For all interested, neither Merkel nor Strasser has even made the lineup at Genoa (not even on the bench for either game).
I don't know if they're injured or not good enough. We could use their youth and energy right now but unfortunately we gave them away. Now we're in serious trouble in our midfield, especially with the age of our midfielders, forcing them to play 4 games in 13 days is tough. As I said elsewhere, we really need younger midfielders who fit our system, not just Free players we can throw in and change our formation (Urby).
09-19-2011, 02:02 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-19-2011, 02:20 PM by abbeyleemania.)
Merkel is injured.
Milan just needs to be more compact. Abate shouldnt push forward that much, considering he didnt track back enough, We have gave away many balls to thanks to Abate's, Pato's and Cassano's bad finishing. Nocerino s a newbie, he doesnt replace Abate when he is at forward at defensive line, on the other hand Gattuso is always helping Abate much. Thats Milan's biggest problem now if you ask me. Abate-Nocerino partnership. Then Van Bommel, Seedorf are really old, if we dominate the possesion at rival side, playing with the ball. we will lose the ball, thanks to bad passing of Cassano, Abate or Pato's. if Seedorf stays at advanced at midfield, he cant catch rival players. This is why Napoli killed us on counters.
1-Abate shouldnt push forward that much, if he does, he will have to track back quickly.
2-Nocerino needs to adjust his new role.
3-Van Bommel and Seedorf should stay at back, they shouldnt push forward that much, he doesnt need to stay that much in rival area, if they dont have legs to track back fast.
4-When Robinho and Boateng returns Our team defence will be a lot better. Both Cassano and Pato doesnt track back and losing balls who caused goals or positions to our goalie.
5-Our players wants to win CL, they are playing with overconfidence, as they knew that we dont have much rivals, Napoli is our only rival, just look at their first line up. Lavezzi-Cavani-Hamsik is great trio. However they dont have much quality like us. Just look at their CB's. Aronica, Cannavaro? Ours Nesta, Silva, our sub CB is Mexes.
09-19-2011, 11:15 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-19-2011, 11:18 PM by xudong.)
(09-19-2011, 01:58 PM)ElMago99 Wrote: For all interested, neither Merkel nor Strasser has even made the lineup at Genoa (not even on the bench for either game).
I don't know if they're injured or not good enough. We could use their youth and energy right now but unfortunately we gave them away. Now we're in serious trouble in our midfield, especially with the age of our midfielders, forcing them to play 4 games in 13 days is tough. As I said elsewhere, we really need younger midfielders who fit our system, not just Free players we can throw in and change our formation (Urby).
quick question: was Urby free? I thought we spent some dollars on him?
P.S. Never mind. Saw it on wiki,
Quote:On January 23, 2011, Serie A club Milan announced to have signed Emanuelson with a three-and-a-half-year contract, for a fee of around €1.7 million.
09-20-2011, 02:44 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-20-2011, 02:49 AM by ElMago99.)
Yes I knew we had spent some money on him albeit not much. Serie C players go for Less than €2 Million nowadays.
The point is that Flamini, Cassano, Van Bommel, & others were free. Even Aquilani, Urby, & Nocerino costs next to nothing.
Individually these players are not bad. I like some of them very much. But where is that midfielder that can make a difference?? There is none. I think Berlu will spend on a striker but not a midfielder, otherwise how can you explain Ibra, Robinho & Pato but they have not spent that kind of money on a midfielder since.... possibly over a decade. I don't remember how much Kaka cost but I'm sure that was the last midfielder we really spent a decent amount on. Nowadays the midfield position is so important you can't ask a striker to score without excellent midfielders around him.
Gourcuff was cheap as he was a young kid but I feel we gave up on him and now he's a good player. Well, at least Ancellotti did...
09-20-2011, 04:32 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-20-2011, 04:32 AM by xudong.)
I believe that Kaka cost us between 7 and 8 million, which wasn't a big sum. We did spend a lot of money (I think it is something like 41 million) on Rui Costa though, whom I believe still holds our transfer-in record (and yes, it was already a decade ago).
And about Gourcuff, maybe I haven't closely follow French League, but I don't think I have heard anything about Gourcuff. Is he doing well at all at Lyon?
09-20-2011, 05:17 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-20-2011, 05:19 AM by Nalx.)
Kaka was bought at "peanuts" price as per Berlusconi. And you're right, it's been forever since the last we paid huge amount of money for a midfielder.
Gorky is currently injured. After winning the French league and Cup when being loaned out to Bordeaux, his inserted 15 M buy-out clause (that later on the club exercised) was deemed ridiculous by many members here, including me. But he never reaches that height again, not with Bordeaux, Lyon, or the French NT. And his injuries certainly don't help the poor lad, so in hindsight, it might be a good business by Galliani after all.
per l'amaro e il dolce
True Gourcuff never reaches that height again but he is still a better mid than anyone in Milan over the past few seasons.
09-20-2011, 02:25 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-20-2011, 02:29 PM by russo-neri.)
(09-20-2011, 02:44 AM)ElMago99 Wrote: I think Berlu will spend on a striker but not a midfielder, otherwise how can you explain Ibra, Robinho & Pato but they have not spent that kind of money on a midfielder since.... possibly over a decade.
Could not agree with you more! The big money is only spent on the big-name strikers since money can be made from merchandising. A quality midfielder won't sell as much as an Ibrahimovic jersey.
I think we have the best strikers in Italy, and arguably the best CBs and GK in italy. But our midfield is not even average and is bringing the whole team down. It's like buuilding a huge mansion with no foundation. Sure the house is going to look good, but the true value of the house will be nothing since it will sink at any moment.
It's still early and things can change (especially since Nocerino and Aqua haven't really had much time to establish chemistry with their new teammates), but we ALL knew that we needed serious investment in MF this summer and yet nothing happened. This is why we would have been better off swapping Casano or Pato for a quality MF. Who cares how much depth we have up front when we can't hold the ball in MF.
(09-20-2011, 05:17 AM)Nalx Wrote: Gorky is currently injured. After winning the French league and Cup when being loaned out to Bordeaux, his inserted 15 M buy-out clause (that later on the club exercised) was deemed ridiculous by many members here, including me. But he never reaches that height again, not with Bordeaux, Lyon, or the French NT. And his injuries certainly don't help the poor lad, so in hindsight, it might be a good business by Galliani after all.
The ends don't justify the means. The value of Gorky that summer was way over 15 million because of his impressive performance that year. The 15 million buyout was established before he played so well. Galliani obviously didn't have faith that Gorky could develop into a star and foolishly placed the 15 million buyout option on the loan. The fact that Gorky ended up regressing doesn't give Galliani a pass in my eyes.
I think Cesc, Iniesta, Silva, and Kaka will sell jerseys. I don't think the problem is Berlu unwilling to spend but rather top notch Mids are really expensive. Ibra and Robinho were great buys but they are not big money purchase, since they only cost a combine of 42mil, 3m less than Pastore and just 3 mil more than Cesc(once you counted the bonus clause). I think A potential WC mid is at least 20-25 mil, we can debate on whether or not they are worth the money but that's their market value, while a true WC mid is at least 35 mil. Those are just money Milan can't afford. Now I am not saying Milan can't find good to great Mids under that price but it will depends on the contracts and the competitions for the players.
Milan's best bet at the moment is to look for people with expiring contracts or look at young players. I don't know whose contract expires this summer, does anyone know a site with this kind of info? And investing on young players would be risky since they could do anything from flop to become legends and in any case they wont have an immediate impact but we'll have to wait a few years.
Players like Gattuso, Ambrosini, Van Bommel and Seedorf have expiring contracts next season. I don't know what that'll mean. Buying 4 worthy replacements will be EXPENSIVE. I'm worried the management will renew the contracts of at least half of them to avoid this. It will be interesting/scary to see how this plays out.
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