The 2016/2017 Calcio Saga

Robespierre wrote:

DeviAngel wrote:for the first time I wanted Milan to win.

Why ?
Milan are 2nd.

RealGunner wrote:He was a beast in his prime. Often forgotten now.

The best Rui Costa was in Fiorentina IMO
He'd be the best 10 in the world now probably

I like what Montela is doing and for those young prospects plus it would be more entertaining plus maybe that would get us into shape and get the best out of everyone. We are still out of form even thou we play with different 11 every game.

Ah ok I remind you appreciated also Pioli tbh ,because I remind your  old comment " I like Pioli, he makes sexy football" ,  sexy football was a shocking comment for me (I was a rookie on GL at that time) Perhaps it's used in England, I think about other when I read it

What do you think about Robes? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I have a good perception about Pioli because he'd always stop the big teams when on teams like Bologna/Chievo etc, plus he managed to break the curse and bring a mediocre Lazio to the CL, but his football was never something eye pleasing or anything like that. Could very well be the next Mazzarri tbh.

I think his Bologna played a good football indeed.Anyway it's often a subjective matter, how about Montella? He has the reputation to be a manager that takes a great football ,it's for his years in Catania and Fiorentina, but this Milan play exactly like Inter (very criticized for it) last year.
Milan park the bus in last 15 minutes when they are winning, they made it also against Palermo and Pescara, they did it also today but it's not a thing that can always work . Perhaps they won it with an attitude less defeatist.
His main credit, for me , it is to get always the best from his teams , and he's doing it even to Milan (despite I predicted the 3rd place at the beginning of the year. No cups, and I know Montella and our situation in August )

It must be said that we missed Romagnoli today and its not because of his defensive ability, but rather his ability to distribute the ball from the back. Romagnoli is to us what Bonucci is to Juve, without him we lose the ability to move the ball from defence and build up good plays.

Robespierre wrote:Ah ok I remind you appreciated also Pioli tbh ,because I remind your  old comment " I like Pioli, he makes sexy football" ,  sexy football was a shocking comment for me (I was a rookie on GL at that time) Perhaps it's used in England, I think about other when I read it

Well his Bologna played great. I can't judge Pioli for his time in Inter when his first game was this derby.

Milan playing this way is not sustainable at all, they could easily be 4 points lower. Lets see if they can find solution in the winter market. Otherwise Bacca looks like he doesnt want to be there, the midfield is up and down, and the defense relies too much on Romagnoli. They'll struggle when Bonaventura, Niang and Suso have a bad day.

We are gonna get found out sooner or later (probably already did), everything hinges on if Montella can get the players he wants in January

There are a lot of good players right now in Serie A on the brink of moves from small or midtable clubs. The problem is that most or none will be allowed to move in January.

Ideally I'd say sell Bacca and Honda and throw the bank at Belotti, Kessie and Bernardeschi. But those will stay put.

Papu Gomez seems like he can be got, Roma and Milan are probably gonna be all about that. Saponara will 100% leave Empoli by the end of the season so he should be available any time. Don't know if bridges were burnt with Milan though.

Sampdoria can usually be negotiated with. Linetty looks good.

For a proper to CB to be first sub for Paletta and Romagnoli I'd go for Caldara from Atalanta. Romagnoli-Caldara will have you set for a long time and he should be available enough.

Belotti 35m
Keita Balde Diao 25m
Badelj 10m
Bazoer 20m
Musacchio  25m

Total: 115m

Out
Bacca 35m
Honda 10m
Poli 5m
Luiz Adriano 10m
Vangioni 5m

Total: 65m

Doable imo

Thats doable, but in January? probably not. Belotti and Keita are enjoying their football atm.

Keita would probably stay but Belotti would come running if we rang

Muriel is also playing fantastically and worth mentioning when talking about good players from midtable teams.
Cons are that despite all the hype surrounding him throughout the years he's yet to have a full season where he's consistently good, and that he's Samp's most expansive player ever so they'll be asking for a hefty amount of money to sell

I didn't include Muriel since I don't think he'd be a good fit for Milan. They already have Niang and Suso as projects who need minutes to grow and perform. Muriel seems like the same, don't know if he is at the point where he can perform right away without a run of minutes. I rate him more than Suso, but imo it'd be one or the other if he comes to Milan and they probably don't wanna give up on Suso now.

Gomez, Bernardeschi and Keita seem to be much more ready to be relied on in any role.

Inter played better in the first half, but we looked dangerous in the counter. It didn't matter that they had more of the ball if we managed to break their attacks and run with it.

We were better after the break but we deserved the tie in the way we ended the game. Instead of calming the game down, Montella should have continued turning up the pressure. Inter were all over us because they knew we removed all of our attacking threat.

I wasn't impressed with either side, but I don't think either actually "deserved" to lose. In one way, Milan lost 2 points because they couldn't hold the lead.

As for the performance of Milan. I am not sure why my fellow fans are more cynical than usual, but we actually played well apart from the first 25 minutes and last 10. Milan's play against strong teams is to absorb pressure and hit on the counter, which we consistently did throughout the game.

Kucka, Abate, and MDS, whom are criticized WAY too much, actually frequently managed to get the ball forward quickly enough for the top 3 to be in positions to do some damage.

Paulo Sousa doesn't do himself any favors with his relationship to Fiore

Sousa on Bernardeschi (who had recently spoken about the thought of possibly staying at Fiore for his career)

"Bernardeschi will be important for us, for the Nazionale, and for the squad where he will go.

You understood that right. Given how much I know football, Federico has a future that, because of his talent and his quality, will take him to teams with ambitions different that those of Fiorentina."

source

Such an exciting player, lets see where he ends up.

I am surprised that there aren't any Belotti threads til now.

Missed the Torino match but nice to see them win. 2 by Falque.


Empoli 1-1 Milan atm. 55mins

3-1 milan in quick succession.Milan are back

Lapadula is so much better than Bacca, at least he can hold the ball and release unlike that Colombian tap in merchant

Gilardino ffs. Legend

Milan attacking really well

4-1 Lapadula

Lapadula needs to be starting every game

Yea only saw the 2nd half but he looks pretty good.

Playing Bonaventura further forward and not Niang also was noticeable and added more dimensions to Milan's attack.

If Milan realizes the fragility of Inter/Napoli/Roma's current situations and invests the money of the speculated Bacca exit on a strong CM (not sure who tho) they should be able to secure a second place with some gap between them and their pursuers, and obviously some gap between Juve and them. A distant second if you will.