Ballack

Now that we have secured the signing of Gilardino, Milan should think hard about signing Ballack if he is true up for sale for that 8 million suggested by reporters. Ballack would add another dimension to our attack. Ballack is a player who can shoot, dribble and pass with ease. Ballack would compliment Kaka and would free him up also as oppsition teams could not just afford to play two defenders on Kaka and Sheva.
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Originally Posted by K77SH C

Whos place would Ballack take?

The best thing about him is his versatility in midfield - he can play in Pirlo's, Seedorf's, Gattuso's, and even Kaka's role with plenty of success. Plus let's not forget that we still don't have a Pirlo sub. I know that Milan management seems to see Vogel as Pirlo's sub but they don't have much in common - Vogel is virtually a player identical to Ambrosini. Ballack, on the other hand can fill in any position in the mid, especially Gattuso's when we play teams that are mostly defending and we would need more creativity in midfield than Ringhio could offer.

actually zlatanov, unlike ambro vogel is a good passer of the ball... but we sold so many midfielders this summer and only got vogel and janku ... i think were short on midfielders and signing ballack for me would be like winning the treble... just his name along with our current summer signings is too good to be true (hopefully im wrong though).

i was thinking, we could play ballack in gattuso's role but that may unbalance the team a bit (but we could imagine what would happen since rhino had a horrible last season) only going forward we would definatly be better off.

for more balance we could play him in seedorfs role and personally its the most logicall choice considering his abilities.

3rd choice would be future rui costa replacement... im expecting to see rui leave the following summer so we could see him there sometimes, maybe we can play him as 2nd choice OM and play rui as pirlos backup. he would also be good if kaka has another bad season (hopefully not) but i really doubt that.

i wud luv to see this midfield:
gattuso(ambro) prilo(rui costa, vogel) ballack(serginho)
kaka(seedorf)
imo rui is the best replacement for pirlo. I also think we need sum1 to challenge kaka for a starting spot n sum1 we can trust so that kaka doesnt have to start all the time. rui cant play a full game for a team like milan, imo he is just a super sub. If kaka is injured or is playing real bad, then we can count on seedorf to be a decent replacement.

its great to have someone like Ballack on our Roster that can be a leader as well someone that scores from the middle and goes for goals and as well defends well and he is at his peak at 28 he would be the right age to move over 5 years with him will be perfect to solve our midfield and thats somethin i would love to see him play with pirlo and Gattsuo

We are definetly in need of a midfielder, but it would be incredibly hard to get Ballack. If Ballack is willing to leave Bayern there are plenty of clubs willing to pay more than what Milan want to. Thats why I don't see Ballack here, unless he really only wants Milan.

Looks like he wants a move to La Liga or Serie A, he, just as many others, hate the premiership.

It is true that if we get Ballack, alot of our midfielders will get disappointed such as Gattuso, Ambro, and even Seedorf, but to me, I really think we would need ballack, and if anyone found problems with him, they can leave. None of these 3 players is SO important to us that we can´t cope without. I really hope we can bring in Ballack, but i see this transfer possibility as a 5%.

Originally Posted by zlatanov

The best thing about him is his versatility in midfield - he can play in Pirlo's, Seedorf's, Gattuso's, and even Kaka's role with plenty of success. Plus let's not forget that we still don't have a Pirlo sub. I know that Milan management seems to see Vogel as Pirlo's sub but they don't have much in common - Vogel is virtually a player identical to Ambrosini. Ballack, on the other hand can fill in any position in the mid, especially Gattuso's when we play teams that are mostly defending and we would need more creativity in midfield than Ringhio could offer.

I think a player of Ballack's quality demands a regular role in the team. Hes too good to be a utility man and wont except being Pirlo's sub. Maybe Solari would have been a better option

Some reports in the UK say that he's available for around the £12 million mark, if you're going to spend that kind of money, you might aswell spend another £5 million or so and get Baptista who is younger and would (hopefully) score alot more goals. Even though we have a great strikeforce now, you still need the midfield to score goals. When we won Serie A, Kaka and Pirlo had over 10 goals a piece and Seedorf weighed in with a few. Compare that to the season just gone and they are down on what is expected.

A part of me wants Ballack, but then a bigger part wants Baptista. It's unlikely that the latter will leave this summer, but if we put in a big enough offer to tempt Seville, who knows what will happen.

I doubt we'll sign anyone though to be honest, i hope i'll be proved wrong.

Originally Posted by K77SH C

I think a player of Ballack's quality demands a regular role in the team. Hes too good to be a utility man and wont except being Pirlo's sub. Maybe Solari would have been a better option

I never meant that he would be just a utility player for us, sit on the bench and come in only if someone else is unavailable. All I meant was that by getting him, we would kill 3-4 birds with one single shot and it won't be necessary for us to buy 3-4 dif midfielders capable of playing in 1 position only.
One other thing though - IMO, the best way of arranging a team is to be able to rotate the players depending on the opposition we have to face. With Ballack in there, we won't have to play say Gattuso vs Messina at the San Siro, or when we need more physical presence in midfield, we could play him in Seedorf's or even Pirlos place, especially if the latter is off form. It will be one long, long season and all the time at least one of Pirlo, Seedorf, or Gattuso will be going through a bad period, so Carlo could play Ballack instead. He will give us a lot of "freedom" in fielding an in-form midfield.

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

Some reports in the UK say that he's available for around the £12 million mark, if you're going to spend that kind of money, you might aswell spend another £5 million or so and get Baptista who is younger and would (hopefully) score alot more goals. Even though we have a great strikeforce now, you still need the midfield to score goals. When we won Serie A, Kaka and Pirlo had over 10 goals a piece and Seedorf weighed in with a few. Compare that to the season just gone and they are down on what is expected.

A part of me wants Ballack, but then a bigger part wants Baptista. It's unlikely that the latter will leave this summer, but if we put in a big enough offer to tempt Seville, who knows what will happen.

I doubt we'll sign anyone though to be honest, i hope i'll be proved wrong.

Baptista is far from a proven player and the money Sevilla want for him is simply too much of a gamble for a player who has still a lot to prove - having a couple of good seasons in Spain is far from being at the top for 7-8 years now in the Bindesliga - a much more physical championship - and the CL.
I agree that Baptista is a very interesting player but for the right price and 20+ mil euros is everything but it, IMO.
Again he is a very unproven player, and right now, the chances that he would be a success are more or less equal to those saying he would be yet another expensive flop. This is too much money to be risked for a player like him and I honestly don't see Milan even making an inquiry about him any time soon.

Originally Posted by m1ke

I really don't think we need Ballack. Where would he play? On the left we have Janku, Seedorf, Serginho. In the middle we've got Pirlo, Vogel, and on the right Gattuso and Ambro.

That's ample cover in my opinion, I can't anything new that Ballack will bring to the table. I'd rather use the money to bolster the defence, with the first priority being a right back (cicinho?).

yeah this is true....we got to many midfielders that played extremely well last season...we need to think about getting some young defenders in to give maldini, nesta, stam and cafu a rest. ballack? he won't be bale to do this and will cause more problems as more players wont get playing time. anyways seedorf will play well next season!!!!!!

Originally Posted by zlatanov

One other thing though - IMO, the best way of arranging a team is to be able to rotate the players depending on the opposition we have to face. With Ballack in there, we won't have to play say Gattuso vs Messina at the San Siro, or when we need more physical presence in midfield, we could play him in Seedorf's or even Pirlos place, especially if the latter is off form. It will be one long, long season and all the time at least one of Pirlo, Seedorf, or Gattuso will be going through a bad period, so Carlo could play Ballack instead. He will give us a lot of "freedom" in fielding an in-form midfield.

Good points, the problem though is it could unsettle the midfield ie. confidence. Also I just wonder who would start in midfield for the big games and would the poor guy not chosen willingly sit on the bench. Ballack is a great player though and it is tempting, especially with his goals. Time will tell I guess, but these days for Milan to sign a player it has to be more obvious than a train coming your way Unless its Vogel

am i the only one who thinks the team is complete?

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Looks like he wants a move to La Liga or Serie A, he, just as many others, hate the premiership.

It is true that if we get Ballack, alot of our midfielders will get disappointed such as Gattuso, Ambro, and even Seedorf, but to me, I really think we would need ballack, and if anyone found problems with him, they can leave. None of these 3 players is SO important to us that we can´t cope without. I really hope we can bring in Ballack, but i see this transfer possibility as a 5%.

i would rather have ambro and gattuso than ballack. I think Ballack is alright but not as good as he is hyped to be.