Striker worthy the place of Andriy Shevchenko

Originally Posted by mk18

this is what you dont seem to understand, you can find world class players at good prices, they dont have to cost 40m, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE MORE OF A RISK IN FLOPPING!!



sure? ... then why have we been so cautios in the transfer market as of late? if we can afford to spend millions of millions of dollars then why did we ever go for players like stam, rivaldo, amoroso, tomasson, pancaro, ...etc when we could buy players like gerrard, ronaldinho, messi with the billions of dollars we have to spend according to what your saying ... 20m dollars is alot of money, with 20m we can buy diarra just like that, now thats a big signing!



when? ... i dont know if you have noticed but we are still one of the most feared teams in europe, we still have a very solid squad thats capable of winning everything we compete in, 2 years is not as bad as it sounds, there were times in this teams career where we went 20 years without winning anything, and even when berlusconi was president, we went on a 5 year run of total dissapointment, and what did we do then? we spent big, in our current state there is no need for that, we still have excellent players, we have kaka instead of gugliempetero or whatever his name was, nesta instead of a crappy ayala, dida instead of lehmann... we have an excellent starting 11, and one of the best benches in the world, we dont need the big names, we need the right ones, im not saying torres isnt a right buy, i feel hes probably not but for 40m im not ready to take that chance given that there are many players out there who have a smaller chance of flopping and would cost alot less, and for the record, if we do spend 40m on torres, when you start asking why cant we spend 15m on daniel alves, or 20m on diarra, and 5m on gallas (since they are needed aswell) ... you know whats the answer


rui costa? ... flop?? ... no way sir! ... rui costa was marvelous in our CL campaign, he may have not played for us the same way he did with fiorentina, but he was excellent, and an excellent sub aswell (which is just as important as a starter), i went crazy when we got him, and ur right, the club does need that buzz every now and then, but you can get that buzz for a low price!!! ... it doesnt have to be torres, it can be zlatan, it can be adriano, it can be anyone, you just make it sound like torres has to be the one! .. and for the record, didnt you get that 'buzz' when we signed gilardino last season for 17M BP?? .. please be reasonable

I will try to reply to you paragraph by paragraph. Please refer to your quote above:

But how do you know whether a player is at a risk to flop? Some of the biggest prospects have failed in serie a and some of the lower profile players have succeeded tremendously. A player's nationality is not enough indication as to whether or not they will succeed. I dont claim to be an expert on this, but in my opinion Torres is not at any increased risk to flop compared with any other transfer. I think it is only fair to leave this up to management. If they think that Torres is a sure bet, then they ought to sign him. If they have reservations, I will respect that as well. But it doesnt mean that we should then turn our sights to players of a lower caliber. And like I've been saying, even if he does flop, we can afford to take the loss. If we were Parma and not AC Milan, I wouldnt be saying this.



You know why we have been so cautious in the market? It's not because we are cheapskates, it was because we have been winning. And nobody wants to alter a winning formula. If you asked me after the CL winning season of 2003 and the Scudetto of 2004 whether we should make any MAJOR signings. I would say, no. There was simply no need then. However, there is a need now. In fact, I thought the club should have started moving since Istanbul. I know we signed Gilardino, but more solid reinforcements (especially in defence and midfield) would have been useful. I think management just figured that we would push through another season with the same squad. But guess what, we were knocked out of the CL semis and finished second. No trophies again. Now if you dont consider this enough indication for some BIG signings, then I dont know what is.


I think this is mainly where you and I differ. A solid squad capable of competing in Europe is not good enough for me and IMO not good enough for Milan. Fiorentina? Maybe. But not AC Milan. We are a team built to win. So I dont care how solid our squad may look and honestly the team to fear in Europe now is Barcelona, not us. We have become rather predictable. Which team wouldnt know how to play us? We've got virtually the same squad and formation for the last couple of years. So for me, just competing is not enough. If we win, then well and good--we reinforce where needed. But if we dont win, then we need freshen things up. I'm not saying that we should spend 100M on Torres, Gerrard, etc...I am simply saying that we need to make some BIG signings to freshen the team and add some enthusiasm ahead of the season. You are right. Those dark years in the mid to late 90s were pretty bad. And our approach was completely wrong then. We simply threw money at the problem and bought high profile players. I am not suggesting we do that. I am simply saying that we should spend big if need be. And in my opinion, after two trophyless years, an aging defense, the loss of our star striker and top scorer, there is now a need.



Exactly. IMO Rui Costa was not a flop at all. He will always be an integral part of Milan's history. But our move for him demonstrated serious ambition, and our willingness to spend big demonstrated our desire to once again dominate in Europe. It is now time to demonstrate that level of ambition. And you are right, it doesnt have to be Torres (although in my opinion, he would be best). It could be Zlatan, Adriano. But it has to be a player with enough caliber to signal the rest of Europe that we will be a force to reckon with. I dont know if Suazo fits that bill. And yes, the Gilardino signing was fantastic. Now that we have lost Shevchenko, dont you think it's time for another big signing?

Milan not interested in Torres

19.06.2006, 12:36


AC Milan MD Adriano Galliani, interviewed by the Spanish sport newspaper Marca, wanted to clarify a few things: “There is not a single chance Calderon can bring Kakà to Real. At the same time we reported his behaviour to Fifa because he tried to approach him even if he knows the player has still four years left in his contract with us. Fernando Torres? Just rumours, he is not in our plans for next season and we have never been in touch with Atletico Madrid.”

is this correct i get it from calciomercato in the english section?????????

Galliani simply loves those ridiculous 'undercover operations', it's something typical of him. And if it's true, it's really a pitty, 'cause he'll not find us a better striker at the moment.

Torres Flirts With Real Madrid

Spain's rising star, while choosing to concentrate on the World Cup, had a few words on reports linking him with Real Madrid.


Real Madrid have long been tracking the Atletico forward, and with the big clubs in Europe circling around him, and Real's own bid to rebuild following their presidential elections on July 2, it was only a matter of time before the links resurfaced.

“It is always good if the focus is on me, but right now, I prefer to focus on Spain, and not on myself," replied Torres when questioned about his future, and the emerging links with Real.

"Spain is the only thing that matters to me.”

However, it wasn't long before the journalists could get something out of him: "They are a great club, and it seems that they speak well of me. When the World Cup finishes, we will see.”

Real and Milan seem to be emerging as the leading contenders, as both could be willing to meet the 40 million price tag slapped on him by Atletico. Arsenal and Manchester United have also been interested

Originally Posted by zlatanov

Ok, I will try to explain for a zilionth time - it's not that we CANNOT spend BIG - if we wanted to, with Silvio's backing, we could spend as freely as Chalski do - it's about knowing from owr own experience, and not only, that spending BIG and winning BIG are two very, very different things. Spending big rarely is a guarantee, if ever at all, for success, while a winning side can be build even with more modest investments. Why is that? Cause spending BIG allows you to bring in stars to the club, while winning big is achieved by one sole way - building a team where 11 players commit to one common goal.
By spending big, you culd easily end up having a group of 11 stars on the field, players who may never become a team of one.

Wise words, zlatanov. Money, of course, is important in world football nowadays, but not crucial to sucess.
Inter is an exemple. Chelsea is another because they never reached CL final spending really big over the last three seasons. And when you spend 300 million pounds you at least expect a CL trophy in your gallery.
There are some things involved not only in football but sports in general that many people simple do not realize, like a good atmosphere in the locker room.

I will repeat once more: Chelsea managed to get a bi-championship on 2005 and 2006, something they were looking for since 1955... if it isn't a successful accomplishment, I don't know what's the meaning of the word 'sucess'...

Calciomercato today is more than ever a ruthless ultracapitalist world: or you spent BIG to be always on the top, or you'll be heading to sink without a trace on the ominous sea of mediocrity.

Originally Posted by GRE-NO-LI

I will repeat once more: Chelsea managed to get a bi-championship on 2005 and 2006, something they were looking for since 1955... if it isn't a successful accomplishment, I don't know what's the meaning of the word 'sucess'...

and when did that take place - in a moment when both Arsenal and ManU were/are going through some rather average period. It would have been a very dif story in the EPL if Chelski had to deal with a full strength ManU (of 4-5 years ago) or a full strength Arsenal (of about 2-3 years ago). Soon Liverpool will also gather strenth under benitez and Cheslki will find it even more difficult to win the EPL, let alone dominate it so clearly.
But being the best in Europe is obviously quite dif than being the best in the EPL. So, obviously spending INCREDIBLY BIG takes you as far as being the best in England and is yet to do so when it comes to Europe.

Originally Posted by GRE-NO-LI

Calciomercato today is more than ever a ruthless ultracapitalist world: or you spent BIG to be always on the top, or you'll be heading to sink without a trace on the ominous sea of mediocrity.

you have a rather utopic idea of a communist society, trust me on this one 'cause I have lived in a REAL one and don't just read books titled "Utopia" that live up very, very well to thier title - complete lack of touch with any sort of realism in life.

Originally Posted by GRE-NO-LI

Calciomercato today is more than ever a ruthless ultracapitalist world: or you spent BIG to be always on the top, or you'll be heading to sink without a trace on the ominous sea of mediocrity.

There are two things involved here, GRE-NO-LI. If you want to win, you need to spend big, no need to argue about it, but not a crazy amount of money like Chelsea.
We just do not need to hire Riquelme, or Aimar, to bench him almost the entire season.
Our National team is a good exemple. Just imagine someone could hired Kaká, Ronaldinho, Adriano, Juninho, Ronaldo, the heavyweight (90,5 kg ) etc. All them are out$tanding players, but my perception is that they'll never mold into a team. And to win team spirit is mandatory.
If you watched EPL on ESPN Brasil over the last two seasons, you must noticed that last season Chelsea had a worst performance compared to the prior season. And what I've been reading over the last month is that Gallas and Ricardo Carvalho are unhappy with their role on the team and want to leave, and Lampard is feeling some discomfort with Ballack arrival. It's a clear signal of something is going wrong.
I am really curious to see what will happen to them next season with so many stars.

Originally Posted by Nirvana FC

There are two things involved here, GRE-NO-LI. If you want to win, you need to spend big, no need to argue about it, but not a crazy amount of money like Chelsea.

You see, Nirvana, I tend to agree with you, but my intention on quoting Chelsea was to show that they cannot be labeled exactly as a failure... ok, you don't need to splash cash on psychotic way like them, but I guess our board need to display a little more ambition.

Psv are being linked with Tevez !

If that wasn't shocking enough, it seems Msi director/Corinthians Owner says that if he goes Corinthians will get a suitable replacement for him.

A small chance to get Tevez i know, but i'd prefer him to Torres i think. Hopefully Leonardo can work his magic again and help out with negotiations

Chances are it's not PSV but Chelski that are involved here with PSV only playing the role of incubator club for a year or two - same as the case with Alex.

Maybe, but given the choice i'm sure Tevez would rather come to us than PSV. IF he does decide to leave. He's not going to stay at Corinthians for too much longer, another season or two tops.

I have up until now believed that Tevez would be the perfect player for Milan but the WC has showed that the replacement for Sheve maybe is Fernando Torres,great speed, quick thinking and has a pretty good shot, i´m impressed by him.