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Posted on: Jul 21 2023, 10:11 PM |
Allievi Regionali B
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QUOTE (han2503 @ Jul 21 2023, 11:33 PM) Nice post (IMG: style_emoticons/default/king.gif) Some points: I don't think this is the end of the incomings. After we signed Reijnders, most outlets were saying we're going to sign 4/5 more players. Now we know 2 of those will be Okofor and Chuky. With those 2, our attacking line is complete and is 100% an improvement on what we had last season which was basically Leao and a nearly dead Giroud. So completely agree with your points re the attack I do not agree re the midfield however. I think what was once our strongest department has become our weakest. We won the Scudetto with Kessie, Benna and Tonali. Only one remains, and he will be out until next year. That is a major problem. We don't really have a pure DM available. And whether we're playing a 2-man pivot or a 3-man midfield, it's an issue either way. First off, I don't think any of these players can pull off playing in the pivot. All of them are pretty much box-to-box guys or pure CMs (Krunic and Adli). Tijjani to me looks like a very progressive player from what I've seen. I don't think sitting and dictating is in his repertoire. So for me, whichever way Pioli chooses to go, we absolutely have to sign a pure DM who can shield the defense and keep things ticking over for us. Ballo Toure is most likely the next one out so a back up LB will be needed. Just some corrections to your above calculations. Chukuweze will be 20m + 8m bonuses. Messias is also on the outgoing list. Hopefully Torino put us out of our misery and actually give us some actual money for him (hopefully the rumours about Singo are not true, we're already too bloated at RB right now and would prefer actual cash to balance the books) Thanks for the corrections! I agree with your points here. It's not really fair to compare this midfield to the one two years ago. I would prefer you compare it with last year's midfield where Tonali was great, but there wasn't much stability nearby him. However, for sure, I didn't really factor in Bennacer's injury here, which is a huge point. It does raise the need for a new DM. We certainly do have the budget to go for it. And since all areas are pretty much covered, seems like the obvious next signing. Let's see! I hope we sell Messias. I think he has market value, he isn't a terrible player by any means, just not Milan level. How would you rate the Mercato? Do you think we have a better squad in general? Do you think we're more competitive for the Scudetto? |
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Forum: Matches
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Posted on: Jul 21 2023, 04:00 PM |
Allievi Regionali B
Group: Full Members
Posts: 6,098
Joined: 24-February 10
From: Lebanon
Member No.: 7,239
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Our transfer market seems to be officially over with regard to incoming players, and the outcoming players seem to be obvious at this point. So, I'll attempt to summarize here and speculate on how we could play.
Incoming:
1- Tijjani Reijnders Central Midfield 24 years: ~20 million 2- Marco Sportiello Goalkeeper 31 years: Free 3- Luka Romero Right Winger 18 years: Free 4- Ruben Loftus-Cheek Central Midfield 27 years: ~15 million 5- Christian Pulisic Right Winger 24 years: ~20 million 6- Noah Okafor Striker 23 years: ~15 million 7- Samuel Chukwueze Right wing 24 years: ~30 million
Total: ~100 million
Outgoing:
1- Sandro Tonali Central Midfield 23 years: ~80 million 2- Mattia Caldara Central Defender 29 years: Sold (~5 million probably) 3- Fode Ballo Toure Left Back 26 years: Sold (~5 million probably) 4- Ante Rebic Striker 30 years: Sold (~5 million probably) 5- Divock Origi Striker: 28 years: Sold (~5 million probably) 6- Lorenzo Colombo Striker 21 years: Loan (Probably) 7- Marko Lazetic Striker 19 years: Loan (Probably) 8- Ciprian Tatarusanu Goalkeeper 37 years: Free agent 9- Daniel Maldini Attacking Midfield 21 years: Loan (Empoli) 10- Brahim Diaz Attacking Midfield 23 years: End of Loan 11- Zlatan Ibrahimovic Striker 41 years: Free agent 12- Tiemoue Bakayoko Defensive Midfield 28 years: End of Loan 13- Aster Vranckx Central Midfield 20 years: End of Loan 14- Sergio Dest Right-Back 22 years: End of Loan
Total: ~100 million
Regarding transfer costs: We'll be basically even assuming we sell the players I mentioned. Worst-case the scenario is that we pay 20 million in total. This all means that we are being very responsible with regard to transfers. But, what does this all mean? Did we strengthen our squad or make it weaker? Since we have not spent any money between last year's squad and this one, I would say it's very fair to compare the two squads and the direct conclusion of either A- We improved the squad or B- We worsened the squad is the best indicator of the success of this mercato.
I will say first that the defense remains mainly unchanged (with the exception of replacing Fode Ballo-Toure with another player). This is a strong feat as defensive stability is the key for any good team, and I believe we had a very solid set of defensive players.
Let's start with departures. The main one is Sandro Tonali. We lost a Milan fan, a player that gave his all to Milan. He was decisive in many games we've played providing crucial assists and stability in midfield. However, he often didn't have a partner in midfield that was as consistent next to him. Bennacer was plagued with injuries and Krunic doing well for his level, but not enough. This is why I believe we will switch to a 4-3-3 with a much more dynamic midfield that doesn't rely only on the excellent performance of two players (Will talk about it later). Brahim Diaz is also an important departure, however, the probable switch of formation as well as his adequate replacement being already bought (Pulisic) means that his departure won't be felt. Even though I admit that I really enjoyed watching him play for Milan. All the other departures are basically players that didn't feature much and their departures will barely be felt.
For incoming players:
At the midfield level: Reijnders and Loftus-Cheek: Both very dynamic players, but complement each other. Loftus-Cheek has good technique and physicality. Reijnders is also very technical but will be much more of the controller of the midfield. I believe that these two players with Bennacer in the middle will form a great mix of physicality, speed, and creativity. While Tonali was a monster, I believe this combination of players will provide a much more stable Milan midfield causing bigger problems for the opposition. So, I believe in that part of the pitch, we improved our squad. With regard to replacements, I think Adli, Krunic, and Pobega are adequate. I know the names might sound underwhelming, but I think in this system, this set of players will function well. For example, Adli I think doesn't work in a two-man midfield and doesn't have the skill to play as an attacking midfielder. But, in a three-man midfield, he could provide much better quality perhaps. An important note, I don't think we'll only play 4-3-3, we'll probably rotate with a 4-2-3-1 just because we have an excess of quality attacking players. But depending on the midfielder's injury status, we'll probably rotate between the two to field the best lineup.
At the striker level: Giroud is still a world-class player, but Okafor will probably give him a good run for his money. Right-wing: We will now have a plethora of options with Okafor being to play there, but Chukwueze will be our starting winger, no doubt. Pulisic will probably also play on the left or right depending on the rotation. He can also play with De Ketelaere in the attacking midfield if we play a 4-2-3-1. The ability to rotate between Leao and Pulisic on the left is excellent. The ability to rotate between Pulisic, Chukwueze, and Okafor is amazing as well. It is leaps and beyond the talent we had on the right! Let's not forget we have Messias and Saelemaekers in case of an injury crisis. Although, I think we should sell at least one of them, they seem to be considered an essential part of the squad at the moment. In that sense again, we've improved our attacking options so much! We have a better rotation, a deeper talent pool, and exciting prospects as well.
All in all, even if all the talk at the end of the day happens on the pitch, we've improved our squad significantly no matter how you look at it!
Finally, let's look at our two best formations at 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1: (and their replacements)
4-3-3: Maignan/Sportiello Theo/Calafiori---Thiaw/Kalulu---Tomori/Kjaer---Calabria/Kalulu Loftus-Cheek/Adli---Bennacer/Krunic---Reijnders/Pobega Leao/Pulisic---Giroud/Okafor---Chukwueze/Pulisic
4-2-3-1: Maignan/Sportiello Theo/Calafiori---Thiaw/Kalulu---Tomori/Kjaer---Calabria/Kalulu Bennacer/Krunic---Reijnders/Loftus-Cheek Pulisic/De Ketelaere Leao/Pulisic---Giroud/Okafor---Chukwueze/Pulisic
My rating for this mercato is 9/10. Our squad is much more balanced and deeper at all positions.
The main reason why I didn't give it a 10 is that we haven't signed any players of world-class level and have lost a world-class player in Tonali. (Although, I believe that Pulisic at his best is world-class and Chukwueze has the potential to be that type of player).
Let me know what everyone thinks! |
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