Capello hasn't coached a club since 2007. He'd be a terrible choice. Not to mention he's way past his prime. The guy should just retire.

What we need is a visionary coach who understands modern football, but that's also accomplished something in his career. In other words, guys like Klopp or Emery, just to name a couple.

Man, I can't follow your logic.

Yes, I agree, Capello hasn't been in the game lately. But as a interim solution he'd do fine.

You say don Fabio is too rigid, but suggest LvG who's probably the epitome of rigidity. How is that logical?

And Klopp, Emery? Emery rejected Milan. Klopp wanted a real challenging club, with money and ambition. Are we really that kind of club? You really think we can offer them something?

Let's not forget LvG is doing an awful job after spending £300m, why would we want him anywhere near our club?

This is Han going over the top again

Hey guys.

I think Capello is a very innovative coach. I just think he's not the kind of person who can drop in and coach once a month as is expected in a national team. For that you need a person like Ancelotti who will be open to a few tactical flaws in his plan and hope his team's strong points are enough to cover it. Madrid was horribly imbalanced in his second season and the proof is in how much worse they look now he's gone.

Emery, in Serie A, I'm not sure. Serie A teams are very pragmatic these days and we need some instant success. So not sure how it will work out for him in a new league. Sousa has been impressive but now his tactics have been figured out and Fiorentina are struggling a bit ore.

If we needed new coaches, I'd go with the usual suspects - EDF and Donadoni. Both are different personalities with chips on their shoulders. But expectations would have to be kept very low.

But I'd keep Mihaijlovic for now. He has shown progress in play and in the team's mentality. I'd like him to get a couple of more transfer windows to iron out the pending flaws.

For me :

1. One Centre Back :Alex is running out of legs, Zapata is good as second tier refuses to make a jump in quality. Maybe Marquinhos?

2. A midfielder: We need a replacement/backup for Montolivo. The Bertolacci experiment is a flop. He is clearly a different kind of midfielder. Perhaps more adept in an X-Mas Tree. Basically to see Bertolacci play well, Bonaventura needs to be on the bench and you need a striker who will open up space for you. We haven't had one since Zlatan.

3. A connecting player: I can't define this role exactly. But our transitions are too slow . From defence to midfield, Montolivo and Kucka does a good role. From midfield to attack, Niang and sometimes Honda put in a hard shift. But we essentially are down to need two players to do one job. So if anyone of them is out we struggle.

I'm still hoping for Pastore. Only played 900 minutes this season.

LvG might not be doing anything special at Man U but I think he's a good tactician, I just don't think him and Man U are the right partnership.

Also, how is bring forth an idea (a name of a coach) going over the top Fillipo? I think he's definitely a better option to Capello who at this point in time in his career is just a name nothing more.

Also, I think it would be a mistake to go back to someone who already has a history with us, both a great one and a disappointing one

How many times are we going to repeat this cycle with both players and coaches?

Isn't he a bit overrated? I remember him playing at Palermo and I didn't understand what the fuss was all about.

Yaya Toure to Inter? That's such an Inter transfer. So overrated.

Wouldn't say that just yet kurt. It's not about just Toure. Toure with Kondgobia and Jovetic in there is quite a difficult proposition. When you consider that our response to this is going to be Honda, Bertlocacci and Montolivo.

If the three you mentioned will be our response, I'm gonna shoot someone. No, please. Let's rebuild properly this time.

We've been at Year 0 for the past 3 years now. I too hope something will be different.

When the club is sold, that is when we should start to have expectations or ambitions.

These are the players going to that cup Roma and inter used to scramble over. The Roma that trumped us not two days ago.

If the sale does not happen (unlikely at this point), Milan will have to scramble through another season of aiming high and shooting low. With that said, I'm not taking anything away from the team's effort, as I admire their courage and showed glimpses of genius throughout the season.

Meh, it's typical Mancini really, he wants the all muscle, powerful midfield and relies heavily on the attack to create. I don't think that will work as well as it did in England (just for one season that is)

Plus, I think Toure was really good for a couple of seasons but no where near that now

We must have watched different seasons. Bonaventura had a couple of great free kicks early in the season but other than that I can't think of anything that comes close to a "glimpse of genius."

Why unlikely?

The sale is inevitable, seems only the coppa final is delaying the deal.

It's a hunch more than anything else.

I meant the team showed glimpses of genius. I say that because I have seen games where we did very well. That said I've missed probably 85% of this season.

But I do share your displeasure in the season; but in all honesty, what's new

We finished higher than earlier. But the only takeaways from this season has been Gigio and Romagnoli. We've had no solid improvements. No signs that we can challenge for the top. Nothing basically.

I hope you're right there, we can't start from zero again with Galliani at the helm. The AC Milan brand name simply cannot take anymoe of this. We're at a precipice right now. This sale not going through will be a huge blow for us. I'm just sceptical atm because it's seemingly going in the way that the Bee deal did. Constant rumours and almost official announcements with nothing really coming to fruition


I agree that there were moments where the team did well. I thought Miha was doing very well at one point, especially when we were in 4th and were within grasp of 3rd. But then we had some injuries and our squad (and the lack of decent depth) completely halted that run. The Brocchi appointment simply continued to make things worse

No comments on Higuain's passing to Juve?

They are serious CL contenders now. Buffon, Bonucci, Alves, Marchisio, Khedira, Pjanic, Pogba, Dybala, Higuain. Only Madrid, Barça and Bayern are stronger.

DP

Hmh. That is, if Pogba stays. I'm also a bit skeptical about how much they splashed for Higuain. IMO he's not worth that kind of money.

Yeah, potentially Pogba and Bonucci leaving, but if they stay they have a good chance.

I think Juve winning the title somewhat overshadowed what Higuain did though. Yes, it's overpriced. But he had the greatest single scoring season in the history of Italian football. It's seems almost a sentimental move. Yes, Dybala is going to be great and Berardi will probably be there next summer - but these guys will need time. They want to win the CL and they want to do it with Buffon in goal.

He's not worth that kind of money, plus he's never managed to prove himself on the big stage.

I think we'll win another CL before Juve do tbh, they've always been great in the domestic league, but have always managed to shoot themselves in the foot in Europe, can't see that changing by bring in Higuain and Pjanic tbh.

Pogba will leave as well imo

They'll obviously sweep aside the league without much trouble. Which is sad, they're doing what Bayern do to the Bundesliga and it will only continue to hurt an already weak league

Ditto. Agree on everything. They signed two strikers for big money, while they already have good or great attackers in the roster. So from my viewpoint, and especially if they lose out on Pogba, they did a poor job, overpaying for a department that's covered good.

As for Higuain. Yes, the record is there. Needless to say, at the lowpoint of Serie A football.

Nah, it's a fantastic move, especially if they sell Pogba as the cost will be entirely covered. Higuain is a scoring machine, the sole reason why Napoli finished 2nd last season. He's the kind of striker they needed, someone who's capable of scoring +25 goals in the league, which all of Morata, Mandzukic and Zaza have failed to achieve.

Bonucci is staying.

Higuain scored 4 in 5 CL games with Napoli in a group with Dortmund and Arsenal. I don't think it's a stretch to say he'll do just fine at Juve. His Madrid record wasn't particularly good in the CL, but then it's never going to be when you're rotated all the time, something he likely won't be with Juve.

It makes sense. They budget each year. They obviously don't have other big plans, so why not use the budget bringing in the striker of your nearest rival?

Unfotunately, until we have our own stadium, we can't even dream of things like this again.

All I'm saying is, nowadays you win CL titles with either individuals like Messi or Robben or with a killer midfield that is set for creativity and destruction. By signing Higuain Juventus didn't get either so I don't think this particular transfer will bring them any more closer.

Sure, Higuain could potentially score a ton of goals. Will they secure the scudetto? Most probably. But they did so even without him. So signing star player from the rival team for such a excessively big sum doesn't make much sense to me, because in terms of CL pretenders they're still pretty much right where they were last season.

Juventus are a well-oiled machine with quality players all around but which has lacked a true goalscorer all these years, a man that can secure +40 goals in all competitions and that can score from any position or manner. This is what Higuain gives them. He might not be Messi or Ibrahimovic, but along with the likes of Suarez, Lewandowski etc. right now he's one of the most prolific goalscorers in the world. 94 million might be a bit excessive considering his age as well, but in my opinion he's exactly the kind of player Juventus needed.

So we disagree. Especially if they sell Pogba in the end.

For us it simply goes far beyond just that.

Juve have the financial structure to be able to do this.

They're also going to be selling Pogba for a World record fee so I think their thinking is more along the lines of, we will be bringing in the big money so why not spend it? Plus they needed big signings to appease the fans. They did the same thing when they sold Zidane back in the day and built a top class team from that sale, this time they already had a great team so they could afford to splurge on what imo is fancy purchase.

Like Fillipo though, I think it was an unnecessary move because they'll still run over the league without much effort but I don't think they'll make much strides forward in Europe which is what they truly want. Losing Pogba is a massive blow in regards to that particular goal imo

Agreed. As things stand, with Fininvest (100% owner of AC Milan Group), whom have improved significantly from four years ago and have-been/are maneuvering in turbulent times through the media industry. For the past ten years the world has changed as we have all become accustomed to the new media outlets, namely social media and its subs. We get our news live on the spot from twitter, we share our pics live on the spot on snapchat and instagram, we watch/stream games by any means than pay an actual subscription with Sky, amongst other outlets i'm not savvy on.

Why have a box, when we could just get the apple tv or the amazon thingy? Heck when netflix first came to my attention, a week later i cancelled by subscription with my cable tv and handed over their box. Why not, its cheaper and at times free

Let us just say, Fininvest have done well for the past four years to reduce debt and revenue starting to pick an increasing trend.

Fininvest 31 December 2015 Financial Results:



I hope a sale will happen, and that the issue is purely bureaucratic in nature. Fininvest see this as a God-send when China comes knocking with 750M to buy a club that is in debt, in a relatively shaky shape and in a league that is in threat of loosing further group in European standing.

China will come in with BIG money, dream BIG

P.S. It took over five years of your frustration, a couple of weeks wont harm

Agreed. But didn't Fininvest sell the Mediaset shares as well?

At this point one has to understand why a company would want to offload the ball and chain that is Milan which is dragging it to the bottom of the ocean.

We can analyse for days about the mismanagement carried out by Galliani and his shady deal with his agent pals and Preziosi. But the problem runs deeper than that and simply put, Milan was never built to last under Silvio. Now we're suffering the consequences of that

I just worry with all these delays that this could turn into another Bee deal. So far all the companies and people which have been linked as being part of the consortium have denied involvement, just seems fishy at this point

They still own Mediaset.

The media will create a new story for you everyday, just to keep you on their site, buy their paper, watch their program, etc. Fininvest themselves benefit both directly and indirectly from rumors. Since we have known each other on this forum how many times did a deal go through vs rumors on FI, goal, twitter, instagram, etc? The point I'm making is that there could be negotiations going on and 80% of the time it turns out to be different to what was being rumored through news outlets. We have known Milan to operate this way since we were introduced to the club, what changed?

As fishy as it may sound we still are operating under the same management that won't give info away, with any info leaked at all mostly being misleading. Rarely has there been firm backing from the club unless the deal is part and parcel and ready for delivery. Which is the case today. But in this case with a twist; you are dealing with China which has restrictions about exporting capital, not sure of details here, nonetheless the Chinese didn't come here to monkey around. Fininvest has already agreed to the new terms and are awaiting the Chinese government to clear the transfer.

I feel we are caught in limbo, but that does not mean the club hasn't been proactive and already agreed with new players but as noted above we are not party to that till it is part and parcel, and maybe even then we won't come to know. Just that when the sale goes through, there will be players of calibre at Milan by 31 August. If for some unforseen circumstance a sale does not go through, Galliani will just tell us that we have a team capable of meeting CL qualification.

But you know what really keeps me thinking? That if it was still in Berlusconi's hands we would still have Cristian as coach. Hence why I am comforted that the new coach has come with directions from new owners. I mean if you were to sell your house and the new buyers like the color white while your house is blue, wouldn't you paint it to ensure they buy your house and not the white one around the corner? Kinda thing.

That being said, Montella imo, is not the big name coach I would have expected to lead us through this new era, if the supposed ambitions are so high.

Either he's the transitional pick that satisfied both parties or the new owners' ambitions aren't as lofty as we're wishing and praying for

I don't know of a single big name coach with the exception of Simeone and Klopp (both unavailable) who doesn't work with huge budgets. That's the thing.

Similar to our players we will have to follow the same model we did with Sacchi. Find a promising coach and hope he is able to impress a philosophy that will work well in our environment.

FWIW, Montella would definitely have been been my choice above the other name - Marco Giampaolo.

1. I feel Montella has a very rich breadth of experience. Admittedly he hasn't worked under a great coach, but he's played at a very high level. He's coached some good teams and built his reputation with them. Was one of the most in-demand coaches till last season with Sampdoria which was an impossible mess to fix.

2. Is a product of the modern era and probably is more attuned to the psychology of today's players

3. Plays a brand of football that both the management and the players seem to approve of.

4. Is a very ambitious coach with high standards.

5. Walks in to his first day of work looking like this




I have to be honest - game-wise I think this is one of the best pre-seasons I have seen with Milan in recent memory. We held our own (more or less) against teams well head of us in class and in fitness. 3-4 good signings and a top 3 finish wouldn't be impossible.

But even without, assuming we can keep our current players fit, we should be able to land a top 6 position with this team for sure.

In other words, the same targets as last season.

Good words.

At top 6 position isn't a sure thing for EL even.

Anyway, let's see what happens in these last 3 weeks or so of the transfer window.

We still have a lot of baggage we need to offload and key positions that need to be strengthened. If the squad remains relatively the same, I'd say we're in trouble

Lot of baggage? Who?

Vergara, Matri, possibly Ely and Luiz Adriano. Not a lot, though.

Yeah. And for the first time we don't have a superbig squad. So even if all the baggage leaves, we'll be needing additional rotation players. I know Han is obsessed with details, but if you ask me, it's completely irrelevant if our 4th striker is Matri, Adriano, Lucarelli or some other guy. Surely we won't have the resources to bring in Costa as 4th fiddle, so...

I would add Honda, Mauri, Poli and even Berto to that list.

Our current squad has 28 players, that's too much for having to play a single competition and a couple of Coppa games.

Our entire midfield is made up of useless players who bring nothing to the team.

That's basically 8 players we should be working on loaning/selling ASAP. And some of those guys are getting paid well to do nothing as well, let's not forget that (Thanks again Galliani)


I'd say a 28 player roster is still pretty big. Sure it's a minor detail, but when nearly your entire roster is filled with players who don't contribute much to the team than that small detail becomes a bigger one.

We need to sign 3 to 4 new players to compete for the European spots next season.

But you don't have to be concerned by sheer numbers and names. Look at it this way: at the moment, Milan has 9 midfielders on paycheck. One is still half a kid (Locatelli). If we sign new midfielders, we should think about offloading one or two. But otherwise, what would be the point in downsizing bench players like Poli and Mauri? We still need that kind of quantity available to cover for various suspensions and injuries. I don't think that at the moment we can afford nor even think about more luxurious/better bench players. So what's the point with all that counting and offloading baggage? I won't bring us far, I fail to see the relevance?

Same here, bring us one star player and two good ones and see what needs changing in the winter.

Each player we have will have to put in 120% to ensure the club don't replace him with a Messi.

You're dreaming if you think guys like Honda and Bertolacci are considered excess baggage in this club. For you, yes, but not for Montella or the management. Mauri and Poli, too, are decent rotational players.

The point is that you want a complete overhaul in midfield, but that's not gonna happen, at least not this summer. So, for the time being think minimal, e.g. Kovacic on loan, and hope that Montella's tactics will bring some fresh ideas within our game.

Read that Real want to keep Kovacic

We're being linked to Fiorentina's Badelj now...

Should we open fresh season threads?

Sure, or we can maybe emend the titles of the current threads since they're so small?