I think we could come out as winners in this Balo deal. We sold him for 20 million last year and now we are getting him back for nothing. I don't think Miha will put up with his attitude, and I think Balo has to understand that this is surely his last chance. If he doesn't step it up here, no team will take a chance on him. I also believe that he will be able to fit in well with the team we have built.

As I said:

#SKY: Milan understood that Ibrahimovic move was almost impossible, and therefore turned to Balotelli. #acmilan

Galliani simply has no plan or vision.

If Ibra was impossible this window then there is nothing he can do. Would you rather have Balo for free or no one? I think he can be useful if he pulls his head out of his ***. Its a fairly low risk move if it's a free loan. If he acts up we can send him to practice with the primavera. If he regains form he could make a big impact.

Um, I don't know, how about look for another alternative instead of going back to a poisoned well like Mario??

It's not rocket science, it's what any other club does aside from Milan

Ibra was a solution because he's not just a striker, but a creative force as well as a leader that drives the team. Balo is a striker, who has some creative skills but really, he's too lazy to really be of any use as a creator.

If Ibra was a no go and they knew this for a while they should have been looking for a proper AM as they should have done all summer and should have been a first priority. But no. They "dream" of Ibra, waste an entire summer on that "dream" and when that fails we turn to someone like Balo because he's cheap and easy.

How many times have we repeated this same cycle?

I think it's pretty clear that the team isn't as worried about the lack of a pure #10 as you are. Balo is being brought in as a 3rd striker. I'd argue that he is probably the most skilled player we could get for that role at little to no cost.

Carlo Laudisa, mercato expert from GdS says that Balo doesnt negate Ibra.

BUY ALL THE STRIKEERZZ

Seriously, though, I agree with Han. Galliani has simply no vision at all. I don't even think a striker is necessary, no idea why we're getting one at the moment. We have Bacca, Adriano, Menez, Niang. They're more than enough for two spots IMO.

I only felt okay about getting Ibra because well he is Ibra.

Though, we did rebuild our defense and made it a lot better this season. I'd argue on paper that it is one of the best defense in Serie A. Our midfield is much better too, it could click too.

The thing with Balo. He was great for us IMO. He was absolutely vital when he came in January of IDK which year. XD

At this point, I don't think we can't change who he IS. He didn't do anything at Liverpool that is wrong per say. Did he get enough starts? Was he just bad? Anyway, I'm not so excited about this move, but you guys are a bit overreacting with the "disgusting" and "he's a poison" comments.

I think that if we get Ibra, he will play behind Bacca and Adriano. And Niang is injured. Menez could easily leave if we get a good offer for him, knowing that we have 3 players able to play behind 2 strikers.

Niang and Menez are both injured right now. No word on when Menez will be back as far as I know.

So..if they're injured..we have to buy someone else??? Niang won't stay out long. Menez should be back in a month.

We still have Matri, we need to offload him before we sign other strikers. Cerci is considered a striker too.

Ah, no words needed here...just a Picard facepalm.

Sure, this club (Galliani + Silvio) are always more pre-occupied with getting strikers rather than looking at the team, seeing what is needed and catering to that.

Ibra would have been a great addition because he's a creator as much as he's a striker. He'd have been that link between the midfield and Bacca. Now it looks like we'll once again go into a season with glaring holes in the team. We once again failed to addrees the creativity issue which has plagued us since Pirlo and then Seedorf left.

Now we're bringing in Balo needlessly to sit on the bench and be the third choice when we already have Matri, Niang, Cerci and Menez.


I don't think it's possible at this point, especially with the amount of players we have in attack

Niang isn't going anywhere, we can't get rid of Cerci, Menez looks to be staying, especially with his back problems, Matri is the only one looking likely to leave and even that's not set in stone. I can't see us getting another striker now. Especially when we're also going to add Soriano in midfield to continue to increase the squad size with average players


He did have issues at Liverpool, not huge ones like fighting with his coach, but there were issues, and there is a reason why Liverpool are so desperate to get him out of their team that they are not only willing to loan him to us without any obligations but are also willing to pay half his wages.

Balo is simply going down the Cassano road. He's poison for his teams because he brings a bad vibe. I'm not saying he's not a good guy, I think he is, he's misguided and stupid though and I can't see any coach being able to get him on the right path. Joining a smaller club where he could be top dog would be better for him

Yep, same old same old. How many times has Galliani made a panic buy because someone gets injured and we end up getting stuck with that panic buy until his loooong contract runs out?

This is a free loan with an option to buy. Totally different situation.

Problem is that Balo comes with a lot of baggage, in this case money has nothing to do with it

Then why mention that? You just like to ***** about Galliani no matter what he does.

Because it's still a panic buy, only one with a whole different set of drawbacks.

If it came down to it, I'd rather a Zaccardo situation than Balotelli stirring sh!t up in the locker room. Enough said

I don't think it's a panic buy and I think it's an infinitely better deal than a Zaccardo situation. I don't think we'll ever agree on this though.

The thing with Mihajlović is he has balls but not the know-how and the needed reputation to back this up. He likes to throw players into the fire (did it constantly with Serbia) but outcomes are more then questionable and the risk is very high. Now bringing Balotelli into that kind of a grand scheme raises the bar even higher.

So you think having a disruptive clown like Balo in the locker rooms is better than having a Zaccardo?

Both are terrible moves that shouldn't even happen let's begin there. But I'd sill take Zaccardo who leeches a bit of money off the club over Balo any day. We're already stacked in attack, any striker who's name is not Ibra would be pointless.

I seriously cannot understand why we're even bothering with him, just mind boggling at this point

Especially when we still have a huge squad and a midfield that still requires 1 or 2 additions for this team to be competitive.


At least as a club coach he'll have more time to rectify the situation given how long a season is.

I was hopeful about Ely and Romagnoli, but I did say multiple times about how worried I was with them playing together considering how inexperienced they are.

I think one experienced leader in the centre of defence is always a necessity. Hopefully Mexes is fit for the next game, if not Paletta should start

http://football-italia.net/71500/galliani-...lis-last-chance

Read it Han, nothing will change I tell you. These are our targets, let's just accept it.

My take on Milan, in some brief and (IMO) important points. Mind one thing - this all me seem to you over-hasted and naive, but I'm sick and tired of waiting, patiently building disillusions and illusions; I've been doing that for over 2 years.

The Transfer Policy and Management
Many of us here knew the first and prime problem of Milan is the management. They simply made so many bad deals, wrong decisions and turns, that it was crucial to break the line. More then once people tried to intervene, but Galliani remains on helm even though the clubs reputation and name sank to new lows (for the Berlusconi era at least). I'm not talking just in terms of Serie A achievements, but also big embarrassments like the US-tour in '14, the whole Albertini issue and us backing up a politically and morally compromised man, etc. etc. Politics may have not been the main issue here, and maybe are secondary to achievements and success in terms of football. But Milan nowadays is more then just a team and a coach, it has a reputation that got tarnished in multiple occasions. It's a bad omen.

The transfer policy changed only in terms of money. Galliani had a good scheme at the beginning, and it's not his fault things went south with deals like Martinez, Kondogbia even Ibrahimović. But the problem always remains - his panic buys, how Han likes to call them. It was Matri, it was Oliveira, Cerci, now it's Soriano-Balotelli. Milan keep on singing "marquee" players that somehow rarely have impact or change very little in the grand scheme of things.

Neglected are the positions Milan clearly has a problem with. Our flanks bar Abate have very little offensive power (even with Abate their capability is highly questionable). Our midfield is filled with redundant players who are either gems for destructive plays (NdJ, Poli, Nocerino) - not bad at all, but not creative enough, or players that either don't have the capacity to be creative (Bonaventura, Poli), cannot be the focal point (Bertolacci) or simply lack even the quality to play in Italy and Serie A (Honda).

The coach problem

What leaves me baffled is that Milan, the very same people that walked with this club trough rough patches in the mid 90's didn't learn squat from their past mistakes, only added a gazillion of new ones. Namely, rookie and unqualified coaches (Tabarez, Morini, Zaccheroni, Terim vs. Leonardo, Allegri, Seedorf, Inzaghi, Mihajlović) are now left all alone out there, with not even intermezzo reactions like Sacchi or Capello got in the 90's. Which would be important.

From moment one appointing Mihajlović was a gamble. We needed a solid, good coach, someone who's actually won something. Ancelotti - came at the moment of crisis, but his reputation and know-how muddled us through the mess into a safe harbor.

What's more shocking is that Galliani actually entrusted Mihajlović a great say in terms of transfers and signings. Romagnoli, Bertolacci and now Soriano and Balo most probably are gambles with record-high prize tags, and Mihajlović is the one agreeing to them, luring them and saying he can manage with them. But can he? His prior records point to a cloud of doubt.

Mentality and miss-steps
Here we are back again in the loop. I think it was you Danny who said you like Miha's attitude. The problem is, this attitude isn't quite new. In fact, almost all new coaches tried to avoid Mexes at first. But what happened? We pushed inexperienced or not good enough players into the fire and then at the sign of panic pulled back to Mexes as a rescue point. Don't get me wrong, I don't like Mexes very much. But either you get rid of him by selling him, or you keep and play him. By doing the other thing you get this - green young players like Ely and Romagnoli lose immensely confidence with such performances, while experienced players lack harmony and attention. Mexes steps in and they again start being uncomfortable because of the lost chances. Then mistakes happen, nerves step up a notch, and you have a mess.

Han, you speak of improvements. I hardly can find them. Maybe there are basic footballing improvement like corner-marking, movement, etc. But the mentality is what is basic. The lack of effort and the attitude under most evident under Inzaghi, but persistently (more or less evidently) apparent since the days of Max Allegri, still sticks. Now, what I believe is that a truly good coach can eradicate such mentality in one summer, even without new signings. If this wasn't that case then some small and limited clubs with a mediocre midfield wouldn't produce good games; Milan simply doesn't and apparently cannot.

The understanding of the midfield concept, of how a team scores goals and how it attacks. Galliani seems to be stuck in the 80's with thinking that strikers solve that problem by their own. This is not the Serie A of Baggio, Batistuta and Vialli. And by the way, we don't have that kind of quality strikers either. So yes, we need at least 2 sources of creativity. We also need more potent flanks - Antonelli, MDS especially and Abate cannot provide the addition/alternative solution to midfield creativity and dynamo by firing up the flanks. But the main thing we need is a change in mentality. A change in thinking about the squad overall. Seedorf was maybe the closest thing to this, and now look what happened with him.

Great post, Fillipo. A joy to read, sad as it is. Same old story again, even with this new investment and selling of stock. The only hope? Maybe these new guys will see of Galliani and get rid of him come next season. Truth be told, we need some saner heads at the top, making all these key decisions.

That's my only hope, because Galliani, with all the good he has done in the past, is well and truly past it.

This is it, in a nutshell.

I agree with all of this.

And that was BEFORE you watched the atrocity in Florence.

Great post Fillipo, totally agreed with everything.

Somehow I didn't see that post from Pippo.

We don't always agree and I'm not saying everything in it is spot on, but it's a good post and the majority hits the nail on the head.

Yes, of course it's better. One can potentially have a game or season changing influence and the other plays worse than a primavera player but costs more. Frankly I think it's idiotic to even compare the two. Balo is clearly a troubled individual but he doesn't single handedly ruin football clubs.

Disagree.

A handful of good games a season simply does not make up for the problems he causes. And he might not ruin clubs he plays for, but he ruins team spirit and harmony. Haven't we already learnt this the hard way?

And they're being compared because they're both panic buys. Players brought in just so Galliani can say he bought someone.

@ Filippo, great post.

I have made a big issue of the midfield. And I think having the regista and trequartista would help a LOT. But I agree that fundamentally it is also an attitude problem. I don't think it's all it is. I think we have a huge hole in midfield that not only leaves our attack without support but most importantly our defence exposed.

Also, if we're not going to even think about fixing this issue than Miha needs to find the best solution possible to at least mitigate some of the problems brought on by playing Bertolacci and Bonaventura at the same time which imo is a mistake. Imo, hate him as much as all you guys do, I think Monto needs to start if we're not getting anyone else. He's the only one capable of at least putting his foot on the ball and taking charge in midfield. That's one of our biggest problems. Valero did what we have no one capable of doing for Fiorentina. and he's not even a player I consider that is all that great but he can take control of a midfield and control tempo for them. Monto is the only one who can do that Bona and Bertolacci just simply run around a lot and make the simple pass or dribble.

Not only is Balo coming back, but we're paying for him. 3M.

Appalled doesn't cover how I feel about this.

In order to fix the midfield and defence we're signing ANOTHER striker, and a shite one at that.

Truly awful.

Even worse, according to a poll I just carried out, the majority of fans are in favour of his return.

What poll? Mediaset's poll, which has 27600 votes so far, has 71% of voters agains his return.

FFS, your fixation with Monto is beyond belief. Just because he can control the tempo (which is still questionable) doesn't mean he should start. He's crap, absolute garbage, end of story. We'd be much worse with him on the pitch. The only position Mortovlio can carry nowadays is that of anchor, and only if De Jong is injured.

Just read it on Mediaset. We're not paying 3M for him. That's half of his wages (6M), the other half will be paid by Liverpool. The loan is free.

Did you read what I said or did you just go into a blind rage after you read Monto and decided to spew this?

I know everyone's on edge and p!ssed off atm (rightfully so) but calm down man

What I said, if we're not planning on getting anyone who fits the role of a regista (which Soriano definitely isn't) then Miha needs to find an internal solution, and that guy, I'm sorry to tell you is Montolivo, certainly not Bonaventura, Poli or Nocerino.

Btw, where do you see any fixations with Monto FFS?? I've actually been the only one to say that we should sell him this summer. How is that a fixation?

And did you read what I said? It's true that we desperately need a regista, but if that regista is going to be Montolivo, then we're better off playing with Bonaventura and Bertolacci, because with Montolivo we're going to be worse off. And the fact you want him there regardless is a fixation in itself.

Bonaventura and Bertolacci can't be played at the same time. Saying you'd rather them than Monto is a fixation as well as you can't see beyond your hate for him.

As I said, it's not about who it is, it's about the attributes the player has and Monto is the only guy we have that checks those boxes. I might have a fixation on getting a regista into that midfield, I admit that but I couldn't care less about Monto tbh. If Poli was even half as good as we all thought he was when we signed him and had those qualities we thought he did, I'd say play him, but he's regressed into nothing more than a midfield runner so it would be pointless

So, you're willing to play Monto instead of Bona or Bertolacci simply because he's a regista on paper even though he sucks balls? How does that make any sense? You honestly believe we're going to be better off with Montolivo? If Zaccardo was labeled as a regista, would you also be willing to play him too?

The first thing to actually make me laugh today. Not been a great day.

Roger. Still seething over this.

That one wins then. Mine got barely 40 votes ha.

Calm down guys, this is pointless now. It's only natural we're upset with the way this started, even though this was foreseeable.

You both go to extremes; Montolivo is bad, but X-O you make him sound like he's the worst player on our roster and I can't agree with that. He hasn't lost his abilities or forgot how to play what he's playing. Han, you are fixated on facts and little boxes you label things and players. Just because Montolivo used to be a regista doesn't mean he can perform the job well or even on the minimally required level.

That being said, I have to admit I'm inclined to agree with Han. Bertolacci and Bonaventura are redundant IMO; we should play one or the other, but not both. You can't be much worse then you were yesterday in midfield, so - Montolivo should now get a chance.

But all in all, you guys see how the formation was wrong yesterday? So many redundant positions (Berto-Bona; Adriano-Bacca; Romagnoli-Ely), no real system or build-up idea. The whole summer was spent for nothing, basic improvements that could have been made by any coach with 1 season experience.

Only Noce is worse and he scored a gorgeous goal pre-season then a penalty. Already more value than Monto.

Monto is the worst player we have now - he offers nothing, including heart - and that's unforgiveable.

Formation wasn't so much wrong as not suiting the players we have.

Silvio is so obsessed with this 4-3-1-2 he seems to have forgotten he hasn't bought us the players to cope with it.

It's a great formation when you have the personnel, but we absolutely don't.

You're supposed to formulate the formation based on the players, not fit square pegs in round holes.

Apparently Soriano has decided to stay at Samp. On the other hand, Witsel's intermediary said to Mediaset Premium that Zenit have lowered their requests for Witsel from 35M to 25M payable in several installments.

Fingers crossed.

Fingers, toes, penises, penis hairs...everything.

Cross the lot.

Yeah. Fingers crossed for us getting the deal and Witsel turning into the next Enzo Scifo, because that's what he appears to be

Man, you really don't like Witsel.

I'm just suspicious, that's it