Stephan El Shaarawy

[Beppe]

Fantastic player!!! And even better attitude, he is by far our best player this season, and also our most hardworking one. And he REALLY wants to win a game, his desire and hunger is very big. Now I pray Pato can stay fit and can get a good form again, together with Bojan/Urby that is a great attack.

[nefremo]

Fantastic player!!! And even better attitude, he is by far our best player this season, and also our most hardworking one. And he REALLY wants to win a game, his desire and hunger is very big. Now I pray Pato can stay fit and can get a good form again, together with Bojan/Urby that is a great attack.

I agree with everything you said. The bolded part however shows why Pato will probably never reach his potential. (I really hope I am wrong). Pato rarely tracks back and rarely works for the team. Sometimes it just looks like he is a Zombie walking on the field without any real desire and grit to get things done and grind them out. I think part of the problem is that he became a star at 17. We paid 22mil Euros for him when he was just 17 and then was put in our line up and expected to lead the attack right away. (Carlo actually tried to raise him the correct way, but it didn't last very long). It all got to Pato's head I think. He became too big of a superstar too quick for his own good. Of course, injuries aren't helping either. Again, I hope I'm wrong.

Back on topic......El Shaarawy is trully becoming a star. I can't get enough of this player. Lik you said......the desire, the hard work, the hunger, the grit, the work ethic..........I just hope he doesn't lose it once he is mentioned among the "star names".

[WCmilan]

I think els is even better because not only he scores a goal almost every game but this is with out the team playing for him. He plays for himself and creates his own chances and his own goals, that's where you see a play in himself is a world class player especially playing with so many crappy team mates

[xudong]

after i watched the video posted by xudong
i realise he plays alot on the wing not exactly a CF but more on the side especially the left one
this guy will be big, look at his attitude after scoring the goal he didnt want to celebrate coz he wants to concentrate and get the win for the team
sometimes a see a glimpse of shevchenko in him

El Shaarawy does remind me of a young Sheva (especially his Kiev days in the 90's) or Henry in the positions he takes up, although technically he's quite different, much more willing to sacrifice himself to the team and more explosive than Sheva and Henry.

I'm impressed that he's top of the scorers chart in Serie A, given that he's playing for a side that's currently in desperate trouble and has massive problems in attack. That more than anything shows his quality.

Personally, he reminds me of Roberto Baggio and Kaka. Of course, everyone's opinion is different.

I wonder if Shaarawy keeps scoring goals, will he become our penalty kick taker? Pazzini is becoming painfully useless, and Pato has yet to show anything.

[Nalx]

In Pato's defense, neither Romario or Ronaldo (the one he's likened to in the past) was dilligent but they're great goal-scorers nevertheless. On the other hand Kuyt ran and ran after the ball the whole 90 mins but has never been a prolific striker.

As for El Sha, he reminds me of, well, nobody Berlu likened him to Massaro but the latter was more of a supersub than a protagonist, Baggio was a classic treq, Sheva was two-footed, good in the air, hence a more complete striker. I really hope he keep his feet on the ground and so far he hasn't shown any trait of a prima donna like Balo, so keep it up kiddo!

[xudong]

In Pato's defense, neither Romario or Ronaldo (the one he's likened to in the past) was dilligent but they're great goal-scorers nevertheless. On the other hand Kuyt ran and ran after the ball the whole 90 mins but has never been a prolific striker.

As for El Sha, he reminds me of, well, nobody Berlu likened him to Massaro but the latter was more of a supersub than a protagonist, Baggio was a classic treq, Sheva was two-footed, good in the air, hence a more complete striker. I really hope he keep his feet on the ground and so far he hasn't shown any trait of a prima donna like Balo, so keep it up kiddo!

that's the highest praise one can get! you know, 'cause, nobody is perfect.

[ACMILAN1983]

I agree with everything you said. The bolded part however shows why Pato will probably never reach his potential. (I really hope I am wrong). Pato rarely tracks back and rarely works for the team. Sometimes it just looks like he is a Zombie walking on the field without any real desire and grit to get things done and grind them out. I think part of the problem is that he became a star at 17. We paid 22mil Euros for him when he was just 17 and then was put in our line up and expected to lead the attack right away. (Carlo actually tried to raise him the correct way, but it didn't last very long). It all got to Pato's head I think. He became too big of a superstar too quick for his own good. Of course, injuries aren't helping either. Again, I hope I'm wrong.

Back on topic......El Shaarawy is trully becoming a star. I can't get enough of this player. Lik you said......the desire, the hard work, the hunger, the grit, the work ethic..........I just hope he doesn't lose it once he is mentioned among the "star names".

Pato and El Shaarawy are very different players though. I appreciate El Shaarawy's talent and particularly workrate, he should become a star. However, Pato for me is the more talented individual and I think these days it's easy to forget that he actually did better than El Shaarawy when he joined at 17, scoring goals for fun and at times simply being unstoppable. Only problem is that the last couple of years have seen injuries completely hamper his career. I'm not sure he's let stuff get to his head, I mean we can't know unless he plays and Genoa was the first proper match he played for 8 months.

Essentially, my point is right now El Shaarawy is flavour of the month, but we shouldn't forget that he's in the position Pato was in a few years ago.

As for comparisons, maybe Pato is more like Van Basten and El Shaarawy more like Donadoni. I don't mean this in terms of qualities and attributes, but in the sense that both are immensely talented, but Pato, like Van Basten is much more reliant on his instinct and individual ability, though this doesn't mean he can't play in a collective group. On the other hand, Donadoni for all his quality worked extremely hard for the collective group and his movements were based on how the group moved, much like El Shaarawy now.

Personally, he reminds me of Roberto Baggio and Kaka. Of course, everyone's opinion is different.

I wonder if Shaarawy keeps scoring goals, will he become our penalty kick taker? Pazzini is becoming painfully useless, and Pato has yet to show anything.

Truth is we could keep comparing all day and night, but ultimately he's his own player with his own qualities.

[xudong]

A great video on El Shaarawy's 8 goals in Serie A this season (so far). Thanks go to Jasper on R&B Forum.

Enjoy.

[Warro Bantan]

Hey guys....I haven't posted in the match threads cuz I notice we lose or drop points when I do...when I don't...we win 5-1 so.....

[ACMILAN1983]

Hey guys....I haven't posted in the match threads cuz I notice we lose or drop points when I do...when I don't...we win 5-1 so.....

lol, can we ban you from just the match threads? It's for the good of the team!!