Summer Mercato 2010

Originally Posted by Xudong

We are #9 (Inter at #8), and will be seeded because at least one team ahead of us (I don't remember exactly which one at this point) are not in this year's CL, so we are good.

That team, my friend, is Liverpool. Inter, Bayern, Man Utd, Arsenal, Barca, Lyon, Chelsea, Liverpool is the top 8 team.

The strongest 2nd seeded team that is eligible to meet us: Real Madrid (not again!). Sevilla are quite worrying too.

Originally Posted by ZvonimirBoban

That team, my friend, is Liverpool. Inter, Bayern, Man Utd, Arsenal, Barca, Lyon, Chelsea, Liverpool is the top 8 team.

The strongest 2nd seeded team that is eligible to meet us: Real Madrid (not again!). Sevilla are quite worrying too.

If the UEFA cooeficients are to be believed La Liga will finish
1.Barca
2.Sevilla
3.Real

Originally Posted by ZvonimirBoban

That team, my friend, is Liverpool. Inter, Bayern, Man Utd, Arsenal, Barca, Lyon, Chelsea, Liverpool is the top 8 team.

The strongest 2nd seeded team that is eligible to meet us: Real Madrid (not again!). Sevilla are quite worrying too.

we will meet sevilla, and fabiano will score on us, and everyone here will cry and say, we should have bought him, blah blah blah. i guarantee it.

Looking at our fixtures we should get a good few points in the opening games we really have to be beating Lecce and Catania at home and Cesena away....HAVE TO BE.Yeah Im not expecting any signings now , but when you think we could of got Ilsinho for free (not great but free) Veloso for 6 million Sell Hunter get Honda Bonucci and Ranocchia for 6 each , thats 5 players that would make our team better not great just better ....Thats what I was kind of expecting not the names just smart signings and about 20 - 25 spent with about 20 coming in.

But the league starts in a little over 3 weeks and Allegri has mision impossible.Forced to play the same team as last year I do have hopes for Strasser and Merkel , I have really been impressed by Merkel.

Originally Posted by SomeDevil

hidden in the shadows Genoa is really gunning for CL this time around !
their squad is def. better than ours ! There have been so many free transfers this time around. why we haven;t lapped up any ? well arrrghhhh !!!!

Sorry but no way they can compete for a CL spot, not during the whole year. They have a good team, but they have no amazing player (don't tell me Toni please), you know, the ones who allow you to beat the smaller teams at the 89th minute.

They reach a new level with this mercato, but they won't reach the top level in Italy, not yet (maybe next year or the following year if they keep being smart on the mercato).

Originally Posted by Jay Crisp

Looking at our fixtures we should get a good few points in the opening games we really have to be beating Lecce and Catania at home and Cesena away....HAVE TO BE.Yeah Im not expecting any signings now , but when you think we could of got Ilsinho for free (not great but free) Veloso for 6 million Sell Hunter get Honda Bonucci and Ranocchia for 6 each , thats 5 players that would make our team better not great just better ....Thats what I was kind of expecting not the names just smart signings and about 20 - 25 spent with about 20 coming in.

But the league starts in a little over 3 weeks and Allegri has mision impossible.Forced to play the same team as last year I do have hopes for Strasser and Merkel , I have really been impressed by Merkel.

For Veloso, it is 7M + Zapater, and they bought Zapater 4,5M last year. He did a good season, so let's imagine Genoa gave him a 6M price tag, that means we would have had to spend at least 13M (probably more as the 7M + Zapater deal is better than 13M for Sporting) to get him.

Originally Posted by #3Forever

If the UEFA cooeficients are to be believed La Liga will finish
1.Barca
2.Sevilla
3.Real

The cooeficients are a calculation of results in Europe over the past 5 seasons rather than how good Uefa think you are or where you will finish domestically.

Originally Posted by GeoTav

For Veloso, it is 7M + Zapater, and they bought Zapater 4,5M last year. He did a good season, so let's imagine Genoa gave him a 6M price tag, that means we would have had to spend at least 13M (probably more as the 7M + Zapater deal is better than 13M for Sporting) to get him.

Im sorry Geo ....

But I was getting at the when are we going to do something I do really still think we will buy I should rephrase that we will sign a player or 2 . I just know that in every fibre of my being this squad cannot compete for a whole season.They are old and more susceptible to Injury , we cannot go without Dinho Pirlo or Nesta for long periods this season or Seedorf he is good for 20 mins in tight games.Im not saying we are awful or old or slow , its just common logic old players = injury prone.Not to mention the Duck if he misses 4 or 5 months again we will need a divine intervention.

I think we will bring just one player - a midfielder.
Many names are in circulation these days: Palombo, Ledesma, Poli, Hleb, Elano, Dos Santos... It's clear that Allegri wants either a deep-lying playmaker who's good in defense to play him with Flamini and to put Pirlo higher up in 4-2-3-1, or an attacking midfielder who could play in 4-3-1-2. I think it will be decisive who Allegri likes better Strasser or Merkel because it's obvious one of them will be a real part of the first team and the player will be bought for the other position. I'd like that player to be Strasser, because that would open door for a dynamic midfielder we REALLY need.
With Strasser, Allegri would have 6 midfielders which fit really good in his system, 2 playmakers (Pirlo, Seedorf), 2 "chasers" (Gattuso and Strasser) and two attack-and-defend (Flamini and Ambro). Of course, Flamini can also fit into "chaser" position. Hleb or Elano would be great for AM position; for me Hleb would be better because he's more dynamic.

Regarding first games in the season, I'm really impressed how we played at the Emirates Cup, we had zero preparation, many young players, and we didn't lost a game. I think everyone can already see a difference between Leonardo and Allegri. Young players impressed me to, I can't believe that they never got a chance earlier. I didn't saw any of them earlier, but Strasser reminds me on Desailly a LOT, Merkel is very solid player for his age and experience and Verdi is really talented striker, good with the ball at his feet, has pace and the way he times his runs for a player with virtually no experience at all is really impressive. I think we can already count on all three of them.

Regarding Allegri, I like that he has a clear view in his head (unlike Leonardo), he has a self-confidence to play young players and really knows how to get the best of them. I also like his all-moving play, there was one instance against Lyon when we played the first ball for about 2 or 3 minutes and I didn't saw that from Milan since Ancelotti's prime.

For our team, I think this Mercato so far wasn't that bad. We've got some new players who are eager to impress (Yepes, Amelia, Sokratis), unlike some players we had last season, and some new talents. Now we have 2 good and reliable keepers, we have a really solid backups for our CBs, and I'm sure that with Bonera and Papa adapted to play RB we have good amount of options there too. I mean if Simic could play RB with success (at least he was making width beside being rock-solid defensively), then Papa and Bonera can play it too, with the right tactics.

The biggest concern to me remains CF position. I'm sure we will buy a midfielder, but for CF I don't have a faith in Borriello, so I hope Allegri will be able to get the best of Huntelaar. I know Allegri has an option to play Ron - Pato attacking duo in his head and I would be excited to see how it would work.

I know many fans here are disappointed but I'm really excited to see this new Milan. At least we have a coach who knows what he's doing and who made some order in this team, so we could hope to be among the best again, if not now then in 2-3 years, why not...

Originally Posted by Tony75

Otamendi was poor in wc, and I wouldn't waste our eu spot on him.
Selling Nesta even for 10 million is a mistake, a big mistake as wehn he plays he gives gaurantees that none of other defs do, even Silva. He is our def leader.

Otamendi was poor also in SA Qually, Tony(playing mostly as CB). Never understood the hype on this guy. Also, I'm glad to know Veloso will not be on Milan. I watch a lot of Portuguese league and the guy is above average. Plus in the big games(Porto, Benfica) all he does is commit fouls... It is like the hype with João Moutinho. Another mystery to me... Hope we miss Ilsinho, too.

Btw, Hernanes to Lazio still isn't a sure thing. At least is what São Paulo president said here... Maybe is just for the fact tomorrow São Paulo faces Internacional for the right to be in the final of Libertadores. Who knows??

On a side note: Benfica paid 7 millions for Ramires and now(after one season) will sell for 22 millions to Chelsea. If Berlusca want to balance the books, I don't understand why Milan don't do this type of purchase(deal)... It's better than the need to sell core players like Kaka, Pato and T. Silva...
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EDIT: Wow, now I read in Revolver post we are linked to Elano?!? C'mon... It's free??? I hope we miss him, too...

Originally Posted by Snapster

The cooeficients are a calculation of results in Europe over the past 5 seasons rather than how good Uefa think you are or where you will finish domestically.

Oh thanks. Shouldn't we be higher for 2007 CL?

-Allegri unimpressed by Adiyahs work ethic- So we'll loan him out, that team will buy him and than he will turn into an African Gourcouff. We seem never to learn our lessons......

Originally Posted by #3Forever

-Allegri unimpressed by Adiyahs work ethic- So we'll loan him out, that team will buy him and than he will turn into an African Gourcouff. We seem never to learn our lessons......

I am assuming ^ this is true when I say the following:

It is crystal clear that the culture of this team, even with a new coach, is not suited to youth development. Practically giving up on a very young player you bought only recently because of correctable issues is possibly the worst way of building a team.

Originally Posted by Revolver

I know many fans here are disappointed but I'm really excited to see this new Milan. At least we have a coach who knows what he's doing and who made some order in this team, so we could hope to be among the best again, if not now then in 2-3 years, why not...

Me too. Trophyless is OK if we're moving the right way.

Leo did experiment a lot, but mostly with his "best" pieces (well, the youngsters 1 year ago still needed to learn), then sticked with the "best" formation (It worked, but so stiff). He was unlucky, he might success with full squad, but this Milan do not allow large error-margin.

I still like Leo, but Allegri sure has boarder view and know more methods than him. I don't like him much with the way I saw Cagliari play before, but recent matches gave signs that I was wrong, and I'm happy with it.

What I want most since last season is an ACM because Seedorf is too slow, Pirlo should play DM/CM and Dinho is a question (better 2nd striker) but now I think we also need a good RB. Bonera's form is not good, Abate still begs for patience and Sokratis should play CB, no need to talk about Oddo.

If Dinho has some motivation to play 2nd Striker, with him, Pato, Hunter & Borri, in addtion to Pippo and the youngsters like Verdi, Oduamadi, this could be our strong point.

Originally Posted by Brasileiro

Another mystery to me... Hope we miss Ilsinho, too.

Btw, Hernanes to Lazio still isn't a sure thing. At least is what São Paulo president said here... Maybe is just for the fact tomorrow São Paulo faces Internacional for the right to be in the final of Libertadores. Who knows??

On a side note: Benfica paid 7 millions for Ramires and now(after one season) will sell for 22 millions to Chelsea. If Berlusca want to balance the books, I don't understand why Milan don't do this type of purchase(deal)... It's better than the need to sell core players like Kaka, Pato and T. Silva...
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EDIT: Wow, now I read in Revolver post we are linked to Elano?!? C'mon... It's free??? I hope we miss him, too...

I think if Milan negotiated about Ramires 1 years ago, the price for us would be about 15M, and there's no difference for Chelsea as they know those are rich clubs.

Benfica has the advantage of being mid level team to do this kind of business, IMO.

About Ilsinho, is he good? I only knew that Cafu once praised him and we linked with him in Cafu's last season.

Originally Posted by #3Forever

-Allegri unimpressed by Adiyahs work ethic- So we'll loan him out, that team will buy him and than he will turn into an African Gourcouff. We seem never to learn our lessons......

Originally Posted by Reza

I am assuming ^ this is true when I say the following:

It is crystal clear that the culture of this team, even with a new coach, is not suited to youth development. Practically giving up on a very young player you bought only recently because of correctable issues is possibly the worst way of building a team.

If Adiyah's problem is work ethic, he should be sold, IMO. We don't need another Oddo.

Goucuff is weak mentally, so it is hard for him to play at highest level, after the WC, I think the regret should be we didn't sell him at better price, not selling him.

And I think most big clubs are not good place for youth develepment. Arsenal is an exception, but they didn't win any big thing recent years, when the competition has been getting stronger.

Barcelona has great youth sector now, but it is their time to shine after many years trophyless. It need great luck to product many world/top class players at the same time: Iniesta, Messi, Valdes, Pique, Pedro, Busquet, even have the luxury of letting Fabregas & Reina go, in addition to the older Xavi & Puyol. No club has this luck.

MU was well know for Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, the Nevilles and Butt, but after them, they haven't had this luck anymore. Oshea, Fletcher, Evans, Rafaels,... still lack something. Ronaldo, Rooney, Anderson, Nani were expensive and not all of them successed.

We just didn't have good youngsters to begin with.