[han2503]

We've been discussing this in the old Serie A thread. Let's move convo here


Gabbia to Villareal almost done. Loan without option


On the surface this doesn't make any sense. We should be selling him outright. But apparently Villareal needed a defender and this is probably being done to sweeten the Chukwueze deal.


Hopefully Gabbia has a good season and we can sell him off for around 10m next summer.

[han2503]

I'm pretty sure Pioli and the management know what they're doing here. They're well aware that we are exposed in that DM position until Bennacer gets back. Either we'll sign another mid or Musah will play there.

But I agree that we are too exposed. I saw a few moments from the Madrid game, and RLC was being played as AM with Krunic and Pobega in CM. I think it's time we dropped this 4-2-3-1 system and adopted a fully fledged 4-3-3. We have the right players for it. Play Musah as holding him (or sign someone else), RCL and Reijnders on the sides, Leao and Chukwueze/Pulisic on the wings.

After last season I cannot say that I trust Pioli in anyway, shape or form. He showed last season that he is limited. How we're trusting him with the keys to this team is beyond me after what we saw last season and how much we've spent.

The plan is to play 4-3-3, but we all know it will once again end up looking like a 4-2-4 on the pitch. Which will leave the defence isolated and the mids running themselves into the ground. While in attack we simply pass the ball around endlessly with zero plan as to how to break down the opposition. I've already seen shades of this vs Juve in the friendly.

Honestly, despite all the good business we're doing. Pioli worries me the most that he actually has no clue about how to get all these pieces to work.

By the way, I'm reading that Eintracht are interested in Adli, and we might sell him for 7-8m.

What a stupid thing to do! If we switch to 4-3-3 Adli would be a perfect sub for Reijnders. We can't possibly hope to have only Reijnders as a creative player in that midfield.

We all know Pioli is not going to play him. It is clear he does not consider him as a player who can contribute. So what is the use of letting him waste away? Sell him and add a buy back. Just in case. But at this point the kid is wasting his time here.

We'll get to enjoy Pobega there when RLC or Reijnders aren't available