QUOTE (maldini03 @ Aug 21 2016, 08:13 PM)
I hope we can get a win here, but I have to say it is rather disappointing to see pretty much the same team out there that we saw last year with a few minor tweaks. One of the best parts of the beginning of a new season is checking out the new players that have come in and this year we don't have anyone who is super exciting.
That being said, we are on the path to rebuilding this team and I hope that Montella begins to integrate the younger players. Donnaruma, Romag, Gomez, Calabria, MDS, Locatelli, Suso and Niang are all young promising players who can hopefully take this opportunity of more playing time to develop into better and more well rounded players. To me the internal growth and development of those players is key in establishing a dominant team.
I hope we get out to a good start against Torino, I predict a 2-1 win with Bacca scoring both. I think he will actually have a solid season playing with the two wings and the team essentially built to support him.
I agree with you. In terms of potential, we've got one of the best sides in Italy, and probably are in the top 10 of Europe. Where we're missing quality is in the midfield.
To be honest, Montella hit the nail on the head in his press conference, when he joked that he'd asked for Iniesta. He's one of the best players in history- true, but that type of player is what we sorely lack. In my opinion, it's impossible to get a player like that in today's market with inflated prices.
I'd prefer we get a strong pure holding midfielder with ball skills - my pic would be Mikel. And then free up Bertolacci while having Kucka play a role not too disimilar to what Kante did for Leicester.
I know. It's weird how much hope I retain for Berto.
But my formation:
-----------Back 4--------------
------------Holder-------------
----Berto-----------Kucka-----
---Suso/Honda------Niang-----
---------------Bacca-------------
Our style would differ drastically depending on if Honda or Suso played. But we would have a better control in midfield I think - if we pushed Berto to the right (he's naturally left footed) and Kucka to the left. Kucka drives down like a train and can ping balls off our fullback and with the slinky Niang on his side, our flank overloads should hypothetically give Bacca a hard-on.
The critical piece here is our Holder Mid. He has to play an auxilliary CB at times and also release the ball very quickly to escape pressing. Which is why I think Mikel would do very well. He has no space at Chelsea with Fabregas doing the same.