Winter Mercato 2011

Am I the only one to still doubt about Coentrao ?
Why do I doubt about this player as a LB ? For the exact same reasons as I doubt Bale can do it ... Coentrao, if I'm not wrong, doesn't play as a LB on a regular basis, he always plays like a LM/LW in his club.

Being good in defence with the Portuguese NT wasn't difficult as during the WC, this team was very defensive minded and took almost no risk.

Brasiliero, stop rating highly the young players because there must be a curse, they get injuries ...

Ahahahahahah
I want to laugh after reading that: http://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/milan...dzLml0LTM2Mjg1

We're now linked with Messi ... ahahahahahah

"Nothing is impossible": building articles with nothing to make the fans laugh, thanks !!

Originally Posted by GeoTav

Ahahahahahah
I want to laugh after reading that: http://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/milan...dzLml0LTM2Mjg1

We're now linked with Messi ... ahahahahahah

"Nothing is impossible": building articles with nothing to make the fans laugh, thanks !!

Ibrahimovic and Robinho (especially Ibra) are the legitimation for medias to create anynews that show Milan can buy any player in this planet. LOL

Ups, after Robinho I can't say anything about Milan. Anything can happen.

Coentrao is best option to buy for SB position...30 mil?It's asking price, that doesn't mean that he will be bought for that amount of money...He will be bought probably for 15 mil and that's acceptable....

GEOTAV Portugal being defensive minded during the WC are you sure??? You have doubts on Coentrao because in his club he plays LW and LMF and on NT he plays LB....that only tells you how VERSATILE he is....that means that he can run very fast and very good and he proved it on the WC.....

Originally Posted by dejo

Coentrao is best option to buy for SB position...30 mil?It's asking price, that doesn't mean that he will be bought for that amount of money...He will be bought probably for 15 mil and that's acceptable....

GEOTAV Portugal being defensive minded during the WC are you sure??? You have doubts on Coentrao because in his club he plays LW and LMF and on NT he plays LB....that only tells you how VERSATILE he is....that means that he can run very fast and very good and he proved it on the WC.....

Bold part: Yes, I think Portugal had a very defensive approach during the WC. They simply did nothing except sending balls to C.Ronaldo who missed everything. The game against North Korea isn't a good example because North Korea was simply nowhere in this game and everything worked for Portugal. But if you look at their games against good teams, they were just defensive and didn't try to play.

Bold and underlined part: Well, I only saw him play as a LB during the WC. Portugal played 4 games. Can he play as a LB at the same level as during the WC for a whole season ? If yes, so he should be taken without any doubt, but if he can't ...

Is Coentrao really good for fullback position like mentioned by some users here? Or is he just overhyped just like other young Portuguese players?

How many games (league and international) actually has he played as fullback? Anyone watches him regularly?

Originally Posted by GeoTav

Bold part: Yes, I think Portugal had a very defensive approach during the WC. They simply did nothing except sending balls to C.Ronaldo who missed everything. The game against North Korea isn't a good example because North Korea was simply nowhere in this game and everything worked for Portugal. But if you look at their games against good teams, they were just defensive and didn't try to play.

Bold and underlined part: Well, I only saw him play as a LB during the WC. Portugal played 4 games. Can he play as a LB at the same level as during the WC for a whole season ? If yes, so he should be taken without any doubt, but if he can't ...

Ok you have every right to doubt about that, but personally I think he can play it the whole season...why? Amantino Mancini is similar type of player...in his best days he could play every position on the right side (RB,RMF,RW) do you remember his form during 2003/04 season (his best season IMO) when he played for Roma?he played as a RB....

My Squad is great, but yes you're right, Ivanovic, Jucilei, and Ganso would have to be bought over 3 seasons, because of NON-EU passports...

Also, the Wage Bill on that team would probably be too high... maybe not, who knows...

As far as Coentrao, his skills are shown here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ly1vEjuUTs

but you have to admit that 4 games at LB is not enough to show his worth there, but look what Mourinho did with Marcelo, supposedly he's defending well.

With the right coaching, for 12-15 Million, Coentrao is a great pickup, but obviously not for 30.

However, Ivanovic is free, and then they'd keep Antonini at LB (which I'm not so happy with)

We'll see what happens, but bottom line is we need a Full Back..

I'd prefer Coentrao, but let's be honest, if it was your money, you may get Ivanovic for free instead..

Thanks for the youtube link but I saw only offensive skill, none of defensive skill shown in the video.

Originally Posted by Siregar

Thanks for the youtube link but I saw only offensive skill, none of defensive skill shown in the video.

Exactly, that's not good I agree... And with Antonini, you'll see Defensive highlights, but zero offensive highlights...

Originally Posted by Elmago99

Exactly, that's not good I agree... And with Antonini, you'll see Defensive highlights, but zero offensive highlights...

Hahaha good example!

I don't know, if he is that good offensively, he could be then our next Serginho?

Originally Posted by GeoTav

Am I the only one to still doubt about Coentrao ?
Why do I doubt about this player as a LB ? For the exact same reasons as I doubt Bale can do it ... Coentrao, if I'm not wrong, doesn't play as a LB on a regular basis, he always plays like a LM/LW in his club.

I got a lot of Portuguese league games last season Geo, mostly Benfica and Porto. You're right, Coentrão was a LW winger until the middle of last season. Plus, I saw him at Portugal under-20 NT, and he was a option on the bench as a LW, too.

That said, when I saw his first game as LB in the middle of last season, I've become impressed. He's raw at position, but imo he has all the tools to be become a very good offensive fullback. Defense needs work, but the desire and is there and the effort, too. One more time, he's raw, but imo has a lot more tools to become a successat FB than Bale.

Being good in defence with the Portuguese NT wasn't difficult as during the WC, this team was very defensive minded and took almost no risk.

Couldn't agree more. Portugal played the old and famous Catenaccio(sp?) at World Cup.

Brasiliero, stop rating highly the young players because there must be a curse, they get injuries ...

Never thought about that. Damn!! I will try to stop

Originally Posted by Elmago99

My Fantasy Lineup for 2011-2012 Season

GK: Amelia, Abbiati, Roma

Difensori: Nesta, T. Silva, Ivanovic, Coentrao, Antonini, Papastathopoulos, Zambrotta, Yepes, Abate

Centrocampisti: Pirlo, Seedorf, Gattuso, Flamini, Ambrosini, Boateng, Merkel, Lazzari, Jucilei, Ganso

Attaccanti: Ibrahimovic, Pato, Robinho, G. Rossi

26 Players

In: Ivanovic, Coentrao, Lazzari, Jucilei, Ganso, G. Rossi
Out: Bonera, Onyewu, Jankulovski, Oddo, Inzaghi, Ronaldinho

Mate that's pure fantasy. We will not buy a half of these players. Ivanovic has turned into a WC defensive side back and Ancelotti will not let him that easily. Lazzari, we have Boateng, same thing.
Jucilei, Ganso, I don't want to be rude or pushy or whatever, but how many of you saw more than, say, one game of these two players?! They are highly rated in Brazil, there are some youtube clips, and whole MM forum goes mad about them. And G. Rossi is totally out of question, bcs we have too many strikers already (don't forget Huntelaar and Borriello are loaned).

Anyway, one thing you can be sure of is Robinho will not accept to be bench player next year too. You can't buy a 26 (or wahtever) years old near-WC player to be a bench player. You can, if he's above 30. We have to make place for all three strikers (Robinho as AM perhaps, but I'm not sure about it), so we need extremely strong midfield. Another attacking midfielder simply doesn't fit here. I would say, one side back and one good midfielder (box-to-box) for next year, and that's it.

In defense of those who have seen little of Jucilei, Ganso (I am one of them)...we have our very own Brazilian scout here.

By the way not seeing before buying is not much worse than some managers, Sir Alex Ferguson comes to mind

Originally Posted by Revolver

Mate that's pure fantasy. We will not buy a half of these players. Ivanovic has turned into a WC defensive side back and Ancelotti will not let him that easily. Lazzari, we have Boateng, same thing.
Jucilei, Ganso, I don't want to be rude or pushy or whatever, but how many of you saw more than, say, one game of these two players?! They are highly rated in Brazil, there are some youtube clips, and whole MM forum goes mad about them. And G. Rossi is totally out of question, bcs we have too many strikers already (don't forget Huntelaar and Borriello are loaned).

Anyway, one thing you can be sure of is Robinho will not accept to be bench player next year too. You can't buy a 26 (or wahtever) years old near-WC player to be a bench player. You can, if he's above 30. We have to make place for all three strikers (Robinho as AM perhaps, but I'm not sure about it), so we need extremely strong midfield. Another attacking midfielder simply doesn't fit here. I would say, one side back and one good midfielder (box-to-box) for next year, and that's it.

First of all, if you look at the top of my post, it says " Fantasy"... Yes It's my fantasy team. A team that I think has full depth, and quality in all aspects. A team that can compete (and defeat) Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Inter.

Ok let's go step by step:

First, Ivanovic could leave if he wants at the end of the year, as his contract's up, no matter what Ancelotti says. However, as I write this an article comes out saying Ivanovic may sign a new deal shortly:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...nsfers&cc=5901

I don't think we'll get G. Rossi, but it's not unreasonable to have 4 strikers. IF Ronaldinho gets sold which is highly possible IMO, and Inzaghi retires next year, and Oduamadi and Adiyiah are not considered Milan material or are not ready, then we'll only have Pato, Robinho, and Ibra. A 4th striker is not "out of the question."
Chelsea have Drogba, Kalou, Anelka, & Sturridge (4).
Man City has Tevez, Santa Cruz, Jo, Balotelli & Adebayor (5).
Tottenham:Crouch, Defoe, Keane, Pavlyuchenko, & Giovanni Dos Santos (5).
Man U: Berbatov, Hernandez, Rooney, Owens, Macheda (5).
Juve: Iaquinta, Amauri, Del Piero, Quagliarella (4)

Next, Huntelaar and Borriello are GONE. They're not coming back. Huntelaar was sold not loaned, and Borriello was loaned with option to buy for €10 Million next year, which I'm told is similar to the Ibra deal in which Roma MUST purchase Borri.

For Lazzari or Poli, you must forget we have Ambrosini, Seedorf, Gattuso & Pirlo. I hate to break it to you, but these guys are old. They're mid 30's. It's time they invest in some midfielders, you cannot expect for our youth system to produce players that will equal the 4 i mentioned above. We may have a situation in a two to three years in which all of them retire at once. And then what do you do???

Next, Robinho, Ibra, and Pato can occupy 2 Forward positions as there are a lot of games in the season. They may not like it but look how often players get injured nowadays. Robinho may be put in a trequartista spot this year and tried out there, but that's not really his preferred position. We're yet to find out if that will work.

Lastly, Jucilei & Ganso are 2 Brazilian players who are showing great promise. Brazil produces so much talent and these two are among the upcoming stars. Many of us have only seen a few games, but we also trust the words of Brasileiro who has a proven track record. Plus, if you don't want Ganso as an ACM, who do you recommend instead? There are not many players available at that position besides Honda for close to €16 million.

Jucilei maybe that box to box you're talking about, and who knows, a replacement for Pirlo??

It's hard to say what of the utmost priority, a Full Back or an ACM, but I'd prob say a proper LB, this way Zambrotta and Antonini can play RB, and I'd love for us to go out and get Coentrao as a proper Left footed, talented LB. I'm sure he'd love to come....