Banter 2009/2010

Dzeko looks good when he plays in the Bundesliga witha pretty good team that has won the Bundesliga last year.. I would like to see him against better opposition before making a valid opinion on whether he can be our next world class striker but I agree with mrki..dzeko is already a milan player.

Zarates numbers suck...but he plays for one of the worst teams I've seen.. This lazio team is utter crap and he has lost confidence..put him alongside a few great players and just eatch him. He is only 21 and I am confident he's going to be one of the best, only if he leaves lazio.

The only bad thing I have about Zarate is actually the fact that he dribbles WAY too much. He over does it and it it's bad for the team. His own teammates are iritated with him when he gets the ball. He'll be a much much better player if he actually lays off the dribbling and makes different decisions at times.


I agree with Mrki about Bonucci. It would be a shame if this summer we don't snap up a great young CB. Bonucci has actually impressed me so much that I am convinced he can be starting material. That way we can some times (when Bonucci is on the field) move Silva to a RB spot. Silva will be an unbeliavable RB (whenever we decide to use him there), I have no doubt about it.

Originally Posted by Christian

Don't think you can just compare the numbers like that and then make any kind of conclusion about the two players. They're completly different players, Zarate plays as a support striker next to Rocchi, while Dzeko is a true 9. I mean, it would be more fair to compare Zarate to someone like Cassano, who has a similar record to him.

I get what you're saying though, Zarate has his faults for sure. He's still a great player, there's few people who can dribble like him. but he does have a knack for scoring incredible goals, which I guess is why alot of people overrate him a bit.

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Dzeko looks good when he plays in the Bundesliga witha pretty good team that has won the Bundesliga last year.. I would like to see him against better opposition before making a valid opinion on whether he can be our next world class striker but I agree with mrki..dzeko is already a milan player.

Zarates numbers suck...but he plays for one of the worst teams I've seen.. This lazio team is utter crap and he has lost confidence..put him alongside a few great players and just eatch him. He is only 21 and I am confident he's going to be one of the best, only if he leaves lazio.

I agree that Zarate is a support striker, he started 33, scored 13 and assisted 8. That was impressive for a club like Lazio. This season he started 25, scored only 3 but managed to assist 4 times.

I also agree that there a few players that can dribble like him, everyone (know something about football) saw him play must say that.

But I disagree that he is playing for one of the worst teams. I do not totally deny this claim, but I think it is more appropriate to say that: His presence makes Lazio one of the worst teams. Because:

1. His price (20M) was a great expense for Lazio, they can not really upgrade their squad after that.

2. His play-style does not help Lazio much and is easy to cope with.

(1) is almost certain, I expain about (2) now:

What is his strong point: dribble. And how does he play? Most of the time we saw him dribble.

And weak point: shooting & off the ball movement.

First season he has the shoot in goal / total shoots: 59/133 (44%, not good but OK) but goal / shoot = 1/10 (13/133). That was crazy. If Lazio want a goal from him, they must let him shoot 10 times. Of course, his dribbling skill can help him, but dribbling alone is not enough, especially in Serie A. And each time a player dribbles pass another, a large amount of energy was used up, if he does not calculate well, he has no power remain to shoot properly.

Cope up with dribbler is easy, especially when this player dribble like crazy. Defenders just need cooperate with each other, positioning how to tire him the most and block his pass way. Of course crazy dribbler begin his move early and can not think about others than dribbling well enough.

This season, when Serie A know how he plays. Goals / shoots in goal / total shoots: 3 / 36 / 133. Not only the precision 27% is not acceptable, now he can only score 1 goal after 12 shoot in goal or after 44 shoots.

Let's watch our worst shooter - Borri: 10 / 22 / 60. 1 goal after 6 attempts is not so great but the ball needs only to go precisely twice to guarantee a goal. Borri is still a very good striker, at least in comparision with Zarate.

It is good to have good dribbler but it is really bad to have good but brainless dribbler. Because teamwork will be affect a lot, in wrong way. Teams use good passing & movement like Milan don't need this kind of player.

You might say: Dribbling is still a good thing, almost great attackers, except penalty box strikers, are good dribbler, but the opposite is not right. Remember Denilson, Ortega,...?

Dribbling must be in calcuation process of an attacker in order to score, not only satisfy his desire to beat other man in skill.

Dribbling is only counted as good when after a player dribbled he can still come up with a good shoot or pass. This is how Messi play.

Forward must move himself to a postion where there are less obstacles as possible or he can use his skill, speed, agility to move there. Dribbling is only one of things can help him besides height, speed, one touch, heading, shooting,...

I happy that Pato are going this way day by day. His movement is good and when he finishes, he always choose the option with highest chance to score.

Adriano is a brainless dribbler, too. That was the reason why 40 years old Costacuta can stop him. But he is still one of the best striker in his prime thank to his world best heigh, strengh, speed, heading, shooting in addition to dribbling. Zarate has only speed & dribbling.

Amauri is another brainless dribbler + height, strength, speed. Shooting & heading are so so.

Juventus was wrong in Amauri but Lazio was even worse.

To sumarize, I just want to conclude: Milan don't need brainless dribbler and Pippo is the most intelligent striker of all time.

Aficio.
OK, so his decision making leaves a lot to be desired, and he hogs the ball a lot, bt so did CRISTIANO RONALDO at around the same age! after PROPER MAN-MANAGEMENT, we all know the rest of cr9's story. i believe Leo, after what he did with dinho, can be Zarate's SAF.
P.S.
i clearly remember saying a ZARATE-TYPE, (someone who can, when he's willing as you've mentioned, create chances for himself and others) not neccesarily Zarate. Its the IDEA OF THE PLAYER and not the PLAYER himself, that i refer to.

I'm not sure if Lukaku is really that great, because I haven't watched him for more than two or three matches. He scored in them, and he does not play like a 16 year old, but I'm not sure if I'd pay 15 million for him, mostly because I haven't seen enough. From what I have seen, he seems to be a massive talent. To be 16 and to have that skill set, is truly amazing. I mean, if we did buy him, we'd have a striker for ten years of service, and he'd be 27 at that point, not even his peak (28-31 is typically a player's peak).

I don't think Milan is a team that just buys old players. [Ages when bought] Oliveira (25), Gila (22), Gourcuff (19), Kaka (20), Pato (17), Thiago Silva (24), Flamini (24), Vogel (28), Janku (27), Borriello (25), Bonera (24), not to mention the various Grimi, Mattioni, Viudez, Tabarez, etc.

Regardless, I think that Milan has definitley need to get some new faces in here. I would love to have more Bonera-type of transfers (without the injuries) and I think its interesting the sorts of players that Milan are being linked to. The obvious ones we can throw out are the Torres-type rumors, but, there are others that I think are very interesting: most importantly Montolivo.

Sure, it wasn't major, but, I think Montolivo would be one of the most important purchases for Milan. Fiorentina is seemingly in turmoil, European football is not guarenteed, and I honestly think that this year Montolivo has actually fulfilled his hype. He has done little things differently, given the ball away less, passed smarter, moved better, and they've all added up to seeing Montolivo really playing well this year.

If Dzeko really is 40 million, then I say forget about him. I think Dzeko is amazing, but, I'd rather put the 40 million in other places and keep Huntelaar, or take Lukaku or something. However, I hope that Milan plays smart and keeps our transfers mostly from Serie A.

I know that this is probably going to be wrong, and Berlu will let me down. But, I get the sense that things are going to change. Berlu maybe realizes that he can't get rid of Leonardo, because he's doing well. Ancelotti's removal was seen as mutually beneficial, but I don't think Berlu gets to survive removing Leonardo, but also, why would he want to, he gets to look like the genius (or claim to be), appointing Leonardo. But Berlu finds himself in a tough spot, because he clearly needs to give Leonardo funds to do his job.

That's why I think we're seeing something different coming up this year. I think we'll see smart moves, Yepes was the first one. Watch him play, he's done very well this season especially. Getting him for free and paying his wages, is the least of our troubles. He'll be more useful than Kaladze, that's for sure.

I'm probably just delusional, but I can see us grabbing Mexes, Montolivo, and Dzeko. Huntelaar is clearly going to fund any potential Dzeko move, but, Mexes and Monto, (Mexes more than Monto) seem like likely Milan candidates. I think we'll see some real new faces at Milan, I honestly have this weird feeling that it will happen. Yepes and Mancini are not typical Milan transfers, Yepes because he actually is worth it (unlike Emerson, etc) and Mancini because it was Leonardo's actual wish and addressed a need that Milan had. This is maybe just a blip in Milan's transfer strategy, but, I think with Leonardo's success we're seeing something new happening.

Originally Posted by Nalx

Did anybody ever see this kid play? I mean in full games not just highlights. Much as I want our team to rejuvenate, don't you guys think that with Pato, Zigoni, Paloschi (if he returns) and Aidiyah we have enough young strikers?

Or maybe B&G have a plan to send him to the primavera team like Aidiyah and Zigoni because starting from next season, this competition is our top priority

I have seen him play, many games. I'm from belgium and I follow every big belgian talent, and Lukaku IS worth all the hype. This guy really is amazing for a 16yo, he's already topscorer in the belgian league + scored 2 vs ajax in the europa league, + a brilliant run/assist vs Dinamo Zagreb and a goal vs Athletic bilbao; So he also delivers in europe.

But I dont think we can/will sign him, theres no way we can get him for only 15m!! His favourite team is Chelsea and they are totally crazy about this kid, they try to sign him for more than a year now. His price will be at least 20-25m, and chelsea has got this money!!

Also his father, who was a pro footballer himself wants him to stay in belgium for a few more years, and Romelu thinks the same way, he is a smart kid

Originally Posted by Christian

Don't think you can just compare the numbers like that and then make any kind of conclusion about the two players. They're completly different players, Zarate plays as a support striker next to Rocchi, while Dzeko is a true 9. I mean, it would be more fair to compare Zarate to someone like Cassano, who has a similar record to him.

I get what you're saying though, Zarate has his faults for sure. He's still a great player, there's few people who can dribble like him. but he does have a knack for scoring incredible goals, which I guess is why alot of people overrate him a bit.

Yeah i just think he has an exciting style w/ no result ...... I'm increasingly feeling same way about lavezzi too...


Cassano does more though..... 19 assists in 65 games in 2 years. wow

Now this is exactly what I want to know. I've been googling about this kid, and while I'm saving my opinion until I see him play a couple of times, I must say I'm impressed with his answers in some interviews. A talented kid and a humble heart isn't a common sight nowadays *cough-Balo-cough* Thanks a lot Filipez 182

You know, Balo might not be all bad. If you think about it, he hates Inter, obviously because he's a massive Milan fan, but, he continued to work hard, score goals, and play for the club no matter what.

I think that shows a lot of his character. The fact that he doesn't want bow down to Mourinho (if reports are to be believed) than more power to him. I'd love to have Balotelli play for Milan.

I remember last year Mou said something like these after their training session "If Balo gives just 50% of what he's capable of he can be the best striker in the world. Sadly he only gives 25% (or less than that I don't remember exactly)".

Then after Mariga's arrival Mou was referring to Balo again when saying "someone who doesn't develop after training with champs like Zanetti must have only one neuron".

That's saying a lot about his "hard work" isn't it?

Dzeko is also a Milanisti, yet I never read the news about him making a fuss in his team

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Lukaku seems good and now would be the ideal time to buy him before his price reaches a minimum of 35 million...however right now he will not be able to help us.

Right now we need a world-class striker in the mold of Zarate, Villa, Balotelli but someone like Dzeko might be okay if he turns out to be as great in Milan as he is in Wolfsburg. One thing for sure -- Hunter and Boriello are not the players that will win us the Serie A or the CL. As most have mentioned we need that player to score 20+ goals each year consistently just like Sheva. I have a feeling that player could be Pato but I don't know why they don't want to play him as a CF.

Because he's not CF, he's too weak. Perhaps he was CF back in Brazil, but he was 16-17 years old, and truth to be told he was very strong for his age. The problem is that he didn't developed his body, not a bit, since then. How the players who's pushed up easily by Arbeloa can succeed as a CF in physical game like nowdays?! He can, but only if he's Inzaghi, and to be real Inzaghi is one and only.

Shevchenko wasn't CF also, he was second striker. He played CF in 2003/2004 just because Inzaghi was injured and Ancelotti though that it was better to play Rui Costa than Tomasson. But, Shevchenko succeeded as a CF because he had strength beside intelligence.

Anyway, it's a waste to play a capable player like Pato (or Sheva back then) as CF, because he gives much more as a SS. That's why I want us to play with two strikers, not three.

Nalx, stop ruining my Balotelli fantasy. Haha. I know he has attitude problems, I'm just trying to convince myself that somehow if he came to Milan, things would be great.

A few transfer updates. Dzeko's given a hint that Milan won't get him as he's said that he never said he wanted to play in Italy and is open to offers.

Also we're apparently offering 10m euros for Getafe's Pedro Leon after Braida was impressed by him. Admittedly I know very little about him, but from what I gather he's a talented youngster who plays on the right of midfield.

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Dzeko looks good when he plays in the Bundesliga witha pretty good team that has won the Bundesliga last year.. I would like to see him against better opposition before making a valid opinion on whether he can be our next world class striker but I agree with mrki..dzeko is already a milan player.

i hope you're right about dzeko being a milan player already because i think he is a top class striker. i've been watching wolfsburg games just for him and he is an amazing talent.

as for what he can do against better opposition: he scored against Man U during the CL group stages in both the home and away matches. Also had a goal against CSKA Moscow and Besiktas (admittedly not great teams, although CSKA is in the quarters). personally i think he will be great anywhere he plays.

Originally Posted by ACMILAN1983

A few transfer updates. Dzeko's given a hint that Milan won't get him as he's said that he never said he wanted to play in Italy and is open to offers.

Also we're apparently offering 10m euros for Getafe's Pedro Leon after Braida was impressed by him. Admittedly I know very little about him, but from what I gather he's a talented youngster who plays on the right of midfield.

Yes, he is a RM, 23 years old, 1m82.

This season he started 25 games (starter ), 5 goals, 6 assists

His total La Liga stats are: 84 matches (start & sub), 11 goals, 21 assists.

A good players.

His transfer history is a bit weird:

2007: Levante bought him for 5M from Real Murcia, his home club
2008: Valadolid bought him for only 300K
2009: Getafe bought him for 4M

I think 10M is still expensive for him.