Summer mercato 2012

[tim_milan]

The fact that we could be attracting Sahin or Gago is exciting in itself. However, I still feel we're taking on too many second grade players to fill first-grade player spots. The more years pass after our last CL victory, the more players with less quality we seem to attract. Sure Ibra was a solid signing and so was silva... but in all honesty you can only see Silva as a player with a future because Ibra is stopping in two years, if not one.

Referring to the part in bold, Silva became the world s best defender after coming to Milan. Another good example would be Prince Boaetang and even Nocerino (alright he s not one of the best but atleast he is better than what he was at Palermo) . So bringing in players who are second grade in the other teams could well be the best players in ours, so i dont think there is any problem in that.

Damn now what do we have to do to tell Flamini that you are not wanted. Hopes of getting another better player seems doomed now.

[ACMILAN1983]

This is common with us over the past 15 years. Ambrosini, Gattuso, Pirlo, Kaka, Abbiati, Thiago Silva, Abate, Nocerino and Boateng all came to Milan with either fairly low expectations or no hype only to become important players at the club.

[Gabriel426]

I think the success of Boateng, Nocerino and even Muntari had a lot to do with Allegri and Ibra. As Allegri's style is pretty simple and direct(maybe thats due to his players on his squad), while Ibra made it easier for players who are not creative in general but are physical with strong off the ball movement.

[ACM2023]

Seems like we've found our last midfielder for next season?

http://www.football-italia.net/20258/fla...lan-u-turn

Another season with limited creativity from our midfield.

lol, I read that earlier. I would tell him to wait while we "think it over".

That would be only fair. And honestly, I think that's what Galliani would do. He seemed quite pissed at Flamini's response, or lack of.

Wasn't he rumored to have joined AS Roma?

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http://www.milannews.it/?action=read&idnotizia=83695

Am I blind or there won't be a Berlusconi trophy this year?

I don't see a Berlusconi trophy either, though I don't read any Italian, but I don't that was a problem here.

TBH, I am not a big fan at all of this Berlusconi trophy. It is only a good warm-up(generally a week before the season kicks off), but isn't there a curse? I am sure there is a few exceptions, but at this point I am too unmotivated to go research.

Bottom line, I have really wanted to get rid of this trophy; if not, at least let's play some other team instead of Juventus every year. I am getting so bored seeing that dirty filthy scum of a team. I believe that it started out with a few other teams like Inter and Bayern Munich (it has to be another EC/CL champion, I believe).

[Acmir]

http://www.milannews.it/?action=read&idnotizia=83695

Am I blind or there won't be a Berlusconi trophy this year?

I don't see a Berlusconi trophy either, though I don't read any Italian, but I don't that was a problem here.

TBH, I am not a big fan at all of this Berlusconi trophy. It is only a good warm-up(generally a week before the season kicks off), but isn't there a curse? I am sure there is a few exceptions, but at this point I am too unmotivated to go research.

Bottom line, I have really wanted to get rid of this trophy; if not, at least let's play some other team instead of Juventus every year. I am getting so bored seeing that dirty filthy scum of a team. I believe that it started out with a few other teams like Inter and Bayern Munich (it has to be another EC/CL champion, I believe).

Haha I share your sentiments about Juve, but I'm surprised that Silvio would renounce the trophy dedicated to his father (I think), or maybe our schedule is so tight that we couldn't squeeze it in.

[Gabriel426]

I think it has to do with London 2012, as a lot of players will be playing along with Euro 12.

[WCmilan]

IMO I don't believe in this second grade player stuff, a lot of world class players were 2nd grade before maturing and succeeding at their certain club. Pirlo for one, was a second grade player before coming to milan. Kaka, although a known talent in Brazil no one would've guessed he would turn out to the player he did. I don't think buying these "second grade players" is a bad idea, every player starts his legacy somewhere whether it be good or bad. Nocerino has been great since joining from palermo, Abate was 3rd grade not even 2nd grade until a couple of seasons ago where I now rate him as a top class RB. Seedorf the same before coming to milan. Really it's all good transfer business what we've done so far imo
Whether our last signing is sahin or strootman or sandro(new link appearing today) ill be happy if not very happy, someone like veloso or diarra or de jong(new links today as well) content,but flamini back very unhappy.

[ACM2023]

Just got some time to research on the "curse". This was a 2-year old article.

The Curse of The Trofeo Berlusconi
August 14, 2010 by Adam Digby

Milan and Juventus contest the The Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi on Sunday, a trophy nobody wants to win. For fans new to the Italian game, or unfamiliar with its traditions, here a look at the history of the competition.

It is an annual friendly football match, founded by Silvio Berlusconi in 1991, in memory of his father Luigi. He intended it to be played each year at the San Siro as Milan versus the current Champions League holders.

Due to the different commitments of such teams this became impossible. Since 1995 the game is an annual face off between Milan and Juventus. It has been won by Milan ten times, Juventus eight. The only other clubs to participate have been Bayern Munich, Inter, and Real Madrid.

Famously the trophy is said to be a jinx, as its winners have never gone on to win the Italian Championship. At first this just seems a strange quirk, but it becomes even more remarkable when you consider that in the last 15 years Milan or Juventus have won the scudetto nine times (including Juve's revoked titles). Take Inter's winning run into account and it gets stranger still.

Between 1995 and 1999 the loser went on to lift lo scudetto, the run being broken by Lazio's title win in 2001.

The curse is so embedded in Italian footballing lore that in 2002, when the game went to penalties, Ciro Ferrara intentionally missed a penalty that led to Milan winning. Paolo Maldini buried his head in his hands upon realising they had won.

The latest edition takes place on Sunday and the two coaches have been quick to downplay the significance of the cup on the final league standings. Milan have had a later start to their pre-season, while Juve have been playing a month already due to Europa League commitments.

So, to the San Siro on Sunday, may the best team lose...

http://www.beyondthepitch.net/articles/p...erlusconi/

Note that it was written 2 years ago, and the results of two more versions of TLB since then were:

2010: Juventus 0-0 (5-4) Milan [Milan won 2010-11 Serie A]
2011: Milan 2-1 Juventus [Juventus won 2011-12 Serie A]

It is still going strong...

[ZvonimirBoban]

So if there's no tournament now

would Milan and Juventus become joint champions of Serie A?

[brasileiro]

Gabriel should be a decent keeper, given that he is young and has time to develop even further. He's already gone up against the likes of Tello and Oliviera in the youth Tournaments, even winning the Junior World Cup. From what I saw in the video the boy is impressive with his feet, steady with his hands and his timings coming out of the goals. One point of concern though, is that in nearly all the clips I've seen of him it seems like he concedes at least one goal each match (never more than two max though), which raises doubts about his consistency. At 20 years old however, he should still be able to improve more and more.

Regarding your concern, Ryo... keep in mind in front of him, Gabriel had Juan(Inter) and Bruno Uvini(São Paulo)... impossible to keep a clean sheet.

I don´t know if you saw Brazil x Argentine(last friendly), but that can give you a glimpse of how bad is that duo. Gabriel(and Oscar) were one of the reasons Brazil´won that title. The overall talent of that Brazil NT was average... at best.

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Also I could never find a video or any footage of our new GK Gabriel in action, I finally did here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1HFQD9mW...ure=relmfu

This one shows a little more about him. Like I said, you can see how advanced he´s in technique for his age. Keep in mind it was a sub-20 championship and Gabriel was the youngest in Brazil squad(18 years old).


hard to predict success with a GK, but Gabriel has everything but pro experience. Let´s hope he can translate to the pros what he did in the Youth competitions.