So now that the transfer window is over and we know our full squad, where do you think we'll finsh, what do you think about our strength/weaknesses, best line up and so on...

PS, last year most of you were way off Serie A wise http://www.milanfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8250

Now taking in the full squad, 28 players without European competition seems very large.

Provided we don't have our usual injury crisis, it would be difficult to see everyone getting minutes in.

However with a fully fit squad, the following shouldn't be getting much minutes...

Agazzi, Albertazzi, Bonera, Zaccardo, Essien, Pazzini.

In addition to those above, Saponara & Mastour will also have a difficult time making to the pitch, but we'll see.

I don't like making predictions, especially this early, what I can say is that the squad is definitely improved from last year (so too have many other teams in the league, so its really not that easy to say right off the bat, and I'm not prepared to).

However, I definitely expect an improvement over last season (and hopefully even Europe?!)



Regarding my assessment of our transfer window, I already wrote up a monster post, which can be found here:

http://www.milanfan.com/forums/index.php?s...mp;#entry396290




...looking forward to this season!

GK: No questions there.

CB: For the defense, I'm not really sure, I like Rami, Alex, Zapata and Mexes. I guess whoever impresses more this season should become a starter.

FB: No questions.

Mid: De Jong is undisputed. Va Ginkel from what I hear is an impressive albeit raw player. But our other options aren't so good. Honda should be tried out there and not given too many defensive responsibilities. The guy has vision and we lack it there in the middle.

Wings: El Shaa is starting to show he can play that position well again after pretty much not playing at all last season. Menez I don't know whether can play on the right or not, but we could try him there.

FW: Torres for now unless he starts sucking then we can give Pazzini more chances, if he sucks too then Menez can play the false 9 and Bonaventura can play RW.

Well, we had a pretty good transfer window, so I am upping my predictions. By a few notches:

Serie A: Winners
Champions League: Winners
Europa League: Winners
Supercoppa Italiana: Winners
FIFA Fairplay Awards: Winners
The Most Successful Team of All Time: Winners

Anything less would be downright and utter failure.

As for predictions, I see us finishing behind Juve, Roma, Napoli and maybe Fiorentina. So 4th or 5th is my prediction in Serie A.

In Coppa, I see us going far. Maybe quarter/ semi-final or even final.

I think third place is possible. But hopefully we won't have too many injuries.

Realistic Predictions:

Serie A : 6th
Coppa Italia : Quarters

Optimistc Predictions:

Serie A: 4th
Coppa: Finals

Pippo to not get fired unless we finish worse than last year, so basically 9th.

Serie A - 5th
Coppa - SF

I really don't know how we'll do, there's still such a huge question mark over Pippo that I can't really say anything yet, if Allegri was still our coach I'd be more comfortable making a prediction but with Pippo I'm really not sure how we'll do, no matter how much we've improved over last season in terms of squad quality

@ Max, I agree completely with the formation/line-up Zapata is my only issue there, his only added positive attribute he bring to the side is speed (which the others don't) but aside from that he's mistake prone and I still prefer a Mexes-Rami partnership, although Alex was impressive on Sunday

Serie A - 4th
Coppa - Final

Best line-up:



I'm only unsure about the CBs. Normally I would have gone with Mexes and Rami, but Zapata and Alex impressed so much against Lazio that maybe they could form a pretty nice partnership.

This is a really hard season to predict as we have many unpredictable pieces, including the coach. But I'm optimistic this time. I think with a bit of more luck with injuries, we can fight with Napoli for a third place and prevail.


Like. I think Alex-Rami can also be interesting pair to try at some point.

I like your line-up and really wish Pippo would try it out, I'm hoping that mezz'ala role will be taken by Honda and Bonaventura. Honda is doing okay on the wing and even managing to look good, which mostly says that he's acclimatising well into the squad whereas last season he looked out of place, but you can tell that he can't do what he does best there, which is being the creative force behind the side.

Also, I think I'd still go with Rami-Mexes as my favourite pairing, Zapata is too mistake prone. Alex though was a rock and his aerial ability would be missed if he's not included. But I would probably never pair him with Mexes as they're both a bit on the slow side, although positionally they're the best 2 of the bunch imo

And I really do think that Van Ginkel will most likely take the starting spot from Poli. Poli has been a bit of a let down as of late, I do think he struggles without a good passer to play off of, but I think Van Ginkel will take that spot. I looked at a couple of vids on youtube, he looks seriously good, very composed on the ball