[Fillipo Simone]

Don't score the goals they used to? Shaky defence? You aware they won their group in the CL having score 14 goals and conceded only 4?

While it's true the above 3 strikers aren't as good as Lewandowski, bit weird that they're absolutely fine without him in the CL but not in the league.

Nah, losing their best player isn't why they're so weird this season, something else is at play and I don't know what.

But take your time and think twice. Anderlecht and Galata are from what I've seen far from any solid Bundesliga team. Galata especially played a horrible campaign.

I watch the Bundesliga regularly. The main problem, I repeat, is Immobile, Auba and the others missing chances. Dortmund with Lewandowski would have been up by 2 or 3 while the Ramos/Auba/Immobile Dortmund, especially when Reus misses as well, makes zero goals and the concede the most peculiar ones.

Yes, only 4 goals conceded in CL. But you know what? 26 in 17 matches isn't exactly good, Weidenfeller being benched for Langerak, no Hummels for most of the time, a few desolate performances by Hummels and Subotić,...naah, if you had been watching Dortmund regularly as I did, you would have known what I've been saying.

But bottom line is: why are you guys so eager to swap a talented striker in crisis with just the same thing?

[Danny]

Your reply didn't address the difference in form between UCL and Bundesliga.

'Rubbish CL teams' doesn't cut it; Gala and Anderlecht would be midrange teams in Bundesliga yet while they lose to that team in Germany they easily beat them in UCL.

PS they also beat Arsenal...

Fact is they won 4 matches in UCL against UCL quality opponents.

Yet are shocking in Germany.

There simply is no way losing your best striker puts you bottom of the league.

Not even Liverpool, who were absolutely ghastly in the UCL, ended up rock bottom after losing Suarez. Midtable.

[Danny]

But bottom line is: why are you guys so eager to swap a talented striker in crisis with just the same thing?

Because Immobile isn't in crisis in Italy. And as recently as May was scoring for fun in this league.

I would also be happy with Destro.

I'd be happy with a lot of strikers. But bluntly put we need SOMEONE, be it Destro, Immobile or anyone else because we simply don't have a goalscoring striker.

[Danny]

Alessio Cerci has announced that he "cannot wait" to arrive for a medical as his move from Atletico Madrid to AC Milan takes shape.

The Italian winger is set to move to the Rossoneri as part of the loan deal for Fernando Torres, whose return to Atleti was confirmed by the Spanish club earlier on Monday after he had joined the Italian club from Chelsea on a permanent basis.

Cerci, who has struggled to make an impact since joining Atletico from Torino in the summer, took to Twitter and Facebook to announce his future plans with a return to Italy edging closer.

Cerci wrote: "I can't wait to be in Milan for a medical and to sign on...let's keep our fingers crossed and forza AC Milan!

"Many thanks to all of the Atletico Madrid fans for their support and for all of the moments shared together! I salute you and send a strong hug. Alessio."

Cerci, who scored 13 goals for Torino in Serie A last season, is currently returning from a Christmas holiday spent in the Maldives. He is due in Milan in the next few days, although he will not be permitted to join his new teammates until the transfer window opens in Italy on Jan. 5.

Should the paperwork go through in time, Cerci could make his debut against Sassuolo one day later, although his first game in a Rossoneri shirt is more likely to come against his former club Torino on Jan. 10.

Saying the right things. Let's forget about the messy past few days, and hope he does the business for us, as I believe he will.

[han2503]

Saying the right things. Let's forget about the messy past few days, and hope he does the business for us, as I believe he will.

As much as I'm not a fan, I hope you're right about him, we need this to really work out for us considering we're left with no out and out striker aside from the ghost of Pazzo

Although I do think that a front 3 of SES, Menez and Cerci could be very versatile

[Danny]

Likewise my feelings about SES. I'm not a fan, and hope to be similarly wrong about him - and if he plays centrally and gets confidence back, maybe we'll see 2012's version of him.

Like you say, Pazzo is basically all we have other than SES right now.

Tomorrow's match in Dubai will be interesting - SES set to play as striker.

[X-Offender]

But take your time and think twice. Anderlecht and Galata are from what I've seen far from any solid Bundesliga team. Galata especially played a horrible campaign.

I watch the Bundesliga regularly. The main problem, I repeat, is Immobile, Auba and the others missing chances. Dortmund with Lewandowski would have been up by 2 or 3 while the Ramos/Auba/Immobile Dortmund, especially when Reus misses as well, makes zero goals and the concede the most peculiar ones.

Yes, only 4 goals conceded in CL. But you know what? 26 in 17 matches isn't exactly good, Weidenfeller being benched for Langerak, no Hummels for most of the time, a few desolate performances by Hummels and Subotić,...naah, if you had been watching Dortmund regularly as I did, you would have known what I've been saying.

But bottom line is: why are you guys so eager to swap a talented striker in crisis with just the same thing?

I don't watch the Bundesliga, you do, so you know way more about Dortmund than me. Even so, saying Dortmund are bottom of the table because their strikers are not scoring is way too out there. When a team faces a crisis like Dortmund are, it's the collective as a whole that's not working properly, not just a few individual performances. Like Danny said, there's no way losing your best striker puts you bottom of the league. There has to be something else that's jammed their mechanism.

As for you question, Immobile managed to cut it by playing for Torino, scoring 22 goals none of which by penalty if I remember correctly. That's a huge achievement for a 23 year old. That's why I'm willing to give him a chance. These 3-4 months of poor performances don't overshadow the skills he displayed last season, especially considering the shambolic condition of the team he's playing for at the moment.

Do I think Immobile has what it takes to become a top class striker? No, I don't. But given our circumstances, he's the best we can afford, and I prefer him 10x more over an overrated and long-term under-performing El Shaaraway.

[Forza Milan!]

Apparently we are linked with Chicharito, and also are in talks to swap Armero for Antonelli. (Link.)

[han2503]

Likewise my feelings about SES. I'm not a fan, and hope to be similarly wrong about him - and if he plays centrally and gets confidence back, maybe we'll see 2012's version of him.

Like you say, Pazzo is basically all we have other than SES right now.

Tomorrow's match in Dubai will be interesting - SES set to play as striker.

The problem is, SES is not considered a striker

I really do think that under the right direction and given good guidance from Pippo he could be a really lethal striker, he has the ability to be a great finisher and he's quick, he just needs to be used correctly, and for me being played as a winger is definitely not that.

Personally I believe that part of the reason why he dropped off so much that season when he was scoring is because defences started to figure him out and could easily neutralise him since he's not a real winger, it was easier at first because he was mostly an unknown quantity to most teams, but once they started to focus more on him he could easily be isolated out wide for the majority of games and not create that much trouble for the opposition

[Danny]

Apparently we are linked with Chicharito, and also are in talks to swap Armero for Antonelli. (Link.)

Chic = good.

Antonelli...the worst LB I have ever seen at Milan in my lifetime and we're bringing him back? Keep Armero!

[Fillipo Simone]

Because Immobile isn't in crisis in Italy. And as recently as May was scoring for fun in this league.

I would also be happy with Destro.

I'd be happy with a lot of strikers. But bluntly put we need SOMEONE, be it Destro, Immobile or anyone else because we simply don't have a goalscoring striker.

Yes, that is the advantage Immobile has. But I still don't think it's worth all the fuss.

I don't watch the Bundesliga, you do, so you know way more about Dortmund than me. Even so, saying Dortmund are bottom of the table because their strikers are not scoring is way too out there. When a team faces a crisis like Dortmund are, it's the collective as a whole that's not working properly, not just a few individual performances. Like Danny said, there's no way losing your best striker puts you bottom of the league. There has to be something else that's jammed their mechanism.

As for you question, Immobile managed to cut it by playing for Torino, scoring 22 goals none of which by penalty if I remember correctly. That's a huge achievement for a 23 year old. That's why I'm willing to give him a chance. These 3-4 months of poor performances don't overshadow the skills he displayed last season, especially considering the shambolic condition of the team he's playing for at the moment.

Do I think Immobile has what it takes to become a top class striker? No, I don't. But given our circumstances, he's the best we can afford, and I prefer him 10x more over an overrated and long-term under-performing El Shaaraway.

Did I say exclusively Immobile or the strikers are at fault? I said a crazy amount of injuries, instabilities in the defense and as a crowning factor a inability to score goals. I can name you countless examples of matches where they conceded 2 or more against a team that barely attacked while missing 3-4 big sitters.

As for Immobile, okay. To me it's pretty much a gamble I'm not likely to take.

Chic = good.

Antonelli...the worst LB I have ever seen at Milan in my lifetime and we're bringing him back? Keep Armero!

Surely you mixed up Antonini and Antonelli. Both were Milan players for a time, but if you have seen Antonelli play for us I salute you, it's a rarity.

[Danny]

Haha totally misread that! Thank God. Antonini = no. Antonelli = not got a clue about him.

[Danny]

PS Antonelli DID play for us once... made one appearance in two years...

So, feel free to salute me as I almost certainly watched said match given I've only missed about two in the past decade.

I'd be lying if I remember how he played though...

This post has been edited by Danny: Dec 30 2014, 02:40 PM

[Fillipo Simone]

Yes, I know he was one of our lads, but he only managed to play 1 or 2 times I think in 2006 under Carletto.

[Forza Milan!]

Perhaps we should not give up on SES quite yet ...