Winter Mercato

Originally Posted by nefremo

Good overview on those players Zlat and I agree with most of it except a couple.

Barzagli I think is a great player. I don't know if he is overrated(about the cost as he hasn't proved in a big club yet) but he is definately one of the best defenders in Italy. To say that he will be the next Legrotaglie is simply not fair to him. That is pure speculation and yes, it is very possible that he might end up like that but we should wait and see. Right now he is doing great and he has been doing great for a couple of years now so there is nothing there to point that he will go in Legrotaglie's direction. I guess untill he goes to a big club we will never know.
You mention Zapata, but Zapata has a bigger chance of flopping then Barzagli I think, so why he would be a better option I don't know.

Oh, don't get me wrong - I am not saying that Barzagli for sure will be a flop ... it's just a a feeling, a gut feeling that I have about him - and his perfomance in quite a lot of games too - that made me call him a flop. So, yeah, of course it's a speculation but isn't saying that he will be the next best thing since sliced bread a speculation too? ... basically, at this point no one can say for sure whether barzagli will make it or not. Granted, if we follow all the noise surrounding him, one would think that there's a bigger chance that he will make it as opposed to that he would flop, but still anything can come out of him until he proves me, or you, wrong on the field wearing a Juve or a Milan shirt or whatever.

As for Zapata, I see him as one of the best emerging young defenders in Europe altogether, but that doesn't mean he will make it big as the guy is still 20 yo. Based, however, on his perfoamnces at this tender age, I think - again a speculation - that come him being 23-25 yo he will be a better defender than Barzagli is now or most if not all defenders who currently are 25 yo.

I am not, howeevr, saying that we should get a 20 yo Zapata and put him in the first team just yet. The best thing to do IMO would be to secure an option on him and let him stay at Udinese because right now what he needs is regular playing time, not warming Milan's bench, as there are more suitable choices for a CD right now - Mexes, Alex, Chivu, etc, etc.

Cris I think is an good player, but something tells me that the big clubs are for some reason not interested in him. At one point last year he was even trying to "sell himself" by releasing comments of how he admires other clubs. And yet, nobody got him. Some big clubs needed defenders this year (Real,Milan,Barca got a few) but yet none of them moved for him. We read a lot of media rummors, but truthfully there was obviously nobody in for Cris.
Again, I think he is a good player and I agree with you that might be a good option but I just can't figure out why big clubs don't move in for him and he is already 31(I think).

Cris is gonna be 30 this summer, not young definitely but not too old either and I see him as one of the best choices for a more experienced CD out there ... with Billy gone, Maldini leaving, and kaladze future at Milan probably in the balance, I think we'll be better off getting 1 experineced defender - like Cris - and 1 younger one, around 25 yo - like Mexes, Alex, etc.

As for why a bigger club hadn't gotten him yet, I think milan were very very interested in him last year and if it wasn;t for calciopoli, we would have almost certainly bought him.
Also, Cris has had ups and down in his career when he was young and his first experience in European football (with Bayer L. I think) was not much short of a small disaster. It's been a dif story, however, once he came back to Europe with lyon and in the next 3 years or so he assured himself a secure place in Lyon's CD. So, basically Cris came to prominence rather late in his career - at arounf the age of 27-28 and that's the main reason I think one of the big sharks hasn't bough him yet.
Plus Lyon aint too shabby a team either having had so much success in Europe too over the past 2-3 years.

And to top it all, other big clubs not going for cris but other players doesn;t mean that they are making a good decision by overlooking him .

Another one, Eto'o. I understand that he gets a lot of opportunities because he has so many creative players behind him, but he doesn't miss as many chances as you say he does. It is true that he does miss chances as do all other strikers but last year he became the first player in Spain to score over 50 goals in 2 seasons. I mean, how many do you want him to score??? Of course he misses some, but if he gives me on average over 25 goals a season in the league then we simply have no argument against him. He has scored 60 goals in 90 apperances for Barca (statistitians correct me if I am wrong). That is amazing. And I really dissagree that he relies on others to create for him(even though they really create a lot), because Eto'o is one of the leaders in assists in Barca. Obviously not this year as he hasn't played that much but in the beggining of the season and last year he was their leader in assists I think(or second best, not sure can't find the stats now). And even this year he has 3 assists in the CL to put him only behind Juninho who has 5. The guy can cerainly create and the stats show that.
Now about him not making it in Italy because of tight defences, again we will never know unless he comes to Italy. I think he can definatly make it because of his pace and his technical ability. He controlls the ball great under great speed and his shots are just amazing with both feet. He can kill the ball with either foot and can just fly by pretty much any defender out there. It is true that he uses the space given to him in Spain by the defenders which won't be given to him in Italy, but he has other qualities then just running as space. It would be interesting to see how events develop this summer.

I am not denying that Eto'o's record in Spain is very very impressive ... actually that's exactly why he is probably the most wanted striker in Europe right now and to most people the statement I made about him would sound like blesphemy .
Records however have another side to them, not just the merely statistical one. For instance, Eto'o did score 25 goals/season but he did in a more attacking league and he did being helped by easily the most technical, creative and offensive midfield in football today with him being their only center forward i.e. the first guy in line to gather all those great chances they create.

Also, 25 goals tell only part of the story as what if he had 100 amazing chances in one season ... if you look at it this way, scoring 1/4 of them is no longer as impressive as it sounded in the first place when only the number of goals scored was mentioned. Because, if it was a Trezeguet, or a fit Ronaldo, or a Shevchenko, or an Henry, or a Toni in Eto'o's place, maybe just maybe, they would have scored 35-40 goals from that number of chances and not "just" 25.

I am looking at Eto'o's case from this aspect because I think that scoring freely in Spain may be a very ellusive statistics as it doesn't tell much about how that player would do in Iatlian Seire A where Eto'o will no longer have that much space to operate on and will no longer have that whole Barca midfield working for him ... and what matter for Milan in the end is not how well Eto'o's doing in Barca and Spain, but how well he would do, how suitable he is for Italian football ... and this is where just merely mentioning that he's a great striker because he has scored 25 goals in SPain comes a bit short, IMO.

Is it a speculation? of course it is as the only way to have anything more substantial to it would be for Milan to buy him and the he proves me or you wrong on the field ... but it's also a speculation to think he would make it in Italy just by look at his goals in Spain, with that midfield behind him, at times when barca was the best team in La Liga and winning titles with 10-15 pts advanatge over the closes rival.

We obviously have different oppinions on him, however you did say you are DIVIDED on him so I guess there is still a chance you might concider him.

as if it really matters what i think about him
Yeah, I am divided on him, but if you really wnat him at Milan, it's Silvio's and Galliani's consideration that you need, not mine

Milan: addio a Dida, il futuro è il 21enne Akinfeev dal CSKA Mosca. Solo Berlusconi può convincere Buffon a lasciare la Juve, ma non vuole spendere troppo per un portiere.
Ancelotti: "Il Real Madrid si deve rassegnare, voglio altre 300 panchine in rossonero".

Can Anyone transl this

Originally Posted by milanista mosta

Milan: addio a Dida, il futuro è il 21enne Akinfeev dal CSKA Mosca. Solo Berlusconi può convincere Buffon a lasciare la Juve, ma non vuole spendere troppo per un portiere.
Ancelotti: "Il Real Madrid si deve rassegnare, voglio altre 300 panchine in rossonero".

Milan : Bye Bye to Dida , the future is 21 years old Akinfeev from CSKA Moscow. Only Berlusconi can convince Buffon to leave Juve, but he doesn't wanna spend much on a keeper.
Ancelotti " Real Madrid must accept it, i want 300 more matches on Milan's bench ( 300 more matches as Milan's manager)

Milan is about to say goodbye to Dida and the future belongs to the 21 yo Akinfeev from CSKA Moskow. Berlusconi could convince Buffon to leave Juve for Milan but at the same time he doesn;t want to spend too much money on a GK.
Carlo says that real M will have to wait - reportedly they want him to replace Capello - as he wants another 300 games at the helm of Milan.

Originally Posted by zlatanov

Milan is about to say goodbye to Dida and the future belongs to the 21 yo Akinfeev from CSKA Moskow. Berlusconi could convince Buffon to leave Juve for Milan but at the same time he doesn;t want to spend too much money on a GK.
Carlo says that real M will have to wait - reportedly they want him to replace Capello - as he wants another 300 games at the helm of Milan.

Beat ya. .....finally !

OK, don't shoot I give up

If I see another 300 matches of Ancelotti in Milan I'll die! Akinfeev is ok keeper, very talented and perspective. We need money to build up our defence and CM, plus, we are clearly going for Ronaldinho so...

Originally Posted by Tony29.

Beat ya. .....finally !

Originally Posted by Zlatanov

OK, don't shoot I give up

Actually i beat the pair of you and Milanista Mosta as i posted this rumour in the 'transfer rumours' thread this morning

i read this mourning that Rosoneri are interested in signing the mexican tequilla...he would be an exellent addition, and we could also use the scandalouse situation in Barca and bring him.

Originally Posted by zlatanov

Defense:

Alex - one of my favourite choices for a CD as he has the type of physical presence that is simply a must against tall and physical strikers, who become more and more popular these days. He has great tactical awareness too and is surprisingly mobile and quick for a player of his size. He's been one of the best players in Holland for second year running and was great for PSV vs Milan.

Alex ( i guess you mean "The Tank" not some other Alex ? ) will be hard to get. He's a Chelsea player on loan to PSV. After the end of the season PSV has the option to buy him from Chelsea. If they do buy him, i don't know if they'll be willing to sell him immediately.
If they don't buy him then maybe Mourinho will see him as a solution for the defensive problems he has when Terry's not around.

People were saying the same thing about Vincent Kompany, that he was a Chelsea player and yet he happily packed his bags and headed off to Germany. I don't remember Chelsea ever buying Alex outright and surely if he did belong to them they would have brought him back in January due to their defensive crisis. I can't imagine they'd have carried on playing Essien at CB when they had the Brazilian at hand.

They might have an option on him, but i don't think he's a Chelsea player. Personally even if he was a Chelsea player i think there are defenders equally as good as him who are available.

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

People were saying the same thing about Vincent Kompany, that he was a Chelsea player and yet he happily packed his bags and headed off to Germany. I don't remember Chelsea ever buying Alex outright and surely if he did belong to them they would have brought him back in January due to their defensive crisis. I can't imagine they'd have carried on playing Essien at CB when they had the Brazilian at hand.

They might have an option on him, but i don't think he's a Chelsea player. Personally even if he was a Chelsea player i think there are defenders equally as good as him who are available.

I read somewhere he has a 2 or 3 years loan contract with PSV, so Chelsea couldn't have brought him back in January just like that.
I'm not really surre if he's owned by Chelsea so i'll have to search for it !

On Wikipedia it is said he's Chelsea player on loan to PSV.
But i found out the whole story :


The imposing stopper joined PSV in the summer of 2004 on loan after being bought by Chelsea.

His stay at the Philips Stadion was scheduled to last for two seasons, at which point he was to move to Stamford Bridge.

However, he has not played a sufficient percentage of games for Brazil to qualify for a work permit in England, so he'll spend one more year in PSV.

Alex was part of the deal when Chelsea bought Kezman and Robben from PSV.
Chelsea can have him at the end of any season if they want him unless they decide they don't want him and then PSV have to pay a set fee to Chelsea to have him permanantly.

i am so sad by hearing those news about alex-chelsea situation, by the way i heard ninis has had several recent contacts from arsenal and he is close to sign pre contract