Summer Mercato 2011

[Aficio]

MY predictions-
75% chance gift is Ganso
50% chance gift is Fabregas
10% chance gift is Pastore/Hamsik

---

Juan Aguedlo playing for USA v. Spain.... if USA can mount an attack watch for him. Future of usa... only 18, scored v. argentina months ago.... miles better than jozy


SIGN HIM GALLIANI

My simple math say we have 35% chance of having 2 players as gift

---

About goal.crap, let them write what they want. Those guys know how to invoke controversy.

Barca actually bought mediocre players, there are many examples. Caceres, Hleb, Keirrison, Henrique, Chygrynskiy,...

[will4li]

To challenge Barca in next CL,I think we'd better have bale and robben pair instead of fabregas and hamsik combination.I seriously doubt we can beat barca by playing their football.

I don't think bale doesn't fit our system.great talents make the system,not vice versa! great tactician like allegri always finds a way.

[reza]

They can pay 7 m euros to him easily...

Barca do have a better TV deal but in terms of finances Milan is richer. I don't think it's even debatable. If Serie A gets its act together the TV revenue issue will improve relatively quickly too.

[WCmilan]

Yeah i was gonna say isnt barca in a massive debt as well.. this is why pretty soon with the financial fairplay they'll have to rely a lot on their youth system or that's when we'll see barca fall..

And will i completely agree with you, i've been talking about bale in the last few pages non stop he's my dream signing for this mercato even ahead of robben only because robben isn't exactly young and is injury prone, not saying bale is the best when it comes to being fit all the time but when he is we know what he's capable of..

I think in robbens case he could've achieved a lot more in terms of himself as a player and how he will go down in history.. imo could've went down at least in c.ronaldos class with a golden ball or fifa world player award.. for example had he scored that goal against spain in the final with a bit more luck he would've been a hero for the netherlands, also if he didn't keep getting injured when he's in peak form he could've done so much more. Ribery as well a great player, forgotten name imo ? You would think with ribery and robben on each wing you'd see a much better bayern, gomez and klose are good strikers as well i don't know what makes their system not work, well it does but not as good as it should be with players like that and midfielders like schweinsteiger and when they had MVB altintop, lucio and lahm now they have neueur .. this shows juanshoe's point exactly about how it took barca years to construct what they are today, real and bayern have star players but still cant do it like barca.

As far as Witsel goes i dont think he's the right player for us.. I think he'll be another emmanuelson, a player we can keep on the bench as a semi-reliable sub who has 6-7 caps per season until he hits peak age and starts being a regular sub and fights his way into the starting line up, thats the type of player i'd predict he would turn out to.. Especially coming from a league like standard, he isn't even taking it by "storm" like ronaldinho did at psg, he's probably just a talented player, probably other talents in their too like him, if he's not doing great things there what makes anyone think he will here.. Like neymar and ganso are a different story, they impress game in game out and brazilian talents are not really a gamble and they are bound to improve once making the NT playing with other brazilians so talented.. Belgium? Who can teach him much there.. if he did come to milan i think he would need to learn alot before becoming a part of the squad because he has age on his side.. sort of a gamble but i wouldnt mind if we get him or not

[russo-neri]

Im at the point of feeling if we dont get ganso, this transfer season is a failure.

[will4li]

If we have robben and ribery on both wings, we can do lot better than bayern,because we have a lot more tight defence approach to the game.italian teams have it in their genes.

[Gabriel426]

Why would u guys want Barcelona to failon it's own, would it be better if Milan and others actually get better to the point where they can match and even beat Barca. It is actually awesome for the game. I really hate it where people began to hate team bc they are too good.

On Witsel, I think he is a solid player now and could be a good to great player. The problem for me is his price tag, 12-15 mil is a lot, considering Honda is also at 15 mil and is a much better player than he is now. True that Honda is 4 yrs older, but Milan is not Arsenal and they moment is now.

So Ganso is back in the picture, can he pass the medical and his price is the concern. As we all know Milan got the most difficult medical dental test in the world, And it is so great that they can predict injuries for the next 5 yrs, while can't do the job with next week.

If it were up to me and Milancan sign anyone possible, I would sign D. Milito as the striker offend bench. Sign Ozeil as the starting ACM, as he is great at running into space in attack. Then sign Sandro, Hernanes and Honda. Then sell Gattuso, Slowdorf, Urby and Flamini. If Cassano does not smarten up by Jan, release him too.

[Beppe]

http://www.sportitalia.com/SI2live.aspx

Regarding Witsel, its clear that he is not Milan quality...He wont add anything to us...so i dont want him...

He doesnt have world class player potential, he is strong, good arial game and decent passing means nothing...On the other hand, Asamoah is a player i'd like to have here...quality player... He is good on everything...

His difference from Merkel and Calvano for instance, Merkel and Calvano have world class potential, while Witsel doesnt...

WTF are you talking about? Witsel does have worldclass potential, He is a very complete midfielder with a strong mentallity and he has everything to make it at a big club like Milan. + he can play as Central midfielder or as Attacking midfielder, so we can use him in many ways.

[Siregar]

http://www.sportitalia.com/SI2live.aspx

Regarding Witsel, its clear that he is not Milan quality...He wont add anything to us...so i dont want him...

He doesnt have world class player potential, he is strong, good arial game and decent passing means nothing...On the other hand, Asamoah is a player i'd like to have here...quality player... He is good on everything...

His difference from Merkel and Calvano for instance, Merkel and Calvano have world class potential, while Witsel doesnt...

WTF are you talking about? Witsel does have worldclass potential, He is a very complete midfielder with a strong mentallity and he has everything to make it at a big club like Milan. + he can play as Central midfielder or as Attacking midfielder, so we can use him in many ways.

Sorry mate but there is not only one opinion like abeleey said. Fan from Belgia even said he is mediocre player. So, for me personally don't know who I can trust.

But the way you put "have world class potential) makes me think again.

---

Whilst I'm happy with the potential signing, some people's expectations or thoughts about how we will destroy Barca or even compete with them are just ridiculous. Barca's team is the product of over a decade of planning and training. We are moving in the right direction but even if we spent £200 million it wouldn't make us as good as Barca. Look at the money Madrid have spent trying and still aren't close. We need to bring through our youths intergating them into our own style andtake our time, even if that means not winning everything in sight. The Football Manager mindset of some fans simply doesn't work in real life.

Here's what someone posted on the goal.com article about us on the verge of signing Witsel. Just thought I put it here to start some trouble amongst you MM posters.

Adebayo Ogungbesan London
9:07 PM Jun 4, 2011
This is the end of calcio. The once mighty Milan talking to some dodgy mediocre division 3 player. Berlusconi knows he has no money, guess the little he has as to be used fighting his legal battles. Can you imagine Barca buying a mediocre player? I can't. Milan are not on the same planet

LOL. I am jealous of bartha. We sign n00bs like Witsel and not champions like Gaby Milito, Adriano, Maxwell, chingrisky, caceres and henrique (among others )

And JuanShoe, 100% spot on. You couldn't say it anybetter, and Galliani knows this. We are starting a cycle, which is why we're buying youth (like witsel), investing heavily in youth team (we saw first one blooming in Merkel) and so on. We build generations. It's the end of the pirlo/gattuso etc. gen, and as those players slowly leave and phase out, new faces will arrive

RM's biggest problem is too much change. They need consistency to get talent to work.

Whilst I'm happy with the potential signing, some people's expectations or thoughts about how we will destroy Barca or even compete with them are just ridiculous. Barca's team is the product of over a decade of planning and training. We are moving in the right direction but even if we spent £200 million it wouldn't make us as good as Barca. Look at the money Madrid have spent trying and still aren't close. We need to bring through our youths intergating them into our own style andtake our time, even if that means not winning everything in sight. The Football Manager mindset of some fans simply doesn't work in real life.

Spot on about how long it took them to create something like that. Guardiola was with their B team for a while and what we are looking at now is the sacrifice of years of hard work.

Having said that, I think with the right signings and the right mentality we can at least challenge Barca, but it would be very hard,if not impossible to play as fluid as them.

All the players coming out of Barca youth system have for years been trained to follow the same style of football and integrate into that style. Some,if not a lot of them, are players bought from other youth systems that Barca feels are capable of fitting their style.

And I think Milan has started following that same system of channeling youth into the first team. Biggest examples are us spending millions of Euros on youth players in recent years. But it will all take time to see the end product. People just have to be patient. Just look at how long it took Barca to get to where they are with their youth. From the mid 90s until about 5 years ago. And as a matter of fact the whole system there has been in place for a long time. With Cruyff and company. Barca has just taken that totall football to a whole different level.

The way what Milan do if Milan get only Witsel is not what Barca have done. It is Arsenal philosophy. Barca have integrated their talented players WHILE building strong team. There were Deco, the last best player on earth Ronaldinho, the French guy on the right side, Eto'o, etc (from Rijkaard's team). Then they bought Henry, Ibrahimovic, Alves, Mascherano, Villa etc. The point is you must have strong team first and then try to integrate the young players in the team. That's how Iniesta and Xavi integrated to their position and take the responsibility from Deco and Ronaldinho.

If Milan only sign Witsel, it is just similar like Arsenal. We don't have any real fresh quality in midfield. Boateng, Seedorf, Gattuso and Bommel are either old or average (maximum decent like Boateng). Adding Witsel is not letting him integrate with the team but force him to be starting material. This is not what Barca have been doing. What we are doing now is more in the direction of Arsenal (except we really sign 2 real class CMs).

[Gio-mania]

Barça is the team with the highest revenue at the moment. If Galliani's words about the FFP are to be believed, then this will only increase their gap. The spending is based on revenue, not balance. And lets say they cannot spend anymore and have to rely on youth products. Well then they are still the best team in the world. They have a world-class youth academy, and I really envy the wise investments they've made in that department.