Oh come on... We are fine as we are!

No denying the defence WAS better last season, only a twit would think otherwise. Zapata was far better, and LB was not a problem position at all.
I'd say a combination of both our arguments is a fair overall outcome.

But I still stand by my assertions about the individual players. None of our defenders are fine bar Abate. Not this season. And Rami doesn't give me any reason to believe he will turn it into an iron curtain.



Well let's nitpick;

In defence, Abate has done reasonably. He's been overall our best player back there this season.

Midfield has seen positives from, as you say, NDJ and Poli.

Up front has been the strongest area, funnily enough, with Robinho having a good season and Kaka thus far being absolutely excellent. Even Birsa, despite my protestations about his overall ability has contributed tellingly.

The real disappointments have been Abbiati, Constant, Zapata, Montolivo and Balotelli (and SES before injury). Two or three of them are absolutely critical to our overall health so it's not surprising that their poor individual form has arguably affected the whole team.

tbh I want Allegri gone for as much as you getting rid of that bloody sig as anything else!

Why?

The constipated look is so sexy!

Rami will be wearing shirt #13.

Interesting article. <http://www.goal.com/it/news/2/serie-a/2013/11/15/4408222/galliani-da-forza-milan-a-forza-italia-berlusconi-lo-lancia?ICID=HP_FT_4>

Suggests Galliani may be on his way out after all.

Nesta's number

Hey, better than Acerbi, no?

Yeah, surely. I got stunned when I found out that the Diesel is now at Sassuolo.

TAKE MATRI INSTEAD!!!!

Seriously doubt this will happen, unless we offer them Amelia as well.

LOL, so one rumour says that we want to sell Balo in January and put all our hopes on Pazzini, another one says we want to swap Pazzini with Marchetti. Italian papers...

If we're going to sell a striker that better be f@cking Matri FFS!!!!

Pazzo and Balo are too important for us

Hmh, agreed. Happy to see you finally realized Pazzo's potential.

Yeah, but he's on the opposite side of right as far as Balo's potential is concerned. He's a time bomb, and he's started to tick, the little doofus. Pazzini may yet to justice to his role, the other guy surely doesn't look like his is up for the job. I guess we'd have a better idea in the second half of the season.

I admitted that a long time ago

But all these rumours about selling one of our strikers just goes to show what an utter waste of money signing Matri was to begin with

I would sell Balo at the end of the season let him help us get to a position then let him go use him then lose him hes no good for us his attitude stinks on and off the pitch.

I think Balotelli deserves some slack. How many games did he perform badly? Two? Three? I think we need to give him time, he has potential and we've gotta work with what we got.

Some of us here want him out, other SES. But they're all we've got in terms of quality offensive. If they go, we need to start from the beginning again, because their roles are fundamental.

Also, I'd sell them for the right prize, if only I knew the money will be invested properly. But whenever did that happen with Milan??

I find it funny that people are suddenly turning on Balo and El Shaarawy as well to an extent. 2 of the players who majorly saved our @sses last season and we wouldn't have made the CL had it not been for their contributions

Yes, Balo can be incredibly frustrating, and the unstable atmosphere he currently finds himself in cannot be helping with things and he's going through a rough patch of form to make things even worse.

There are far worse players on our team who should be receiving the brunt of the criticsm

It's a cycle, people, a ring of fire. Players with weak mentality (SES and Balotelli) and history of bad behavior (Balotelli) very rarely get out of it once they fall in. Just like Shaarawy was disturbed from his perch at the top with Balotelli's arrival, Balo seems mentally disturbed with Kaka.

If Kaka gets back to the player he can be currently (not necessarily the one he was at his peak), how other stars around him get along is of real interest. Because he'll once gain be a focal point I'm not saying SES and Balo are done and dusted, and they can't pick themselves up, or even sell them, but there are problems, sure there are!

Yeah, the unstable atmosphere around him isn't helping, as is the one that masquerades as a coach, but still. Both players are a long way off from their best right now, and aren't even working to get back. If they were making efforts, we would be sitting up a few places right now, maybe six or seven, if not above.

Naah, I don't buy into this. It's too early to speak of this.

I think you labeled SES as a player with weak mentality too early. They're not working to get back in form? How do you know that? I fail to see any evidence.

And look, I love Kaka, he's done so much for Milan; but he is not our future, SES and Balo are. Kaka is permanently a good asset, an important player. But he's not the guy we build around.

Agree about Kaka, and that's why I said he almost surely will never get back to his best. And he is not someone we build around. Balo, sadly is the same, going by his previous shenanigans. But he's a good short term solution, and if the situation clears, maybe his love for the club will see him change ways.

For better or for worse, I don't see Shaarawy as someone who will be here for too long either. Slim change of it happening if a bundle of $$$$$ comes around and the club decides to cash in. The situation, as it almost always is, is precarious. We should have made better moves, some saner purchases, to go with Balotelli and Shaarawy.

As for the players not trying, well, can't say this for everyone here, but I have seen enough this season to come to the simple conclusion that they are lost. Other players around them are lost too, but as spearheads I would have liked to see more drive and determination from these two.

Something you see with Kaka, he wants to make things happen. Balo and Shaarawy not too much, at least until now, this whole year taken into context. They have that fire missing in their eyes. Sure, some would say that it is too early to tell, and I would probably agree, but the early signs are there, and the emptiness in effort is too.

Nobody is stupid enough to buy him and give him that enormous salary he's earning right now. Besides Milan that is.

Shaarawy has a weak mentality?

The kid who single handedly kept us from being in the bottom 3 last season? Balo's arrival had nothing to do with it, his form took a dip before Balo came. It was natural that a striker playing as a winger who couldn't really dribble would get easily found out on the wing, especially in Serie A.

Balo is just experiencing a dip in form as well, Kaka has nothing to do with it, in theory having someone who can actually give him some form of support upfront is ideal for him, it's not like he played with second rate players at City. It's just not happening for him atm, and with someone like Balo, this turmoil at the club simply does not help, only makes things worse for him as he's not someone who will take the reigns and lead the team on, even if he does have a big personality, he tends to sulk, and that's what he's doing now, sulking and irritating the sh!t out of me, but I wouldn't give up on him, simply because he's an immense talent and he's the only player with that kind of ability that we could realistically afford.


True, but I'm sure if we offer him at a cut price some mid-table side would be interested, he's a proven goal scorer for a smaller side. Just like we sold Boriello and Gila, we can do the same with Matri, only we'll lose tons of money on it, Galliani and Allegri being the masterminds behind that one

Apparently Milan is interested in signing Kabout at a cut price since his contract is running out at Tottenham. Source: FI



So the solution is adding more mediocre players to this roster? Sure then, let's pick up Tottenham rejects...

I want Gilardino back as well. Sell Balo and play Gila, Matri and Pazzini in an epic trident!

Apparently Saponara might be going to Parma...

How can anyone not blame this on Allegri? The guy has been fit to play forever... Why not give him a chance? Why players like Emanuelson, Niang, Constant and so on have gotten oh so many chances to shine, and a youth Italy International with plenty of potential gets 0 chances?

Saponara is doing Allegri's wife.

Saponara is really good. He had a great season with Empoli last year and in those friendlies he's played with us he's always shown potential. I think he would beautifully fit in a 4-2-3-1 line-up with Kaká and Honda supporting Balo. But f*ck it, let's loan him to Parma and play Birsa instead.

Well we can't blame it on Allegri. If I was a Joe Schmoe like him, and knew I was on my way out from heights that I will probably never again reach in ten lifetimes, I'd make sure I got fired midway, and nab that extra 5 million. And the close we are to the relegation spot, the better.

Hopefully he takes Mr. Schmuck (Galliani) with him on his way out. We were a joke before, now we're a tale!

Galliani out in December. Pradè main candidate to take over. More confirmations about Maldini joining management.

...

Oh wait, it's Tuttosport. Forget it.

Rumours of a swap deal in January involving Zaccardo going out. I forget who the deal is mooted to be with and who for.

Probably with Cannavaro, Paolo that is.

Why would Napoli do that?

I mean Canna v2.0 is no Yoda of defending but he's certainly better than Zaccardo, doesn't make much sense

Aaaah, enough with these goddamn swaps. We give Mesbah, get Zaccardo. We give Antonini, get Birsa. It won't lead us anywhere. Just sell him or give him for free or something...

Yeah, it's exhausting. Just like the co-ownership deals.

I don't know about that. It won't lead us to the top but we can see it can very well bring us to the bottom.

read on football Italia quoting Gallaini that we have clear plan for Jan as we will invest.. he said a defender and wide-attacker... Basically that would be Rami and Honda... SO basically we have no plan as both were sealed a while ago..

Awesome goal scored yesterday by Ganso (...one who was on our radar very long ago in the past):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAS8jTGZodA

That didn't seem like a goal. But nice moves.

Two players with such contrasting fortunes; Neymar and Ganso. Both the next big thing, but only one became it. Ganso just didn't crack it.

Didn't he have a lot of injury problems that kind of stalled him?

Ganso? I think I've heard that name before...

I can't imagine so. He's played 350 games and he's 24, he surely can't have missed many games.

I thought I read something about it, guess I'm confusing him with someone else...

I think they do play more games in Brazil so maybe 350 isn't a crazy amount for a highly rated 24 year old? It just seems a lot to me.

Galliani: "Executives and managers come and go, but the club will always remain. At some point you have to change"

Link

I'd say it's practically sealed the fact that Fester will leave, maybe already in December. In Italy everyone seems certain, and these declarations only strengthen the possibility.

Bye-bye, baldy. It wasn't fun.