04-11-2012, 03:56 PM
Acerbi's impressed this season and is a Milanista too. I wouldn't complain if we were to get him, though interest in him has grown a lot this year.
I generally agree with Geo, we need to look internally and try to give spaces to our youth products to replace some of our ageing stars. We have some good players and given the direction we're looking to take, it would be a mistake not to integrate our youth and senior systems better.
That said, Geo I would hold off bringing Donnarumma back right away, as he would be wasted being 3rd choice keeper for us and wouldn't gain any real experience. Di Gennaro too is a risk, as he's had few decent years when he's been loaned out, but with us he's been pretty poor and nothing suggests he'd be any better now (even as 3rd choice AM I think he's highly questionable).
Speaking of youth, I know there's generally a positive atmosphere in us doing well competitively at youth level in the past couple of years, but I recently heard something that caught my interest which we need to learn from.
Barcelona had representatives in Brazil talking about their youth set up to the Brazilian press. In Barca, little emphasis is given in winning trophies at youth level, with the aim being to develop the players technical qualities and develop their understanding of the Barca model and system of football. There was an argument in Brazil about their own youth development programs and they heavily focus on winning competitions at youth level, because for a lot of Brazilian coaches this is how they progress in their career. However, the downside of doing this is these coaches generally focus on picking the stronger athletes at youth level rather than looking to develop young talents.
Getting back to Italy, we can often see a similar trend. Gianfranco Zola, the ex-Parma and Chelsea legend recently said that these days he'd never get the chance to reach the heights he did back in the 90s, mostly because in Italy the youth set up looks at the physical capabilities of young talents, rather than developing their creativity (or in his case, developing his own talents on the streets). It's quite true if you look at the most valued Italian forwards in the modern game, as we had Borriello before and now we have Pazzini, Matri, Gilardino and even to a lesser extent Balotelli (even though his personality mean he's never going to be the same as others) are all more physical forwards who have poaching tendencies rather than technical forwards. You have Cassano and Rossi too, but one was developed while serie A still flourished with creative talents while the other has spent the majority of his life outside of Italy. It's ironic that Miccoli, who comes from our youth setup, never made it at a big club in Italy, often simply not being given the chance to show his quality as the clubs always favoured taller/stronger forwards. The same issue has reoccured with Giovinco in recent years.
The midfielders too follow a similar trend too, as many of the popular choices again are physically well developed, but technically or creatively limited. Even Aquilani and Montolivo, two of the most creative talents in the Italy squad today in their prime, seem very limited when compared to talents like Pirlo, Totti, Del Piero, Donadoni or Baggio from the past.
Defenders really are the worst scenario. In the past Italy had defenders all shapes and sizes, but the defenders had unique characteristics which were developed in making them great defenders. Nowerdays, almost all of the Italian defenders at the highest level seem to be tall, strong and physical. Fullbacks are similar, they always seem to have similar characteristics, being of slight build, quick and strong runners with stamina rather than technically gifted, whether you look at Abate and Maggio or Antonini and Criscito. Even De Sciglio, who is young and has been impressive for us in recent years looks very similar to players of this mould.
Put simply, Italy's youth development seems to be like a production line designed to create players with certain qualities and characteristics with little variation. Zola is one example of a player that probably wouldn't succeed in modern Italy, but then what about others like Signori, Mancini and possibly even Roberto Baggio? These are all players who don't fit the mould in modern Italian football's ideals.
What I want to see from us is development of youth by looking to build on individual characteristics and working to developing players of various types with the Milan philosophy. What I fear is we stifle the growth of gifted youngsters by only looking to develop those who are physically ready for the senior level by the time they're 16 or 17.
I generally agree with Geo, we need to look internally and try to give spaces to our youth products to replace some of our ageing stars. We have some good players and given the direction we're looking to take, it would be a mistake not to integrate our youth and senior systems better.
That said, Geo I would hold off bringing Donnarumma back right away, as he would be wasted being 3rd choice keeper for us and wouldn't gain any real experience. Di Gennaro too is a risk, as he's had few decent years when he's been loaned out, but with us he's been pretty poor and nothing suggests he'd be any better now (even as 3rd choice AM I think he's highly questionable).
Speaking of youth, I know there's generally a positive atmosphere in us doing well competitively at youth level in the past couple of years, but I recently heard something that caught my interest which we need to learn from.
Barcelona had representatives in Brazil talking about their youth set up to the Brazilian press. In Barca, little emphasis is given in winning trophies at youth level, with the aim being to develop the players technical qualities and develop their understanding of the Barca model and system of football. There was an argument in Brazil about their own youth development programs and they heavily focus on winning competitions at youth level, because for a lot of Brazilian coaches this is how they progress in their career. However, the downside of doing this is these coaches generally focus on picking the stronger athletes at youth level rather than looking to develop young talents.
Getting back to Italy, we can often see a similar trend. Gianfranco Zola, the ex-Parma and Chelsea legend recently said that these days he'd never get the chance to reach the heights he did back in the 90s, mostly because in Italy the youth set up looks at the physical capabilities of young talents, rather than developing their creativity (or in his case, developing his own talents on the streets). It's quite true if you look at the most valued Italian forwards in the modern game, as we had Borriello before and now we have Pazzini, Matri, Gilardino and even to a lesser extent Balotelli (even though his personality mean he's never going to be the same as others) are all more physical forwards who have poaching tendencies rather than technical forwards. You have Cassano and Rossi too, but one was developed while serie A still flourished with creative talents while the other has spent the majority of his life outside of Italy. It's ironic that Miccoli, who comes from our youth setup, never made it at a big club in Italy, often simply not being given the chance to show his quality as the clubs always favoured taller/stronger forwards. The same issue has reoccured with Giovinco in recent years.
The midfielders too follow a similar trend too, as many of the popular choices again are physically well developed, but technically or creatively limited. Even Aquilani and Montolivo, two of the most creative talents in the Italy squad today in their prime, seem very limited when compared to talents like Pirlo, Totti, Del Piero, Donadoni or Baggio from the past.
Defenders really are the worst scenario. In the past Italy had defenders all shapes and sizes, but the defenders had unique characteristics which were developed in making them great defenders. Nowerdays, almost all of the Italian defenders at the highest level seem to be tall, strong and physical. Fullbacks are similar, they always seem to have similar characteristics, being of slight build, quick and strong runners with stamina rather than technically gifted, whether you look at Abate and Maggio or Antonini and Criscito. Even De Sciglio, who is young and has been impressive for us in recent years looks very similar to players of this mould.
Put simply, Italy's youth development seems to be like a production line designed to create players with certain qualities and characteristics with little variation. Zola is one example of a player that probably wouldn't succeed in modern Italy, but then what about others like Signori, Mancini and possibly even Roberto Baggio? These are all players who don't fit the mould in modern Italian football's ideals.
What I want to see from us is development of youth by looking to build on individual characteristics and working to developing players of various types with the Milan philosophy. What I fear is we stifle the growth of gifted youngsters by only looking to develop those who are physically ready for the senior level by the time they're 16 or 17.