Winter mercato January 2015

[xudong]

Good point, Gabriel. I think it is too early to write Niang off. This kid has good potential (I agree with Dev), but he should definitely work hard and change his attitude. He hasn't shown that IMO, and his performance today wasn't too good either.

I will give him more time, only because of his age and his perceived potential. But, if Balotelli can be sold, Niang certainly can too. He needs to up his game, and he needs to do that quickly before the coach loses patience.

[eki111]

Another victory and again 3 points... Last time this happened at the first two games was back in 2006 when we won against Lazio and Parma...what a coincidence. Bravo Inzaghi and bravo ragazzi

[ACMILAN1983]

Jokka, I generally respect your posts, but I think your comments on Niang are pretty nonsensical. I'm not going to respond in detail, mostly as nefremo and gabriel have said pretty much all there is to say, but I'm glad to have amused you

[Jokka]

Just a quick comment.

Ibra and Drogba, two of the top strikers over the past 10 yrs. Their records of goal scoring at 19 is not that much better than Niang, and mind you both of them played in lesser divisions than Niang did at 17.

Actually Drogba didn't even make the senior team of Le Mans till 20 or 21 and he scored 7 goals in his first season.

while Ibra scored 12 goals during his first season at 19 for Malmo FF.

They might not be the Messi or Ronaldo but if Niang turned out to be close to either of them, that's more than a squad player in my book.

Drogba's a bad example. His promotion to first team was delayed due to injuries...

"However, his first two years there were marred by injuries and he was physically struggling to cope with the training and match schedule. Former Le Mans coach Marc Westerloppe later remarked that "it took Didier four years to be capable of training every day and playing every week".

Anyway, this isn't just about number of goals scored. It's also to do with decision making/passing/shooting skills. I can honestly say I've barely seen improvement to the guy who arrived 2 years ago. If you want to believe Niang's the next Ibra/Drogba so be it. Truth is Niang's a non entity in football. Nobody's talking about him and no serious team wants him.

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[Gabriel426]

Wait, I thought you are only talking about finishing. Now it is about decision making and passing too? What's next, different type of formations, how he presses....

As for no big teams want him. He just turned 19 not 27. Pippo never played for a BiG team till Juve at 24 and even then I doubt a lot of big teams want him. Yet he somehow managed to be the 2nd highest scorer in CL history.
Drogba moved to Marseille at the age of 25, and don't think he was wanted by BIG teams before that.
Cavani was a nobody when he was 19, he only became wanted By BIG teams in Napoli at age 24.
Eto was unwanted by Real who signed him at 16 and loaned him out pretty much for the next few yrs. he finally found a home at Mallorca, and even at one point was begging to come to Milan. He was 23 when he moved to Barca.

Torres, Saviola, Rooney, Babel, Robinho, and kluivert were all wanted by BIG teams and even played for BIG teams at late teens and early 20s, they were among the top of strikers in their generations and yet when they all hit mid 20s, they all pretty much become middle of the pack.

Now I am not saying Niang will turn into an unstoppable force, but to write someone off at 19 with great physique and great speed is a bit much.

[WCmilan]

Niang has a lot of great qualities, it's strange Jokka that you spoke of innate ability without clearly underlining anything to do with it regarding Niang. Innate ability is accurate of what he does have, like having great speed,strength and being tall, yet your examples of innate ability "poor passing,decision making,shooting skills" are much more learned skills than they are innate, it seems that he has the innate abilities, but needs to work on the skills that should come to him with time, and that many young players lack anyhow. Anyways, everyone has their own opinion so I won't sit here and argue about it, we'll all just have to wait and see -its too hard to tell.

On a separate note.. Bonaventura is Allegri's twin..

[xudong]

Niang has a lot of great qualities, it's strange Jokka that you spoke of innate ability without clearly underlining anything to do with it regarding Niang. Innate ability is accurate of what he does have, like having great speed,strength and being tall, yet your examples of innate ability "poor passing,decision making,shooting skills" are much more learned skills than they are innate, it seems that he has the innate abilities, but needs to work on the skills that should come to him with time, and that many young players lack anyhow. Anyways, everyone has their own opinion so I won't sit here and argue about it, we'll all just have to wait and see -its too hard to tell.

On a separate note.. Bonaventura is Allegri's twin..

did you refer to this?

[slifersd]

Is that why Galliani signed Bonaventura? Because he misses Allegri so much?! Man, if only CR7 and Messi looks more like Allegri, maybe we would still have a chance in hell.

[nefremo]

Lol still not getting it are you? I stand by everything I said. You can only improve skills to a point as with anything in life. If you haven't got the innate ability your ceilings lower than somebody who has. That's why Niang's stats are laughable compared to players of a similar age. As for the players mentioned, at least they scored goals! Not all of them started their careers at strong teams like Milan either. Btw Serie A was a lot tougher for young players then too.

Yes, I'm getting it. I basically repeated what you said. I even quoted it for you. Used YOUR words. You continue to mention other players of his age, and I keep giving you reasons why development differs and others at 19 doing so great doesn't have to mean that they'll be better then Niang, and vice versa. You asked for players that had difficulty scoring at young age and then went on to be class scorers and I gave you that. Then you found something else wrong with that and came up with where they played. How Serie A was better, and "at least they scored goals"???? COME ON, what's next as Gabriel said?! Well Niang also scored 4 goals last season on loan, so there, he fits that criteria too I guess. At least he scored a few...
I basically proved to you that it's impossible to come up with a player's "ceiling" at 19 (a visibly talented player that is) by naming a ton of players whose ceilings were thought to be low yet look what happened. Gabriel came up with a few more great examples too.

In any case, it looks like we are not going to agree, so let's just agree to disagree and see what happens. I don't know if Niang will end up like Drogba or Henry or Sheva....but I have seen that he is very talented and that he shouldn't be written off at his age. At the end of it all, he's a Milan player now so it's beneficial to all of us that he actually performs well and I'm hoping that he does so.

[reza]

Is that why Galliani signed Bonaventura? Because he misses Allegri so much?! Man, if only CR7 and Messi looks more like Allegri, maybe we would still have a chance in hell.