Winter Mercato 2011

A bit off topic, IMO players even cup tied should be able to play in CL or Europa with their new teams after any transfer window. For example, if Messi is sign by Milan today, he should be able to play for Milan in CL. Kind of like salary dump for NHL and NBA.

There seems to be some uneasy feeling about Inter's improvement since Leonardo joined them in December, which is understandable. What he's done is essentially moved to a shape closer to Mourinho's last season which most of the players are more comfortable with.

However, I don't think the results are necessarily a true reflection of how good Inter actually are right now. Against Napoli they were dominated for stretches and hit on the counter, whilst against Catania they were again struggling and had to turn the match around. Against Bologna I've only seen the goals, but what cannot be ignored is how poor Bologna were defensively on every goal scored (the first of which was offside anyway). That said, reports suggest Inter again failed to actually control and dominate the match after they were leading 2-0 and were lucky Bologna didn't get back into the match.

What is also worth noting is Inter currently still seem weak at the back. Since Leo joined they've conceded in every match and look particularly vulnerable on corners.

So, the question is how good are Inter actually? There have been improvements under Leo from the calamity that was Benitez, even if at this point it seems more to do with morale and retrieving key players than actual tactical improvements. They've beaten a title contender, but didn't play a particularly convincing game, while they arguably "struggled" (failed to convince against) to beat 2 relegation battlers.

At this point, I'm still reserving my judgement on Inter to see what they do over a stretch of a month or two. It'll be interesting to see how they perform over the coming month or so as they will face some tough opposition (Palermo, Udinese, Juve and Roma).

Originally Posted by regin

An article i could find...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...ion/index.html

Great article, regin. Thanks for giving the link. That what I have searched for. I thought that they did it only some years ago (4-5 years ago) but they started around 10 years ago. Yeah, building youth sector needs a lot of patience. Really impressed with the whole thing hey have been doing and amazed how they change their football philosophy (from stamina and physical endurance to technical ability of the players).

No wonder so many young players play for Bundesliga clubs and new young players joining die Nationalmannschaft.

Originally Posted by ACMILAN1983

There seems to be some uneasy feeling about Inter's improvement since Leonardo joined them in December, which is understandable. What he's done is essentially moved to a shape closer to Mourinho's last season which most of the players are more comfortable with.

However, I don't think the results are necessarily a true reflection of how good Inter actually are right now. Against Napoli they were dominated for stretches and hit on the counter, whilst against Catania they were again struggling and had to turn the match around. Against Bologna I've only seen the goals, but what cannot be ignored is how poor Bologna were defensively on every goal scored (the first of which was offside anyway). That said, reports suggest Inter again failed to actually control and dominate the match after they were leading 2-0 and were lucky Bologna didn't get back into the match.

What is also worth noting is Inter currently still seem weak at the back. Since Leo joined they've conceded in every match and look particularly vulnerable on corners.

So, the question is how good are Inter actually? There have been improvements under Leo from the calamity that was Benitez, even if at this point it seems more to do with morale and retrieving key players than actual tactical improvements. They've beaten a title contender, but didn't play a particularly convincing game, while they arguably "struggled" (failed to convince against) to beat 2 relegation battlers.

At this point, I'm still reserving my judgement on Inter to see what they do over a stretch of a month or two. It'll be interesting to see how they perform over the coming month or so as they will face some tough opposition (Palermo, Udinese, Juve and Roma).

IMO, it is hard for Inter to keep a clean sheet without Cesar & Samuel: one can make unbelievable saves, one rarely makes mistake. Juve & Roma also have GK problems. For the first part of this season, Abbiatti was the best GK and Muslera was quite solid.

I didn't watch recent matches of Inter, so I wonder why they could play like this despite of lacking creative player. Has Leo learnt it from the lost 0-2 against "9 men Inter" last season? In that match, we played 4-3-3 without Pato, Nesta & Seedorf (very important because we have no ACM), Rino was outmuscled by Muntari and Borri was a child between Lucio & Samuel.

I don't know if Leo still has the habit of using only one formation & same line-up we won & lost thanks to this habit. Let's see

Our new midfielder will probably, sorry, surely be Lazzari ... Cellino said that the player requested him to be sold and added that now, Milan will have to show that they are really interested (that means "show your money" ).

Criscito-Lazzari can be good players to improve the squad, not necessarely the first team, but the whole squad ...

Originally Posted by Gabriel489

A bit off topic, IMO players even cup tied should be able to play in CL or Europa with their new teams after any transfer window. For example, if Messi is sign by Milan today, he should be able to play for Milan in CL. Kind of like salary dump for NHL and NBA.

Why ?
Actually, this rule is good because without it, the Winter mercato would be as active as the Summer mercato, teams could change a lot of players if they want without caring about who is cup tied ...

What I mean is that a guy like Bale for example is the best player of Tottenham in CL this season, without this cup tied thing, Real Madrid and Inter would probably manage to get him right now, but with this rule, Tottenham is "protected" ("" because they can refuse offers, but if tomorrow Real Madrid comes with a 50M offer for Bale, I doubt Tottenham would refuse ... the fact is that Real Madrid won't come with such an offer for Bale for example because he is cup tied) from mercato attacks from richer CL rivals ...

I see it the other way, as teams can reinforce themselves better for the challenge of CL. Take your Bale example, if Real is willing to spend 50mil on Bale and Spurs is willing to sell him now for that price. Lets that be, as Spurs would make a good profit and Real will get an inform player. Other teams can play that game too. On top of that, having Bale will make Real chances better but if they lose, all of us will be laughing at them even more. Take NHL and NBA for example, the big spender at the transfer deadline rarely win anything at the end. The teams that spent little and complete their team often wins.

Overall, I think it will just makes the teams more competitive.

Originally Posted by regin

when luca toni was in palermo he was offered to us by zampa,but Galliani was all cocky and said he would be embarrassed to present toni to the san siro faithfuls...i think its something like this..

Well, if that's the case i think the San Siro faithfuls would have lived with that. After all, we were presented to a certain Mr. Emerson once. And we survived...

Milan didnt sign Toni and Torres, when we had the chance, because of 2 seasons,

1-Gila was italian(to Torres)(also was proven in Serie A)
2-Gila was young(to Toni)

We offered to take Garay on loan from Madrid but they don't want to let him go on loan...source goal.com.

http://translate.google.com/translat...u=milannews.it

Juventus are willing to exchange Marco Motta for Daniele Bonera and Massimiliano Allegri said NO because Daniele Bonera can play all positions in defense... LOL...yeah so can my grandma but that doesn't mean she'll do a good job....

I really think this coach is used to Cagliari players, and doesn't realize we're MILAN

Originally Posted by Elmago99

http://translate.google.com/translat...u=milannews.it

Juventus are willing to exchange Marco Motta for Daniele Bonera and Massimiliano Allegri said NO because Daniele Bonera can play all positions in defense... LOL...yeah so can my grandma but that doesn't mean she'll do a good job....

I really think this coach is used to Cagliari players, and doesn't realize we're MILAN

Motta is not Milan material either, its actually the same as Bonera, one season wonder...if Juve are willing to exchange him after 6 months that tells you smth, doesn`t it???

Abate is 23 years old, he has been very good lately...and there is much room left for improvements. Unles we don`t go after Alves,Maicon or Van der Wiel I say lets stick with the Blondie for now

'Lazzari free to join Milan'
http://www.football-italia.net/jan17j.html

Cagliari President Massimo Cellino has given Milan the green light to sign Andrea Lazzari.

The 26-year-old is Max Allegri's No 1 choice to reinforce his midfield in Janury.

Lazzari worked with Allegri for two years in Sardinia and has a close bond with the Milan boss.

“There is a willingness to negotiate,” Cellino said.

“However in my opinion there won't be any particular problems seeing the relationship that I have with a true friend like Milan Vice-President Adriano Galliani.

“If Milan and Lazzari want [the move], then there is no problem. But we need an adequate compensation.”

Hopefully we sign him and he can kick Slowdorf out of the starting line-up!!

Originally Posted by kastriot

Motta is not Milan material either, its actually the same as Bonera, one season wonder...if Juve are willing to exchange him after 6 months that tells you smth, doesn`t it???

Abate is 23 years old, he has been very good lately...and there is much room left for improvements. Unles we don`t go after Alves,Maicon or Van der Wiel I say lets stick with the Blondie for now

I'm not saying Motta would start, Roma nor Juve want him. However, I'd trade Bonera for a bunch of training cones. Obviously I dont want Motta either, I'm just excited someone actually wants Bonera!

Abate is our Right Back, hands down. It's time to get a LB though, as we can't go on with Bonera and Antonini. Furthermore, ACM is obviously a problem. These 2 issues can hopefully be resolved this transfer window, as I don't like this run of form, and the vulnerabilities in our squad are very obvious at the moment.

Lazzari and Criscito Im confident will come.