Juventus Target Fernando Meira (9 Viewers)

[Jun-hide]

That's not true at all. I've personally never been all that impressed with Barzagli, even a few seasons ago when he came to fame along with Terlizzi at the back. But what some people fail to remember is Barzagli had the likes of Corini and Barone in front of him during those years and also the steady system of Guidolin. And even then I wasn't too impressed, but now people want to say well he had Guana in front of him more recently, so that's why he doesn't look as good. I don't buy that argument.

And besides, over the years the central midfield duos for Palermo have usually been Corini - Barone, then Corini - Mutarelli, then Corini - Simplicio. Corini is a very good player mind you, so you can't blame their midfield for worse off Barzagli performances.

Corrini is terrific little veteran, but as Denco said he is a distributer not a ball winner. Terlizzi is as bad defender as I can remember, who happens to score every now and then. Zaccardo may look dumb, and do make dumb plays every so often, but he is way better than Terlizzi IMO.

For me the biggest reason why Palermo struggled so bad this year is that they play very spread out formation. The team is stretched beyond degree, and a real good knowledgable fan like you know that the job of defence is made so much easier if the team stays compact. But given that Guidolin has been fired god knows how many times by Zamparini for being defensive, I cannot fault him for being adventurous. Guidolin is a very good coach IMO, who suffers from ego-maniac president. Unlike Denco, I rate Simplicio. He has full of energy, and extremely underrated technical ability. Stick him in those Milan midfield, playing Seedorf role b4 this year, I think he could really shine. But he isn't disciplined enough sit in front of defence and play DM.

Of course Barzagli isnt worth 16m Euros. From Economic perspective, you are totally right Andy. But if we can package some "B" rated youngsters like Palladino, Volpato, etc, to bring down the price to a reasonable level, I would definetely pull the trigger. We just dont get the same option of Meira since the deal has to be straight cash.

 

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[Ahmed]

Jun, wat u think of Meira as a signing though? i think he could be very good 4 us

 

[Fellas]

Corrini is terrific little veteran, but as Denco said he is a distributer not a ball winner. Terlizzi is as bad defender as I can remember, who happens to score every now and then. Zaccardo may look dumb, and do make dumb plays every so often, but he is way better than Terlizzi IMO.

For me the biggest reason why Palermo struggled so bad this year is that they play very spread out formation. The team is stretched beyond degree, and a real good knowledgable fan like you know that the job of defence is made so much easier if the team stays compact. But given that Guidolin has been fired god knows how many times by Zamparini for being defensive, I cannot fault him for being adventurous. Guidolin is a very good coach IMO, who suffers from ego-maniac president. Unlike Denco, I rate Simplicio. He has full of energy, and extremely underrated technical ability. Stick him in those Milan midfield, playing Seedorf role b4 this year, I think he could really shine. But he isn't disciplined enough sit in front of defence and play DM.

Of course Barzagli isnt worth 16m Euros. From Economic perspective, you are totally right Andy. But if we can package some "B" rated youngsters like Palladino, Volpato, etc, to bring down the price to a reasonable level, I would definetely pull the trigger. We just dont get the same option of Meira since the deal has to be straight cash.

Barzagli sucks... Meira rocks hmm this i hard

 

[Jun-hide]

Jun, wat u think of Meira as a signing though? i think he could be very good 4 us

Well I personally don't know much about Meira.

All I have seen from him is

(1) Olympics 2004 - uh, oh, lets not get in there. Since current Iraqi NT absolutely raped that Portuguese defence. But if I recall correctly Meira played DM in that tournament.

(2) WC 2006, for which he was really good.

I don't know too much to be honest. I have always felt Andrade (whom I did see quite a bit) was a street-wise clever Man to Man defender other than anything else. I remember Andrade had likes of Naybet who was excellent at organising the defence. So I still think we need one more defence who can commad the unit. Meira looked solid in WC, but buying player based on WC is just about worst investment you can make. I wouldn't oppose his arrival, but althought it is cliche, it all depends on the current going rate for the defender. 20m quoted couple weeks ago is outrageous sum. I think somewhere in the value of Andrade would be good for me. But what I wanted to say is that Barzagli isnt that bad like Denco said.

 

[Ahmed]

yea same price as Andrade would be ideal...or push for Barzagli...otherwise I dont c any viable option at CB...i think we can try Zebina at CB with Grygera coming in as the RB as well...Zeb was very good 4 Roma in that position

 

[Jun-hide]

yea same price as Andrade would be ideal...or push for Barzagli...otherwise I dont c any viable option at CB...i think we can try Zebina at CB with Grygera coming in as the RB as well...Zeb was very good 4 Roma in that position

Zebina wasnt too bad, but my only concern was that he is a bit too mistake prone to play CB. Also Zebina played right hand side of CB instead of tradition CB role. Its vastly different playing 3 back from 4 back system. In back four, two CB has to possess oustanding understanding of each other's game, and possess great decision making, because a rash challenge and miss it leads to sure oppositio goal. In contrast if you are playing right sided CB, you can a bit more risk, because there is always a player covering you at the back. And none come better than Aldair, and Walter Samuel.

Right now, I think Canna is the best choice available. As Denco said, the choice of selling him was as much a choice of economics as sporting aspect. He would be role model of Criscito as well. I agree with Andy on general premise. I don't think financially Barzagli isnt worth much, and shouldnt overpay for his services. But if we can make player exchange deals including likes of Blasi, Palladino, Volpato et all, and reduce price then why not? And another interesting idea is convert Chiellini to CB and give Molinaro a go. The second half team in last friendly looked like first team, and you know, Chiellini played CB.

 

[denco]

I didnt say Simlicio cannot play, i said he had a shitty season. The one thing I would hate to see us do is panic buying. Be it Barzagli, meira or whoever, no way should we pay over the odds for defenders. I have always hated that. 20m, 16 m for those sort of players? Get out of town! I would stick to the boumsongs , zebinas of these world than pay silly moeny for defenders who are not that much better. The biggest problem in |Italy unlike Spain and England is giving youth a chance. Most teams would rather play an experiemced 40 year old than an up and coming player. All those young guys in the squad , would they ever graduate to the first team? Ramos, Abidol, Ferdinand, Terry were all very young when they were psuhed into the limelight. In Italy, it just does not seem to happen anymore

 

[Jun-hide]

I didnt say Simlicio cannot play, i said he had a shitty season. The one thing I would hate to see us do is panic buying. Be it Barzagli, meira or whoever, no way should we pay over the odds for defenders. I have always hated that. 20m, 16 m for those sort of players? Get out of town! I would stick to the boumsongs , zebinas of these world than pay silly moeny for defenders who are not that much better. The biggest problem in |Italy unlike Spain and England is giving youth a chance. Most teams would rather play an experiemced 40 year old than an up and coming player. All those young guys in the squad , would they ever graduate to the first team? Ramos, Abidol, Ferdinand, Terry were all very young when they were psuhed into the limelight. In Italy, it just does not seem to happen anymore

Oh I agree with you every way on Italian young defenders not being given chance. I mean Fabio Galante is still going! I remember him being a promising young defender playing for Torino who decided to ruin career by joining Inter. But that shows what is wrong about Italian football ATM. In those days, even mid 90s, teams were willing to play likes of Fresi, mere 20, a SWEEPER role, because he showed great talent for such a young age, at Inter nonetheless! Canna and Nesta all broke through at young age. Surely playing regular games at top level at such a young age helped to proceed them to become better players.

I think we Juve are at the right position to break such a mold. Chiellini has all the physical tool to be a towering CB. Criscito, I havent seen much, but Sateeh reckons is a outstanding talent (I will take his word). My only problem is that Andrade IMO isnt quite good as Milito, Canna, over organizing the defence. So unless he strikes incredible partnership, we might need additional veterance presence.

 

[Jem83]

Meira happy with Stuttgart <------

By Thomas Zeh - Created on 20 Jul 2007
TRANSFER SPECIAL
Keep up to date with the latest on who's on the move with the skysports.com transfer window special.

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Fernando Meira
Stuttgart defender Fernando Meira is not disappointed that his move to Italian giants Juventus did not happen.

The Old Lady was reportedly ready to offer the Swabians €15million (£10million) for the highly-rated defender, but the Bundesliga champions quickly signalled that they were not tempted to sell their skipper.

“I never had the intention to leave,” Meira told Stuttgarter Zeitung.

“I am happy to hear that Stuttgart does not want to sell me and therefore I am glad to stay."

The Portugal international is not the first Bundesliga player to turn down the scandal-rocked Italian club, who sealed promotion back to Serie A, this summer.

Werder Bremen midfielder Torsten Frings also shunned the chance to move to Stadio Delle Alpi in order to stay in Germany.

Juve's interest in Meira also brought a stern rebuke from Stuttgart, who threatened to report the club to Fifa regarding an alleged illegal approach.

 

[Dostoevsky]

Juventus: Fernando Meira dice no

tuttomercato

 

[Badass J Elkann]

im more than happy to just field criscito and andrade

 

[Dostoevsky]

I think they said that they will try Zapata if Meira not comes.

 

[RAMI-N]

im more than happy to just field criscito and andrade

too early 4 him

 

[Jem83]

Me too I guess, but come on, how stupid is this guy: "Juve? I'm happy at Stuttgart :superhapp" ..

 

[oriax]

He said the same in interview couple of weeks ago.

Meira To Remain At Stuttgart
Stuttgart captain Fernando Meira has confirmed he will be remaining at Stuttgart.

The club captain has put an end to much transfer speculation by saying, "I have absolutely no intention of leaving. The club do not wish to sell me, and I am happy here so that is that."

The 29 year old defender was the cause of much speculation after he gave an interview to the Portuguese paper 'Publico'. He was quoted as saying that a big club was interested in him and that he would be honoured to be able to play in Italy or Spain.

Juventus were the club alledged to be interested. They had earlier been linked with a move for striker Mario Gomez.

Stuttgart manager Horst Heldt threatened to complain to FIFA about the unsettling of his players. He stated, "Fernando is our most important player,and not just on the field. He is irreplaceable."

goal.com

 

[Jun-hide]

I think we will end up with Canna. Too many things make sense for this not to happen.

No disrespect to Meira

but

5m Euro for Canna (I think we can low-ball Madrid, since they already got riches in CB), and 10m Euro for Zapata is far better than a player whose claim to fame is couple of good matches in WC.

As for Zapata, I love the guy, and he is true no-nonsense defender. But he is better off playing regular minutes for Udinese for a year or two before he makes inevitable big move to Juve, Inter or Milan.

 

[tonykart]

I think the obvious first choice should be Cannavaro, but I doubt he is an option anymore. Meira is vastly over-priced and doesn't seem to keen to join anyways. Barzagli is a good option, but I think it is best for him to stay and become captain of Palermo for a year. I would love for us to buy Barzagli next year.

Now, as far as this year goes... I don't think we are in that bad of shape right now. Is it an amazing or very good defence... no. But, they are a solid group that we can juggle alot in order to keep fresh legs out at all times. Personally, I think that Chiellini is our best option to start next to Andrade. Zebina is mistake prone, Boumsong is a super under-achiever and Grygera is too good at RB to waste at CB. Molinaro is a very exciting player at LB and if he and Chiellini (22 and 23 years old) can form a good partnership on the left side of the defence this year, we may be looking at a nice long future for the Juventus defence. Also, take into consideration the addition of Barzagli next year and the maturation of Criscito. I get excited just thinking about it.

Another reason I don't want to pick up a top-flight CB this year (unless it is Cannavaro) is because I don't think we will be able to pick up a player that is truly the caliber we want. It is our first year back in A and we just aren't attracting the high end names we used to. I would rather qualify for the CL this year with the group we have and then pick up some top notch guys at the end of the year. I think this is better than over-saturating our roster with above-average players.

 

[francesco]

I think the obvious first choice should be Cannavaro, but I doubt he is an option anymore. Meira is vastly over-priced and doesn't seem to keen to join anyways. Barzagli is a good option, but I think it is best for him to stay and become captain of Palermo for a year. I would love for us to buy Barzagli next year.

Now, as far as this year goes... I don't think we are in that bad of shape right now. Is it an amazing or very good defence... no. But, they are a solid group that we can juggle alot in order to keep fresh legs out at all times. Personally, I think that Chiellini is our best option to start next to Andrade. Zebina is mistake prone, Boumsong is a super under-achiever and Grygera is too good at RB to waste at CB. Molinaro is a very exciting player at LB and if he and Chiellini (22 and 23 years old) can form a good partnership on the left side of the defence this year, we may be looking at a nice long future for the Juventus defence. Also, take into consideration the addition of Barzagli next year and the maturation of Criscito. I get excited just thinking about it.

Another reason I don't want to pick up a top-flight CB this year (unless it is Cannavaro) is because I don't think we will be able to pick up a player that is truly the caliber we want. It is our first year back in A and we just aren't attracting the high end names we used to. I would rather qualify for the CL this year with the group we have and then pick up some top notch guys at the end of the year. I think this is better than over-saturating our roster with above-average players.

exactly, well said!

 

[Fellas]

Zapata I hope

 

[JuveJay]

How made Alex, Trez, Camo and Nedved

Do they fit the same criteria?
Nedved is the only one imo. We all know Alex has a Bianconero heart and will never leave us.