him (e.g. most recently with Torres).
http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Nazionale/...0838.shtml
He's quite clear on his opinions on the state of Italian football. A quick summary of these areas is:
- He's not the biggest fan of 3-5-2, feeling it doesn't cover space.
- He says Italian football has kind of betrayed the development of talent for the collective/tactical game at grassroots level. This is why players tend to struggle in the 1 on 1 situation both offensively and defensively.
I'm in agreement with both parts. Regarding a 3 man defence, I've never been a huge fan for the reason he states.
What I find interesting is his comments on how players are being developed in Italy. Again, I think there are issues around this and generally agree to an extent with what he's saying. I remember about 2-3 years ago I wrote a post about how I thought that Italian players are being developed in a very specific way, much in the way of being like a production line. Tim Vickery of BBC has often commented of something similar in Barcelona, where he says they have an incredible youth development system, but ultimately they often buy in South Americans for areas where they've not been able to create the players they want (notably in attack and wingbacks).
I think European sides maybe need to take an introspective look at how players are being developed, as while it's invaluable that players learn the importance of the team game, it shouldn't be at the expense of their individuality or creativity. Internally I think Mastour's a very interesting case in this aspect. Brocchi seems to want him to make sure he's a teamplayer, but again, you have an incredible player to beat opponents 1 on 1, so it'll be interesting to see if he's forced to compromise this element of his game.
Regarding recent outbursts at Milan, I think the comments by numerous players and their agents now are just indicative of how poorly the squad is constructued. Mexes (kind of), Van Ginkel's agent, Armero (as Acmir posted) and Pazzini (or his wife) have all shown frustration at their lack of opportunities, never mind others who haven't played. It was also reported by Gazzetta that Inzaghi is yet to field the same starting 11 in two matches this year. For me, that suggests that amongst Inzaghi probably having his favourites, the squad is simply far too big for what the club is challenging for this year. If as suspected the club does reinforce in January and doesn't actually get rid of some players, then the situation will only worsen.
I think there's also a problem in terms of the hierarchy Inzaghi has set up. The likes of Pazzini, Van Ginkel and Armero have every right to take issues at the moment. Neither Torres nor Menez have performed in recent weeks while Pazzini continues to see the bench, while Van Ginkel (who I've never been in favour of getting) has to watch mediocrity take the field ahead of him. Then there's Armero, who it seems is less likely to play than even Poli at fullback. These players have every right to question Inzaghi's choices.
(11-14-2014, 03:26 AM)WCmilan Wrote: Does anybody notice we have a team that's in the past? Like I mean the players... I remember every team in Europe wanted Honda back in the day but he was worth big $$$, even Menez was a big deal at Roma. Torres, Essien were both great players among other players in our team. There must be some type of compensation going Gallianis way for paying all of these players pensions..
Is it that surprising though? Galliani has often said how we wanted a player years ago, but finally we got him (e.g. most recently with Torres).