QUOTE (Rossoneri7 @ Jul 11 2021, 09:02 AM)
Gazzetta reported it, though I find it excessive, think the club need to compensate their MVP.
Kessie is the engine and heart in the core of the team. Regardless of how much is on offer, it is a relief Milan have opened communications with his representatives.
Gazzetta have no clue on what's going on at Milan. At this point I don't think anyone does tbh. Even the usually very reliable guys like Di Marzio and Romano only seem to know once a deal is practically done and dusted
I'll wait. But if we even have an inkling that Kessie does not want to renew, we need to sell him now. The Donnarumma case was made even more obvious following the Euros. We could have gotten a 100m for him after this tournament had we renewed with him for what he wanted. Seeing him be so colossal for the Azzurri (who are the NT I support and love almost as much as Milan) made it so bittersweet for me. Should have never let it get this far. The moment we went into last season with his future unclear, we shot ourselves in the foot. We must never let this happen again
And here I'm not just talking about Kessie who is going into his last year of contract. Romagnoli is in a similar situation. We shouldn't let him walk for free. Either sell him now, or renew him. Simple as
Same goes with guys like Theo and Bennacer. Just tie them down to long term contracts now. Why do we keep letting players run these contracts down? We lose all the negotiating power in these scenarios
QUOTE (Fillipo Simone @ Jul 11 2021, 02:12 PM)
In all honesty, rushing this decision in order to get a week or two more is ludicrous.
Don't expect things you already know are unlikely to happen. This will only lead to unnecessary disappointment. We already know that our management moves either super fast in the shadows or super slow. Mostly it's super slow.
In other news I hear Milan signed Ballo-Toure from Monaco. Any information on this guy?
Oh, and I've watched both the Euros and the Copa for some potential Milan players. De Paul played a great final last night, and a overall good tournament. Maybe I'll eat my words after all.
Luis Diaz (LW) has been good all tournament long. Romero has done a fair job, Acuna as well but both still are prone to mistakes. Our past targets like Vina (Uruguay) and Everton (Brazil) seem more then unimpressive. Paqueta showed both sides again but did overall good and makes me wonder if Pioli shouldn't have tried harder.
As for the Euros, Damsgaard might come with a hefty prize but he could be very useful (yet not crucial). Berardi showed his limits and his good sides. Donnarumma - we'll miss sorely.
But going into the new season with an AM who is not familiar with the system is a risk imo. The management have had plenty of time now. They should have prepared for this even before Hakan jumped ship knowing there was the possibility of that happening.
I don't know. Now that the Euros are over I want to see us get moving. We haven't even closed the Diaz deal which has supposedly been agreed for weeks now
Btw. Huge NO to Berardi. He's not what we need. He'll never be a big game player. Watching Chiesa in this tournament and last season for Juve makes me want to tear my hair out. He'd have been perfect for our right side and I harped on about that all of lat summer. To see Juve take him on such an advantageous deal makes me nauseous.
QUOTE (Rossoneri7 @ Jul 11 2021, 09:24 PM)
Can't stop thinking what a mistake Mancini made in not picking Calabria instead of Di Lorenzo (as a second choice right back).
Calabria needed surgery though.
Obviously I think he's miles better than Di Lorenzo but it is what it is. He'll continue to improve and hopefully will be the starting FB for Italy in Qatar
QUOTE (X-Offender @ Jul 11 2021, 11:34 PM)
Dajeee! I realised I'm a much bigger azzurri fan than I thought. Lots of suffering and lots of joy in the end.
Donnarumma was awarded player of the tournament. The guy really won them this final with those two saves. I thought they were doomed after Jorignho's penalty.
Really great to see a big trophy going back to Italy.
I'm a lifelong Azzurri fan and last Sunday was hugely emotional
That being said, for me, nothing tops 2006. Maybe it's the fact that I was younger or that Milan players were integral parts of that teams. But nothing tops that for me in terms of sheer joy. Aside from when Milan win that is
QUOTE (Fillipo Simone @ Jul 12 2021, 12:27 AM)
So sad to see Italy win, yet no Milan player in the roster. Can't remember the last time this happened. Maybe in 90' when the reached 3rd place.
And watching Locatelli, Cristante, Donna and even Bonnuci play... makes me regret few of our decisions.
Cristante is average at best. Locatelli or Pessina should have come on instead of him imo
Especially when Italy were in such control of the game. There was no need of a more defensive midfielder imo.
Bonucci has been sh!t for Juve as well though. Him and Chiellini are just the type of players who bring their A-game for the Nazionale. Especially when they play together, it's magic imo. He was never really that great for us.
As for Locatelli. Yes of course looking back at it now, it's devastating that we lost him so we could play the likes of Biglia and Monto instead. But he was too raw to be starting for us and he wanted to go somewhere where he would be a starter and did not want to be loaned. The only mistake we made there was not including a buy-back. We really need to learn how to start managing these situations with these young players. We did the same with Pessina who I think would be a great utility guy instead of the awful Krunic
QUOTE (X-Offender @ Jul 12 2021, 02:22 PM)
Speaking of Cristante, I think Mancini completely bottled last night's changes. Subbing in the mediocre Cristante, Berardi and Bernardeschi within regular time explained why they lost their total domination which they had for most of the game (at some point in the second half ball possession was 71%-29% in favour of Italy).
No idea why Locatelli was subbed in only in ET, or why Pessina was completely snubbed.
I think they could have won it in ET had the changes been done better.
Bottled is a big word considering Italy still won the tournament. But yeah, I do agree that Italy should have killed England off in the second half had he made a more progressive sub then. Barella had to come off. He looked absolutely gassed out there. He's endured a season under Conte so he's basically ran on fumes all tournament. Just had to come off. Would have preferred Pessina or Loca over Cristante who I really do not like
QUOTE (Fillipo Simone @ Jul 12 2021, 03:20 PM)
I disagree. Barella was piss poor and had a yellow card which usually means trouble. Pessina played badly against Spain, so it was logical to go for Cristante and he did good. The offensive options Mancini had on his bench were limited: all players bar Berardi out of form. Insigne was exhausted, Immobile quite ineffective for the second or third time in a row and Chiesa being injured was not expected.
Taking form, exhaustion and injuries in account, Roberto did good. Look at England, they had players like Rashford on the bench.
None of the Italy subs made an impact against Spain though because they rarely had the ball. The Cristante sub would have made more sense when England were really giving Italy trouble with Kane dropping deep and playing in the wingbacks. But from minute 30 onward, it was all Italy and I think bringing on a player like Pessina would have killed the game off quicker and we wouldn't have had to go through the shootout.
I agree on Barella though. Simply had to take him off. Kid was running on empty
Anyway, this is all a moot point. Mancini has been pretty much inch perfect all tournament and he brought the cup home. You can't really do much more than that