CWC - General Discussion (27 Viewers)
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@AFL_ITALIA i would love it for them to win it! And I hope they have a run as impressive as PSG’s in the CL. I’m disgusted by all this Messi deepthroating only way to stop it is with CR7 WC win
That midfield 3 of Fabian - Vitinha - Joao Neves is X-rated. It's world class. We observed how Real Madrid decided not to replace Toni Kroos last season, and the outcome of that decision. With Modric now gone too, things aren't going to get any better for them.
PSG are a much more likeable team now that the big egos have departed. Now they actually play as a team. BUT, let's not ignore the fact that they kept throwing money at the problem (with their unlimited funds) and ultimately landed on a solution.
Failure with Neymar/Messi/Mbappe didn't bankrupt PSG. They spent €40m on Vitinha and €60m on Joao Neves. Nuno Mendes was €40m, Hakimi was €60m. Pacho was €45m. Even in the January mercato they had a spare cool €70m for luxury-signing Kvaratskhelia. They spent €80m on Randal Kolo Muani who they tossed out on loan like a used condom (for us, this was a good loan market opportunity) and €65m on Goncalo Ramos who doesn't even play. Donnarumma is on nearly €10m a year salary. This is unheard of for a goalkeeper.
For Juventus, we can't afford to be missing on any big money transfers. When you look at the Koopmeiners + Douglas Luiz signings, it is absolutely mind-blowing to watch these guys sit on the bench. If they aren't good enough, it is urgent to sell them and identify replacements.
PSG are a much more likeable team now that the big egos have departed. Now they actually play as a team. BUT, let's not ignore the fact that they kept throwing money at the problem (with their unlimited funds) and ultimately landed on a solution.
Failure with Neymar/Messi/Mbappe didn't bankrupt PSG. They spent €40m on Vitinha and €60m on Joao Neves. Nuno Mendes was €40m, Hakimi was €60m. Pacho was €45m. Even in the January mercato they had a spare cool €70m for luxury-signing Kvaratskhelia. They spent €80m on Randal Kolo Muani who they tossed out on loan like a used condom (for us, this was a good loan market opportunity) and €65m on Goncalo Ramos who doesn't even play. Donnarumma is on nearly €10m a year salary. This is unheard of for a goalkeeper.
For Juventus, we can't afford to be missing on any big money transfers. When you look at the Koopmeiners + Douglas Luiz signings, it is absolutely mind-blowing to watch these guys sit on the bench. If they aren't good enough, it is urgent to sell them and identify replacements.
In comparison Chelsea spent twice more than PSG yet unable to reach same heights ( though that may soon change). It shows, that its not only about spending but who they bought. Despite the figures, relatively unknowns players a few seasons ago in Neves, Pacho, Barcola, Doue. The latter two alone are very much bayernesque model, where they are buying the best talent in the league, and we all know french league produces some of the best. Neves for me is the glue, he was/is a wonder kid, this team cant do without. Credit due to Luis Campos for his strategic role in this.
Its difficult for us to follow the model of purchasing the best young talent from our leagues. I know were kind of doing that for next gen but financially we cant gamble as every club want to rip us off.
they are obviously inferior players, but the point stands: young players can perform with the right coaching and in the right environment. experience does matter, but age isn't that important. the italian mindset about young players is fundamentally flawed. we had a pretty good core of young players at juve next gen, and only yildiz stayed with us. we could have israel, huijsen, fagioli, miretti, yildiz, soulé playing together for years, knowing each others' thoughts, movements and limitations well, and instead of that, we're building from scratch every year
never gonna happen, but for the sake of the argument imagine for a second that an italian club had players like pedri, gavi, cubarsi, casadó, yamal and balde. yamal would stand out and would be impossible to ignore, not sure about the rest though. balde would end up as a serie c player at 22 lol
and not that italians don't have talents at that age. their u19 won the euros in 2023 and played semis in 2024, their u17 won in 2024 and played semis this year. and only a very few of them play regularly at top5 league clubs: leoni is a regular at parma, pisilli played 20+ matches for roma this season (mostly as a sub though), pafundi was used by udinese a few times as a sub, and casadei, the former super kid played a bit for both chelsea and toro. and let's not forget gnonto lol. still, that's fucking poor.
anyway, bottom line is that yildiz should be the norm instead of being the exception
never gonna happen, but for the sake of the argument imagine for a second that an italian club had players like pedri, gavi, cubarsi, casadó, yamal and balde. yamal would stand out and would be impossible to ignore, not sure about the rest though. balde would end up as a serie c player at 22 lol
and not that italians don't have talents at that age. their u19 won the euros in 2023 and played semis in 2024, their u17 won in 2024 and played semis this year. and only a very few of them play regularly at top5 league clubs: leoni is a regular at parma, pisilli played 20+ matches for roma this season (mostly as a sub though), pafundi was used by udinese a few times as a sub, and casadei, the former super kid played a bit for both chelsea and toro. and let's not forget gnonto lol. still, that's fucking poor.
anyway, bottom line is that yildiz should be the norm instead of being the exception