Winter Mercato 2011

Brasileiro, Milano, its good to see you two again.

Brasileiro, I don't think its the foreigner problem, as much as it is, the fact that teams are relying on foreigners and Milano pointed out, senior players as well. I guess looking at my post, I didn't make it clear enough, but I don't think its just foreigners, but, also, the fact that clubs will have far less patience with their youngsters.

I still think Italy is producing talent. And while Germany might have more foreigners than Italy, in the league, the fact is that it is not just Bayern that is producing German stars. Bayern has made the bulk of its team, Lahm, Muller, Contento, Schweinsteiger, while Stuttgart has brought out Khedira, Gomez, and Tasci. The German teams might have lots of foreigners, but their German products are still given the chance that Italian youth don't get in Italy.

Cassano ruined his own chances, I'll give you that, but I don't think Giovinco's situation is his fault. Juventus has found a way to take a great crop of talent and pretty much ruin a lot of them. Marchiso is the only one of that class of Juve youth that gets to play his natural position from time-to-time and his success at Juve is plain to see.

I think people look at Pirlo and Gattuso in a very romantic way. Gattuso came from a recently relegated team, Salernitana, while Pirlo was like Luca Cigarini, a great talent, who supposedly had wasted his opportunity. I think if Pirlo and Gattuso came to Milan now, we would be wondering why Milan management was wasting our money on these types of players.

I agree with so much of what you say Brasileiro, and I see your point on English players being valued too highly, but, the funny thing is, I think in Serie A, Italians players are actually less expensive than foreigners, at least the type of Brazilian players that Milan would go after.

Salvatore Bocchetti went to Rubin Kazan, why? Sure, Kazan spent a lot of money, but, this was a promising Italian defender, and I think the fact that Italy's young defenders are not playing at the top clubs means that what talent they have is reaching a limit because they are not being surrounded by the environment that will help them grow, get the experience, and learn the proper ways to play. Looking at Abate grow the last two years or Prince in the little time he's been here, shows me how the environment can make these type of players really shine.

I'm just saying that if 50% of Criscito was 6m, meaning he's valued at 12, I would rather spend 12 million on Criscito than 18 on Coentrao. I'm not opposed to foreigners, again, I'm a foreigner myself, but I want Milan to stay Italian, because that's the history of the club. Plus, it seems to me, that it would be worth spending 8 million on Luca Cigarini than whatever ridiculous price Honda would cost.

But then again, for a player like Ganso, I would be happy to spend 15 million on him. He is special, no matter what country he comes from, and that's my point.

As far as Italy's talent goes, the talent is clearly there. Italy has never cared about youth tournaments, and the ony tournament it does care about is the European U21, which it is the most successful team in. It has won it more than any other European team, and in 2009, went to the semi-finals. I'm not sure if the talent in Italy is gone, I think the difference is that it is much harder for an Italian player to actually get through and actually start playing at the top.