Banter 2009/2010

Before the Palermo game: everything was beautiful
After the Palermo game: we need 10 new players
Before the Inter game: everything was again beautiful (and even more)
After the Inter game: we need new players

Actually, if I follow the rule on this forum nowadays, we have to win the 38 Serie A games to be ok ?

We lose one game against Inter, leader of Serie A (ok, it's our rival, which makes it harder to accept ...), and suddenly, the coach isn't good, the players are bad, etc.

We all know that we need at least one more very good CD, but we also know that we won't buy one in this mercato at 95% ...

So our main priorities should be:
- a CD
- a right winger if Leonardo plans to play with two strikers (Pato and Borri, then Hunter and ... Paloschi for example should be very needed next year as backups)

These two players to buy are the priorities of the priorities for this summer.

I don't say we would need a left winger because we have R80, so buying a quality right winger would allow us to have Pato in our strike force, in his real position, and if R80 or this new right winger has an injury, Pato can take their place (as well as Aadiyah if he is good enough).

If Leonardo still wants to play with only one striker next season, then we would need a left winger instead of the right one, but also a midfielder too.

The mainpriorities would become:
- a CD
- a left winger
- a midfielder

Then, for the fullbacks, seriously, if we don't get anyone but can buy these priorities, it will be ok ... a fullback would be the "cherry on the cake", but Abate and Antonini will still improve, and there is still Zambro, so buying a potential starter or buying a backup would both be ok.

No one said that Leo isn't good enough Geo. My problem is that there is no sign of any new players which we need as for the youth team players coming through for us like Barca , wel that happens every 15 - 20 years Ajax did it the Steau Bucharest did it , Ajax did it again and now Barca if we do it i'll be really pleasantly surprised but all the barca guy's were getting games here and there at 16/17 and doing really really well. Our young player's at 19 and 20 are no where near the bench let alone the first 11.

Originally Posted by bijon

I hope berlusconi sells the club instead of destroying it.

quite a destruction since we're the 2nd best team in italy these days?

Originally Posted by Jay Crisp

No one said that Leo isn't good enough Geo. My problem is that there is no sign of any new players which we need as for the youth team players coming through for us like Barca , wel that happens every 15 - 20 years Ajax did it the Steau Bucharest did it , Ajax did it again and now Barca if we do it i'll be really pleasantly surprised but all the barca guy's were getting games here and there at 16/17 and doing really really well. Our young player's at 19 and 20 are no where near the bench let alone the first 11.

You can find this kind of statement here and there on the forum ... look at after the Palermo game and on the Inter-Milan topic ...

Originally Posted by GeoTav

You can find this kind of statement here and there on the forum ... look at after the Palermo game and on the Inter-Milan topic ...

Fair comment I think Leo will do fantastic with what he has , and if Astori and Paloschi realise their potential with 3 good signings we will be on the road to success but until that happen's we will be as we are , which is better than people expected.

In my opinion, the so called Barca mode is difficult if not impossible to duplicate. The thing is, for that many great youngsters to all pop out at the same time like that takes a lot of luck, and I am talking about lottery winning type of luck. Looking back, Ajax and Man U were both taunted as the master of promoting their youngsters. Alex Ferguson promoted the Neville brothers, Beckham, Giggs, Butt and Scholes to replace his stars and had tremendous amount of success. Then what happened? Sir Alex still worked hard on recruiting young players from all over the world and gave plenty of opportunities to the youngsters, but he could never duplicate that success again. Ajax produced a whole bunch of great young players over the years but haven't been able to put together a good team for a few years now. In my memory, the only team that's been creating young stars consistently over the last decade is Arsenal, which is a team that our strategy is modeling after anyway.

The bottomline is, using the youth setup to build your first team is not a reliable enough strategy for a big team to follow. Talented young players don't always turn out to be Nesta, Kaka, Xavi, Messi or Ronaldo. Even the great Wenger and Ferguson have had their fair share of mistakes with youngsters. If we want to build an entire team based on our youth players, then we are taking a HUGE risk of becoming second rated very very soon.

Geo, the same problem has always been apparent......

We need a solid back-up CB, bcs everytime time Favalli and Kala filled in, we struggled BIG time defensively.... The fact that Favalli has started twice (or more?) before Kala means that the Georgian is gone at the end of season...

There is still time to buy, but it seems we all should be praying for Bonera to stay fit and perhaps feature in the Coppa, with Astori coming in January....

P.S, I think a Hunter/Baptista swap is fine, and sending DiGenarro out on loan is a good move.....

However, I don't blame our defeat solely on our CB problem..... I think we need a "bit" more than the return of Astori to be true Scudetto material......

We definitely need a penalty-box striker. Since Beckham has arrived, it's more obvious. The same problem happens as last year: Beckham provides 4-5 great crosses in every match but there's nobody to get at the end of them. Borriello is not good enough to get away from his marker and get at the end of the cross. Even if he does this, his finishing lets him down. Pato is even worse for that position because he's not penalty-box striker, but supporting striker. We should try Huntelaar. Inzaghi is great, but he's old now and cannot provide that every week. A great team can't afford to have a best crosser in the world in the team and nobody to use that crosses. That's our problem, since Shevchenko left: We didn't have a great penalty-box striker who can score on a consistent basis.

We're linked to Hernanes again today according to both Goal.com and milannews. I'm not sure how he's doing of late, but certainly I wouldn't mind having him as a long term prospect for Pirlo/Seedorf role, which I think he's suited perfectly for.

Paulo Henrique has also shown a preference to Milan according to milanews.

is nene from cagliari any good, i see leo is interested in him.

Originally Posted by ACMILAN1983

We're linked to Hernanes again today according to both Goal.com and milannews. I'm not sure how he's doing of late, but certainly I wouldn't mind having him as a long term prospect for Pirlo/Seedorf role, which I think he's suited perfectly for.

Paulo Henrique has also shown a preference to Milan according to milanews.

You beat me up on Hernanes news.

There´s a strong talk here in Brazil that Hernanes will be selled until the end of the january window.

Maybe it´s a coincidence, but São Paulo just bring back to Brazil Cleber Santana(A. de Madrid) that in his Santos time, played a similar role to Hernanes. Also, they bring Rodrigo Souto, a more defensive mid, but that can also play Hernanes role with less quality.

Hernanes agent said that he gave to São Paulo president 3 proposals from European clubs last tuesday, and since S. Paulo president didn´t deny it(until now), I tend to believe it´s true.

The agent also said that the values are near of what S. Paulo received last season(Barcelona offered 15 M), in others words, less money. But as he also pointed, the market now isn´t the same...

Regarding names, the press here is saying that the clubs are Milan, Inter(the other one isn´t being mentioned). Basically the same thing you hear from Italy. So, it´s better to wait and see...

But one thing appears to be true, 3 European clubs really sent to São Paulo a proposal for Hernanes...

Hernanes would be great! but I dont get my hopes on, our management is excellent at killing dreams and not making good transfers. fckers

Silf, I agree, the Barca model is hard to emulate. However, there are golden classes, like Man Utd's Neville brothers, Scholes, Giggs, and Beckham. Real with Guti, Raul, and Casillas. Milan with Baresi, Maldini, and Costacurta.

However, phases and dips in which one does not have success will happen whether you are raising players or buying them. I don't think Milan will simply rely on youth players for everything, but, in practical monetary terms, if the backbone of your team can come from your youth department, ten players for 500,000-1m each is better than 1 player for 10m who might fail.

The idea is that saving money on what you have to pay to bring what you need, lets you have more money to pay for what you want. Quite frankly, it is a model that does not guarentee success, but neither does throwing away money, look at Chelsea or Real. Plus, Barca's model has really shown that it is possible is one is very competitive on the market, and it might be necessary if certain UEFA rules come into effect.

Also, Man Utd has shown that their system isn't a one trick pony. They have brought up Darren Fletcher (a useful player), Johnny Evans, while bringing in the young talents of Macheda, Fabio and Rafael, and of course, Rossi. This is the sort of procedure I hope Milan begins to use, because I am very pleased with the way Antonini, Abate, and Borriello have come in for Milan. They are Milan raised, and have a connection to the club that is very unique, and it brings fans closer to the club as well.

When I say that Borriello doesn't perform in big games, I don't mean that he's not capable of scoring, its not the scoring aspect of the game that I find troubling with Borriello. He can score, and I'm sure he could be a consistent 15 goals a year striker, but that is not the problem, the problem is what he does in big games. The Inter game is a perfect example, this was the game where he was going to get the ball at his feet far more than he would in other games. Pirlo and Ronaldinho were man-marked, so Borriello will naturally see more of the ball. Now, if he creates some danger, then he shifts the attention of the other players, freeing up Dinho or Pirlo to do something. That is Borriello's weakness, he works so hard, he'll win the ball, and hold the ball up, and then... what? Nothing. I don't even want to get into the amount of crosses he messed up, but that's not the problem, every striker misses chances, and I think on another day, he could probably score, but the bigger issue is what he does with the ball when he's going to get more of it.

We need someone who can actually have a shot at getting 20 goals a season, and I think Pato could be that player. He has been playing as a second striker this season, and he has done a good job at that, but every time I watch him play, I see a young Ronaldo. He has the speed, strength on the ball (when he wants), and scoring instinct to really be the natural heir to Ronaldo. I sometimes think that his talent is being wasted as he is being molded into a playing style that doesn't take advantage of his best talents.

Anyways, with regards to Hernanes, maybe we will do the same thing we did with Thiago Silva, and buy him and let him settle for a few months before unleashing him next season?

Hernanes is non-EU sorry...

Right, so was Thiago Silva, and we bought him in January, and he stayed with the team for a few months before we could register him in the summer. I really hope this happens.

I think a midfield of Abate--Hernanes--Flamini would be great.