Fernando Llorente - ST - Athletic Bilbao (62 Viewers)
- Thread starter Mark
- Start date
- Status
There is no doubt that we needed more depth in our team as we lacked decent subs in almost all positions. I mean in attack if Vucinic was injured we had nobody to replace him. Same for midfield where only Giaccherini was an 'ok' replacement for Marchisio. I think some blame Marotta for prioritizing it the other way everyone was expecting. Most of us would like to see a cf one of our first transfer and then strengthen our bench.
So far I'm very glad we managed to bring Asamoah, Isla and Giovinco. Lucio is meh and I don't like him but he was a cheap option so it's ok. I'm not too excited about Pogba transfer as I rate Marrone more but it's good we managed to secure a young and perspective player while he could choose United over us. As for me I'd settle with a forward like Dzeko or Llorente and a lb/lwb - Armero. Bring me Armero + one of Dzeko / Llorente and I'll give Marotta 9/10 for this mercato, at best 9.5 / 10.
So far I'm very glad we managed to bring Asamoah, Isla and Giovinco. Lucio is meh and I don't like him but he was a cheap option so it's ok. I'm not too excited about Pogba transfer as I rate Marrone more but it's good we managed to secure a young and perspective player while he could choose United over us. As for me I'd settle with a forward like Dzeko or Llorente and a lb/lwb - Armero. Bring me Armero + one of Dzeko / Llorente and I'll give Marotta 9/10 for this mercato, at best 9.5 / 10.
In his dreams maybe 
I would say that its tuned out the way it has and that's great. But let's include Conte in the club's think tank when we talk about the way this team has shaped up. Not to knock on Marrotta per se, but there was not a lot I was in agreement with in his first season here. Yes, I agree that the squad had to be rebuilt, however I'd say I wouldn't completely agree with how we went about rebuilding it before Conte came in.
That team needed evolution more than revolution for my money Serge. Del Neri was hired and known for his flat 442 system. Marrotta and/or the club changed many personnel (including Trez, Diego, Camoranesi) in that set up without addressing the very axis points the system functioned on: it's wingers and fullbacks. It was ignored so long that we are still in the market for a half decent LB/LwB. Too many changes without analysing the need gaps and reasons for failure in the season prior: which mind you were more external, with so many coach changes, Ferrara's indecisiveness with formations, and Zaccheroni's general incompetence.
The coach too was the wrong man for the job from the get go. Point being, had we addressed those needs first, fullbacks and wingers, we wouldn't have wasted money on the likes of Martinez, Toni, Matri, Quag to replace areas of the team that albeit old were still in better shape than other areas. We could of course use the argument that it was perhaps the best time to sell them, but as our assets, and with legendary statuses, we didn't really monetize them. Camo went for like 2m. Trezeguet was still being paid by us to play elsewhere, while Toni was hired at a salary that matched Trez's. Gio was co-owned for 3.5m, and his value was always going to be higher than that with some playing time.
It became a revolving door of sorts. Buying players or loaning them and not being sure of how they would come handy were some of the initial mistakes. And then trying to get rid of them the next season. Almost happened to Pepe and Bonnucci as well. Conte's arrival in many ways changed all of that. We weren't just buying players and then deciding where to use them. We were buying players to function in a system. So more changes had to take place. From this point on, I think the club and/or Marrotta/Paratic/Conte spent money a lot better. There was some semblance of a plan, they stuck to it. Again though, at the end of last season, I felt like Marrotta came up short on the last day to deliver a cb. Fortunately it all worked out in the end.
This season again, I completely agree, we drew on the evolution of last seasons work. The gradual shift from the 433 to the high pressing style of the 352 perhaps better suited MVP, and Conte decided to implement that to good effect. Thats actually a large reason why we've spent the way we have. Another shift in formation. Which is why this mercato's work holds us in good stead for the season ahead with the team well prepared and extremely versatile to match competition in Europe and at home. In fact, even in-match I think we will be a very difficult team to interpret with the kind of personnel we've added. While I'm all for the likes of those we added, i can only consider them to be e bonus of this mercato, with the real addition expected to be in the areas of highest priority, the CF and LwB. I hope for all of us here that this is not a panic buy, which will have us come back to fill the same position again next year. Toni, Matri and Quag all came as panic buys, and I love all of them today but the hard reality remains that they don't cut it for Beppe and Conte, and we are back out looking for replacements. With the core we now have, and some CL money, I think the team is well placed to take a giant leap in the next couple of years, and while the project was mooted 6 years ago, it's only really started to show some coherence since Conte's arrival.
This is not to take the credit away from the board or their line of thought. So far, we've shown great propensity to pull of the midlevel deals, the youngsters like you said, in fact I'd say Marrotta and Paratici are better at this facet than the legendary Triade, they also have their strengths in valuing contracts for first team players, but the time is fast appearing when we will spend our entire summer chasing only a couple of players, and we will not be able to escape the fact that to play with the big boys, you've got to be the big boys. There's going to be a time where they will have to deliver on that front, and on August 31st we'll know if they can only rebuild a team, or in fact take it to the next level.
---------- Post added 18.08.2012 at 03:00 ----------
What the!?
That team needed evolution more than revolution for my money Serge. Del Neri was hired and known for his flat 442 system. Marrotta and/or the club changed many personnel (including Trez, Diego, Camoranesi) in that set up without addressing the very axis points the system functioned on: it's wingers and fullbacks. It was ignored so long that we are still in the market for a half decent LB/LwB. Too many changes without analysing the need gaps and reasons for failure in the season prior: which mind you were more external, with so many coach changes, Ferrara's indecisiveness with formations, and Zaccheroni's general incompetence.
The coach too was the wrong man for the job from the get go. Point being, had we addressed those needs first, fullbacks and wingers, we wouldn't have wasted money on the likes of Martinez, Toni, Matri, Quag to replace areas of the team that albeit old were still in better shape than other areas. We could of course use the argument that it was perhaps the best time to sell them, but as our assets, and with legendary statuses, we didn't really monetize them. Camo went for like 2m. Trezeguet was still being paid by us to play elsewhere, while Toni was hired at a salary that matched Trez's. Gio was co-owned for 3.5m, and his value was always going to be higher than that with some playing time.
It became a revolving door of sorts. Buying players or loaning them and not being sure of how they would come handy were some of the initial mistakes. And then trying to get rid of them the next season. Almost happened to Pepe and Bonnucci as well. Conte's arrival in many ways changed all of that. We weren't just buying players and then deciding where to use them. We were buying players to function in a system. So more changes had to take place. From this point on, I think the club and/or Marrotta/Paratic/Conte spent money a lot better. There was some semblance of a plan, they stuck to it. Again though, at the end of last season, I felt like Marrotta came up short on the last day to deliver a cb. Fortunately it all worked out in the end.
This season again, I completely agree, we drew on the evolution of last seasons work. The gradual shift from the 433 to the high pressing style of the 352 perhaps better suited MVP, and Conte decided to implement that to good effect. Thats actually a large reason why we've spent the way we have. Another shift in formation. Which is why this mercato's work holds us in good stead for the season ahead with the team well prepared and extremely versatile to match competition in Europe and at home. In fact, even in-match I think we will be a very difficult team to interpret with the kind of personnel we've added. While I'm all for the likes of those we added, i can only consider them to be e bonus of this mercato, with the real addition expected to be in the areas of highest priority, the CF and LwB. I hope for all of us here that this is not a panic buy, which will have us come back to fill the same position again next year. Toni, Matri and Quag all came as panic buys, and I love all of them today but the hard reality remains that they don't cut it for Beppe and Conte, and we are back out looking for replacements. With the core we now have, and some CL money, I think the team is well placed to take a giant leap in the next couple of years, and while the project was mooted 6 years ago, it's only really started to show some coherence since Conte's arrival.
This is not to take the credit away from the board or their line of thought. So far, we've shown great propensity to pull of the midlevel deals, the youngsters like you said, in fact I'd say Marrotta and Paratici are better at this facet than the legendary Triade, they also have their strengths in valuing contracts for first team players, but the time is fast appearing when we will spend our entire summer chasing only a couple of players, and we will not be able to escape the fact that to play with the big boys, you've got to be the big boys. There's going to be a time where they will have to deliver on that front, and on August 31st we'll know if they can only rebuild a team, or in fact take it to the next level.
---------- Post added 18.08.2012 at 03:00 ----------
What the!?
- Status