Summer mercato 2009

wish full thinking fret
it might come true

Originally Posted by Fret

Cafu is coming back?

thats a good one...

Originally Posted by Dutchie-Milan

Many have said it is a bit of a stupid idea,but i acctually think its a great idea,we need somebody who has the lungs to run up and down the flank for 90 minutes and he fits the profile,he has allot of energy and adds allot on the wing in attack,only in defense it can be a problem,but with Nesta and Silva the damage shoudnt be worse,and he does his defensive job on the midfield perfect,so why couldnt he do it at the fullback position?And he is young and already has played on the wing,so he can adapt.I think he could be the wingback we are looking for,great in attack and solid in defense,his workrate makes up for his limitness.

I say Abate is our new FB,with Zambro at left and Janku at midfield.I think its a great idea!

Dutchie, what we were trying to say (at least I was) was that Abate should be left in midfield because we don't want to waste him away within a year or two. Just because he has the speed to outrun opponents, doesn't mean that he can run the full 90. As I said before, the quality of crossing for our fullbacks tends to decrease within half to one year. If we put him in a position that will have him bomb up and down the entire line every game, we're going to wear him out really fast. Janku is a prime example of this: great engine, fast pace, great crossing when he was at Udinese (playing left Winger), we bring him in, he has two and a half decent years with us (I attribute this to his engine), and now look at him. It seems like everyone wants to replace him already.
We had a wonderful game of possession football last night against Juve, mostly thanks to him on our right flank. I don't want us to be doing this to someone whom I feel to be a potential Albertini successor.

Not even Maldini could last in our system at leftback, what with the increase in the pace of attacks and counter-attacks these days.
The only two engines that I've ever seen in modern football that have seriously surpassed my expectations have been Cafu and Serginho, its just too bad they're gone now.

Originally Posted by Ryo

Dutchie, what we were trying to say (at least I was) was that Abate should be left in midfield because we don't want to waste him away within a year or two. Just because he has the speed to outrun opponents, doesn't mean that he can run the full 90. As I said before, the quality of crossing for our fullbacks tends to decrease within half to one year. If we put him in a position that will have him bomb up and down the entire line every game, we're going to wear him out really fast. Janku is a prime example of this: great engine, fast pace, great crossing when he was at Udinese (playing left Winger), we bring him in, he has two and a half decent years with us (I attribute this to his engine), and now look at him. It seems like everyone wants to replace him already.
We had a wonderful game of possession football last night against Juve, mostly thanks to him on our right flank. I don't want us to be doing this to someone whom I feel to be a potential Albertini successor.

Not even Maldini could last in our system at leftback, what with the increase in the pace of attacks and counter-attacks these days.
The only two engines that I've ever seen in modern football that have seriously surpassed my expectations have been Cafu and Serginho, its just too bad they're gone now.

I think you're completely off base because you dont consider AGE at all....you have to realize he's 22. He can run alot and should be fine.

Dani Alves, Maicon, Evra all havent seen decline in crossing ability... its cause of there age. They are all under 28. Now consider zambrotta, oddo... in there prime they could play like those 3 i previously listed... perhaps not w/ alves' flair but equally effective... but hey after years of playing and going into your 30s you slow down.

Jankulovski came to milan at 28/9 which is why after a couple years you saw a decline in his engine.

Cafu... he was the total exception. But in general u cant expect a 30+ fb to be able to run the flank. abate is prime age to do it, and has the physique

Crossing quality is a question of precision in the feet. The feet dont change. What changes is that when you get to the byline after a full pitch sprint as opposed to being fresh while doing it - like a corner.

The decrease in quality of our crosses is due to our players having less stamina and thus being more tired after running down the flank and having to deliver the cross. The reason however, is not what I suspect Ryo thinks it is (or from how I understand his post), that it is because of wear and tear. Or well, it is, but that is because of the natural course of age, as Milano84 said... All our FBs recently have been 30+, but they were quite good back when they first arrived.

i definatley think that Abate can play RWB this season, at that point hopefully we get a true WB and move Abate back to mid

So the squad numbers are out:

1 - Nelson Dida
4 - Kaladze
5 - Oguchi Onyewu
7 - Alexandre Pato
8 - Rino Gattuso
9 - Filippo Inzaghi
10 - Clarence Seedorf
11 - Klaas Jan Huntelaar
12 - Christian Abbiati
13 - Alessandro Nesta
15 - Gianluca Zambrotta
16 - Mathieu Flamini
17 - Gianmarco Zigoni
18 - Marek Jankulovski
19 - Giuseppe Favalli
20 - Ignazio Abate
21 - Andrea Pirlo
22 - Marco Borriello
23 - Massimo Ambrosini
25 - Daniele Bonera
30 - Marco Storari
31 - Flavio Roma
33 - Thiago Silva
44 - Massimo Oddo
49 - Davide Di Gennaro
77 - Luca Antonini
80 - Ronaldinho


And what really surprised me was that Cardacio and Viudez have not been given squad numbers... Everyone else is on the list. What's going on with these two players? They didn't seem THAT bad when they played in friendlies earlier in the year.

So, this is our squad of "champions" this year then...

No matter what, this has been a disappointing summer not only for the loss of Kaka, but for the simple reason that B/G are not addressing the weaknesses in the squad. Thiago and Huntelaar are great signings, but what about our wingbacks? Bringing Oddo back is a waste of time and space IMO. What about getting rid of some "deadweights"? Instead, we extend their contracts.

It is quite sad that we cannot even afford to spend 10-15M on a quality fullback. No one is asking for big, expensive signings, just the basics...Hopefully, B/G still have something up their sleeves and prove us all wrong, but for now, this is looking like the squad we have...

I think we could use Matías Fernández, I love how this guy plays he is a attacking mid.

This squad wont take us far,the first squad is in my opinion world class with a bunch of hard working players(read: Gattuso,Flamini)and a bunch of creative players(read: Pirlo,Dinho,Seedorf).We have a great attack with Pato and Huntelaar.We have a great goalkeeper in Abbiati,who i assume will be fit sooner then later.

But like everybody said,if one of the players gets injured,its over,and i really mean just one,if Zambro will get injured,we will suddenly see the comeback of....Oddo,if Nesta gets hurt at his back then we will see.....Onyewu.....

We can only get some injuries in midfield,as we have Abate,Ambrosini and maybe Strasser as good backups,but thats it,in attack if we loose Pato we have a BIG problem.

Its funny acctually,if you look at the size of the squad then there are 27 players available,whom 16 are on the bench,but from all of the 16 players nobody is Milan-material,except Ambro,Abate....thats just pathetic,we acctually have 14 players who are deadweight,not just Kala,Favagol(although i like Favalli).

Well some good news from Gazzetta,they say that there is a good chance that De Silvestri will be heading towards us,Oddo doesnt want a Lazio move so Milan have offered Kaladze instead,and Lazio were looking for reinforcements in the back,so Kaladze will be a solution,only the wages are a big obstacle.We will see...

As Berlusconi has built a reputation of being very stubborn, after his announcement that there will be no more signings this summer, i must admit that im not very optimistic about seeing anymore new faces before the start of the season. I think de silvestri would have been a great buy, as zambrotta isnt getting any younger and oddo is just not good enough. so bar a miracle, i think we will have to make do with what we've got.

I think that new signings depends on wether or not we can get rid off some of all the 'deadweight'. I have a feeling that the management feels the squad is to big, which is probably why they seem so eager to do exchange deals.

After seeing Fabregas play hurt for Arsenal, i wonder if there's anyone who's still optimistic about getting him? Berlu has been absolutely disgraceful in the comments he's made. Sell the club NOW

The squad actually is too big.

But if Oddo decides to sit his contract out no matter how clear the club makes it that they don't want him, there's no choice.