At first, I was hoping to get a Sergio esque left back ... With what I have seen of the player, he is nothing in comparison to Sergio and I doubt he can live up to expectations, given his good run with Marseille.

I hope, come January, we have a new left back.

Yeah failed experiment, needs to f(ck off. Maybe we can recall Didac.

Didac?

Either we sign someone solid, or no one at all. What's the point of bringing in a number if he's as bad what we already have?

Balzaretti or Criscito for me.

I'd opt for Balzaretti too. Sell Taiwo and invest the money in signing the Italian.

Yes,Crisiscito please.He was amazing last time I saw him for the national team.Why didn't we buy him anyway?How much did Zenit pay for him?

Because Galliani thinks that players like Seedorf, Rino, Zambro and Ambro are ageless

L'Equipe writes that Balzaretti is currently at the PSG offices and is going to sign a 2-3 years deal with them.

Anyone else left?

Hmh, it's not easy to find a good fullback in these times. If you look at the top national teams you can also note that they lack quality in that sector, even Germany or Spain. It's really hard.

Balzaretti is essentially already gone to PSG. That being said I would be pretty proud of Galliani is he signed Criscito. Sadly we have a GLARING hole at #6 forward that management needs to fill .

Centre back?

No, I think he meant the sixth forward. That is, your favorite player: Tevez.

Ooohhh, I completely missed that he put #6 forward, just thought he put #6.

Happens to the best. Having said that, it's quite concerning for me that we are going for another striker/forward when it's glaringly obvious we desperately need an AM. Unless the plan is to convert either Ibra or Tevez into one. The non-existent linkup between our attacking midfield and forwards gets more evident any given Sunday.

Apart from the AM position, both our flanks are pretty much non-existent too when it comes to attack. These are vital positions when it comes to goal scoring opportunities, and we're not going to get too far unless these issues are resolved. Anytime, a smaller team will park the bus, we'd have to bust our behind to score goals. Anytime a bigger team scores a goal, we'll be chasing the game and end up losing 3-2 or 2-1. Unless we solve these two issues.

Had decent hopes from Taiwo to make the LB position his own, but he's fizzled out faster than you can say Nigeria.

Criscito is too expensive....there isn't really anyone we can sign.

Maxwell?

Never !

I'd rather Antonini ... But to be honest, stating there isn't anyone is a stretch. There are tons of FBs out there, just that none of the batch that we are exposed to are on the market or on the cheap side.

With that said, I believe Milan will be further strengthened in that department IF Taiwo leaves this winter.

Why not?

If I remember right Tevez played just behind in the hole for City until they brought in Silva then he pushed on in to a more of a strikers role. So he can play there and he can score goals from there

Either way I can't see City letting him go on loan and I can't see us paying out god knows how many million until the summer so probably nothing will come of it

Yup, that was on my mind when I wrote that. He absolutely murdered Chelsea single-handily playing in that position. Anyway, I still think there is a big chance he'll be a Milan player come January. Rarely do we play out our signings in the media, and the way B & G have come out in the press recently, something sure is cooking.

No reason to believe he'll play in the hole yet, but that's the logical position for him if Ibra and Pato are to start.

I've got a funny feeling that one of the two mentioned could be involved in any deal. Ibrahimovic certainly fits the profile of the type of player City would go for and with Adebayor and Tevez looking likely to leave they might look for another striker with that only leaving Aguero, Balotelli and Dzeko

A big if. Though, the possibility can not entirely be discounted. Ibra has only two clubs he can aim for now, only two that have bigger ambitions than us. Real Madrid and Manchester City. Both are a shoe-in for the league title, and both looking to win the big prize (CL) this year or the next.

Ibrahimović gets a chance to keep his domestic league winning combo going, and a swipe at the CL too. Plus, the fat agent of his can get more meat in the fridge if he can make another transfer. Far fetched, but not outside the realm of possibility. The big Swede seems like he's adjusted to life here, but if he goes, these are the two clubs that come up.

Not to mention, both have coaches at the helm that Ibra has played under. Mourinho and Mancini.

Well I'd certainly rather keep Ibra than have Tevez. Ibra's record isn't something that worry's me, he'll always do the job for you. Would Tevez offer us that little bit more? Yes probably because he's got more movement and improvisation that Ibrahimovic, in that he'll go looking for the ball and will try to bring others in to play. He drops deep and is a play maker as well as a goalscorer

So in a perfect world I'd like to see them playing together if at all possible because I think they'd compliment each other. Where as if we just had Tevez he'd have nobody to play off. If it was a choice between one or the other though I'd pick Ibrahimovic based on non Footballing terms. I just don't think Tevez would be good for the club

http://www.football-italia.net/node/14818

phew thank goodness for that!

Jokes on QPR.

It's for the best. I still don't get how we couldn't have utilized him better.

I don't know why we don't try Serie A based players more.

Mesbah came.

I wanted Taiwo to score at least one goal from his trademarked long shot before he left. So not happening!

Why was Taiwo such a failure? He seemed to be a potentially great signing, coming from a strong league (6 years at a big big club ffs) and with almost 50 caps for his country.

Yet he never got much of a chance at Milan and got shipped out first chance we got.

As I said a few times already, it reflects poorly on the club scouts. If you have to ship out players after six months, then either you did not measure the player properly (and how he would have adjusted in Milan), or the intention was to sign on him a free and make a couple of million on his subsequent sale.

Sure, it's extremely negative thinking the later, we are a big club after all, but so was the Taiwo experience!

I have to say Acid every signing is a risk - you cannot 'measure' how a player will cope with his new environment. It is always a gamble and you have to hope he fits in. It is not an exact science, and I would never blame our scouts for getting that one wrong.

Sometimes it just oddly doesn't work out and he doesn't adjust properly.

Maybe he's another Gilardino or Borriello - a player who couldn't handle playing for such a big club, and who have both done well at smaller clubs (hence the latter struggled at Roma and probably will at Juve). So he should be ok QPR.

Can't deny that. But with the experience and stable environment of the club (Galliani has been at the top for quarter of a century), we should know better. Particularly, seeing as we are not someone that splashes money left and right. For this instance, extra care should be exercised to only bring in players that have the best chance of adjusting.

But my major gripe is that whatever the player, we could/should have given him an extended longer run to prove himself. And by this I mean, 4-6 straight matches. 50 caps for NT, and 6 years at a big club went down the drain.

You asked why he was a failure? I'd say 5% goes on bad luck, 55% on the player and 40% is Allegri's doing.

Taiwo had a fair start, then did something wrong and Allegri momentarily sided him, like he did before with Sokratis. Then the extra pressure got to Taiwo and his obviously existent bad attributes popped out and turned the whole story in a one way street called disaster. Taiwo's last appearance however showed me that there is still room for improvement, and I fail to believe he's all in all a bad player. Yet it seems Allegri has 0 faith in him.

Which, unfortunately, is the deal breaker. Sokratis wasn't somebody one can term a bad player, either!

Taiwo's a mediocre player and showed nothing special. We don't need another LB that can't defend and with awful positioning - we have that in Antonini. Sokratis was below par, not Milan quality at all.

I don't know man, both were decent enough second choice players. I mean yeah, sure nothing to build a team around, or ones that would take Milan to glory, but utility players nonetheless. Unfortunately, the word "Milan Quality" has lost some of its allure and charm now, truth be told.

The only superstar we have in the team is Ibrahimović. The rest are getting there, or just good players. Meaning, gone are the days of last decade when we had an abundance of quality. And we may very well have to make do with slightly average players too, unless we suddenly start winning in Europe.

Silva is a superstar, the best CB in the world IMO.

Still, we have enough average players on our team, we need players that can add something extra, surely from someone who was expected to be a starter.

You and I know that, the neat public doesn't. For them it's Ibra and then nothing. By public I mean fans of other clubs, and general football followers. Gone are the days of Maldini, Sheva, Kaka, Rui Costa, Nesta, Cafu and whatnot sharing the field at the same time. Rich days.


Agreed. If we win the league this season, I wouldn't mind going deep in CL next year!

Likely to play against Villa tonight. Will let you know how he does.

Both goals came from our right. Enough said. Not EPL quality, forget Milan.

Case settled. I guess it's too much too ask for a signature rocket-goal from Taiwo before he leaves us.

He hit a few crosses stupidly hard, it's like he's trying to show off that he can hit a ball powerful or something.

Haha, true, that. Most African players usually are pure muscle, and have a scorchingly powerful shot. Anyway, if it ever came to Van Bommel scoring a goal for us, or Taiwo with his rocket kick, I'd prefer the Dutch. MvB usually gets a goal every 12 games, that's his career average (apart from PSV where he scored once every 4).

Here's he's had 30 games without one - though came tantalizingly close on more than a few occasions! A good goal is a memory of a lifetime, I want one, I want one, I want one! Please be against Arsenal.

Why can't people be patient? It's his first match after spending half a year at Milan mostly not playing. I think he deserves a little patience. Don't get me wrong, all in all Taiwo isn't anything above average, but still..

well I will miss him on fifa he is amazing in fifa 12

I don't think he'll get any better. You can usually tell if a player is ever going to have 'it' or not early on, especially with a defender. Both goals for Villa last night were a total lack of positioning from Taiwo.

I went on a QPR forum afterward to see what they thought of him. Most threads made that day only have a few replies, yet there was a Taiwo thread that reached 3 pages and was started at HT.. that's just how awful he was.