I think its the fact that we have an abundance of forwards, who each respectively could easily be a first team regular at any top club. Hence he is being criticized for not providing the goals/assists.

I agree it is harsh and premature to cut the kid off at such a tender age. You remember Madrid two years ago? The kid is explosive, just that he needs to find consistency and the injuries are slowing him down. Nothing to do with his attitude or lack of motivation, which is being spammed in this thread lately.

I strongly believe he will come out on top and prove these critics wrong ... a touch of luck should do the trick to spark his form all over again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/devilsmiley.gif)

It's true that we have a lot of decent forwards, but how many of them could be part of the long-term future of this club? Inzaghi? Ibra? Cassano? I don't need to comment on any of them as to why I think they're not the future of this club. not even Robinho can I see staying for long without making us want to die with his 3 yard misses and ups and downs. at least Pato can blame injuries for interrupting his form...

And strangely, Pato is the one some here seem to want to get rid of first and foremost. I understand every Milan fan is getting fed up with him constantly being on the treatment table, but wouldn't it be worth it if we waited a bit more? we're not in an urgent need for strikers, and Pato's not on a massive contract anyway. and I refuse to believe that potential buying clubs are blind to see he's got injury issues. they won't pay for him as much as they would have two yeas ago, people need to realize this and stop with the "cash in on him before he loses his market value" already. he's already lost much of his market value and won't have it back before he starts to play regularly and shines for us again.

As Jack mentioned before, the club (its medical team) are responsible for his condition. when he goes two years without any particular problem, then gets big and suddenly becomes injury prone, you can't fault anyone other than those taking care of his body. now imagine we sold him now because he's injury prone, how would it reflect on the club's ethics? not really good. that's why I personally believe the club will stick with the Duck for now...

This post has been edited by Zed.D: Dec 19 2011, 12:23 PM

Agreed on most of your points.

And your point is? Every injured player will work super hard to recover as quickly as possible. The fact Pato is doing it too doesn't mean he's extra-dedicated or something like that.

Pato has an attitude problem. It's plain as day. Even Cassano had a higher working rate before he got ill. I am a Pato fanboy, just like you. But I'm starting to grow tired of his constant injuries, his slack attitude and his overall regression as a football player.

Agreed


Agreed


Agreed

His point is x-off, that people wait for their moments to strike on Pato. when he's doing great things you don't hear a peep and when he gets injured all hell breaks loose, as if it's something he brought on himself. Also, you're blaming the fact that he gets lost in games where he doesn't have any service on an attitude proble. It is one to an extent, but you also have to take into consideration the reasons as to why he's not being supplied properly. Allegri has him playing as a pure striker, how do you expect him to do anything when he's not being supported properly? You might say he needs to work harder, drop deeper, etc, etc. But if Allegri has him playing as a striker, then you'd expect him to be given the ball in and around the box. The Bologna game was a perfect example of this. Either give him free reign, or don't complain.

The game against Napoli last season is also another example, Pato was literally everywhere, but I'm sure that was something that was planned, if he was perpetually lazy as you are trying to imply then he would have never had those types of games. Did you ever see Dinho running his @ss off chasing the ball everywhere? Going to training when he was allowed the day off? That is someone who is lazy, not Pato

I don't believe for one bit the "Allegri plays him as pure striker" argument. Allegri never plays with pure strikers. Whether it's Pato, Robinho or Cassano, they're allowed to roam free on the attacking front alongside Ibra. You saw Pato do an Inzaghi against Bologna? I saw him do the game he always does. And even if I accepted your argument, I still wouldn't agree. If there's no supply, then procure it yourself. You're Pato, not Inzaghi. It's not like Allegri is telling you to stand like a cactus inside the area.

And we only complain about Pato when he gets injured or plays bad because whatever good he does, it's only considered normal and expected. When was the last time Pato did something extraordinary like Boateng against Lecce? When was the last time he was on a superb form like Nocerino? When was the last time he took the team by the hand like Ibra's been doing? That's when people get overexcited about some player and start to praise him.

Robinho and Cassano are very different, as usually when they play, Ibra plays a more advanced role, while it's the opposite with Pato. It's usually Ibra who drops deep while Pato stays in advanced areas. Does "pure striker" mean Pippo Inzaghi to you? To me that's a poacher. Pato is not that but he's certainly not expected to roam like Cassano or Robinho do. He definately plays a striker's role, whether you wish to see that or not.

As for going to "procure" it himself. When he is given that freedome he does it. But when he's expected to play a certain way than he cannot drop into midfield himself, especially if Ibra is doing it as well and that area is congested (like it usually is in games against the Bologna's of the league)

He hasn't done that this season, and maybe he never scored 3 goals to get us back from 3 goals down. But he has scored important, point wining goals for us. Which in the end were crucial to winning the league

He's a striker. Of course he's supposed to score goals. If he didn't do even that, then what else is left for him?

Anyway, the way I see it is that Pato has to get more involved in the game, regardless of where Allegri plays him. Inzaghi, as you said, is a poacher, and he's 38. But I'm certain his work rate will always be high, even if he gets no supply. Pato needs to take things more seriously. He's not 18 anymore.

His goal to game ratio proves he has no issues there, so why are we talking as if he hasn't scored in a year? Would I have liked for him to score against Bologna? Of course. Was I frustrated? Yes, but certainly not because of Pato, just the general team attitude, not just because Pato didn't run endlessly like a headless chicken.

Who are you to know if he's taking it seriously or not. Maybe he's just afraid that if he steps too hard on the throttle he'll get another month's worth of recovery. Mabe that's what's holding him back, not the misconception that he's lazy. It's no surprise that he usually starts playing great only after a few weeks have passed since he comes back from injuries. It's obvious that he holds back a lot, and I don't blame him, because once he starts to let loose and play more freely he usually gets struck down by injury. It's the same pattern every time for him. So I don't blame him for being overly cautious.

So, if he's cautious, he plays like crap. When he finally plays freely, he gets injured. What a lose-lose situation. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Why not play him where Inzaghi plays, as a poacher? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif) With Ibra/Tevez/Robinho behind him, you can score goals at will. Sure, that will limit his development as a player, but hey we'll score 4-5 goals every match, guaranteed. Just give him the ball in the box, and use his acceleration and eye for goal to your advantage.

Yes, well that situation can be blamed on our inept medical team.


That would be a good thing in an ideal world, but our problem is that we rely on all the creativity from our strikers, we have nothing coming from midfield. And in order for what you mentioned to work, there has to be more creativity and support from midfield. Relying on Ibra to do all the creative work will never work.

I think he should start doing the dirty work from the (attacking) midfield now. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sleep.gif) He's round about 30 years old now, never a better time to start creating goals. A lot of forwards at this age transform themselves just behind the strikers ala Ronaldo, Sheva, Totti and more. If he can, then Pato can play as the poacher.

Or maybe if we do get Tevez, he can play there, Ibra a little higher up, and then finally Pato in front of the goal.

Ibra has been playing more and more like a trequartista lately. Our whole game depends on his magic and the insertions of our midfielders. It's a nice plan, really. Doesn't really offer a point of reference to the opponent. In the old days, you simply had to block Pirlo and our game went AWOL. Now we aim for a more dynamic approach, and so far it's been working.

Tassotti: "Robinho is currently in a better shape than Pato, which is why we chose to let him start today."
"Pato has to improve his off-the-ball movements and the intensity of his performance."
"But you learn these things with age and Pato is still young."