Summer Mercato

ok, well now that the window is oficially closed, i'll give my mercato ratings to the top 5 clubs of italy..... i'll start w/ AC Milan...(each post will be kinda lengthy)

Milan 7.5/10- This is undoubtedly a huge improvement from the last 2 mercato where id give a 3 and a 1. However that being said there are still huge holes. Coming into this season, milan embarassingly finished 5th in a WEAK serie A. Juv off promotion, fiorentina and roma cannot compete financially with milan. Only inter should have been a real challenge over a long season. However what happened happened, the key is to move on and become smarter because of. Milan needed to get younger first and foremost. Get a real CF, reinforce midfield, sign 2 quality defenders, and a gk. Doing this all while adding youth to there depth, and creating some sort of wide play. I would have proposed eto'o/berbatov for CF, flamini in mf, zapata, d. alves, and boruc. Sure it would have cost more, but if milan is to be a top club, they ned to spend on occasion, like we did in 2001/2002.
-I'll break down the signings like this 7/10 attack
-9/10 mif
-5/10 defense
-In attack we added ronaldinho....clearly a world class talent, but not te player milan needed. Milan needed a player ot bang goals in, not another playmaker. For the CF position, borriello was brought back... a talent, but largely an underacheiving 1 with 1 positive season at age 26. A definite gamble, and 1 milan did not need to take after the likes of oliviera, ronaldo and gilardino flopping.... Finally they brought back sheva, a player who was useless at chelsea, he may add something to the squad but i think he's a step in wrong direction. Instead of bringing in a younger FASTEr option, we bring in aslower declining one.
-Flamini was undoubtedly the coup of the summer. He is already better than gattuso and ambro, and he came on a free. His workrate, tackling, and surprising skill will enhance milans midfield which had been tired and slow in the last season
-Defense: where to begin. Zambrotta is undoubtely a great FB, but he is 31. He will improve the defense, but not for the lang haul. Antonini is a largely unknown quantity, but i reall doubt he'll be more than a squad player to change up tactics. Finally senderos, this 1 is interesting. He shows flashes of brilliance and is only 23. I think italian style will suit him, and he could be a steal.... if he turns out well, and we keep him, ill upgrade the rating of this mercato a point. Finally gk..... We have 3 keepers, none-wc. Hence we stil lack a true GK. Last eyars most gaping hole in defense was still unaddressed.
-Milan did enhance there squad, but they didnt enhance it fully, I still wonder if they can challenge for the scudetto. IF borriello can hold genoa form, IF Senderos can play to his potential, IF Abbiati can put a successful season than yes, milan will. But the purpose of a mercato is to bring in players that WILL do something, not question marks. and for that, i cannot rate milan higher than 7.5.

(next juventus)

^ the Average of your scores is 7 NOT 7.5
I'd give the Mercato a 7.5 too but it could have soooo easily been an "8" or 9
One great gk +1.5

JUVENTUS- 7/10

On the surface milan had a much more successful mercato, however Juve without making too much noise, had a very efficient mercato. They could have gotten more cover, however, they did reinforce and enhance there squad. Coming into the mercato, it was clear they needed to reinforce there CM. Zanetti, nocerino and sissoko worked hard, and sissoko was a big of a surpirse, however they were still lacking. Also with aging stars like pavel nedved, del peiro, they needed to inject some youth. Finally the found a star in cheillini, however still needed to reenforce the defense.
attack- 7.5/10
midfield 7/10
defense 6/10
Signings in all 3 areas were solid, however known jumped out at you as having superstar potential, except the recalling of giovinco.
first...
-attack: Juve's biggest money signing came with Amauri. Amauri is a versitile enough to play with both del piero and trezeguet (and iquinta). I personally think they overpaid for a talented player who stil hadnt shown tooo much in his entire career. Undoubtedly, they did reenforce there attack, which was already good. The only question is, at that price, they could have gotten perhaps samuel eto'o or a better and perhaps younger CF. Giovinco, being recalled i think was the best move of the summer for juve. (I'm going to list him in attack). I think he's undoubtedly a star in the future, and one to take over del piero/nedved's playmaking duties. I hope to see him play this season (not against milan)
-Midfield, again they recalled marchisio, who they have high expectations for. And they signed christian poulsen. Poulsen, is an underrated player in my opinion. He is hardnoised with some technical qualities. He will fit nicely into juve's midfield scheme. Although i rate flamini higher, poulsen is good. Juve should lost points for not following through on signing flamini a player they clearly needed more than milan. Again he's not as exciting a signing as ronaldinho, but he is an efficient one
-finally defense: They brought in mellberg on a free. Mellberg is a solid defender and will enhance any teams defense. With cheillini and leggrotalie as the starters and mellberg as 3rd choice CB, they seem solid in back. Like nesta in milan, cheillini is a necessity. At LB, they r still vunerable. Juve opted to go with youth, and bring de ceglie back. Giving them two young LBs of promise. Although either could turn into future azzuri LB, and great defender, now they r weak. Perhaps they would have been better suited signing an exerienced 29-31 year old LB to platoon with 1 of the younger two. Right now, they clearly sit with a weakness on left flank.

-it is also to be noted, juve signed iago, the highly rated barca youth winger, perhaps a future replacement of nedved/camorenesi.... Juve still have holes, and r thin, especially if they sustain some injuries, peticularly in back (like to cheillini now). They did improve there squad, however would need ALOT to fall into place to challenge for scudetto, similar to milan they r banking on certain players to play to potential, not to known capabilities. However the inclusion of all the youth in the squad, is a positive for the future....

next Inter

Originally Posted by drucurl

^ the Average of your scores is 7 NOT 7.5
I'd give the Mercato a 7.5 too but it could have soooo easily been an "8" or 9
One great gk +1.5

the 3 scores r not to be averaged. yeah i rate flamini as best signing but he was only MF signing.... we signed 3 attackers, so averaging his 9 and there 7 isnt an 8. Eitherway, im basing overall score on many factors.... for example.... coming into mercato we didnt "NEED MF" so even if we got a 10/10 on signings there it doesnt mean we had a good mercato if we didnt sign any attackers (our weakness) and then ust breaking down sectional scores for ****s and giggles..

Inter with the late mercato additions, perhaps the best. Of all teams they needed the "LEAST". They are two time champions, clearly 1st place needs less than 5th. That being said they r not w/o holes.
I rate inter 8.5!

-Not to be discounted is the addition of a top quaity coach, mourinho. Mourinho is a winner, he's never finished below 2nd in league, and infact rarely lost league. I expect he'll adapt to italy fast, and bring excitement to serie A. Perhap the biggest knock on inter was there tactics in big games (CL v. liverpool, against us etC) Mourinho will fix that.

-They brought in 3 first team players all of whom address there weakness. I cant really break down positionly rating considering they signed 2 wingers and a CM, so i'll just explain.

With mourinho's swing to a 4-3-3, they were desperatly in need of playmakers on flanks. LAst year no1 would accuse inter of dancing around, they were very pragmatic, but successful at it. They won with power, not grace. They signed the best winger on the market, quaresma and the best winger in italy lst 2 seasons, mancini. Along with figo (read: Inter's age answer to pippo/favalli/maldini) and balotelli, they now have appropriate flank, width options. How fast quaresma adapts to italy is unknown, but w/ figo there helpin him, i think itll be quicker than we expect. They may have paid alot fo him, but he is 24 and considered one of most promising talents. If he turns more onsistant, no1 will question the transfer fee. 2nd Mancini is proven in serie A. He is not a perfect player, but he is efficient and adds flair to there team. more importantly there 2 signings give mourinho a wealth of options. 4-3-3 (2 wingers or 1 winger) 4-4-2 with 2 wingers or 1 winger or no wingers. He can really change his tactics however he sees fit.
-3rd signings sulley muntari is my favorite of the bunch. I mentioned him on this board al ong time ago and people said avg player. I think he is indeed a top class plaeyr. He turned 24, 1 week ago, so he adds much needed youth to tha midfield. He is technical, versitile, put also powerful. him + cambiasso who is now 28, could be 1 of the best CM combos in serie A for a few years. wih viera aging, and stankovic and dacourt avg, this was a good addtion.
-the only negative, was the inability to capture lampard, or perhaps some1 a little more offensive. However muntari may prove to be a better serie A player than frank (although i would have liked to see an english player try abroad)
-not to be lost is the addition of adriano, he is the ideal CF type for mourinhos system. I think he could be due for a big year, however with his head its anyones guess....
-finally defense, this is where i knock inter, they had the best defense in serie A last yea, and still possess best FBs (maicon, maxwell, chivu) However there CD has been hit by injuries, they clearly could have used cover here, and didnt get some. With som luck for us,the injuries could cost them lots of points early on.

-Inter are still the team to beat, they have the ability to grind out a result better than anyone in top 4. They r not unbeatable, but they are more consistant than anyone else in serie A. They reinforced, and will be a factor in scudetto race all season

finally, because im tired, and well i need to get back towork I'll condense roma and fiorentina to 1 post.

Roma- 6/10
fiorentina 7-10

roma- i think addition of menez last minute may help them forge about loss of mancini but it still points out fact tey bought a young (probably more talented player) but not nearly as good player as of TODAY. Baptista i also think was a good signing, he will fit spaletti's tactics, and i think will score a fair amount of goals. Perhaps a return to beast of sevilla. And lastly, keeping aquilani was a huge move for them. Theystill englected there need for a true CF. With totti, still not healthy and aging, they need some1. neither vucinic, baptista or menez r that player.... Still roma has de rossi, mexes, juan, panucci, doni and a list of other very good players, they will stay top 4, but farther off the title.

Fiorentina. They enhanced there team all around. Gilardino will rediscover form for them, and give them a consistant presense infront of goal. Vargas was the LB Milan and juve should have signed. Felipe Melo is a promising young MF. Fiorentina also has lots of youth already, osvaldo, montolivo, pazzini ec etc etc. Last year the grew up fast and took a top 4 spot. I expect more growng pains largely because other teams reinforced more so, but if this team stays together they could win scudetto in a few years.

Originally Posted by drucurl

At the start of the summer we needed:
1) To improve width (good wingers or fast skillful wing backs)
-We've sort of placed a band-aid on this problem with the acquisition of Zambrotta. Antonini is a good squad player and we might have done better in keeping Abate. However there are questionmarks over Zambrotta's form (to me Bologna isn't a REAL test) and his physical ability (PACE, STAMINA) will decline sooner rather than later.......my preferences aside, it seemed common sense to buy someone younger, faster and more skillful like Vargas, Rafinha or Alves or even to scout a hotshot South American speedster. To me Zambrotta, with all due respect to him because he STILL is a fantastic player-is the cheap way out. Seeing Inter getting Quaresma- a demand of a serious coach like Mourinho hurt too.

2)A WC GK- Dida is the most talented of the three we have and that says a lot. Abbiatti is and will never be anything special. He won't give up soft goals and was cerntainly not to blame for the loss but he won't offer anything special. He can't save us. Goals that are generally supposed to score WILL score with him between the sticks. Kalac =0.

3)ST- To me $heva is old, slow and past it. He has lost his legendary pace and his shot selection of late is worse than Paloschi's. He IS however a "Milan Legend" (note the quotation marks) and will excite many who will get nostalgic because of his past heroics. To me (formerly his biggest fan and once equated him with Ronaldo ) his mere presence is an insult to us both morally and in footballing terms. As much as I disliked the Idea of Adebayor I would have welcomed him more as a player with pace, potential and POWER rather than the premiership assault victim. Even more disturbing is the fact that Ancelotti HIMSELF has indicated in interviews how he feels about $heva. I fear, if the order of subsitutions vs Bologna is anything to go by that the powers that be have coerced him to place $heva on the field even to the detriment of Pato

4) CB- I actually like Senderos but he's no Nesta that's for sure. Milan's defense minus Nesta isn't pretty. I hope he enhances our tradditionally weak defense of set pieces.

5)Flamini- this one has the lot of us singing management's praises but ANOTHER CDM ARE YOU KIDDING ME ?? I mean kudos for shipping Brocchi out and all but what are we to do with Rino, Ambro, Pirlo and Emerson.....Rino had a poor year that's for sure but ONE bad season doesn't justify replacing a mainstay of the team like Gattuso....and it certainly isn't a priority over the other needs that we have.

Flamini is GREAT make no mistake and he does the job of Rino, Ambro and to some extent Pirlo better BUT he wasn't needed....unless of course the intention was to field him as a fullback in which case there are many better.......aaah but therein lies a tale.....he came for free

6) Ronaldinho. The wildcard. The player who will make this whole post look like utter and complate nonesense if (again "IF" ) he gets back to his pre-2006 form. Of course he clogs up a spot that is relatively full with Kaka and Seedorf (much like Flamini's arrival at CDM) and he might have to play out of position or have other players out of position, which may not be a bad thing but on the other hand could potentially be our undoing. ATM Kaka is the best CAM in the WORLD and though he is probably also the most versatile attacker I have seen in a long time, he plays in exactly the same position as R80 and has never seemed to click on the field with him.

7)Borriello- a player who passed the 12 goal mark ONCE in his career....now touted by Galliani as being better than Huntelaar He may well be, but this is the seventh uncertainty

8)Viudez/Cardaccio- unproven in the big leagues and AGAIN arriving at a very cheap price.....I won't comment on these guys until after the season, but a rule of thumb is that the best young talents are heard of looong before they go to big teams....we all heard of Pato and Kaka before they came to Milan......

1. Zambrotta is an absolute right choice for a full back, someone who can actually defend and attack. Having some of the more attacking fullbacks you named will expose our already fragile defense. However, we could have done better on the other flank with a more attacking full back or simply keeping abate. Jaku is just too inconsistent.

2. Dida is talented no doubt but abbiati is no less talented. Abbiati is the BEST keeper i have ever seen in a 1-1 situation and has simply the fastest reflex for a goalkeeper but sadly like dida, he seem to have lost all that. I am not sure we will see the same abbiati as the one in the past. We do need a WC keeper but our management doesn't want to splash out on that.

3. Sheva is just a romantic transfer, i don't mind him taking a spot on the bench but that's about it. Pato and inzaghi should play ahead of him.

4. No comment on Senderos but we could have done better and this is an area where we need improvement.

5. Flamini wasn't needed? You must be kidding. I will drop rino and ambro in a heartbeat to play Flamini, if we are going to play with 2 DM in a lot of games then we need at least 3 DM to rotate. Emerson is just a backup.

6. Ronaldinho is starting to show his class, getting him is simply a smart buy. And the fact that kaka is getting injuried pretty often and overplayed in the past few seasons with seedorf getting much stick for his performances, we can surely do with ronaldinho.

7. Borriello, a crazy buy IMO. He did play decently before he do drugs and while at genoa but i am not sure he is what we need. Another gila?

8. Nothing to comment about some kids, not sure how good they are. We do buy some youngsters every year and eventually they just disappear.....

Originally Posted by Milano84

the 3 scores r not to be averaged. yeah i rate flamini as best signing but he was only MF signing.... we signed 3 attackers, so averaging his 9 and there 7 isnt an 8. Eitherway, im basing overall score on many factors.... for example.... coming into mercato we didnt "NEED MF" so even if we got a 10/10 on signings there it doesnt mean we had a good mercato if we didnt sign any attackers (our weakness) and then ust breaking down sectional scores for ****s and giggles..

I was totally kidding about the 'average' thing and for the most part agree with your post

most part post?


ps: i'm surprised i havent been mauled for rating juve and inter so high..... maybe i should guzzle some kool-aid and repost milan 10, inter 0, juve -4

Originally Posted by mrki

Dinho - in his debut game he:
-asisted for goal
-in first half made 2 perfect passes to Pippo but pippo missed one and was late for one ( the one with looking the other way)
-created 300% chnce for Sheva
-earned penalty that wasnt given, CLEAR penalty
-2nd half, one 100% chnce for Pippo who misses from 5 meters, shoots at GK
Trust me, Dinho is a phenomenon, he cant loose what he has in himself. We hit a jackpot.

We can't be gushing and calling him a phenomenon after one game, especially a loss against a promoted squad. Let's see if he can keep this up on a consistent basis.

official: Man city made a big offer to my grandmother and it seems to be a done deal .

my god when I heard this name it makes me to forget football at all cuze thay are after every single player on earth

ronaldinho again , kaka bla bla bla ....

friend of mine is a cousin of Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim...maybe I could get some inside info for their transfers, that would be crazy.. I'll try to ask him around December what are they planning to do in the Jan market and you'll hear it here first!

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

friend of mine is a cousin of Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim...maybe I could get some inside info for their transfers, that would be crazy.. I'll try to ask him around December what are they planning to do in the Jan market and you'll hear it here first!

I hope my grandmother is on thair transfer list

Originally Posted by Milano84

JUVENTUS- 7/10

On the surface milan had a much more successful mercato, however Juve without making too much noise, had a very efficient mercato. They could have gotten more cover, however, they did reinforce and enhance there squad. Coming into the mercato, it was clear they needed to reinforce there CM. Zanetti, nocerino and sissoko worked hard, and sissoko was a big of a surpirse, however they were still lacking. Also with aging stars like pavel nedved, del peiro, they needed to inject some youth. Finally the found a star in cheillini, however still needed to reenforce the defense.
attack- 7.5/10
midfield 7/10
defense 6/10
Signings in all 3 areas were solid, however known jumped out at you as having superstar potential, except the recalling of giovinco.
first...
-attack: Juve's biggest money signing came with Amauri. Amauri is a versitile enough to play with both del piero and trezeguet (and iquinta). I personally think they overpaid for a talented player who stil hadnt shown tooo much in his entire career. Undoubtedly, they did reenforce there attack, which was already good. The only question is, at that price, they could have gotten perhaps samuel eto'o or a better and perhaps younger CF. Giovinco, being recalled i think was the best move of the summer for juve. (I'm going to list him in attack). I think he's undoubtedly a star in the future, and one to take over del piero/nedved's playmaking duties. I hope to see him play this season (not against milan)
-Midfield, again they recalled marchisio, who they have high expectations for. And they signed christian poulsen. Poulsen, is an underrated player in my opinion. He is hardnoised with some technical qualities. He will fit nicely into juve's midfield scheme. Although i rate flamini higher, poulsen is good. Juve should lost points for not following through on signing flamini a player they clearly needed more than milan. Again he's not as exciting a signing as ronaldinho, but he is an efficient one
-finally defense: They brought in mellberg on a free. Mellberg is a solid defender and will enhance any teams defense. With cheillini and leggrotalie as the starters and mellberg as 3rd choice CB, they seem solid in back. Like nesta in milan, cheillini is a necessity. At LB, they r still vunerable. Juve opted to go with youth, and bring de ceglie back. Giving them two young LBs of promise. Although either could turn into future azzuri LB, and great defender, now they r weak. Perhaps they would have been better suited signing an exerienced 29-31 year old LB to platoon with 1 of the younger two. Right now, they clearly sit with a weakness on left flank.

-it is also to be noted, juve signed iago, the highly rated barca youth winger, perhaps a future replacement of nedved/camorenesi.... Juve still have holes, and r thin, especially if they sustain some injuries, peticularly in back (like to cheillini now). They did improve there squad, however would need ALOT to fall into place to challenge for scudetto, similar to milan they r banking on certain players to play to potential, not to known capabilities. However the inclusion of all the youth in the squad, is a positive for the future....

next Inter

I'd give Juve 5 at most.

- They brought in a striker that they didn't really need. their biggest transfer was for a area they didn't need reinforcing. I also think he will be a little bit of a flop, especially considering he needs to deliver close to what DP/Trez did.
- On their midfield they also didn't bring in what they needed. With already three DM they brought in another one. Getting back giovinco was what they needed though, although I wonder how much he will end up playing.
- their defense didn't change much. Mellberg is just another number in the pot. De Ceglie a offensive improvement over Molinaro, but since he played much as a winger last season I see that position as a sore spot still.

Benzema is still a Lyon's player, right? So Maybe next season, who knows...