AC Milan make offer for Betis striker Oliveira

Nope, Christian Poulsen never had a medical with Milan. We were interested, but he choose Sevilla, because he feared a lack of first football with Milan.

http://www.channel4.com/sport/footba...lia/apr8d.html


Milan scrap Poulsen move?

There are reports in the Italian Press this morning that Milan have abandoned their bid for Christian Poulsen after a medical.

Both the club and the Danish international had hinted that the deal was ready to be completed with a free transfer in the summer, even going so far as to tear up a pre-contract agreement with Villarreal.

Today there are suggestions that the move has collapsed because a preliminary medical found an ankle problem that the Rossoneri were not happy with.

However, there are also rumours that this is a smokescreen so that they can back out of their agreement to sign the Schalke 04 player.

Poulsen’s arrival caused controversy among the fans and squad, as he infuriated Milan with his rough marking of Kaka during their Champions League meetings earlier this season.

The players and Coach Carlo Ancelotti referred to his tactics as “anti-football” and “the actions of a coward,” while he had a particularly vicious set-to with Gennaro Gattuso.

Here is another reason for Poulsen to be persona non grata among the supporters – he would most likely push fan favourite Gattuso out of the squad.

The Danish international is no stranger to controversy in Italy, as he is the player who harangued Francesco Totti to such a degree that the Azzurri man spat at him in Euro 2004, earning a ban.

Originally Posted by Hasan Rossonero

Spot on with Corradi.

Iaquinta is not prolific but tactically he is brilliant. Look at how Lippi used him in the World Cup. His speed and ability to appear on either flank caused problems for defences.

Also, he can hold the ball up very well.

Just my 2 cents.

agree with Hasan. Before the WC, I couldn't understand why Lippi left Lucarelli at home and took Iaquinta in Germany. And the fact that Pippo spent so much time on the bench only for the Udinese player to come in made me ignore Iaquinta's qualities even more but, as Hasan said, he may not score that many goals but his movement off and on the ball is pretty good and with his pace, he could be seen as a wing player almost.
I would be happy with a front 4 of Pippo, Gila, RO, VI, although my preferred formation given the latest developements and our options out there would be - Pippo, Gila, RO, David Suazo.
Forza Milan !!!!!

God damn...

I guess I was wrong. I never thought/remembered that we were so close to signing him. But I don't remember seeing it on acmilan.com. Thank God he failed..!



@Graeme C

Denmark is awesome

Originally Posted by Rick

Ah, well, after I wrote that I checked that other place again last night and found that the Pessimist Patrol had come out in full force over there too. I guess they just have a later-arriving crowd.

I don't know what it is with Milan fans. The club is signing a very good striker; someone who (with the exception of name recognition) fits the profile of the type of player they have claimed all summer that Milan needs; someone who has won championships, both domestic and European, and who has a history of scoring goals in the "big games"; someone with pace, skill and finishing ability. Yet half of Milan fans bemoan the fact that they have never heard of him (as if they had heard of Kaka) or that he's not a "big name" (read: overhyped) and therefore can't replace Shevchenko (as if anyone could).

Many posters have been depressed that Inter "beat Milan" to Ibrahimovic (even though Milan didn't actually bid on him, despite the newspaper hype). Well if somebody had said to me the day after Sheva left: "Rick, you get to choose Milan's new striker, but you only have two choices. You can have either Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Ricardo Oliveira." I would not have hesitated to choose Oliveira over that overrated, overhyped primadonna. Oliveira is a better player right now than Fernando Torres, who half this board has been wanking over all summer. (That may change someday, but right now he is a better, more consistent and more polished player.)

I just don't know what people want. The Pessimist Patrol isn't going to be satisfied no matter who Milan signs.

Rick, i have been putting up with people who know very little about football and criticising our management's signings: bonera,favalli,gourcuff,brocchi now oliveira without giving them any chances. i think those people just need to play computer game called championship manager instead!

i suggest the fans that do not want Oliveira in Milan to go buy some manager football game... build up a super squad of big names & be happy... don't forget... recently a very average Sevilla hammered a super squad of Barca... go figure...

I know exactly what you guys mean. It seems a lot of Milan fans would rather Milan follow a "gallacticos" policy like Real Madrid. They want to have a superstar at every position. And if the guy isn't overhyped or they haven't determined just how good the guy will be by playing championship manager, then obviously the player must be crap. After all (fill in the blank) doesn't know anything about him. Or (fill in the blank) saw him play one game and he didn't score a goal so he's crap. Half of Milan fans, it seems, have deluded themselves into believing that they know better and could do a better job of building a team than these guys who have made Milan the world's most successful club. It truly boggles the mind.

Real Madrid is the world's most succesfull club....sad but true. I personally dont think I could do a job like PROFESSIONALS in Milan do, but this is forum and we can talk about it as much as we can. And as Grenoli once said, this is football and football is passion. Its not some British or Australian tea-party. Alowe people to scream, shout, swear and so on....football is like life, passionate. Without that its worth - nothing!

I first saw Ricardo Oliveira when he was at Santos (along with Alex) and expected both to have a great future. Oliveira has everything - pace, power, good in the air, an explosive shot and is two footed. His athleticism is out of this world and in terms of finishing I would say he's already better than Shevchenko ever was.

I just hope there are no last minute hitches and the move goes through. I've convinced he will be a massive success.

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Sad Iaquinta must easily be the worst striker in Serie A right now that Corradi has left.

You have got to be serious. He is not an out and out striker, he spends a lot of time outside the box linking play and as we saw at the World Cup can play on the flanks. He would be a great signing and gives the attack some serious muscle. I’d rather have Iaquinta than a lazy twat like Adriano.

Originally Posted by Tony Soprano

Good. I thought I was the only guy here who never heard of him

It's funny how so many people hype up players like Tevez, Aguero and numerous other Argentinean midgets, most of whom they have seen very little of yet know nothing about a striker who scored against Barcelona and Real Madrid in his first season in La Liga and 22 goals the next.

Originally Posted by Mehdi

You have got to be serious. He is not an out and out striker, he spends a lot of time outside the box linking play and as we saw at the World Cup can play on the flanks. He would be a great signing and gives the attack some serious muscle. I’d rather have Iaquinta than a lazy twat like Adriano.

For what it's worth, I have Iaquinta ranked as the 28th best goal scoring forward per minute in Serie A last season. So, even if his job isn't a typical striker, he's certainly capable of it.

Calling him the worst in Serie A is ridiculous.

Although I agree some fans are too harsh,there are two extremes. Either noone is good enough if they are not hyped up at all or there is total and utter blind faith. I mean it was a total joke how some people felt Sobis would become what Kaka became and now Olivera is the answer to the worlds problems.

The only thin we can do is wait and hope that he proves to be a good signing and Milan strenten in other departments.

Originally Posted by Rick

I know exactly what you guys mean. It seems a lot of Milan fans would rather Milan follow a "gallacticos" policy like Real Madrid. They want to have a superstar at every position. And if the guy isn't overhyped or they haven't determined just how good the guy will be by playing championship manager, then obviously the player must be crap. After all (fill in the blank) doesn't know anything about him. Or (fill in the blank) saw him play one game and he didn't score a goal so he's crap. Half of Milan fans, it seems, have deluded themselves into believing that they know better and could do a better job of building a team than these guys who have made Milan the world's most successful club. It truly boggles the mind.

Rick, there is no need to divide us into factions, and there is no need to call some of us "deluded". You are entitled to your opinion just like everyone here in the forum. And no matter how "optimistic" and "bright" your views are, it doesnt make it any better than anyone else's opinion. A few points I would like to make to counter your argument:

1) Yes, Berlusconi/Galliani et al have made us a very successful club. But are you telling me that they have not made mistakes along the way? They are fallible just like the rest of us. Remember the Zaccheroni years? Remember Oscar Tabarez? Remember Martin Laursen? Remember Javi Moreno? Remember Lentini? I can go on and on. But our management has made their fair share of mistakes and if some of us are complaining about Oliveira's signing, it's not because we dont trust the management or we think we're better than them, it's simply because we are afraid that they might be making a mistake. What's wrong with that?

2) If I told you six months ago that our squad for the 2006-2007 season would be minus Shevchenko and plus Oliveira. Would you be happy? I'm not, and I'm not even going to pretend to be happy. We are AC Milan. We are a BIG club with high expectations. If we lose Sheva, we EXPECT a more suitable replacement. What's wrong with that?

3) Why the all or nothing mentality? If some of us are demanding a high profile signing to REPLACE Sheva, why does that make us proponents of the galactico policy? Who has said that we need to have high profile players in every position on the pitch and occupying every square inch of our substitute bench? There is no need to make such broad generalizations.

4) I agree with Jim_UK about Oliveira. If he was indeed such a great name, why are no other clubs linked to him? Please dont tell me that the MIlan management are in to a secret about Oliveira's abilities which have not been discovered by the rest of the football world. Dont forget, He was our SECOND choice. We are signing him simply because we missed out on Ronaldo. I dont know about you, but second choice as a replacement for Sheva is not good enough for me.

I am also an optimistic person by nature, but I dont engage in fantasty and I dont "spin" things to justifiy people's actions or inactions in this matter. I am a realist and I will tell it like it is. Our managment has done very POORLY this summer with regards to transfers. They have grossly misjudged the potential of our team and our lack of squad depth. They have not strengthened the team adequately and we might pay a price for this down the line. Now you can call me "half empty" and "phan" or whatever you like, but sometimes when you love and care about something, you need to also criticize when you see that things arent going so well.

Originally Posted by mrki

Real Madrid is the world's most succesfull club....sad but true. I personally dont think I could do a job like PROFESSIONALS in Milan do, but this is forum and we can talk about it as much as we can. And as Grenoli once said, this is football and football is passion. Its not some British or Australian tea-party. Alowe people to scream, shout, swear and so on....football is like life, passionate. Without that its worth - nothing!

Real Madrid is the most successful club throughout history, but Milan has been more successful than Real Madrid during Berlusconi's ownership. Milan has won more European titles (4 to Madrid's 3, plus has appeared in the final 7 times during the period in question to just 3 for Madrid), more European Supercups (4 to Madrid's 1) and an equal number of Intercontinental Cups (2 apiece). The only area where Milan holds an edge is domestic titles (8 to Milan's 7) and even that could be argued for Milan in light of Juventus' actions over the past two seasons. So I stand by my statement that Berlusconi and his staff have made Milan the most successful club in the world.

And of course everyone should be able to show passion. But when that passion is misdirected be prepared for others to call you on it.