Winter Mercato

Despite what you say Zlat, keeping Cafu is not progression. It's just more of the old pals act and a way to save money.

If you're so certain Alves is more likely to move to a Spanish club or Liverpool ( to which i obviously wouldn't mind ) why shouldn't we buy another right back now? If the best one available isn't likely to join us, why do we need to keep a 38 year old right-back when there are others who are younger and better than, or at least equal to him out there?

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

Despite what you say Zlat, keeping Cafu is not progression. It's just more of the old pals act and a way to save money.

If you're so certain Alves is more likely to move to a Spanish club or Liverpool ( to which i obviously wouldn't mind ) why shouldn't we buy another right back now? If the best one available isn't likely to join us, why do we need to keep a 38 year old right-back when there are others who are younger and better than, or at least equal to him out there?

because only Alves would be a step ahead for Milan while all the rest would not provide anything more than what Cafu could give us, actually, they are players who would need to adjust to Italy and the team and there is nothing certain they would do that in a satisfactory fashion.
On top of that, we'd have to spend 5-8 mil more in a summer when there will likely be other purchases/expenses to be made.

All in all, unless we are talking about Alves, RB position doesn't need urgent changes with cafu+oddo already here and possibly Zambrotta on the way too ... at least not this year, provided that Cafu stays.
Once he's gone, whether we like it or not we'll have to find a new player.

Plus, I think Alves would be staying at Sevilla for one more year and a lot of things could change till then ... i do believe however that in order to beat the competition to his siggy, Milan would have to make an extra financial effort and to convince Sevilla to sell to them ... if the matter is left to Alves, I think there is only one thing to make him even consider Milan over the rest - the Brazilian contingent here ... other than that, I see Real and Barca as favourites for his services.

Originally Posted by mrki

Solution: Zambrotta, world class RB and LB.

You can't have seen much of Zambrotta this season and he's 30. I'd rather we went for someone much younger like Daniel Alves or Riise who would be a cheaper option and have no difficulty in adapting to Serie A given his experience.

Your missing my point Zlat. Take Alves out of the equation completely because he's more than likely to end up at Madrid/Barca and now look at our rb situation.

Why do we need to wait another year when we can get a younger and equally good rb into the squad now? I know "it saves us money", but getting the defence right should be the priority.

If Faubert, Reveilliere, et al are just as good as Cafu and are younger, there should be no need to wait a further year to get them, that would just be wasting time.

I hope i made that clearer this time.

I like Rijse too but don't see him leaving Pool anytime soon and Pool themselves, with the new investments coming in are looking to strengthen their current team, not sell around their best players.

Alves, a lot has been said about him, but altogether Milan is, supposedly, just one of the big teams after him and his price will be 20+ mil, so this won't be an easy transfer by any means.

Zambrotta has had a rather average season this year but I think the main reason for this is not loss in quality but difficulties with adjusting to the new league and club and not in last place the WC - many players who took part in the late stages of the WC have had average seasons, especially in the first half.
True, he ain't young anymore but isn't that old either and his age would be the main reason why he wouldn't cost us a fortune - ~10 mil, I would guess.

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

Your missing my point Zlat. Take Alves out of the equation completely because he's more than likely to end up at Madrid/Barca and now look at our rb situation.

Why do we need to wait another year when we can get a younger and equally good rb into the squad now? I know "it saves us money", but getting the defence right should be the priority.

If Faubert, Reveilliere, et al are just as good as Cafu and are younger, there should be no need to wait a further year to get them, that would just be wasting time.

I hope i made that clearer this time.

I got you the first time, Jim and the answer is in my previous post .

one, we save money which could be spent on strengthening other much more urgent positions like CB, LB, etc.
Also, Faubert, reveillere are players you can find anytime you need a good RB ... they are good/very good players but none of them is something to cry over if we miss on them NOW because once Cafu goes, we can always go out and have at least 3-4 options just as good as reveillere or Faubert or whoever ... no URGENT need to go for them just now.
Also, maybe the management has big plans for Marzoratti, so maybe they wanna see how he develops next year and have a better idea if he would be worth pushing into the first team or we would be better off going for an outsider.

And not in the last place, Faubert and Reveillere are not better than a rested cafu - and with Oddo here, he would be rested - quite the opposite, a rested cafu at 37 is better than both of them, IMO ... not to mention that unlike cafu, neither Faubert nor Reveillere are familiar with Serie A or Milan and there is always the risk that they will not find adjustment an easy thing to do.

Obviously, if Cafu leaves and we don't have another choice but get an outsider, that player will also have to adjust to Milan and Italy, but then we will be in a situation where we don't have a choice ... now, that's not the case, at least not for next season.

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

Your missing my point Zlat. Take Alves out of the equation completely because he's more than likely to end up at Madrid/Barca and now look at our rb situation.

Why do we need to wait another year when we can get a younger and equally good rb into the squad now? I know "it saves us money", but getting the defence right should be the priority.

If Faubert, Reveilliere, et al are just as good as Cafu and are younger, there should be no need to wait a further year to get them, that would just be wasting time.

I hope i made that clearer this time.

The problem is whether we can get them now at a reasonable price, if we can then its not a problem at all. Unless we are certain to get a good replacement, i am hesitant to drop a good player, even if he might be old. If we dump away cafu and fail to get a decent player and instead go for a stop-gap measure then we are truely screwed. If cafu is willing to extend then let's do it while searching for his replacement, Cafu as a 3rd choice is pretty good.

Zambrotta has had an average seaspon, yes. But in his every move you can he he is top class player. He is still better than Riise, Alves, Oddo, Marek, Evra, A. Cole and so on....

We can have him for 10 mil a guess, im sure he wouldnt cost more than that. He is 30, like Oddo, and can play top football for 3 or 4 years more. It would also be good to buy Alves as he is younger, but he would cost us a small fortune, he is not EU player and cant play on both flanks as Zambrotta can. Gianluca is absolutely the best solution for Milan! I have my fingers crossed for his transfer...

Alves is versatile in a different way, he is just as comfortable playing further forward. Indeed, given a few years development, you can see him being able to play as Serginho does i.e. off of a striker or with someone like Kaka.

I thought he was an EU player?

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

Alves is versatile in a different way, he is just as comfortable playing further forward. Indeed, given a few years development, you can see him being able to play as Serginho does i.e. off of a striker or with someone like Kaka.

I thought he was an EU player?

yes, Alves is a EU player (has a Spanish passport) and I agree with Jim - one of the reasons, actually the main reason why I want Alves is because he can play all over the right flank and he can do so NOW, no need to wait a few years

He can be a very tenacious yet offensive RB, can also play as a right winger and right attacking mid similarly to Giuly in Barca or mancini in Roma ... and i think he could also play in gattuso's role too given his endless running and chasing the ball.
Alves can also take great free kicks and corner kicks and this season must have scored from both open play and free kicks close to 10 goals for Sevilla in all competitions ... not many RB can boast with a record like that.

The worst thing about him - he is a class above all other RBs out there and it would be extremely difficult to get him as he attracts too much attention

The ultimate solution for Milan would be Zambrotta+Alves but that would be quite something to pull off ... I would still be fine with getting Zambrotta and a good RB, not necessarily Alves, should cafu leave.

Maybe Zaccardo? He is a avrage player maybe a good backup? What do you guys think?

I absolutely think Zaccardo would be a great addition. I've been saying all along, he's the best replacement for Cafu!! Doing this, we could have a excellent central partnership of Oddo and Nesta and obviously Janku on the other flank. For goali, I would really love it if we could get James from portsmouth but I highly doubt it. I really like Storari and I think he's good enough. In midfield, I think we're perfect (UNLESS RONALDINHO MIRACULOUSLY COMES) considering we have the most consistent midfield of any major squad the last 3-5 years. Also, how about that Ambrosini! So, just minor changes will make the difference.

Possible line-up:


--JAMES-----

ZACCARDO----ODDO----NESTA----JANKULOVSKI

GATTUSO----PIRLO----RONALDINHO

---KAKA---

GILARDINO----RONALDO

With all these italian keepers around you tell me James? JAMES?!?!?!?!?!?!? ARE U SERIOUS?!?!?!?!?!?! HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST IT???????

Originally Posted by Baresi

I absolutely think Zaccardo would be a great addition. I've been saying all along, he's the best replacement for Cafu!! Doing this, we could have a excellent central partnership of Oddo and Nesta and obviously Janku on the other flank. For goali, I would really love it if we could get James from portsmouth but I highly doubt it. I really like Storari and I think he's good enough. In midfield, I think we're perfect (UNLESS RONALDINHO MIRACULOUSLY COMES) considering we have the most consistent midfield of any major squad the last 3-5 years. Also, how about that Ambrosini! So, just minor changes will make the difference.

Possible line-up:


--JAMES-----

ZACCARDO----ODDO----NESTA----JANKULOVSKI

GATTUSO----PIRLO----RONALDINHO

---KAKA---

GILARDINO----RONALDO

You want us to go for a 2nd rated keeper, a defender whose only contribution is an own goal during the WC. Great foresight huh.....

I think those who are doubting James this season need to take a step back and appreciate what his form has been like this season. He's been one of if not the best keeper in the Premiership this season, some of his saves have been magnificent and undoubtedly world class. He's also just broken the highest number of clean sheets in the premiership record and given that he's played alot of those games for Villa, Man City & Portsmouth (hardly the best defenders out there), it's a testament to his ability.

I think alot of people still see him as 'calamity' James, but he's made hardly any mistakes this season. He's certainly been in better form than the majority of keepers in Serie A. The guy is amazingly athletic for his age and there are few keepers that can match him for this.

The only question is would this form continue? His reliability is always suspect, but somehow he's managed to put together a fantastic season. Good for him!