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> This season's ambitions?

 
Danny
post Aug 17 2014, 09:36 AM
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Let's face it, we suck. Pure and simple. It doesn't take 3D glasses to see how utterly terrible this Milan squad and team is, and sadly it's not even a CL contender.

Let's look at each position and judge it.

1: GK - ok we got Lopez. We finally have a decent keeper, it's one area we are now decent in.

2: Defence: fullbacks are good, actually good. Abate, MDS and Armero - it's not quite Zabaleta but then we're not quite Man City. It's still pretty good. CH is absolutely abominable though. There is no clear-cut 'best defender:

We have powerful and aerially dominant Mexes but who lets himself down by being a liability.
We have quick and dynamic Zapata whose concentration could be better.
We have composed and positionally decent Rami who isn't especially good in the air and isn't the strongest.
We have aerially decent Bonera who is good at last-ditch tackles and blocks but is slow and gets caught a lot.
And Alex who is hard to really judge at all.

Impossible to pick the best two or a best pair there.

3: Midfield: De Jong is glorious in DM but that's as good as midfield gets. Essien, Muntari, Cristante, Poli - none of these names excites and some downright terrify. Monto out till November but was absolutely terrible last season anyway.

3: Attacking midfield: Niang keeps showing little signs of improvement, Honda's mince, Menez we haven't a clue about and Saponara is mediocrity personified.

4: Forward: SES - destined to be Pato mark 2 IMO, Balotelli - destined to spunk his talent away with a stinking attitude. Pazzo tries but doesn't fit the Pippo system nor has he been in any sort of form for over a year.

Put this utter mess together and if we can scrape the EL qualifying slot in 6th place I'd be overjoyed. Napoli, Roma, Juve, Fiorentina, Inter and even Parma & Torino are all justifiably ahead of us and half of them are utterly rubbish too.

Pippo has his work cut out but it's abundantly clear his hands are tied and he isn't going to succeed. With that squad, how can he?
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Jack Bauer
post Aug 17 2014, 12:19 PM
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If the team stays as it is - yes, but I wanna see who we will bring till the end of the transfer window before the final verdict. I'm not very optimsitic, but two good players can change the picture.
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X-Offender
post Aug 17 2014, 01:32 PM
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Scudetto!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/freak.gif)
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X-Offender
post Aug 17 2014, 01:44 PM
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On a serious note, I think all our CBs are actually pretty decent. Mexes, Zapata, Rami and Alex would be starters in any other club, not only in Serie A but abroad as well. Let's not forget Alex has been a starter for PSG all this time, Zapata had a very good WC, Rami had a positive second half of the season with us and Mexes, well, you all know that I rate him.

But it's like Danny said, we don't have a clear-cut best defender, a leader figure like Maldini, Nesta and Silva. Even worse, we don't have a fixed pairing. I think Pippo initially will go with Rami and Alex as starters, but Zapata could very well replace Rami just like Mexes could replace Alex. It's quite of a mess in that sense.

Midfield, well, I personally think we have a pretty good starting trio in De Jong, Poli and Honda, but Pippo doesn't seem to view Honda as a CM even though he's played Saponara there ( (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif) ). The problem in midfield is the same problem we have in attack, i.e. no depth. If De Jong or Poli, or SES or Menez get injured we have no adequate replacements. That's why a quality CM and a winger are necessary.

Overall, right now the best possible line-up we can field is:

Lopez
Abate - Rami - Alex - MDS
Poli - De Jong - Honda
Menez - Balo - El Shaa


Is it good enough for making the EL? Yes, if the teams plays well. Is it good enough for making the CL? Not really.
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han2503
post Aug 17 2014, 02:00 PM
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I personally think one quality CM and one quality RW will elevate us into the second tier in this league, i.e. behind Roma and Juve but on par with the likes of Napoli, Inter and Fiorentina (who will probably lose Quadrado).

Right now we have a mish mash of individually talented players that haven't really come together to form a proper team unit.

I think Mexes and Rami are probably our best pairing. Zapata is a big liability, we should sell him for some decent cash, especially if Juve want him, recoup some of that cash we gave them for Matri. Alex so far hasn't impressed me in pre-season he's such a slow lumbering player. Abate and DS imo are the best FB pairing in the league

Midfield is where our real issues are, with Monto out probably until December, if not more, only De Jong being good enough to be starting and Pippo seemingly unwilling to try out Honda there, the situation is dire, while our management and coach seem to be obsessed with finding a winger as a flashy signing that we can thank the Presidente for, they're completely ignoring the issue that will make or break our season, that midfield.

Attack I think is pretty good, provided SES and Balo are in good form and Menez or whoever we buy for that RW do well
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Jack Sparrow
post Aug 17 2014, 07:31 PM
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Once again too much hinges on Balotelli I'm afraid.

For me, 6th place is our bare minimum target this season.
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Danny
post Aug 18 2014, 09:42 AM
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I'm now happy with top 10.
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CHU-LIP
post Aug 18 2014, 11:53 PM
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Champions League should be the ambition.

Milan has been destroying itself that much that Juventus has become untouchable, so that leaves Champions League as goal. How can you be satisfied with anything less? Then you can just as well go fully long term, and get rid of everything that's old. Perhaps Milan should be doing that anyway.

Anywho, with this squad, Champions League is not impossible.
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Danny
post Aug 19 2014, 10:17 AM
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QUOTE (CHU-LIP @ Aug 18 2014, 10:53 PM) *
Champions League should be the ambition.

Milan has been destroying itself that much that Juventus has become untouchable, so that leaves Champions League as goal. How can you be satisfied with anything less? Then you can just as well go fully long term, and get rid of everything that's old. Perhaps Milan should be doing that anyway.

Anywho, with this squad, Champions League is not impossible.


Yeah it is.

Central defence and midfield are abysmal. Flanks are average. Up front is off-form permanently. And tactically we're a mess.
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han2503
post Aug 19 2014, 10:44 AM
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QUOTE (Danny @ Aug 19 2014, 10:17 AM) *
Yeah it is.

Central defence and midfield are abysmal. Flanks are average. Up front is off-form permanently. And tactically we're a mess.

I don't think the quality of the squad is as dire as you make it out to be (barring that midfield of course), the tactical mess is what's the real issue with us and what's been our biggest undoing.

We haven't got a coach capable of tactically wrangling these bunch of individuals and making them play as a team. Allegri was absolutely abysmal at it, even when he had the best squad in the league at his disposal it was all about individual brilliance pulling us through. Seedorf and Pippo are just not experienced coaches capable of doing that.
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Danny
post Aug 19 2014, 10:48 AM
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------------Lopez

Abate---f*ck knows--f*ck knows---MDS/Armero

------Poli---De Jong--Muntari

Menez--------Balo---------SES

There are bits and pieces of decency but they're offset by giant mediocrity and worse.
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Danny
post Aug 19 2014, 10:48 AM
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------------Lopez

Abate---f*ck knows--f*ck knows---MDS/Armero

------Poli---De Jong--Muntari

Menez--------Balo---------SES

There are bits and pieces of decency but they're offset by giant mediocrity and worse.
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X-Offender
post Aug 19 2014, 03:21 PM
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Napoli's CBs are Henrique, Britos, Albiol, Fernandez and Koulibaly. Roma's are Castan, Benatia, Romagnoli and Astori. I can't see how they are any better than what we have. No, it's what Han said, it's all about our tactics not working, as well as the midfield of those two teams being way better than what we have

Maicon was a finished player before joining Roma, suddenly he's a beast. Benatia was Zapata level, now United want him. If we had a capable midfield, things would be much different for us as well.
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CHU-LIP
post Aug 19 2014, 05:38 PM
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QUOTE (Danny @ Aug 19 2014, 12:48 PM) *
------------Lopez

Abate---f*ck knows--f*ck knows---MDS/Armero

------Poli---De Jong--Muntari

Menez--------Balo---------SES

There are bits and pieces of decency but they're offset by giant mediocrity and worse.


Making a line-up which is clearly not our strongest, yeah, then I understand your point of view.

QUOTE (Danny @ Aug 19 2014, 12:17 PM) *
Yeah it is.

Central defence and midfield are abysmal. Flanks are average. Up front is off-form permanently. And tactically we're a mess.


Form and tactics are things that can get better. Will it happen? That's another thing.
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han2503
post Aug 19 2014, 07:49 PM
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QUOTE (CHU-LIP @ Aug 19 2014, 05:38 PM) *
Making a line-up which is clearly not our strongest, yeah, then I understand your point of view.

What would that line-up look like in your view chu?
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