02-18-2016, 07:39 PM
I don't want Zapata to renew at all. He has already proven to be a disaster for us and I don't know why things would change with a new contract. I get that not everyone on the team can be a superstar, but Zapata is not even capable of doing work as a solid backup. The ideal backups are game changers and Zapata is a game changer for the other team. Players like Barzagli, Terry or Caceres are all free and would be much much better than Zapata.
Glik rumor is interesting to me. Players like him or Tonelli, as someone else suggested, would be terrific signing for us. Mammana is a great prospect that we should nab regardless, but he is very young and playing in Italy as a defender can be a major challenge for him. Ideally, we need a reliable partner for Romagnoli for the next couple of years and let Mammana mature at his own pace. And that is where guys like Glik or Tonelli comes into play. These guys are not going to be superstars, but they are reliable players in the Alex mode (but younger and has fewer problems dealing with speedy strikers) who can hold the fort down until the youngsters are ready. Donna, Roma and Mammana look great on paper, but trusting the center of your entire defense to guys who are so young can cause major problems for us.
Ibra rumor always gets me excited, because I love the player to death. But in all honesty, a partnership between him and Bacca will not work well in 2016. Today's soccer puts a great deal of emphasis on pace and space. Having two flat footed strikers who cannot split wide effectively and produce great counter attacks would absolutely kill the spacing of our game and allow opposing teams to defend easily. There is a reason Bacca became much more effective after Niang became a starter, and that is because of Niang's speed and ability to split wide gave Bacca more room to operate inside the box, something Adriano could not provide. Ibra would absolutely kill that and the two of them would be a logjam on every possession. If, however, we sell Bacca for some ridiculous amount of money and replace him with Ibra, then that could work out.
In terms of formation, I read somewhere that Miha said he still intend to go back to 4-3-1-2 at some point in the future, because he only switched to 4-4-2 due to Menez not being available to play. Seems like that is still the formation of his choice, so it is likely we might revisit that formation again next season.
Glik rumor is interesting to me. Players like him or Tonelli, as someone else suggested, would be terrific signing for us. Mammana is a great prospect that we should nab regardless, but he is very young and playing in Italy as a defender can be a major challenge for him. Ideally, we need a reliable partner for Romagnoli for the next couple of years and let Mammana mature at his own pace. And that is where guys like Glik or Tonelli comes into play. These guys are not going to be superstars, but they are reliable players in the Alex mode (but younger and has fewer problems dealing with speedy strikers) who can hold the fort down until the youngsters are ready. Donna, Roma and Mammana look great on paper, but trusting the center of your entire defense to guys who are so young can cause major problems for us.
Ibra rumor always gets me excited, because I love the player to death. But in all honesty, a partnership between him and Bacca will not work well in 2016. Today's soccer puts a great deal of emphasis on pace and space. Having two flat footed strikers who cannot split wide effectively and produce great counter attacks would absolutely kill the spacing of our game and allow opposing teams to defend easily. There is a reason Bacca became much more effective after Niang became a starter, and that is because of Niang's speed and ability to split wide gave Bacca more room to operate inside the box, something Adriano could not provide. Ibra would absolutely kill that and the two of them would be a logjam on every possession. If, however, we sell Bacca for some ridiculous amount of money and replace him with Ibra, then that could work out.
In terms of formation, I read somewhere that Miha said he still intend to go back to 4-3-1-2 at some point in the future, because he only switched to 4-4-2 due to Menez not being available to play. Seems like that is still the formation of his choice, so it is likely we might revisit that formation again next season.