Some of our rumoured players
Hertha Berlin bought Omar Alderete
Godfrey move to Everton
Forza Diavolo ale!!!
(10-06-2020, 10:38 AM)Artan Wrote: Maybe a switch to a 4-3-1-2 is more logical now, given we didnt get a RWF and not relying much on Castillejo
With tonali in middle , right bennacer/Kessie, left Diaz/..., upfront hakan/etc.
(10-06-2020, 03:12 AM)nefremo Wrote: I think looking at the team department by department and rate how good the departments are, rather then look at this transfer window in isolation, is a better way to judge the managment. I think this is a better way to comprehensively look at Maldini's work and progression towards building a good squad, since it's been said repeatedly that it'll take time to build a competitive squad.
GK:
G. Donnarumma
Tatarusanu
A. Donnarumma
-I'd say we don't lag behind anyone in Italy in the GK department. It was good piece of business to lower the wage bill by finally getting rid of Reina permanently. Tatarusanu will be good enough to be Gigio's back up.
Rating: 9 - no club in Italy can claim to have a better GK department at the moment. (Maybe Juventus due to Szczesny and Buffon's experience, but it's highly debatable). We did what we had to here, and there wasn't big need to do much. Let's see if we'll now renew Gigio's contract.
RB:
Calabria
Conti
Dalot
Kalulu
-Everything here, imo, will depend on Calabria. Both him and Conti finished last season in good form. Above average, but actually Conti seemed to be the better one. Still, the way Calabria has played at the start of this season is better then any RB we've had in a long time. He's playing out of his skin. He's possessed. So the fact that the management has "gambled" on him is jus that. A gamble. Maybe this will finally stick and Calabria will finally fulfill his promise. I don't know anything about Dalot. Kalulu is obviously super highly rated, but I think it'll take time for him.
Rating: 6.5 - On the whole, we have great depth. But very unknown quality/consistency, and Calabria will have to carry his form into December for me to be convinced.
LB:
Theo
Dalot (?)
-Horrible depth because I think Dalot is mostly a RB...although apparently he's played both sides. We have potentially the best starting LB in the league. Bench however is another matter.
Rating: 6 - because if Theo goes off injured, we'd be in deep shit. I'm hoping Dalot is adequate back up. I don't know enough though.
CB:
Kjaer
Romagnoli
Gabbia
Musacchio
Duarte
-I know this was outlined as a need, but I don't think it was that desperate. Kjaer-Romagnoli is one of the better CB duos in the league. They've proven that now. Gabbia's growth has been exceptional. He's one of the players that's really twice the player he was just 6 months ago. I'm excited to keep seeing him develop and I'm glad that he'll get the opportunity to do just that since we didn't buy anyone. Musacchio as 3rd/4th choice is better then most teams in Italy. Again, maybe 3/4 teams can say they have a better CB department in terms of individuals.
Rating: 7 - Reliable starting CBs (Kjaer-Roma). Experienced back up (Musacchio) and a very talented rapidly improving 20 year old (Gabbia).
CM:
Bennacer
Kessie
Tonali
Krunic
-Bennacer and Kessie can be compared with any CM duo in Italy. I don't feel they are inferior to anyone. Tonali is that youngster that everyone wanted. Undeniable talent, but very young. It'll take time, but he's already shown improvement and development. Krunic is the weak link and he should have been upgraded. All in all, we have decent cover, but I do think we needed a little something extra in place of Krunic.
Rating: 7.5 - the 2 starters are as good as any. Tonali is great for rotation and will only become better. I have a feeling come January, he'll be twice the player he is now. Krunic should have gone and we should have gotten a true DM in his place. I feel like we should have done better here....but again, it's all contingent on whether we get injuries or not...so in the end, it may turn out to be irrelevant.
ACM & Wings:
Calhanoglu
Brahim Diaz
Rebic
Leao
Hauge
Saelemaekers
Castillejo
Maldini
-We have everything we need here. Diversity in terms of players being able to exchange positions. Players that score, players that press, energy, you name it. It's funny how all of a sudden, the weakest player there (not counting 18 yr old Maldini) is Castillejo...whereas a year ago he would have been seen as possibly the strongest. This is a testament of the improvement in this department whether it's been through signings or simply growth of the players.
Rating: 8 - I think we have one of the most exciting attacking lines in Italy and beyond. There is a little bit of everything in there and the intensity with which we attack is electric. It's direct, with pace and with intensity.
CF/ST:
Ibrahimovic
Leao
Rebic
Colombo
Maldini
-We didn't get a "like-for-like" for Zlatan. But we all know that when Zlatan is fit, he plays. He may be rested once or twice in the season, but other then that he will always play. So not sure what the point of getting a player to sit on the bench 95% of the time is. Especially when we have Leao and Rebic who can play up there. With Ibra, we have a top CF even at his age. He's proven that now. Without him, it all depends on how well Leao will do in deputizing. If he can do what he did the other day vs Spezia in a consistent manner (score a goal or 2), then we'll be fine. In any case, once we extended Zlata, I never really felt like this was a position of great importance in terms of a purchase.
Rating: 8 - Ibra is top. Leao and Rebic, somewhat unknown up there in terms of how they'll do leading the line on their own. Playing with Zlatan is one thing. Playing instead of him and leading the line is another. Still, few CFs are as good as Zlatan and in general, the department is good. Not having Ibra due to injury is obviously an issue....but we've shown we can beat lower table teams without him, so I think we'll be fine.
So my ratings are considering Serie A. I believe, compared to the rest of Serie A, this is where we stand and I think the squad is good enough to achieve CL qualification. We'll see if adjustments will have to be made in January, but until then, as long as we can consistently destroy the likes of Bologna/Crotone/Spezia....then we'll be in the top spots.
Great post! 
I try to give score with your standard.
I also think GK should get the biggest score since we have one of best GK in the world and for backup we don't need a very good player as we know a rotation for GK is only if the starter is not available or drops his form drastically. 9
Right fullback should earn minimum point but it should be also a little better than average rating since Calabria is an OK player, he could deliver very good performance but he is still trying to make it consistently. Backup is also good enough (there is no big drop in quality). The score could rise if Dalot turns to be better than Calabria. 6,5-7
I will give left fullback better note than our right one or at least same score since Theo is much better than Calabria. I know we don't have backups as many players as right fullback have with regard of original position of the players but Calabria could play there and I also heard that Dalot is said that he could also play there. It is just not logical we let our only LB sub without replacement and there was also no rumor that we chased left fullback. 7-7,5 (max if Dalot could turn to reliable sub)
CM should be rewarded with high score since beside GK, this department (the starters) has best quality in our team. We also have Tonali as backup. Many judge that the Italian could not be a reliable sub for Kessie but time will tell if he could partner with Bennacer and I think Tonali could. Krunic might not a good second choice of CM sub. However we already have Tonali there. 3 starting-material players for two positions should be enough with one on-paper average backup. 8,5
Right wing is slightly better than RB with regard of the quality of the starter and bench. Saele I think delivers better performance than Calabria. Samu is backup is similar like having Conti for right fullback sub. However, in this position other players could also play there like Diaz. 7
Central Attacking Midfield has very good starter with Hakan plays there and we have also Diaz as backup. This department assessment should be similar with CM. While Hakan has good 1 sub (that should be enough) and CM has only 1 good sub for two positions but Bennacer and Kessie play in top form more consistently than Hakan and their responsible is also more crucial than CAM. 8
Right wing has great quality in starter and backup. We have Rebic and Leao there. In addition, Hauge plays also there. The quality of the starters is below our CM but the options available in this position are excellent. This position should earn score as good as CM. 8,5
Ibra is our most influenced player, no doubt. His contribution is also crucial. Unfortunately, we don't have direct replacement for the Swedish. However, Rebic and Leao could play there but this might reduce the quality of right wing position. This position should earn similar score like CAM. 8,5
Our quality (compared to last season) with new additions arises thanks to quality injection for our bench (Tonali, Diaz, Hauge and Dalot?).
Conclusion: I give 8-8,5 for Maldini to act smart in the transfer window.
note: a much more fair evaluation should be done when the season is over.
"When Costacurta and Maldini won they didn't celebrate much. They were thinking about winning the next game" - Alessandro Nesta
10-06-2020, 01:59 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-06-2020, 02:39 PM by nefremo.)
That's a fair assessment imo. The issue I have with LB is the cover. I knkw that we can play Calabria there and Dalot...but neither of them do what Theo does....so essentially we'd have to change the way we play. It would be nice to have a back up where the quality when he plays doesn't drop...but maybe even more importantly, the way we play doesn't change because we have a like-for-like replacement.
The reason I didn't want to look at this transfer window in isolation is because the market needs "evolve" with the growth of the team and the results. So I'd rather look at where we are in terms of building a competitive squad, and more precisely how Maldini and his team have done. We know it wasn't going to be done in 1 or 2 windows. So let's see. But the needs change. We all wanted a starting RW at the start of the window....but none of us expected Saelemaekers to grow as much as he did. He is no world class, but it would be silly to ignore his growth and not anticipate even more growth in the next season. So if the plan was to splash 30mil on a RW (just an example) back in May...that surely has changed now, right?
Very similar things can be said about Gabbia. Sometimes us as fans always think the grass is greener on the other side. If Gabbia was playing somewhere else, we'd have maybe wanted to sign him. Instead we have him here and week after week I see exponential growth. It's human nature though. To want what you don't have. I can name soooo many players throughout the years that people got mad we didn't buy...only for those players to end up nowhere and disappear in 6 months to a year.
This team is performing well. Let's see where we are in January.
People are too predictable though. I bet you if we lose vs Inter, people will already start blaming Maldini and say how bad the market was, how we didn't buy so and so...completely forgetting that we just came off an 18 game unbeaten run.
10-06-2020, 03:12 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-06-2020, 03:12 PM by Siregar.)
(10-06-2020, 01:59 PM)nefremo Wrote: That's a fair assessment imo. The issue I have with LB is the cover. I knkw that we can play Calabria there and Dalot...but neither of them do what Theo does....so essentially we'd have to change the way we play. It would be nice to have a back up where the quality when he plays doesn't drop...but maybe even more importantly, the way we play doesn't change because we have a like-for-like replacement.
The reason I didn't want to look at this transfer window in isolation is because the market needs "evolve" with the growth of the team and the results. So I'd rather look at where we are in terms of building a competitive squad, and more precisely how Maldini and his team have done. We know it wasn't going to be done in 1 or 2 windows. So let's see. But the needs change. We all wanted a starting RW at the start of the window....but none of us expected Saelemaekers to grow as much as he did. He is no world class, but it would be silly to ignore his growth and not anticipate even more growth in the next season. So if the plan was to splash 30mil on a RW (just an example) back in May...that surely has changed now, right?
Very similar things can be said about Gabbia. Sometimes us as fans always think the grass is greener on the other side. If Gabbia was playing somewhere else, we'd have maybe wanted to sign him. Instead we have him here and week after week I see exponential growth. It's human nature though. To want what you don't have. I can name soooo many players throughout the years that people got mad we didn't buy...only for those players to end up nowhere and disappear in 6 months to a year.
This team is performing well. Let's see where we are in January.
People are too predictable though. I bet you if we lose vs Inter, people will already start blaming Maldini and say how bad the market was, how we didn't buy so and so...completely forgetting that we just came off an 18 game unbeaten run.
Good points on Saelemaekers and Gabbia. Yes, if Gabbia plays for Roma for example, they won all the Serie A games (and being top of the table) and qualify to EL group with a young CB as starter and plus how reliable he was last season after the break, we might value him at least 20-25 mil euros. However, the reality is he plays for Milan and if we ask Milan fans, I am pretty convinced many fans will say his cost only maximum 10 mil euros since we saw every mistake he made but tend to forget contribution he gave.
I really like Saelemaekers, a player that does not make a lot mistakes and offer at least decent offensive contribution. If we make scores for his ability, nothing below 6 even though nothing spectacular (score 9) but overall it should be 7-7,5.
"When Costacurta and Maldini won they didn't celebrate much. They were thinking about winning the next game" - Alessandro Nesta
I think we should buy some 'Hauge' like defender in January, so that he will provide cover-up for our back and then loan him to lowly Serie A club in summer and then buy a good UCL level defender next Summer Mercato.
Forza Diavolo ale!!!
(10-06-2020, 03:12 AM)nefremo Wrote: I think looking at the team department by department and rate how good the departments are, rather then look at this transfer window in isolation, is a better way to judge the managment. I think this is a better way to comprehensively look at Maldini's work and progression towards building a good squad, since it's been said repeatedly that it'll take time to build a competitive squad.
GK:
G. Donnarumma
Tatarusanu
A. Donnarumma
-I'd say we don't lag behind anyone in Italy in the GK department. It was good piece of business to lower the wage bill by finally getting rid of Reina permanently. Tatarusanu will be good enough to be Gigio's back up.
Rating: 9 - no club in Italy can claim to have a better GK department at the moment. (Maybe Juventus due to Szczesny and Buffon's experience, but it's highly debatable). We did what we had to here, and there wasn't big need to do much. Let's see if we'll now renew Gigio's contract.
RB:
Calabria
Conti
Dalot
Kalulu
-Everything here, imo, will depend on Calabria. Both him and Conti finished last season in good form. Above average, but actually Conti seemed to be the better one. Still, the way Calabria has played at the start of this season is better then any RB we've had in a long time. He's playing out of his skin. He's possessed. So the fact that the management has "gambled" on him is jus that. A gamble. Maybe this will finally stick and Calabria will finally fulfill his promise. I don't know anything about Dalot. Kalulu is obviously super highly rated, but I think it'll take time for him.
Rating: 6.5 - On the whole, we have great depth. But very unknown quality/consistency, and Calabria will have to carry his form into December for me to be convinced.
LB:
Theo
Dalot (?)
-Horrible depth because I think Dalot is mostly a RB...although apparently he's played both sides. We have potentially the best starting LB in the league. Bench however is another matter.
Rating: 6 - because if Theo goes off injured, we'd be in deep shit. I'm hoping Dalot is adequate back up. I don't know enough though.
CB:
Kjaer
Romagnoli
Gabbia
Musacchio
Duarte
-I know this was outlined as a need, but I don't think it was that desperate. Kjaer-Romagnoli is one of the better CB duos in the league. They've proven that now. Gabbia's growth has been exceptional. He's one of the players that's really twice the player he was just 6 months ago. I'm excited to keep seeing him develop and I'm glad that he'll get the opportunity to do just that since we didn't buy anyone. Musacchio as 3rd/4th choice is better then most teams in Italy. Again, maybe 3/4 teams can say they have a better CB department in terms of individuals.
Rating: 7 - Reliable starting CBs (Kjaer-Roma). Experienced back up (Musacchio) and a very talented rapidly improving 20 year old (Gabbia).
CM:
Bennacer
Kessie
Tonali
Krunic
-Bennacer and Kessie can be compared with any CM duo in Italy. I don't feel they are inferior to anyone. Tonali is that youngster that everyone wanted. Undeniable talent, but very young. It'll take time, but he's already shown improvement and development. Krunic is the weak link and he should have been upgraded. All in all, we have decent cover, but I do think we needed a little something extra in place of Krunic.
Rating: 7.5 - the 2 starters are as good as any. Tonali is great for rotation and will only become better. I have a feeling come January, he'll be twice the player he is now. Krunic should have gone and we should have gotten a true DM in his place. I feel like we should have done better here....but again, it's all contingent on whether we get injuries or not...so in the end, it may turn out to be irrelevant.
ACM & Wings:
Calhanoglu
Brahim Diaz
Rebic
Leao
Hauge
Saelemaekers
Castillejo
Maldini
-We have everything we need here. Diversity in terms of players being able to exchange positions. Players that score, players that press, energy, you name it. It's funny how all of a sudden, the weakest player there (not counting 18 yr old Maldini) is Castillejo...whereas a year ago he would have been seen as possibly the strongest. This is a testament of the improvement in this department whether it's been through signings or simply growth of the players.
Rating: 8 - I think we have one of the most exciting attacking lines in Italy and beyond. There is a little bit of everything in there and the intensity with which we attack is electric. It's direct, with pace and with intensity.
CF/ST:
Ibrahimovic
Leao
Rebic
Colombo
Maldini
-We didn't get a "like-for-like" for Zlatan. But we all know that when Zlatan is fit, he plays. He may be rested once or twice in the season, but other then that he will always play. So not sure what the point of getting a player to sit on the bench 95% of the time is. Especially when we have Leao and Rebic who can play up there. With Ibra, we have a top CF even at his age. He's proven that now. Without him, it all depends on how well Leao will do in deputizing. If he can do what he did the other day vs Spezia in a consistent manner (score a goal or 2), then we'll be fine. In any case, once we extended Zlata, I never really felt like this was a position of great importance in terms of a purchase.
Rating: 8 - Ibra is top. Leao and Rebic, somewhat unknown up there in terms of how they'll do leading the line on their own. Playing with Zlatan is one thing. Playing instead of him and leading the line is another. Still, few CFs are as good as Zlatan and in general, the department is good. Not having Ibra due to injury is obviously an issue....but we've shown we can beat lower table teams without him, so I think we'll be fine.
So my ratings are considering Serie A. I believe, compared to the rest of Serie A, this is where we stand and I think the squad is good enough to achieve CL qualification. We'll see if adjustments will have to be made in January, but until then, as long as we can consistently destroy the likes of Bologna/Crotone/Spezia....then we'll be in the top spots.
great post! 
I am so busy these days. I won't have time to read write something that long and that thoughtful. 
10-06-2020, 05:20 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-06-2020, 05:21 PM by nefremo.)
The list of free agents is better than the ones we were linked in the closing days of mercato. Get Borini back :-)
More honourable mentions in that list-
Antonio Valencia
Pato
Among all of them, I won't mind Sturridge/Mandzukic as a deputy for Ibra and Asamoah as deputy for Theo
Forza Diavolo ale!!!
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