Winter Mercato

Schweinstieger = good player

What, you need more?

He's very direct, works hard, quite fast, enough skill to beat people and scores a fair amount of goals for a midfielder. That however is when he's on top of his game, like in the world cup where everything went through him in some matches. However, he does seem a bit inconsistent, sometimes completely disappearing. I don't know much about his mentality or attitude, is he a good man to have in the squad in terms of team spirit or is he an anti-social disruptive force?

With German domestic football at a bit of a low (a bit like italy really), it would be a bit easier to buy him at this moment. Depending on the price he could be a good addition to the side and more than likely an alternative to Ronaldinho.

good to hear i'm not the only one who thinks alex way overrated

Schweinsteiger is ok, but there's only one player from the German Bundesliga we really need and he is a midfielder who plays for Werder Bremen:

Diego

This guy is amazing and he's only 22 years old. He has scored 12 (1 penalty) goals and made 12 assists in 29 league games so far this season.

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

Schweinstieger = good player

What, you need more?

He's very direct, works hard, quite fast, enough skill to beat people and scores a fair amount of goals for a midfielder. That however is when he's on top of his game, like in the world cup where everything went through him in some matches. However, he does seem a bit inconsistent, sometimes completely disappearing. I don't know much about his mentality or attitude, is he a good man to have in the squad in terms of team spirit or is he an anti-social disruptive force?

With German domestic football at a bit of a low (a bit like italy really), it would be a bit easier to buy him at this moment. Depending on the price he could be a good addition to the side and more than likely an alternative to Ronaldinho.

What I need more?? Nothing, great job
I remember of great games by Schweinstieger, but you just hit the point: inconsistent!
I was afraid to be the only one to see this. But, every time that B. Munich needs Schweinstieger, the guy desapear. To be fair he´s young, but this worries me. Other than that, and when hes´on, this guy is a complete player.

@Arildonardo, Diego is a amazing talent(I watched Diego to play for the first time when he was 15yo in Brazil/Santos youths). But I don´t know if he can play with Kaka in Italy. In Brazil it´s OK, because we have the culture to play with 2 OMD without much defensive responsabilities. But in Italy, Diego(or Kaka) would have to defend, and play in a diferent position(Seedorf role), and I saw how the things turn bad for him in Porto in that position. And Diego will not accept to be a Kaka backup.
Of coure we can play with just one man up front, but IMO we lose one of the best Kaka characteristcs playing with only one foward.

A brazilian youngster that could play in Seedorf role(in the future), is Anderson(Porto), as the kid in the past played as LB, and is very strong for his body. But this would be a project for 2 or 3 years...right now, besides Diego, a brazilian mid that could fight for a starter job in Milan next year without doubt would be Lucas Leiva...Plus: the guy comes of the region in Brazil(South) where the game is more similar to SerieA(just a little more dirty ).

I tend to agree with Brasileiro, that Diego wont want to sit on the bench for Kaka...we need a relatively "undiscovered" talent to play that role...which is why I was so disappointed we sold Foggia to get Oddo...

While Foggia is more of a winger, I am sure he could adapt into the AM role...

i think ledesma would be a good back up for kaka.

Is that the same Ledesma who came with us on an American summer tour a few years back? If it is, we were heavily linked with him for a while but he failed to impress.

I think we should get as many Brazilian players as we can, then put tonnes of sand on the San Siro pitch and play beach football. With all those samba boys in the side you know we'd win everything then

Warro, i too agree that letting Foggia go was a mistake, he gave us something different that we didn't have in the squad. Rosina, i guess, would probably be an ideal alternative/compliment to Kaka.

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

Is that the same Ledesma who came with us on an American summer tour a few years back? If it is, we were heavily linked with him for a while but he failed to impress.

I think we should get as many Brazilian players as we can, then put tonnes of sand on the San Siro pitch and play beach football. With all those samba boys in the side you know we'd win everything then

Warro, i too agree that letting Foggia go was a mistake, he gave us something different that we didn't have in the squad. Rosina, i guess, would probably be an ideal alternative/compliment to Kaka.

Beach football rubbish!!!
And they show this rubbish a lot on TV here in Brazil

http://www.tgcom.mediaset.it/sport/a...lo358773.shtml

Milan may be on the verge of signing a new attacking RB in the face of .... Marcos Cafu
It seems Milan are about to meet with Cafu to discuss a possible renewal of his contract given that the player has changed his mide about going back to Brazil and finishing his career there.

--------------------------------------------------

Obviously, given the age difference, I would prefer Alves but if not him, keeping Cafu for one more year Oddo already here too could be a decent move, I think as there are hardly any other players, apart from Alvez, who could provide the type of quality Cafu can give us ... even at 37 yo

I can't say I agree. We shouldn't keep delaying the inevitable..we should try to get a backup RB SOONER rather than later. It doesn't have to be someone as prolific as Alvez(who is great but will probably cost a pretty penny and would be hard to persuade him to move from Sevilla who are in a good position domestically and are potentially in CL next year) but at least someone decent enough to give Oddo competition and who isn't at/near retirement.

Originally Posted by Mystik

I can't say I agree. We shouldn't keep delaying the inevitable..we should try to get a backup RB SOONER rather than later. It doesn't have to be someone as prolific as Alvez(who is great but will probably cost a pretty penny and would be hard to persuade him to move from Sevilla who are in a good position domestically and are potentially in CL next year) but at least someone decent enough to give Oddo competition and who isn't at/near retirement.

I agree more with zlatanov. Cafu has been great whenever he played recently, he just need more rest in between matches and we have Oddo here as well giving him enough rest. We don't really need some 2nd rated RB here to make up the numbers. Unless we get a really good RB else i rather we keep Cafu.

Mystik's 'delaying the inevitable' is exactly right. How many of us have slated Cafu's performances this season saying his legs have gone, he's not the same anymore and other similar lines? Most of us have. A few decent games recently doesn't hide the fact that he's no longer consistent. What's the point of having a player who can't play too often and when he does play he's inconsistent?

I like Cafu alot and i wouldn't mind if he stayed on with us as a third choice right-back who only played now and again in the league and wasn't listed for the CL next year. There are several decent right-backs out there who we could get, keeping Cafu and not progressing the squad is a backwards step.

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

Mystik's 'delaying the inevitable' is exactly right. How many of us have slated Cafu's performances this season saying his legs have gone, he's not the same anymore and other similar lines? Most of us have. A few decent games recently doesn't hide the fact that he's no longer consistent. What's the point of having a player who can't play too often and when he does play he's inconsistent?

most of this criticism came in the first part of the seasn when we didn't have Oddo and cafu was the only alternative at RB, when he was fit that is.
Now, we have Oddo and Cafu is no longer first in the pecking order but more of a good back up ... this would cut down on his injuries and will allow him to get more rest than before, when he was the only attacking RB we had and had to play twice a week.

I like Cafu alot and i wouldn't mind if he stayed on with us as a third choice right-back who only played now and again in the league and wasn't listed for the CL next year. There are several decent right-backs out there who we could get, keeping Cafu and not progressing the squad is a backwards step.

apart from Alves and maybe Miguel too, there isn't a RB out there who would be better - read would give us more quality - than even a 37 yo Cafu would when used sparingly.
Players like Reveillere, Faubert, etc, etc are good to very good players ... but that's about it ... such players we can find all over the place whenever we want in every transfer market.

Alves is more or less the only "one-of-a-kind" RB at this moment but Sevilla are believed to be willing to keep him for one more year given that they will for sure be in CL next year.
And even if they let him go, Real, Barca (both Spanish teams as he would probably prefer to stay in Spain), and even Liverpool (given his wish to go there last year and play for Rafa) are probably before Milan in this race ... not to mention that his price would hit 20-25 mil without breaking a sweat.
If not, we can always find a player like Reveillere or Faubert to replace Cafu when he is gone ... if not this year, then next year.

I personally think that Alves would stay at Sevilla for one more year so keeping Cafu would allow us to have a back up RB for this period and then try to get Alves bceause if we now go for Reveillere or some other good but not great RB, this would mean that we'll never even try for Alves.

So, all in all, "delaying the inevitable" isn't necessarily a bad thing as I am sure Galliani knows very well that Cafu can't go on forever and his career will soon come to an end ... it's obvious to anyone that resigning him isn't a long-term solution ... maybe they do have something in mind

EDIT: Also, Zambrotta looks like a likely addition for next season and should he come, the RB position will be more than well covered.

Having Cafu and Oddo for next year isn't ideal but doesn't concern me too much. Much more worrying for me is the LB position, as Serginho I doubt can be relied on too regularly, we should aim for someone better than Favalli (who may be useful in a Costacurta type role) and for me Janku isn't really a LB (especially a first team regular LB), and should be used in midfield more imo.

For me, buying a world class fullback is a must for next season, and for me I'd look for a LB more than a RB.

Solution: Zambrotta, world class RB and LB.