Gilardino just scored a hat trick in 13 minutes

[Arjun]

I don't get it...what sin did we commit? This guy basically exploded onto the Italian scene in the years preceding his transfer to Milan and is now getting better by the week at Fiorentina. First he scores that goal at the death to send Italy to WC 2010 and now single-handedly saved Italy from utter humiliation at the hands of the modest Cypriots. Ridiculous!

Is anyone reminded of the goals he scored in his last game for Parma that saved them from relegation in the playoff?! Was that summer of 2005?

Anyway I'm posting this to get people's opinion on an old and dusty topic - did we screw up his Milan career? You can't say he is not a big club player anymore...Fiorentina are every bit as good as Milan right now and playing for your country comes with its own pressures.

[pirlofanusa]

good for him. am i the only one that sees this happening to Huntelaar if we let him leave? he will go somewhere else and flourish

[Ceceves]

I don't get it...what sin did we commit? This guy basically exploded onto the Italian scene in the years preceding his transfer to Milan and is now getting better by the week at Fiorentina. First he scores that goal at the death to send Italy to WC 2010 and now single-handedly saved Italy from utter humiliation at the hands of the modest Cypriots. Ridiculous!

Is anyone reminded of the goals he scored in his last game for Parma that saved them from relegation in the playoff?! Was that summer of 2005?

Anyway I'm posting this to get people's opinion on an old and dusty topic - did we screw up his Milan career? You can't say he is not a big club player anymore...Fiorentina are every bit as good as Milan right now and playing for your country comes with its own pressures.

Fiorentina might be as good as Milan currently, but you just cannot compare the pressure. In Milan he had to take over from Sheva (after his good maiden season) and the fans were very demanding. And when he couldn't reach the level most fans were expecting, he got a worse and worse treatment from the curva and it got to him.

So I still think it the reason he failed was that he couldn't cut it at a top club with all the pressure. At Fiorentina the fans aren't as demanding, and I for one had no doubt he would start scoring again when he went to Firenze.

Perhaps if he moved to a top club next summer he'd be able to handle it, as he was fairly young (by Italian standards, so to speak) when he joined us.

[hitmannq8]

good for him, i have been noticing him since the beginning of this season...even at the beginning when he wasn't scoring, he was putting in pretty solid performances for fiorentina.....

however ---- i do not regret dumping him one bit.... at milan he was nothing but a little girl who is afraid of pressure... he wouldn't have made it here.

[Arjun]

Well hindsight is 20/20 but now that I look back, he really could have done with a little more support from the organization and the fans. I think another factor that could have contributed to the whole dip in form is that at Fiorentina (and at Parma for that matter) his teammates are constantly looking to provide him with service whereas at Milan he had to share the service with the likes of Sheva, Pippo and the attacking midfielders. Sheva on his return suffered from the same problem....everyone seems to be looking for Pippo if he is on the field. The other striker has to just sit around and hope something comes his way. Which is why Hunterlaar-Inzaghi will never work either.

[Jeff]

These are professional folks; why do you think the pressure on italy is not as huge on Fiorentina as on Milan? that seems to me a stupid reason.

The only reason we failed to use Gilardino badly is that the system we played clearly didn't fit the kind of player he is. Huntelaar is going to be yet another Gilardino; in fact, any striker will not survive in a system that emphasizes creativity, technique, and skill. Even Borreillo - a big dude who can hold the ball - suffered.

Just why people picked on these strikers is still beyond my undersatnding.

[Mystik]

^^ I agree with Jeff except our system doesn't emphasize anything except being slow about passing the ball and moving off the ball. It's a nightmare for any striker who doesn't create his own chances. I've been saying it since 2007 that our midfield sucked but...we supposedly had one of the best midfields in Europe :s

[mimi milan]

What you said is right Arjun, gilardino is a great player and milan is definatly wrong for selling him. I believe even though he failed at times that was because of the pressure people put him through he is really good player and scored half of the scores in the Italian team for this world cup. Lets wish he comes back to milan? :P maybe? yes? no? haha. Huntelaar on the same hand is saving milan at times where milan needs to be saved.