The stagnation and decline did start under Marotta though, Paratici only sped it up. Its true we would be better off if Marotta stayed, our current rebuild would be much smoother and quicker, but the decline still happens imo. There was a trend going on since 2015.
-Tevez, Pirlo, Vidal leave. Only Vidal nets you a significant fee. We use it on Dybala (turned out great) who was coming off of one good season at age 22. We spend big on a LB (Evra was still there, and we had Padoin as backup) with more immediate needs. AS was a exciting addition, but at 25 playing in the portuguese league, still not a guarantee. Cuadrado is dry loaned (its a miracle Conte didnt keep him a year later when he went to Chelsea). Mandzukic was a great signing for cheap, as was Khedira for free. And then the rest are depth signings, Hernanes and Zaza plus we picked up Pereyras option at 15M at the time. Thats 46M on depth options in a mercato we lost 3 starters, two for free. I think its fair to say the 2016 team is a decline from 2015, even if we got younger and more exciting as a team. Other negative things, we let Allan go to Napoli for 11M (Radja to Roma a year before for 20M), Coman was sold on un favorable terms and rather cheap, we picked Zaza over Berardi, when we had Mandzukic, Morata, Llorente already, the last one being let walk for free, while Roma landing Dzeko in a Tevez esque deal from City. A lot of questinable decisions coming off a CL final and huge additional revenue.
-a year later we sell Pogba for record fee, we spend it on Higuain who was at the end of his peak/prime. We lose Morata but manage to keep Cuads (thanks Conte). Pjanic was a great addition for 30M, still fairly young and coming off a great season. Benatia was a solid Barzagli successor, Dani Alves was still at a high level. All good to great additions. Pjaca was a wild card and he showed promise before injury, but we had Coman who we sold for similar amount just a year prior. We had Berardi who we didnt bring back. So that was a weird move. Marchisio injury was unfortunate, i think we expected him to go back to return to top form which sadly never happened. Evra was let go halfway through the season, leaving us without a alternative for AS up until now, with the exception of the one season of Spinazzola. Overall the team got better than 2016 but our midfield of 2 years ago was gone and not replaced. Tevez was never replaced (Dybala is nice but hes no Tevez) properly, and we still didnt have a pair of top wingers.
-Bonucci leaves, Dani Alves leaves, we add De Sciglio. We try to strengthen the midfield with Matuidi but thats a short term fix. We try to get more offensive with D. Costa and Berna for a combined 80-90M (and big wages). So two times now, after a CL final, we try something different from the previous season. We let go of depth guys like Lemina, Rincon, we get a young Bentancur from Argentinian League. I dont think the team got better, just more offense oriented.
-Ronaldo arrives, Cancelo, Can, Spinazzola. Bonucci return after one year (De Vrij let go to inter, Benatia let go because of it as well), still no marquee midfield signing. Higuain loaned out without an obligation. Licht gone, Buffon gone. I think we improved, but then we colapsed in March due to injuries and drop of form, and then plusvalenzad our more valuable assets.
There was some bad things for us financially, like the Serie A TV deal being readjusted. We as champions used to get much more than the rest, then it was made more even 3-4 years ago. And without the deep CL runs every now and then, while other italian teams now also do well in CL from time to time, our revenue pool there shrunk as well. But when looking at the players, of the 2015 team only Chiellini stayed, plus Bonucci who left and returned. Where did we get better in 2018 than back then? We replaced Buffon with Woj and Perin, MVPP with Pjanic, Matuidi, Khedira, Can. Our attack is better "on paper" but thats because of Ronaldo i would say. Dybala and Madzukic whos near the end of his career arent the reason for that. Our long term signings (lets say 26 or younger, so they have almost all their prime still to play) in that time were Dybala, Alex Sandro, lets put Cuads too even if he was a bit older, Zaza, Rugani, Lemina, Pjanic, Pjaca, De Sciglio, Bernardeschi, Bentancur, lets put Szczesny in too since he is a GK, Cancelo, Can, Perin, Spinazzola. Who here is really a great player? Now compare that to the first tenure, before the CL final: Krasic, Aquilani, Pepe, Bonucci, lets put 27yo Lichtsteiner too since he stayed long here, Matri, Vidal, Elia, Giovinco, Caceres, Asamoah, Isla, Pogba, Bentdner, Ogbonna, Morata, Pereyra, Sturaro. Marchisio and Chiellini were already there when Marotta and Paratici arrived. 7 of those started in the 14/15 season (would have been 8 maybe if Asamoah didnt get injured), while 5 others were part of the rotation. We stopped signing, holding onto these great younger players so we have to rebuild every few seasons, we have no continuity and no time to make the team gel. This is something that started a while ago, with Marotta, but was covered with great short term fixes. I think hed be great right now, hed be able to make the team strong within a few years, but beyond that i dont know
-Tevez, Pirlo, Vidal leave. Only Vidal nets you a significant fee. We use it on Dybala (turned out great) who was coming off of one good season at age 22. We spend big on a LB (Evra was still there, and we had Padoin as backup) with more immediate needs. AS was a exciting addition, but at 25 playing in the portuguese league, still not a guarantee. Cuadrado is dry loaned (its a miracle Conte didnt keep him a year later when he went to Chelsea). Mandzukic was a great signing for cheap, as was Khedira for free. And then the rest are depth signings, Hernanes and Zaza plus we picked up Pereyras option at 15M at the time. Thats 46M on depth options in a mercato we lost 3 starters, two for free. I think its fair to say the 2016 team is a decline from 2015, even if we got younger and more exciting as a team. Other negative things, we let Allan go to Napoli for 11M (Radja to Roma a year before for 20M), Coman was sold on un favorable terms and rather cheap, we picked Zaza over Berardi, when we had Mandzukic, Morata, Llorente already, the last one being let walk for free, while Roma landing Dzeko in a Tevez esque deal from City. A lot of questinable decisions coming off a CL final and huge additional revenue.
-a year later we sell Pogba for record fee, we spend it on Higuain who was at the end of his peak/prime. We lose Morata but manage to keep Cuads (thanks Conte). Pjanic was a great addition for 30M, still fairly young and coming off a great season. Benatia was a solid Barzagli successor, Dani Alves was still at a high level. All good to great additions. Pjaca was a wild card and he showed promise before injury, but we had Coman who we sold for similar amount just a year prior. We had Berardi who we didnt bring back. So that was a weird move. Marchisio injury was unfortunate, i think we expected him to go back to return to top form which sadly never happened. Evra was let go halfway through the season, leaving us without a alternative for AS up until now, with the exception of the one season of Spinazzola. Overall the team got better than 2016 but our midfield of 2 years ago was gone and not replaced. Tevez was never replaced (Dybala is nice but hes no Tevez) properly, and we still didnt have a pair of top wingers.
-Bonucci leaves, Dani Alves leaves, we add De Sciglio. We try to strengthen the midfield with Matuidi but thats a short term fix. We try to get more offensive with D. Costa and Berna for a combined 80-90M (and big wages). So two times now, after a CL final, we try something different from the previous season. We let go of depth guys like Lemina, Rincon, we get a young Bentancur from Argentinian League. I dont think the team got better, just more offense oriented.
-Ronaldo arrives, Cancelo, Can, Spinazzola. Bonucci return after one year (De Vrij let go to inter, Benatia let go because of it as well), still no marquee midfield signing. Higuain loaned out without an obligation. Licht gone, Buffon gone. I think we improved, but then we colapsed in March due to injuries and drop of form, and then plusvalenzad our more valuable assets.
There was some bad things for us financially, like the Serie A TV deal being readjusted. We as champions used to get much more than the rest, then it was made more even 3-4 years ago. And without the deep CL runs every now and then, while other italian teams now also do well in CL from time to time, our revenue pool there shrunk as well. But when looking at the players, of the 2015 team only Chiellini stayed, plus Bonucci who left and returned. Where did we get better in 2018 than back then? We replaced Buffon with Woj and Perin, MVPP with Pjanic, Matuidi, Khedira, Can. Our attack is better "on paper" but thats because of Ronaldo i would say. Dybala and Madzukic whos near the end of his career arent the reason for that. Our long term signings (lets say 26 or younger, so they have almost all their prime still to play) in that time were Dybala, Alex Sandro, lets put Cuads too even if he was a bit older, Zaza, Rugani, Lemina, Pjanic, Pjaca, De Sciglio, Bernardeschi, Bentancur, lets put Szczesny in too since he is a GK, Cancelo, Can, Perin, Spinazzola. Who here is really a great player? Now compare that to the first tenure, before the CL final: Krasic, Aquilani, Pepe, Bonucci, lets put 27yo Lichtsteiner too since he stayed long here, Matri, Vidal, Elia, Giovinco, Caceres, Asamoah, Isla, Pogba, Bentdner, Ogbonna, Morata, Pereyra, Sturaro. Marchisio and Chiellini were already there when Marotta and Paratici arrived. 7 of those started in the 14/15 season (would have been 8 maybe if Asamoah didnt get injured), while 5 others were part of the rotation. We stopped signing, holding onto these great younger players so we have to rebuild every few seasons, we have no continuity and no time to make the team gel. This is something that started a while ago, with Marotta, but was covered with great short term fixes. I think hed be great right now, hed be able to make the team strong within a few years, but beyond that i dont know
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