QUOTE (X-Offender @ Jun 18 2015, 05:54 PM)
I think Kondogbia is a great talent that can become huge for us. Seen him a couple of times with Monaco, saw him against Albania, and I really want us to sign him. Even for €30 million. He's probably going to be used as a box-to-box mid like Pogba at Juve, so De Jong's permanence won't affect his signing.
But I do agree that we also need a top creative mid in there, and that can't be Craptolivo. Someone like Gündogan or Witsel or Isco is a must, otherwise we're fucked.
Hopefully he turns out as good as we're all expecting. and personally I don't think that he and De Jong should be played together. From what I've seen of Kondogbia, he doesn't have the type of attacking know how as Pogba does, he's more prone to recover the ball and make a simple to mid-difficulty level pass. Pogba is a true all-rounder, not to mention he doesn't have any defensive mids next to him but 2 CMs and a box-to-box guy in Vidal. I think this 2 DM system is outdated and doesn't work in today's football.
Agreed about the midfield
QUOTE (X-Offender @ Jun 18 2015, 05:57 PM)
Oh, and if Ibra isn't coming, then playing 4-3-1-2 with the current trequartistas we have ain't gonna work. Either 1) we sign Ibra, 2) we sign a top trequartista, or 3) we keep playing 4-3-3.
Agreed here as well.
Imo a creative CM is an absolute MUST for next season. But a proper trequartista is dependant on whether Ibra comes or not
However, I don't really agree about the 4-3-3 either. That formation needs a top-notch trio in midfield and at least decent - to - good wingers. We have neither a great midfield or decent wingers.
Menez has proved that he's too selfish and tactically undisciplined to play in that position, Cerci is a total dud, SES I think needs time and he's not going to get that with us, at this point I think it's best if we send him on loan where he can get back in form without too much pressure and expectations on him, plus I don't really see him as a winger anyway. Niang imo is simply far from good enough. Suso hasn't really shown us what he can do, but okay, we can include him as a possibility.
So even if we're technically loaded to the brim with wingers, none of them are good enough to be starters imo, especially for a system that is reliant on wingers.
I think 4-3-1-2 or 4-3-2-1 are best for us. Wingers in Serie A rarely work unless you're a counter attacking team.
QUOTE (milanbuf88 @ Jun 18 2015, 07:20 PM)
Han, I really think you are jumping the gun with your pessimism. Honestly X probably is too with his optimism haha. If we start next season with roughly the same squad we have now I'll be first in line behind you too say that we are headed for a **** midtable finish. It's simply too early to tell though. If we sign Martinez and Kondogbia before the end of the month it will be a very solid statement of intent from the management. Ideally we need a second, more creative, mid and a great CB but I also don't expect all of our problems to be solved in one window.
Agreed, on all counts even the jumping the gun bit
And I don't expect all the problems we have to be solved in one window either. However, I expect Galliani to have a clear plan and targets this time around. Not just jump at whoever becomes available and bog down the team with useless signings simply because they were conveniently available.
I personally don't care about strikers, yet we're apparently going after 3(!!!), we have a terrible midfield, truly mid to bottom of the table quality, yet we're only going after 1 really good midfielder and he's not a creative one either. Defence is also an issue, we need at least 1 great CB, but still, for me, the midfield should be top priority and once again, it's very obviously not. Galliani and Silvio have an obsession with strikers and attackers in general. And that worries me
QUOTE (X-Offender @ Jun 18 2015, 08:20 PM)
I honestly think a top CB, Kondogbia, a top creative mid and Jackson would be enough to strengthen the squad for this signing campaign. If Ibra is coming for free as well, even better, but with those four signings we could make a serious challenge for the second spot. Then we can strengthen even more next summer and then challenge for the Scudetto and possibly the CL. Like I said, this re-foundation process should be gradual and we must be patient. Can't expect to win everything immediately.
I still think we need 2 great creative mids, not just one
Ideally the midfield would be
CM-Kondogbia-CM
With both CMs being creative/attacking outlets, maybe not CMs in the same type of mold, but one purely creative and a box-to-box guy who provides both creativity, runs and a general all action style to complement the other 2.
I think this is what makes the Juve midfield so great for example, they have a great mix of all these elements in their midfiels which is what makes it so great