Yepes is a decent backup. wouldn't mind him for another year. between him and Nesta, one must remain (of course Nesta would be everyone's 1st choice but it he doesn't want to stay, you can't force him to).

Muntari, Montolivo and Aquilani

RUMOR: Milan is very interested in Ogbonna. They would offer 10m + some players

Source: MilanDiavolo/twitter

We really missed the boat on Witsel $h!tlegri wants an Essien-type player for CM...almost like a super physical Fabregas if you will. the problem is that the majority of our players are woefully incomplete...and it's particularly bad in the midfield
Muntari/ Flamini - brain
Gattuso, Nocerino - technique + passing
Ambro - physique + technique
Dorf - Physique
Boateng - vision

BLEH!

10m + players on a Serie B defender? That seems an awful lot.

So much for the best squad in Italy...!

I'm not even bothering Zeddie and it's not just drucurl. One one hand they complain our entire team is bad and we rely on Ibra. In the next moment they crap on Allegri saying we have the best squad. Make your minds up already.

The problem is not whether I say heck, Cesc is worth it. It's what Allegri thinks. And it's clear that he expects every player in his midfield to work and defend like a dog, even if they're not particularly good at it. I doubt he'd make any exception no matter who the player is, case in point: Pirlo




That's a very good starting mid formation, the problem was how they were utilised or not utilised in the case of Aquilani in these last few months. We were doing great with that setup. It's only when he started deploying the 3rd runner in midfield that our performances in general took a serious hit. I haven't seen us play as bad as we've been playing these last 2 months since the Carlo days tbh.

And even so, I said repeatedly in my discussion with kurt that I believed Juve's only edge on us was their starting midifled 3, as I believe that it's better than ours. But anything other than that, whether it's their attackers, defenders and rotation players. We have the edge (GK aside, but Abbiati has been solid for us throughout so it's not an area were the quality made any telling difference)

Is it the best squad in Italy really? I still think Inter can easily have a better squad then we have next season. They are just one striker and CB away from it, while we're in the process of loosing one of our WC player.

That could only mean that Nesta is not staying.

Buffon - Abbiati
Lichsteiner - Abate
Bonucci - Nesta
Barzagli - Silva
Chiellini - Antonini
Vidal - Aquilani
Pirlo - Van Bommel
Marchisio - Nocerino
Pepe - Boateng
Vucinic - Robinho
Matri - Ibrahimovic

I gave Marchisio/Nocerino and Robinho/Vucinic a draw. But even then they win 6-3. I don't think ourfirst XI is really as superior as you think. They're both our opinions and can't really be wrong, but I just don't see where this extra quality is.

To those who haven't mastered their command of the obvious....let me once again break it down:


We have the best squad in $hitaly which in turn is a $hit league at the moment.

Now as I listed above, our midfielders are individually woefully incomplete. This should not be much of a problem to anyone other than an unimaginative simpleton. Unfortunately the most simplistic n00b in the universe is infinitely more creative than $hitlegri.

I'll give you an example. Sir Alex's treble winning team had a David Beckham who was quite slow and not much of a dribbler. Yet he was used as one of the best right wingers in Europe and his crossing ability was maximised with Dwight Yorke who was always at the end of them. But Sir Alex was able to mask the flaws of all his players by using the others to cover for them. This is what any decent manager does.

In shitlegri's world, if you suck at something it's always painfully obvious because you're always in a situation where it is required. Playing Urby at CAM instead of LB for instance. Playing Robinho as a pure striker also... really the list goes on and on. This is also the reason he was couldn't deal with Pirlo's defensive frailities, Ronaldinho's low work rate or Pato's erratic passing. This is also why SES gets little playing time. So he was has a lot of tools to work with but the fact that some assembly is required means that he'll remain clueless.

We'll see what happens.

Inter imo, on paper had the squad to rival us, and I said this before the season started. I never expected them to implode the way they did and I never expected us to turn into the Milan Medical show instead of a football team

Imo, if we address LB and a CM this summer I'd be happy as long as we fix whatever is wrong with the medical department, because right now, what I believe in regards to this title loss is that 50% of the blame has to go to the injuries and the other 50% to Allegri.

Pepe better than Boateng? Are you kidding me?

I think maybe kurt is comparing this season's performance?? But I would disagree with that kind of arrangment.

A lot of our star players never showed up/injured this season, and it's a bit too coincidental that all of them would lose form or get injured at the same time.

I might not be as right-wing as dru, but I would agree with his assessment of the coaching. Allegri has his rigid strategy, and he wants players to fit in them. But you cannot provide for adequate depth and top-class quality at the same time. You have to change your tactics. At this point, he is only looking a bit better than Gasperini.

I'm not a fan of these kinds of comparisons.

In terms of talent Real's SQUAD is equal or possibly even a shade better than Barca. Yet Barca's recent successes are unparalleled. Similarly Bayern is more stacked than Dortmund etc.

It is the coach's responsibility to come up with the most effective solutions.

Boateng is really good, so disagree there, but the thing is: Prince has often been injured, so that's something to put in mind too: it's not just Prince, but Prince or Urby we play; looks different now then.

Marchisio to me is better than Nocerino. The quality is in Juve's midfield, while Marchisio and Vidal are really good and the right kind of players to utilize Pirlo. The defense preforms solid. And then you don't need a top striker since the rest is doing well. A solid defense is maybe most important to have, but key in succeeding is winning the midfield battle, and with Marchisio, Vidal and Pirlo you do both with (Pirlo) and without (Vidal and Marchisio) possession.

And Conte deserves props obviously.

You by the way compare our DM to their playmaker, and so, I know position wise you did it, but anyway, 1 vs 1 comparisons don't say a lot really.

Huh, isn't Dru left-wing? Right wingers are conservative and traditionalists.

i am. $hitlegri and his pet monster go against everything we once stood for

So that is being a traditionalist isn't it? Hence why I said right-wing.

Aye, that's what I thought. I'm a pretty balanced in the middle, but do tend to incline left every now and then when I see stupid shtick happening. Not just in sports, but pretty much in all walks of life. Only time I play right-wing is when it comes to morals and values, the good, graceful stuff.

But if something is stuck in the past and dragging itself even though it clearly isn't working, I'll be against it.

Well that's one way to put it, but right-wing is when one is standing by the establishment and status-quo. Even though it becomes plain evident it isn't working, or there are flaws in the policy (case in point Milan), but right-wingers are just stuck in the past and saying everything is alright. Extreme example, I know, but still.

For example there are plenty of right-wing fans who are afraid of change or taking gambles on new players.

Bah, monarchists and royalists

I'm sorry but I can't take that too seriously.

Chiellini was a CB for them most of the season. De Ceglie was there usual starting LB, and no matter how bad Antonini can be at times, he's still the better player.

Also, I wouldn't compare Vidal with Aqui and Pirlo with VB. Vidal is their player who breaks up play, while Aquilani and Pirlo are the creators. And if it's a head-to-head with Vidal and VB, they're as equal as it gets. Both do different things better than each other, but they're very equal when it comes to comparing how good each is at their particular role in each team

Pepe better than Boateng?? One of the most mediocre players to ever get on the Italy NT, he was good this season, but there is no way you can say he's the better player of the 2

Robinho and Vucinic, that's a bit of a dilemma, Robs does certain things better than Vucinic while both are horrible in front of goal at times. I think you're correct saying they're equal but next season Cassano will be the undisputed starter for us and hopefully we'll get Pato back fit by some miracle who is also better than any of their starters.

So it's more like this

Buffon - Abbiati
Lichsteiner - Abate
Chiellini - Nesta
Barzagli - Silva
De Ceglie - Antonini
Vidal - Van Bommel
Pirlo - Aquilani
Marchisio - Nocerino
Pepe -Boateng
Vucinic - Cassano
Matri - Ibrahimovic

This looks more like it, but has Nesta really been better than Chiellini? Anywho, a big difference obviously was injuries.

De Ceglie is better than Antonini. But it's irrelevant since Chiellini/Bonucci/Barzagli have all played more than De Ceglie. De Ceglie hasn't even started half the games!

I think there's a very contradictory attitude here though. A lot of you, han especially label Pepe some medicore player, despite him having a very good season and being a key player for Juve. That doesn't seem to matter because over his career he's been 'mediocre'. Well what about Boateng? At Spurs he was embarassing and at Pompey he was undisciplined in midfield. This season he's been suspended and injured for half the season, so why isn't he just classed as some mediocre player like he has been his whole career so far?

And I'm sorry, do you really believe Cassano this season has been better than Vucinic? Come on, he's barely even played.

Han, are you telling me if you had both De Ceglie and Antonini in your team, Antonini would be your starting LB? seriously?

As I've said before you guys are mixing things up. It's one thing speaking potential wise, and another thing comparing players real life throughout a season. In a perfect world, if Pato started all our matches, he'd smoke someone like Borriello. But as things stand, the left-footed idiot has more goals than the duck in the league.

You will keep running around in circles if you are don't define and stick to your comparison criteria.

Hate to have to do this but ppl seem to forget that anto is actually a right back. Not everybody is as good or as effective on the wrong side as zambrotta back in his prime

Let's say he's equally mediocre at either side.

Not that 1 game as RB and another as RB means anything in particular, but De Sciglio has already done that, and done well.

Well, seeing as I'm talking about this season I don't see why anyone else would be talking about how good they are in general or whatever. My arguement was that Juve's team is better than ours this season, which is why they won the title.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zo...s-ac-milan-move

looks like we've brought in MVB replacement.

Just how many Traore's and Diarra's are there?

True, that is the only way we can compare. The horrendous injuries never left us any breathing space. But if our players had not missed more than 250 matches combined, we probably wouldn't even be doing this comparison, it would be terribly redundant, because with a full strength team we surely could have avoided some losses and draws.

But you can do a general comparison too, and Milan would 100% come out on top as far as first XI is concerned.

Oh, and I don't think there is much room for an argument here that the Juventus team was better than ours this season. It is. And that's because we made them so. They were lucky on the injury front, we had terrible bad luck. Their coach combined them into a unit, we had factions and rifts with the teams, Pato/Ibra, seniors living in their own little world, guys like Mexes, Flamini and more being left high and dry, etc.

We also handed them a Judge Dredd with a personal vendetta against Milan that turned out to be the missing key.

Cassano has been truly amazing, obviously better than Vucinic, when he played. Of course, he didn't play often, but how can that be a reason to call Vucinic better?

We really need an opinion of how good this guy actually is, now that he's officially a Milan player. Someone please barge into some Ligue 1 forum and ask.

Most of these issues we had are because of $h!tlegri.....yet ppl refuse to blame him
Also his training methods are highly suspected as being a contributing factor in the injury bug

Yes, he does seem to have a hand (large or small) in almost all issues. Most coaches would, seeing as they are the supreme authority in a squad. Even if it is not directly his fault, I am yet to see any major steps he has taken to erase or minimize these issues. Allegri is usually very slow to react and change direction, and I see it the case here.

I mean, the look on Mexes' face before the start of the inter derby said it all. It said it all, man.

Hi peeps.

I'm also curious about Traore.....I have high hopes but the last guy we brought in on a free transfer from Ligue 1 flopped like a fish.

Also, De Ceglie > Antonini.

Aye, that's what I am concerned about to. Unfortunately, I don't have high hopes, particularly if Allegri is in charge by then. In all probability we may have another Taiwo, Mesbah, Sokratis, Mexes, etc case on our hands. One mistake, and you're out kind of thing. Unless it's a big name that must-play every match (Tevez). But let's see.


Said it like it is. I haven't seen too much of De Deglie, but then again, I've seen too much of Antonini.

I'm not holding my breath to be honest. if a 27yo is a very good player, he's unlikely to become a free agent. I'm not judging anything, we have wait to see how he turns out. who knows, maybe we persuaded him to wait until his contract runs out instead of renewing or agreeing to move to another Nancy-level club, so we can be our usual cheap self! kind of like Mexes (we got him on a free, right?)

Apparently we've had him "signed" for two months now already...that could explain the lack of other club's interest in him. But I do agree....if someone is really good they will not be free, especially at 27. Who knows, we've been lucky before!

From what I've read on the various TMW articles, he can't be considered primary material. He struggled to get into the starting line-up at Nancy, then had a few good months coupled with some goals, and that's about it. We shouldn't expect him to be van Bommel's replacement. If anything, we should look to sign that Strootman kid from PSV. He looks very, very impressive.

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods?
Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds?

He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬



Enough with the free loaders, and free transfers, already, or it's going to be another long season!

Because we're basing it on the whole of this season. Otherwise someone playing 1 game and getting a 10 rating would be better than somene playing 38 games in which he got a 9 in each. It makes no sense. Cassano has hardly played, so to say he's had a better season that Vucinic is completely absurd.

As acid stated we're mixing things up here

I've always maintained that we, by far, have the better team than Juve. I'v always made this decleration based on an on paper scenario.

You're just basing this on the season. If that's the case then the Juve 11 would be better than our in all areas as all our players imo have been disappointing in their performances this season. Even Ibra who has been a goal machine this season, he was far better last season in terms of overall performances. Then you have all the injuries which basically left all of our players coming in and out of the team which didn't help things either

If that's your entire basis than I would say your previous analysis was wrong as the bolded players should all be on Juve's side. Even Thiago has been below par at time this season while last season he was inch perfect in every game he played, even in midfield!

But if we're looking at first 11s based on the quality of the players, than I stand by that previous post. Antonini and De Ceglie could be classed as equal, once again, it's a matter of if you're just analysing the performances of this season. Pepe one of the biggest idiots around, he's not even good enough to wipe Boateng's shoes, but based on this season while Boateng has been on the treatment table for nearly 3/4 of the season Pepe had a really good season.

Also, Chiellini and Barzagli have been the constant central pairing for Juve throughout the season, Bonucci came in when they switched to 3 at the back. Chiellini only played at LB on certain occasions but he certainly wasn't their starting LB


Yes, I would love a guy like De Ceglie for us. Our squad would be complete with him (catch the sarcasm )

Nevermind, I get you, if only you knew what you were typing the whole absurd conclusion didn't have to come.

And comparing 1 game to Cassano's games is a little over the top, now isn't it?

would really like some info on this Traore guy....atm he looks like more fodder