QUOTE (amancik @ Mar 8 2018, 09:42 PM)
I mean we have to get into the CL year in year out to obtain that experience. We cannot afford to miss out on European football. We have to sign better players for sure but we better not go on another spending spree. Three value added signings are good enough.
Yes, I understand, but I also feel like if we get into the CL now and get a slightly difficult group we won't be able to make it out of it.
The EL has allowed the team to get their feet wet. We've stumbled at the first difficult hurdle, no two ways about it, but it will serve as a lesson.
I agree, we need to start this summer with 3 quality signings and maybe 1 or 2 good rotation players.
Imo, we need a better LB, we need to replace Bona in the midfield, get a really good dynamic mid (I can't get Milinkovic-Savic out of my head but I know that's impossible) and a great striker. Cutrone is a good player and positionally he's 10 years ahead, but he's not a modern striker either, and to be a top side, I think that's essential
QUOTE (amancik @ Mar 8 2018, 09:53 PM)
Looking at things in longer-term, this is our window of opportunity to build our team to be dominant five years down the road. Most of the top teams in Europe are past their peak as their most influential players age I.e. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich. They will go through a new cycle like we did. I predict Liverpool, Man. City to be two of Europe's strongest teams in the next few years as they have great coaches and relatively young but experienced squad. So we should not hit the reset button again. We must build on this instead.
All those teams you mentioned have huge spending power so they will manage to rebuild without taking big hits imo.
As for us, the pessimistic side of me, which I admit has been fed by this loss, feels like that once you're on the slippery slope it's virtually impossible to get back to where you were before, especially in today's football climate where money is everything, and that's something we lack. After years of Silvio not investing, we've been sold off to a shady Chinese guy who seems to have a lot of fake wealth. UEFA has rejected out voluntary agreement and we're at risk of being taken over by the hedge fund that loaned money to close the deal if the depth is not restructured.
So, I'm honestly very worried about our future. We spent a lot of money in the summer, but some of it wasn't spent very wisely. Sure more of the players are kicking into gear, and under the right direction we have a top 4 side imo. But they have a ceiling and it's not anywhere good enough in terms of competing for the big titles.
QUOTE (Fillipo Simone @ Mar 8 2018, 10:08 PM)
Rodriguez played for Wolfsburg consistently in Europe. Hakan for years with Leverkusen.
I think that's an exaggeration, you make it sound like they were seasoned CL players
Hakan has a grand total of 24 games in the CL and Rodriguez has an ample 13.
Hardly seasoned CL players. Rodriguez has a couple more EL appearances but not much either.
Fact is, none of these guys have any real experience playing these games, and I think that does have an effect. And that was maybe also part of the management's mistakes. Getting these types of players with the goal of being regular contestant in the CL in mind is counter-productive, no doubt.
QUOTE (Fillipo Simone @ Mar 8 2018, 10:08 PM)
A limited one. But it is a circular debate. We lack experience - why? Because are players ain't good enough (the older ones) to play European football. Why hasn't Bonaventura played euro-games so far? Because he isn't good enough.
Well, Bona was at Atalanta before he came to Milan and we've been out of Europe since before he joined. It's all relative. I'm not saying that he should have been playing in Europe but those were his circumstances.
Look, I don't think Bona is a top class player, far from it, he's a good Serie A player and a good squad player to have, he's been a sort of focal point of the team because everyone around him was basically pants, so he looked very good. I think this season he's been exposed a lot, he's showing that he's reached a ceiling in terms or what he can offer us and if we're serious about being competitive then he has to be a squad player.
QUOTE (Fillipo Simone @ Mar 8 2018, 10:08 PM)
Not sure here. Yes, they are better. Much better? Not sure.
The last 5 games have shown that they are much better imo. The games against Roma and Lazio for me were masterful, especially defensively. We showed none of that today.
QUOTE (Fillipo Simone @ Mar 8 2018, 10:08 PM)
In modern football he's worth jack. He's slow and inconsistent, which exposes us constantly. Yes, a bench player definitively.
In fact all our buys this summer can be considered sub-par, too many inexperienced players and could-be players as well as bench players like Hakan, Rodriguez, etc. The only good by was Bonucci, and this was a lucky draw. I repeat, we gotta up our investments pronto. No more time for wasted money like Kalinić or too many inexperience.
Like I said, all our buys have a certain ceiling, I think you've been extra harsh on Hakan, he's been good, especially under Rino. I think he's hindered a lot by Bona and Rodriguez tbh because they don't really see the passes he wants to make and don't make a lot of good runs for him. Bona tends to hold onto the ball way too long while Hakan tends to want to release it quickly which causes confusion there.
Kalinic was a mistake, and I think Biglia was also a mistake, he was great for Lazio, and he's been good recently, but he's not someone you can build around when you're aiming for certain things. We should have looked at more dynamic options. Kalinic has been a total disaster no doubt. Rodrigues looked good when everyone else was sh!t but now that everyone else has improved, his flaws are becoming glaringly obvious. Silva for me is a mystery. He's an incridbly skilful striker. He's quick, good at hold up and a very good passer, yet he's not been given the time at all to settle into this team. I get that Cutrone has scored more, but overall I think Silva would be better in terms of general team play, and once he's settled in that the goals would come
QUOTE (Fillipo Simone @ Mar 8 2018, 10:08 PM)
I don't know man. I'm not that optimistic. These top teams tend to accumulate talent immensely. They have the buying power and they have domination. It's not like before. If something doesn't change in modern football we'll be seeing the back of teams like Real and Barca for years to come.
Agreed
The money that certain team have is ridiculous, and I fear that we've been lead down a cull de sac with this sale to Li. I don't see how we can compete with any of those sides. Not even with Juve