Serbian Under-21 International Captain: Branislav Ivanovic (6 Viewers)

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Thunderball

Senior Member
#401
May 4, 2007
731
#401
Andy said:
But who's to say that Barzagli won't end up like Legrottaglie, or the more recent Almiron? We have seen Barzagli enough to know that he's not world class, and while he is a decent stopper, he won't save us from the mistakes of our other defenders like Fabio Cannavaro would. And besides, Zamparini will not sell Andrea below ten million Euros, while we could potentially purchase Ivanovic for 14 million Euros. A difference of 4 million Euros between what some scouts label the best defensive starlet in world football and Andrea Barzagli... come on, brother.

Well, we could have purchased this sort of defensive leader during the summer, but Secco failed in signing Milito. Now we could potentially go after someone such as Carvalho or Gallas, but those players will be far more expensive than Ivanovic, so where is the limit?

We cannot keep purchasing old stalwarts while not building for the future. Ivanovic has exceled for Serbia when given the chance and is probably the best young stopper in any league besides the top three currently. We can either wait on Ivanovic and buy a player like Gallas instead, but I gaurantee you that we will lose out on Ivanovic and that could mean losing out on a player who could potentially lead our defense for a decade just to buy another 31 year-old.
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Ivanovic hasn't faced the type of firepower and skill that Barzagli, Gallas and Carvalho have. I agree that only buying older stalwarts is not a good long term plan though. Like I said, in an ideal world, they buy Ivanovic and a proven commodity in the 24-27 range like Barzagli. Not ponying up for Milito was a mistake for all involved, I agree. I think he is more suited to Serie A than La Liga, and he was exactly what Juventus needed and exactly the right age.

Barzagli might end up another Legro/Almiron, you're right. He could also become another Cannavaro and seriously up his game with a big club that believes in him. Lets not forget, Canna was not a superstar anymore when Juve snatched him from Inter for a song. He channeled his potential and re-established himself as the star he is. Barzagli is only 26 and could lead the defense for a decade or so too. Fabio Cannavaro seems to think he can be the next great Italian defender, and he trains with the guy, so maybe he sees something. Playing with Legrottaglie might be a great inspiration to Barzagli as well... "don't squander your talent like I did, or you'll end up like me, loan fodder for years and now 31 and on my last chance."

I've only seen Ivanovic play once or twice, what I saw was not too shabby at all. I could see what the scouts see. Of course, I thought Criscito looked outstanding with Genoa, and he has been inadequate so far for Juventus against big opponents. Ivanovic is probably a lot better than Criscito, but he's never played in a consistently tough league like Serie A. I guess what I'm saying is that there's always a chance Ivanovic could pull a Legro too, or at very least have a long acclimatizing period.

Like I said, I sure wouldn't be upset if they picked up Ivanovic, but I think I would rather roll the dice with Barzagli, Zaccardo, Zapata or Felipe. I think even you have to admit that unless they brought in an old stalwart (which we agree is counterproductive long term), they are rolling the dice in some way, shape or form.
 

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giovanotti

giovanotti

ONE MAN ARMY
#402
Aug 13, 2004
13,725
#402
mark77 said:
I'm surprised giovanotti, what are his weaknesses?
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Mark,
listen,I don't follow serbian football,national team as well,but this guy is from u-21 capacity(I saw him several times),why would we take a risk on him while we have Criscito.To bad,but I have a feeling that Criscito will end in some other club.If we need to make our defence stronger,we need a proven defender.
Serbian u-21 national team was very lucky at the last u-21 Euro,because they didn't concede a goal against much stronger Italian team,and they scored against Czech team in the very last minute.First serious team they met after that was the Dutch NT in the final of the competition,and you may remember the result 4-1 for Holland.

Ivanovic's weaknesses:
-Young.
-Russian League(a weak one).
-Unproven,and we need a proven one..
-large price for such defender
 
giovanotti

giovanotti

ONE MAN ARMY
#403
Aug 13, 2004
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#403
Thunderball said:
My thoughts exactly. For the big money Lokomotiv seems to be commanding, he's an awfully big risk. Will he cope with the language barrier, how will he adapt to the Italian style, how will he cope with the greatly elevated level of competition?

I wouldn't be too upset if Juventus signed him, but I really think they can do better.

Personally, I'd take either of Palermo's star defenders (Barzagli and Zaccardo) over Ivanovic, if only because they've proven a lot more at Serie A and are still the optimal age for Juve to be looking at (23-27). Let alone Carvalho, Cannavaro, Zambrotta, et al.
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Definitely agreed!:tup:
 
giovanotti

giovanotti

ONE MAN ARMY
#404
Aug 13, 2004
13,725
#404
Andy said:
Look, sometimes you have to take risks on young players. That's why Wenger is so successful at Arsenal. While we are over here wasting time discussing whether or not a starlet can adapt to a league and language, Arsene is over there snapping up players such as Eduardo, Toure, Rosicky and Luka Modric. Same story while we argue and talk nonsense over whether or not Cristiano Ronaldo is worth his price tag while Alex Ferguson purchases him and proceeds to make a world class player out of him.

I'm sick of this shit. Players such as Barzagli, Zaccardo and many others in Serie A are not half as talented as Ivanovic or Vidic and players such as Luka Modric. This conservative transfer approach is why we are still looking for heir-apparents to Pavel Nedved and perhaps even Zidane and Del Piero. This conservative transfer approach is why we will continue lagging behind the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manure, Liverpool, and Milan while playing in Europe.

We don't even need to break the bank for some of these talents from South America or Eastern Europe, yet we seemingly never have any resources looking out for starlets in exotic places within this world.

When several top scouts and managers state that Ivanovic has more talent than Vidic, they aren't lying. I would much rather trust people such as Guus Hiddink than those who have not even seen players like Ivanovic play. Sure, players such as Barzagli and Zaccardo are Italian and experianced in Serie A, but these players are not world class and will never be world class. So if we want to continue being a mediocre top side, sure, lets go ahead and purchase those two Palermo players who are good stoppers at best. But if we want to put ourselves back on top of this football world, lets start taking chances on the youth and throw away this imbecilic conservative transfer policy that gets us nowhere.
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You have a point there Andy,but on the other hand we have suffered in serie B,and we need to get in Europe(Cahpions League) so badly,so we need a veteran in the defence for that task.
 
Bjerknes

Bjerknes

"Top Economist"
#412
Mar 16, 2004
116,036
#412
Thunderball said:
Ivanovic hasn't faced the type of firepower and skill that Barzagli, Gallas and Carvalho have. I agree that only buying older stalwarts is not a good long term plan though. Like I said, in an ideal world, they buy Ivanovic and a proven commodity in the 24-27 range like Barzagli. Not ponying up for Milito was a mistake for all involved, I agree. I think he is more suited to Serie A than La Liga, and he was exactly what Juventus needed and exactly the right age.

Barzagli might end up another Legro/Almiron, you're right. He could also become another Cannavaro and seriously up his game with a big club that believes in him. Lets not forget, Canna was not a superstar anymore when Juve snatched him from Inter for a song. He channeled his potential and re-established himself as the star he is. Barzagli is only 26 and could lead the defense for a decade or so too. Fabio Cannavaro seems to think he can be the next great Italian defender, and he trains with the guy, so maybe he sees something. Playing with Legrottaglie might be a great inspiration to Barzagli as well... "don't squander your talent like I did, or you'll end up like me, loan fodder for years and now 31 and on my last chance."

I've only seen Ivanovic play once or twice, what I saw was not too shabby at all. I could see what the scouts see. Of course, I thought Criscito looked outstanding with Genoa, and he has been inadequate so far for Juventus against big opponents. Ivanovic is probably a lot better than Criscito, but he's never played in a consistently tough league like Serie A. I guess what I'm saying is that there's always a chance Ivanovic could pull a Legro too, or at very least have a long acclimatizing period.

Like I said, I sure wouldn't be upset if they picked up Ivanovic, but I think I would rather roll the dice with Barzagli, Zaccardo, Zapata or Felipe. I think even you have to admit that unless they brought in an old stalwart (which we agree is counterproductive long term), they are rolling the dice in some way, shape or form.
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I just frankly have not been impressed enough with Barzagli to spend over 12 million Euros for the player. I've been watching him for a number of years and honestly I don't understand what people see in him.

But in regards to Ivanovic, considering all other sorts of clubs are after him (intelligently so), we will lose out on his capture anyway.
 
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