Summer Mercato 2010

Originally Posted by Aficio

You worried about Coutinho too much, mate.

I've just remembered when Diego played for Bremen, Özil must play as winger but that didn't hinder his progress, I think he even learned something when play alongside Diego. Schnejder is at his best age, form, calling him "sacred crows" is exaggerated

You don't understand what I wrote, my friend.

I never called Sneidjer(sp?) a "sacred cow"... far from that. Read one more time my post, and you will see I said Coutinho is a reinforcement for a position they still got player "with legs" to contribute. A player at his prime and far from a "sacred cow".

regarding the other subject, Coutinho as a winger will only learn how to lose his confidence(bad thing for a 18yo out of his country). Playing in a part(side) of the field will make things more easy for the ones he play against. With his small frame and unfamiliarity to the position, a recipe to fail is built.

Not every player can do(adapt to) multiple functions on the field, and Ozil was used to play in a 4-4-2 flat for his country. So, it wasn't so hard for him. What Coutinho can learn in Italy is to improve his work rate, a thing is crucial in Europe for a #10 earn starting minutes. Btw, a thing Ganso and Giuliano already learned in Brazil...

Remember Carlo tryed Kaká at the left against Celta de Vigo(in Spain) and it was the worst game of kaká in his first season at Milan. And all that after his great debut in CL against Ajax in San Siro playing behind the 2 strikers. The good thing was that Carlo was smart enough(and open to multiple schemes), to see that Kaká would fail there. After that game Kaká was behind Pippo and Sheva once again, and taught to track back and help... The rest of the history everyone knows.

Coutinho is second to Neymar(talent) in his generation, and of course I'm worried about his development. He was the #10 of Brazil youth teams he played until now, and to see him fail will hurt my NT in the future. A shame that thief Eurico Miranda sold him to Inter so early(and cheap)...

Originally Posted by Gabriel489

I think B list are for all under 21 players, thus even though Pato Is a starter, he does not need to take a spot on the A team.

Whilst the topic is still hot, I might as well get some questions answered.

Why do we need to put Pato in that section?
We have a list of 25 players in the CL squad, two of them in B List. This means 23 List A players.

I just heard reports that Merda has handed in a list of 31 players in their CL squad, 6 on the B list. This means that they have 25 players on the A Team.


My questions are as follows:

1.) Why don't we put more youngsters into the list like Merda, and
2.) Why do we need to put Pato (or Strasser for that matter) into the B List anyway?

Thanks in advance whoever answers

Originally Posted by Brasileiro

You don't understand what I wrote, my friend.

I never called Sneidjer(sp?) a "sacred cow"... far from that. Read one more time my post, and you will see I said Coutinho is a reinforcement for a position they still got player "with legs" to contribute. A player at his prime and far from a "sacred cow".

regarding the other subject, Coutinho as a winger will only learn how to lose his confidence(bad thing for a 18yo out of his country). Playing in a part(side) of the field will make things more easy for the ones he play against. With his small frame and unfamiliarity to the position, a recipe to fail is built.

Not every player can do(adapt to) multiple functions on the field, and Ozil was used to play in a 4-4-2 flat for his country. So, it wasn't so hard for him. What Coutinho can learn in Italy is to improve his work rate, a thing is crucial in Europe for a #10 earn starting minutes. Btw, a thing Ganso and Giuliano already learned in Brazil...

Remember Carlo tryed Kaká at the left against Celta de Vigo(in Spain) and it was the worst game of kaká in his first season at Milan. And all that after his great debut in CL against Ajax in San Siro playing behind the 2 strikers. The good thing was that Carlo was smart enough(and open to multiple schemes), to see that Kaká would fail there. After that game Kaká was behind Pippo and Sheva once again, and taught to track back and help... The rest of the history everyone knows.

Coutinho is second to Neymar(talent) in his generation, and of course I'm worried about his development. He was the #10 of Brazil youth teams he played until now, and to see him fail will hurt my NT in the future. A shame that thief Eurico Miranda sold him to Inter so early(and cheap)...

Clear now, sorry for misunderstood you.

Since you rate Coutinho that high, Inter's mercato is not bad at all.

Originally Posted by Ryo

Whilst the topic is still hot, I might as well get some questions answered.

Why do we need to put Pato in that section?
We have a list of 25 players in the CL squad, two of them in B List. This means 23 List A players.

I just heard reports that Merda has handed in a list of 31 players in their CL squad, 6 on the B list. This means that they have 25 players on the A Team.


My questions are as follows:

1.) Why don't we put more youngsters into the list like Merda, and
2.) Why do we need to put Pato (or Strasser for that matter) into the B List anyway?

Thanks in advance whoever answers

pick through the it to get the bit you need

Inter might have to have more youth on the B-list to meet the homegrown Uefa number where as players such as Ambro,pirlo etc i think cover our homegrown number but with them been over 21 years of age have to be named as B-list players, Pato and Strasser have to be b-list players because although first team players they are or under 21 years of age.

Originally Posted by Samaldinho

I think the swipe at Milan's midfield is just people not wanting to acknowledge that Milan is going to come back as the dominant force on European football. Berlusconi cares again, and Zlatan and Robinho are nothing to sniff at.

However, to ignore the intelligent signings that we had before the glory signings of Zlatan/Robinho, is to make the new players worse than they actually are. I mean, look at Juventus, they bought a lot of names that should be pretty good. Frankly, in Motta and Bonucci they have two players I would want to have, but, with Krasic, Pepe, Quagirela, etc etc, they are still not capable of evening threatening Bari.

I honestly did not think Rafa would be able to ruin Inter this fast, but watching them against Atletico and then Bologna was actually sad. I wanted to beat them while they were still close to their Mourinho levels.

The point is that Milan's midfield will change. Flamini and KPG are clearly the candidates to do it. If they do not do it, then you can bet that KPG goes back to Genoa and Flamini might get sold. Flamini is the player that performed so closely to Gattuso's style that they called him "Flattuso" and it will be profoundly difficult to find a Seedorf-type of player. He is very unique in his engine and technical ability in one player. KPG has the engine and seems to have some skill. He might not be as technical as Seedorf, but, I think its nothing to sniff at.

What bothers me about these reports is that they usually have very bad assessments of players in squads. Bonera might be a CB, but he has always been capable of playing as a RB, and clearly Allegri sees a more defensive-minded RB as important to the balance of the side. Antonini has turned into a very good LB, maybe not WC, but I think he's like Pancaro, very reliable, and someone you can win with.

But, the most annoying part is that saying our midfield is the problem--without factoring in KPG and Flamini, not to mention the emergence of Merkel and Strasser for the future--and that the midfield was why we lost to Man Utd last year or lost to Inter.

That is a wrong analysis. With our aging squad, in the first leg, we dominated Man Utd. Our biggest problem was that we did not have strikers that put pressure on defenses, who did not cause a real threat outside of the box, or without a assist from Dinho. We should have been 3-0 in the first 30 minutes against Man Utd, but finishing cost us. Same against Inter, neither Huntelaar or Borriello finished their chances with the sort of frequency that our play deserved. From there, teams just choked off supply and space from Dinho and Pirlo and made our team fall apart.

Ibra and Robinho make that far more difficult, while Flamini and potentially KPG offer options from the bench, or provide Seedorf with the freshness to provide an impact (Chievo game anyone?). Sokratis and Yepes seem to be more reliable that Kaladze and Yepes, and the fact that Zambro will actually have to work for his spot and that Abate can now be trained into being a RB with more ease, shouldn't we all just see that this team is profoundly better with a few simple changes, and then, of course, with probably the strongest attack in Europe.

whew! what long winded drivel. son, you have too much time on your hands. Now, is there anything in this post that is actually worth reading, it seems like all you've done is state the obvious and repeat what everyone else is chanting

Originally Posted by Aficio

You worried about Coutinho too much, mate.

I've just remembered when Diego played for Bremen, Özil must play as winger but that didn't hinder his progress, I think he even learned something when play alongside Diego. Schnejder is at his best age, form, calling him "sacred crows" is exaggerated

It's sacred cow, from Hindu tradition. And he wasn't saying that Sneijder was past his prime. That was his point, that they bought Coutinho when they know that they can't phase out Sneijder yet. Sort of how we bought Kaka at Rui Costa's prime, and he had to be phased out earlier than we wanted.

Originally Posted by Kaka1899

pick through the it to get the bit you need

Inter might have to have more youth on the B-list to meet the homegrown Uefa number where as players such as Ambro,pirlo etc i think cover our homegrown number but with them been over 21 years of age have to be named as B-list players, Pato and Strasser have to be b-list players because although first team players they are or under 21 years of age.

Are you sure about this?

Because I still don't see why they wouldn't fit into the A List. They don't NEED to be in the B list just because they're under 21, no? Pato wasn't in this list last year (He couldn't have, he didn't fit the 3 year homegrown requirement back then).
I was rather hoping for the alternate explination


Hint, hint, "Two empty A List spots", hint, hint, Winter Mercato....

Originally Posted by Samaldinho

I think the swipe at Milan's midfield is just people not wanting to acknowledge that Milan is going to come back as the dominant force on European football. Berlusconi cares again, and Zlatan and Robinho are nothing to sniff at.

However, to ignore the intelligent signings that we had before the glory signings of Zlatan/Robinho, is to make the new players worse than they actually are. I mean, look at Juventus, they bought a lot of names that should be pretty good. Frankly, in Motta and Bonucci they have two players I would want to have, but, with Krasic, Pepe, Quagirela, etc etc, they are still not capable of evening threatening Bari.

I honestly did not think Rafa would be able to ruin Inter this fast, but watching them against Atletico and then Bologna was actually sad. I wanted to beat them while they were still close to their Mourinho levels.

The point is that Milan's midfield will change. Flamini and KPG are clearly the candidates to do it. If they do not do it, then you can bet that KPG goes back to Genoa and Flamini might get sold. Flamini is the player that performed so closely to Gattuso's style that they called him "Flattuso" and it will be profoundly difficult to find a Seedorf-type of player. He is very unique in his engine and technical ability in one player. KPG has the engine and seems to have some skill. He might not be as technical as Seedorf, but, I think its nothing to sniff at.

What bothers me about these reports is that they usually have very bad assessments of players in squads. Bonera might be a CB, but he has always been capable of playing as a RB, and clearly Allegri sees a more defensive-minded RB as important to the balance of the side. Antonini has turned into a very good LB, maybe not WC, but I think he's like Pancaro, very reliable, and someone you can win with.

But, the most annoying part is that saying our midfield is the problem--without factoring in KPG and Flamini, not to mention the emergence of Merkel and Strasser for the future--and that the midfield was why we lost to Man Utd last year or lost to Inter.

That is a wrong analysis. With our aging squad, in the first leg, we dominated Man Utd. Our biggest problem was that we did not have strikers that put pressure on defenses, who did not cause a real threat outside of the box, or without a assist from Dinho. We should have been 3-0 in the first 30 minutes against Man Utd, but finishing cost us. Same against Inter, neither Huntelaar or Borriello finished their chances with the sort of frequency that our play deserved. From there, teams just choked off supply and space from Dinho and Pirlo and made our team fall apart.

Ibra and Robinho make that far more difficult, while Flamini and potentially KPG offer options from the bench, or provide Seedorf with the freshness to provide an impact (Chievo game anyone?). Sokratis and Yepes seem to be more reliable that Kaladze and Yepes, and the fact that Zambro will actually have to work for his spot and that Abate can now be trained into being a RB with more ease, shouldn't we all just see that this team is profoundly better with a few simple changes, and then, of course, with probably the strongest attack in Europe.

KPG? Kevin Prince Goateng?

I agree with you completely. I found most of the 'in depth' analysis of Milan around the web to be very superficial and inaccurate. They seem to think that buying Ibra was neccesary (true) but Robinho was in the same mold as Rivaldo, which isn't true. We need Robinho. We were playing Huntelaar as a winger last season!

Our midfield is in transition. We still don't have the Pirlo replacement, but in KPB and Flamini, we have his new bodyguards. It's going to be a great season. Forza Milan!

Originally Posted by Samaldinho

I think the swipe at Milan's midfield is just people not wanting to acknowledge that Milan is going to come back as the dominant force on European football. Berlusconi cares again, and Zlatan and Robinho are nothing to sniff at.

However, to ignore the intelligent signings that we had before the glory signings of Zlatan/Robinho, is to make the new players worse than they actually are. I mean, look at Juventus, they bought a lot of names that should be pretty good. Frankly, in Motta and Bonucci they have two players I would want to have, but, with Krasic, Pepe, Quagirela, etc etc, they are still not capable of evening threatening Bari.

I honestly did not think Rafa would be able to ruin Inter this fast, but watching them against Atletico and then Bologna was actually sad. I wanted to beat them while they were still close to their Mourinho levels.

The point is that Milan's midfield will change. Flamini and KPG are clearly the candidates to do it. If they do not do it, then you can bet that KPG goes back to Genoa and Flamini might get sold. Flamini is the player that performed so closely to Gattuso's style that they called him "Flattuso" and it will be profoundly difficult to find a Seedorf-type of player. He is very unique in his engine and technical ability in one player. KPG has the engine and seems to have some skill. He might not be as technical as Seedorf, but, I think its nothing to sniff at.

What bothers me about these reports is that they usually have very bad assessments of players in squads. Bonera might be a CB, but he has always been capable of playing as a RB, and clearly Allegri sees a more defensive-minded RB as important to the balance of the side. Antonini has turned into a very good LB, maybe not WC, but I think he's like Pancaro, very reliable, and someone you can win with.

But, the most annoying part is that saying our midfield is the problem--without factoring in KPG and Flamini, not to mention the emergence of Merkel and Strasser for the future--and that the midfield was why we lost to Man Utd last year or lost to Inter.

That is a wrong analysis. With our aging squad, in the first leg, we dominated Man Utd. Our biggest problem was that we did not have strikers that put pressure on defenses, who did not cause a real threat outside of the box, or without a assist from Dinho. We should have been 3-0 in the first 30 minutes against Man Utd, but finishing cost us. Same against Inter, neither Huntelaar or Borriello finished their chances with the sort of frequency that our play deserved. From there, teams just choked off supply and space from Dinho and Pirlo and made our team fall apart.

Ibra and Robinho make that far more difficult, while Flamini and potentially KPG offer options from the bench, or provide Seedorf with the freshness to provide an impact (Chievo game anyone?). Sokratis and Yepes seem to be more reliable that Kaladze and Yepes, and the fact that Zambro will actually have to work for his spot and that Abate can now be trained into being a RB with more ease, shouldn't we all just see that this team is profoundly better with a few simple changes, and then, of course, with probably the strongest attack in Europe.

wow. what a great post man

Originally Posted by Ryo

Are you sure about this?

Because I still don't see why they wouldn't fit into the A List. They don't NEED to be in the B list just because they're under 21, no? Pato wasn't in this list last year (He couldn't have, he didn't fit the 3 year homegrown requirement back then).
I was rather hoping for the alternate explination


Hint, hint, "Two empty A List spots", hint, hint, Winter Mercato....

haha well i checked up the rules for the CL i quote from Uefa's rule and directions

"18.04 Each club is responsible for submitting an A list of players (List A) and a B list of players (List B), duly signed, to its national association for verification,validation, signature and forwarding to UEFA. These lists must include the
name, date of birth, shirt number and name, nationality and national
registration date of all players to be fielded in the UEFA club competition in
question. In addition, the lists must include the confirmation by the club’s
doctor that all players have undergone the requested medical examination;
the club’s doctor is solely responsible that the requested players’ medical
examination has been duly performed."

@Samaldinho and others...Excellent posts but I still say the way we lost the Inter and ManU ties was the lack of creativity, shape, width and strength...basically everything of mid. We keep mentioning the chances we didn't finish and the strikers not doing this or that but let's say we had better finishing. The mid problem would have been even more forgotten, the 2010-2011 team needs balance now and the likes of Flamini and Prince better have good years otherwise the attacking force will not mean as much.

Originally Posted by Reza

@Samaldinho and others...Excellent posts but I still say the way we lost the Inter and ManU ties was the lack of creativity, shape, width and strength...basically everything of mid. We keep mentioning the chances we didn't finish and the strikers not doing this or that but let's say we had better finishing. The mid problem would have been even more forgotten, the 2010-2011 team needs balance now and the likes of Flamini and Prince better have good years otherwise the attacking force will not mean as much.

If we had a better finishing against Manchester, we would have won the place for the 1/4 finals after the first half in Milan ...

Reza, I agree to acertain extent.....but the midfield has been handcuffed for far too long. Either it has had an incompetent defence behind it or an impotent attack in front of it. Now that we have re-inforced these areas Pirlo and Seedorf will surprise alot of people this reason, because they can concentrate on their own jobs this season.

Also, they finally have viable replacements in each other and on the bench this year. They won't be run into the ground and can stay relatively fresh.

Having good strikers has 2 effects. They score goals, taking pressue off the rest of the team and they help the midfield keep the ball - so we don't get tired chasing. Having a good defence means the centrebacks encourage the midfielders to push forward, rather than asking them to protect them.

All of the reasons for failure in the derbies and Manchester last season no longer exist:
Poor backup for the defence
Poor attack
Poor backup for Pato
Poor backup for goalkeeper
No realistic subs/ cimpetition for the midfield

**EDIT

Roma - May not have reinforced too much, but Adriano and Borri will give them something new. They will have consolidation from lastyear, but will never win anything with Ranieri. Their squad is stronger than people appreciate. It took them to competing for seria a til the last day of the season and the copa italia final.

Juve - Dissapointed, But one of Aquilani, Krasic etc. should come good and there may be one or two surprise players to burst out of nowhere. The defence being solid will help. Del Neri is boring, but hopefully he will give them some structure. A strong Juve means a strong Serie A, which means a strong Milan.

Inter - Great squad, great first team. A strange manager, but a talented one. Lets not allow our memories to be too short. He won the Spanish league with Valencia. This is no small achievement and took Pool to 2 CL finals winning one. We can all laugh at inter now, but the best thng to realise is they are 4 time Serie A winners, treble winners and while we have been sleeping have become a great team. Lets take advantage of the transition perios they are in ao we can compete when they do start winning again! I do believe they will suffer having us compete with them, but they are Champions and must not be taken lightly.

B&G are on fire, it seems we tied up Sebastian Coates for january.
Some 19 yr old defender from uruguay with spanish passport. And he is tall: 196cm.
http://www.affaritaliani.it/sport/pi...an-010910.html

I think with the attacking quartet we have it takes a bit more presure off our mid to score goals, and also forces opp mid to drop abck a little further to help their def allowing our mid more space to play in.

Of course teams might then drop a forward too, but this then allows more space for Silva & Antonini to make forward runs.
Basically we've given Allegri a selection headache in the best possible way, but we've given every other coach against us a tactical problem.

Can one player match the speed and dribbling of Pato?
Can one player cover the passing and creativity of R80?
Can another def match the frame and touch of Ibra to stop him feeding other forwards or vice-versa?
IMO no team has enough good def, even inert to handle this 3, and if we get a mid to follow up the 3 in att - Seedorf, Pirlo, Boateng, Merkel that causes even more problems.