07-14-2011, 10:18 PM
I've been out of this forum for quite some time, so let me discuss our transfer "targets" in one post.
It's obvious that our targets are a left-sided center midfielder (famous "mezz'ala sinistra") and an attacking midfielder.
Firstly I want to express my opinion on attacking midfielder.
Last year, we all saw that Allegri wants a compact midfield with four real midfielders. We all saw Boateng drops deep to participate in team play, tracks back to help in defense, presses up in the final third and even covers a midfielder who failed to cover his spot on time. That's an attacking midfielder who participates much in the center of the pitch and in defensive side of the game. AND he can fill another slot in midfield, if needed.
Now, we are witnessing various attacking midfielders linked with us. Pastore, Kaka, Ganso and Hamsik are four most common names heard. Because they are different types of player Allegri likes to be his attacking midfielder, I would write off Pastore and Kaka. As for Hamsik, I don't think he's our real target, either. Our real target is ought to be Ganso then. That's more likely too because it's clear that we don't have the money to spend on two big signings in this summer window. And left-midfield slot is really more urgent. So, Galliani will probably make a deal for Ganso to become our player in January transfer window.
Now for left-center midfielder.
Some names to mention are De Rossi, Schweinsteiger, Fabregas, Montolivo, Marchisio and Aquilani. I would say no for Aquilani and Marchisio right away. Aquilani is too injury prone and Marchisio is not the caliber we need. Perhaps as a cover he could be nice addition, but as a starter no. De Rossi will be hard to leave Rome and he's more like a hair to Gattuso and less like a left-center midfielder we need, and at this point in time it's science fiction for us to buy three classy midfielders.
Stay Fabregas, Schweinsteiger and Montolivo.
If we take that Ganso will be third midfielder, beside Van Bommel and Gattuso (two sure starters), we are certain that there will be enough power but not enough speed, because Boateng is pretty fast player and Ganso is... well, slow. That writes off Montolivo: The guy is smart, but neither have speed, nor power, nor energy to make this midfield. When mentioning Boateng that much, without him and with Ganso we are losing not just speed but energy too. And knowing that Van Bommel and Gattuso are pretty old, no matter what magic Allegri uses here (and he's fantastic doing that), we need much more energy than those two along with Ganso can provide. Furthermore, to make a REALLY strong and fearsome midfield we need another player who can bite. Fabregas is not that type of player. He's not willing to fight that much, he's not quick, he's weak physically... Which leaves us with Schweinsteiger.
I think that's our number one target for the summer and the best player we can buy at the moment. He's got it all: Great energy, great work ethics, power, pretty good speed, intelligence, playmaking skills, an eye for a killer pass, an eye for a goal, can attack, can defend, virtually can play in every position in midfield with great success... When talking about him it's like talking about Clarence Seedorf about 7-8 years ago. And he can't get a better compliment from me, because Seedorf in his prime was the best all-around midfielder I have ever seen. And in my opinion, Schweinsteiger is the best all-around midfielder in the world in last couple of years.
If we take him now it would really take our team to the next level. Take Ganso in January and we're the team to beat, bare Barcelona.
It's obvious that our targets are a left-sided center midfielder (famous "mezz'ala sinistra") and an attacking midfielder.
Firstly I want to express my opinion on attacking midfielder.
Last year, we all saw that Allegri wants a compact midfield with four real midfielders. We all saw Boateng drops deep to participate in team play, tracks back to help in defense, presses up in the final third and even covers a midfielder who failed to cover his spot on time. That's an attacking midfielder who participates much in the center of the pitch and in defensive side of the game. AND he can fill another slot in midfield, if needed.
Now, we are witnessing various attacking midfielders linked with us. Pastore, Kaka, Ganso and Hamsik are four most common names heard. Because they are different types of player Allegri likes to be his attacking midfielder, I would write off Pastore and Kaka. As for Hamsik, I don't think he's our real target, either. Our real target is ought to be Ganso then. That's more likely too because it's clear that we don't have the money to spend on two big signings in this summer window. And left-midfield slot is really more urgent. So, Galliani will probably make a deal for Ganso to become our player in January transfer window.
Now for left-center midfielder.
Some names to mention are De Rossi, Schweinsteiger, Fabregas, Montolivo, Marchisio and Aquilani. I would say no for Aquilani and Marchisio right away. Aquilani is too injury prone and Marchisio is not the caliber we need. Perhaps as a cover he could be nice addition, but as a starter no. De Rossi will be hard to leave Rome and he's more like a hair to Gattuso and less like a left-center midfielder we need, and at this point in time it's science fiction for us to buy three classy midfielders.
Stay Fabregas, Schweinsteiger and Montolivo.
If we take that Ganso will be third midfielder, beside Van Bommel and Gattuso (two sure starters), we are certain that there will be enough power but not enough speed, because Boateng is pretty fast player and Ganso is... well, slow. That writes off Montolivo: The guy is smart, but neither have speed, nor power, nor energy to make this midfield. When mentioning Boateng that much, without him and with Ganso we are losing not just speed but energy too. And knowing that Van Bommel and Gattuso are pretty old, no matter what magic Allegri uses here (and he's fantastic doing that), we need much more energy than those two along with Ganso can provide. Furthermore, to make a REALLY strong and fearsome midfield we need another player who can bite. Fabregas is not that type of player. He's not willing to fight that much, he's not quick, he's weak physically... Which leaves us with Schweinsteiger.
I think that's our number one target for the summer and the best player we can buy at the moment. He's got it all: Great energy, great work ethics, power, pretty good speed, intelligence, playmaking skills, an eye for a killer pass, an eye for a goal, can attack, can defend, virtually can play in every position in midfield with great success... When talking about him it's like talking about Clarence Seedorf about 7-8 years ago. And he can't get a better compliment from me, because Seedorf in his prime was the best all-around midfielder I have ever seen. And in my opinion, Schweinsteiger is the best all-around midfielder in the world in last couple of years.
If we take him now it would really take our team to the next level. Take Ganso in January and we're the team to beat, bare Barcelona.
