The Wish List and General Discussion Thread (162 Viewers)

[Cronios]

Before you go raving on Ferrara, this system, his choices and our current performance, just consider a few things first!

When we made the planning of the season, we already had 4 high class forwards.
Just 2 AMFs (Camo,Giovinco) and 5DM/CMs (Sissoko,Marchisio,Poulsen, Zanetti,Tiago/Almiron)

So it was completely impossible to build a team for the 4-2-3-1 from there, without wasting all those players upfront and without that acquisition of at least 3-4 new AMFs (2 starters and 2 subs)
DP seemed fit, Amauri is young, healthy and will return on form soon or later, Iaq is on fire and Treze is finally back.
It would be a real shame to waste 3 of them on the bench at any time.
Because we had no good wingers and no option to turn back to the failed 4-4-2
So, we have preferred to switch on this formation, that fits with our available material and our number one target (Diego)

However, for this formation to work, we needed great fullbacks.
We got Grosso and Caceres and hoped that Zebina will be available too
(it seemed that way, at least to some).

Atm our original plans didnt fail just yet.
But only our adaptation to them, caused by the injuries that obstructed their use!

A healthy Zebina among Canna, Chiellini and Grosso wouldnt be that bad!
A Sissoko Marchisio Melo line wouldnt be intimidated by anyone and the pace, strength and even passing (Marchisio) coming from them and some decent crossing/passes from Zebi/Grosso
Would help Diego to overlap most of our current issues.
Ideally, upfront we would use a solid prolific finisher Treze/DP paired with a great creative beast-warrior-forward (Amauri/Iaq)

On theory we have enough subs to replace any of those key players (Caceres,Giovinco,DC,Camo etc) but for one reason or the other, they didnt...just yet...

Yesterday, we have seen how important a dynamic and fast paced player, like Sissoko, can be for our midfield. although the early yellow had his hands tied and he is not an AMF, many times he was in a position to threaten the opposition.
Imagine him being completely fit (lets not forget that he just returned from a long injury issue and lost most of the summer training) and adapted to the new acquisitions/teamwork and system!!
Imagine him to be paired among with an on form Melo and Marchisio!

Before we see that and it fails, we should stop asking for a change in formation right now!
Besides we dint have the tools for that. Giovinco is not having a great season,
to field a 4-2-3-1 now would mean:
-Less pressure to our fullbacks - Good
-Utilize just 2 of our 6 available DM/CMs - Passable, considering that 3 are injured
-Utilize 3 of our 3 AMFs (Giovinco, Diego,Camo) - Dangerous, what happens if one cant for any reason, at any time???
-Utilize just one of our 4 high class forward - counter effective, even with DP being injured

All that, just to become a bit more spectacular to watch?
Just drop all the training and schemes we have used and trained for so far and start the season from the beginning?
I believe at this point, without new acquisitions we cant and we should even consider doing that.


Sissoko has just returned, lets wait and see how his partnership with Melo and Diego will work out first. I believe that this was the bet of our season.
Yesterday Melo wasnt as good as usual, lets see what happens when all three of them are fit and rolling.
Lets see what happens if we put an on form Marchisio, Camo or Tiago on the mix.

Hopefully Amauri will start scoring too and we will stop wasting the opportunities we create. Imagine him coming back and paired with DP, while having Diego, Melo, Marchisio and Sissoko on their back and tell me that wont be an overkill!

We are a young team, with a new coach, new system and new key players.
We need more time to see our potential.
This is the price we have to pay, for taking that long to replace what was holding us back.

We have been constantly lacking two/thirds of our planned starters, in our first eleven, in key positions, so far;

Yes its normal to have creativity issues if Diego isnt absent out there,
Giovinco and Camo playing like Shit, when called to replace him and our fullbacks being our classic fullbacks...

Yes its normal to be intimidated in the midfield and lose solidarity if we lack
2 of our 3 starters (Sissoko,Marchisio,Melo)

Yes its normal to be a push over from Fiorentina's left side (Vargas,Jovetic)
When we have to rely on Grygera, because Zebi is injured and Caceres is not the acquisition we hoped to be...

Yes we are about to create and waste a whole load of chances upfront if we are playing without a finisher! Amauri and Iaq were always great at creating chances,
but not as effective when they had to finish them.

All those issues are affecting our team lately and IMO its normal that we under-perform, we are a new team and dont have the necessary teamwork to compensate just yet.
Its really unfortunate that we have to play, fielding using our the less optimal choices,for key positions (just 1/3 of our starters, not even 2/3, if not 3/3)
for every line, at almost every match,
but hopefully our luck will return some time.

That was one of the Inter's advantages against us this year and it has now started to pay off.
We may start rolling in the future and they may start chocking when they feel the pressure, but right now we cant press them and it all works to their favor...

I believe that we still have the resources to bounce back!
Treze seem to be returning, Amauri has finally scored, Iaq has a great season, Giovinco can surely do better than that, Caceres might eventually become a solution too, or we might finally make a RB acquisition at x-mas.
And do not underestimate what the Diego, Melo, Marchisio, Sissoko partnership can do.
We havent seen that yet and it was supposed to be that way, all season long!

 

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[Wahdan]

Iaquinta isn't a high class striker. He's just a lucky tall guy.

Even if he won the Golden Boot this year; he's just lucky and selfish.

 

[Salvatore]

I think we are completely over complicating our current situation. Our strikers are just not scoring the way they have in the last 2 seasons. Last year and the year before that everyone was scoring, this year it's definitely not the case. We are years behind Inter unfortunately. With a completely depleted offense they still win 5-0. Our offense is nearly full strength and we tie.

I am not so worried about our LB situation as some here are. We can NOT go on using Grygera. I know some people (most people) are skeptical of Caceres but come on, let's be honest here. He has got to be better than Grygera can ever hope to aspire to be.

It is unfortunately clear now that in order to fix what we need to be a complete team "interesque" is going to be highly expensive. I think once we get a striker that is a natural goal scorer ala Torres/Villa mold whose style is like no other will help us out immensely. IMO there are 4 kinds of strikers. 1.) bench/backup, 2.) workers, 3.) finishers, 4.) do-it-alls. When I say do it all I mean a player that works his ass off, can finish his chances, and has a style all his own that is a nightmare to mark. That is why I picked villa/torres because they IMO fit the mold of something we need. I am not saying go after one of them, but to find a striker like that would be priceless. Amauri/IQ can work sooo hard but if their is no end product it's just a waste of burnt calories.

Our midfield is good. Don't change it unless we had a type of midfielder that is box-to-box. As much as i wanted a regista this summer I am happy with what we have. Our midfield is the least of our worries by far. You could tell Sissoko just lacked that burst of speed but once he gets his sharpness back and by God if we can keep a healthy midfield our center 3 will be absolutely deadly.

Ugh...our defense. Where do i start? Gryera...i hate him so much i don't even feel like spelling his name right. Where the hell is Zebina? I mean we see him a game and he looks fine the poof he is gone for 3 weeks. We need a RB and my vote goes down to two of Rafinha and my favorite Srna. Center back Kjaer and that is the ONLY CB I want...no one else. He is young, intelligent, dare I say brilliant and has an air about him that just screams class. The "kids" positioning is brilliant. I mean damn if he can read a game as well as he does now can you imagine what he will be doing in 5-6 years?? Chiellini is still learning, but lets be honest he will never lead a back line, he will always be the destroyer of the defense but I don't see him directing 3 other defenders and still know what "he" has to do. 3 defenders is not going to be easy, that is why I am saying our LB is fine. I think Criscito will do great...fuck the haters/doubters. And DC...fuck those doubters/haters too. We had(have) two gems waiting to shine and we go for a grosso.

At the end of the day our next mercato is going to be much more expensive than this summer. We layed the solid groundwork for a super structure but we still have a ways to go. I think if we could spend the money this winter and get Dzeko our second half of the season will be so much stronger. Summer is when we spend our entire budget on defense.

I get tired of guessing numbers but here goes again:

Out:
poulsen 7m
tiago 7m
grygera 5m
zebina 4m
legro 4m
trez 7m

total: 34m

In:
kjaer:15m
Srna: 18m
dzeko: 25m
Criscito: 7m

Total: 66m - 34m (from sales) = 32m...not fucking bad at all.

that way we have a new CB plus Ariaudo as backup to replace Legro. We have a new RB srna and perhaps Caceres will stay. And whatever happens with Grosso/De Ceglie we would have Cricsito back. That is 8 defenders for the defense.

In attack we get a great young player to replace a legend. Large shoes filled. Hell, at this point I am even up for selling either Amauri or Iaquinta. PLUS we have Giovinco who simply needs to transition into DP's role. I am not sure what the hell the delay is for that but it needs to happen.

We get these players IMO our problems are solved and the 4312 will succeed. But only until then, right now I think with the players we have the 4231 will be the best.

To be the best we need to have the best (or close to it). The Poulsens and the Tiagos and the Gryeras and Grossos won't give us that. All you need to do is watch Inter. Their two best strikers can sit comfortably in the stands and watch their team beat a strong challenging team 5-0 while they watch us on the jumbo tron struggling to last 10 mins before conceding a goal. Unfortunately Calciopoli set us back years. Right now you can see that as clear as day.

I agree with alot Dusan said, though I am not the "transfer guru" so I don't think anyone will read this anyways.

Few things.

I've read it.

Add Almirón to the sales. Amazed we still have him. And are you planning on keeping Molinaro?

"Perhaps Cáceres will stay", you'll have to add another €11m to the In section. I think we should give him more time, too many nightmares of Grygera/Zebina.

Srna will be an absolute bitch to get. The chairman is in love with him over there and the way that the Chyhrynskiy -> Barça transfer was handled looks frightening. The wages also will be huge which will add more issues. IF we're going to get him, then I don't think we should spend over €15m, because they will try and fuck with us. I was quite happy to see the Rafinha links in the summer for €8m, and if I remember correctly his contract is expiring soonish (next 2 years?) which could bring it down by next summer or even winter. Could be wrong on that though. Criscito, yes bring him back, he is so obviously turning into another wasted youth product (which I'll admit is starting to really annoy me, aside from Marchisio we've not handled it well).

I don't really see Džeko similar to Villa/Torres (which is what you were suggesting?). No doubt a top class player and I'd happily sell one of Amauri/Iaquinta as well if it meant we could put more funds forward for getting him. The header against United was simply superb in my opinion. Shame about his favourite team eh. Also, I'll throw in a wild card for striker if we miss out on Edin. How about Gilardino? No I'm not basing that on some game against Cyprus, I think he has the ability to trouble a lot of defenses.

Kjær is obviously quality, like I said earlier in the thread I really want to see how he will turn out as well as Bocchetti, and to a slightly lesser extent, Ranocchia. All very promising. I don't really want to shun Ariaudo aside before we get to see what he can do though, we have a youth system for a reason and this guy is 20 now and NOT loaned out to another primavera, which gives him a great chance to get in good with coaches/the board.

Midfield. Sell Poulsen yes. Tiago, maybe. Still want to see him in this system more (I liked his performance against Chievo, gives me a slither of hope). Camoranesi replacement is what I'd like with him reaching 33 recently. Someone who can hug the touchline, put in a cross, and still come in with defensive work. If someone bothered to play Giovinco then he would be the alternative for the left side, and we could look rather good in midfield. And we'll have Iago returning from Bari primavera, maybe we can use 4-2-3-1.

And this is last minute, I only saw it in the post below when I quoted it but Hamšík gets a massive thumbs up from me, but it would depend a lot on which system we use.

There are so many holes in this team that we must fix as soon as possible. It's going to be hard and we're going to need lots of money but it's actually the only way for us to reach Scudetto. People who are making fun of Inter, put off Juventus goggles.

First of all, I want to mention how our defense is one-dimensional. It gets scary when you think about it for a bit. NONE of all those are fast enough, in fact, all of them are slow. Second, they can't pass...even short passes are pretty bad. We only have Cannavaro who has some technique and who doesn't rush in and makes stupid mistakes like Chiellini sometimes. Third, forget the idea of "OMG WE CAN'T BUY A FULLBACK WHO CAN'T DEFEND", or don't...but tell me why does it matter so much. It's important to cover some place but not to have 4 central backs who can't do shit on the side. Think of the strongest teams and see their fullbacks, see if they are good in defense. That sort of "I want someone who can defend good" is usually something that you can see only in Italy. We need someone who's fast, who can cross and track back. Grosso is simply a World Cup wonder that shouldn't be hailed and overrated. Saying he's better than Molinaro doesn't mean anything, anything. Deal was good, but he's not a good player and not a starting XI material. I hope he's really a short-term solution but I doubt. Grygera? I don't need to comment his play I guess. I never saw 3 crosses from him on the same match, never. He's simply binded on our half where he can't even defend and who's our weakest link actually. Chiellini is the only player who's worth of starting spot for the next season but he's making many mistakes. He tries to pass but it's obvious he can't. So, our defense, 6/10.

Now, midfield. I'm totally against 4-3-1-2 formation if we're going to play with our current fullbacks and with 3 DM, having Poulsen as our savior. Diego is a player that doesn't get enough credit. When he gets the ball it's easy to notice he's our most talented player but the truth is that he doesn't have any player to play next to. He can create a chance out of nothing but it's not easy to play that role when you have Poulsen, Melo and Sissoko behind, who can't really pass nor create something big. When he turns his head he can only see Grosso and Grygera far back behind. I bet he gets a headache. Now if there's something to change it has to be a player who can actually pass, someone creative. Xabi Alonso that we "missed" or someone like D'Agostino, even Zanetti. I like Marchisio btw, I have high hopes for him. Don't fool yourselves with the likes of Ledesma. He's simply not a player that we can use and don't look it one-sided saying he's going to be free. We're chasing CL and Scudetto, splash it or lose it.
Easier solution IMO would be to turn our back to 4-3-1-2 and go with 4-3-3 or maybe even better with 4-2-3-1. If Trez is going to leave it'd be our best option probably. We'd have Del Piero and Camo as subs (if it's some attacking formation), they are missing much already and I don't know if we can count on them. I hope Alex will find the way out of his injuries in the end. Tiago and Poulsen should see the light at the of the tunnel. Hopefully we'll swap some for Motta or someone. We're not playing Giovinco when we must, when he's the only who can change something, it's weird. So midfield when it comes to destroying I'd give it 9/10 but for something else 6/10.

Strikers and AMC...Diego is great IMO, he can make it. Del Piero is not getting any younger, injuries...Trezeguet is on his way out it seems. It leaves us with Amauri and Iaquinta. Amauri is a type of player I'd keep because I still like him a lot and he's very good IMO. Iaquinta would be just a back-up for me. Those two simply can't play together. They are really bad, arguing and destroying each other. It does not work. When we have all strikers in form I'd give 8/10 but in some other occasion 7/10.

There are just so many players that we could use.
Kjaer-great partnership with Chiellini, and he's calm enough to start some action
Motta-good choice and maybe some swap deal. Good player imo, good going
forward, great crosses.
Mexes-Save me the trouble, I think it could work
Rafinha
I liked Cissokho
Criscito- ...maybe
Hamsik-I'm not sure it'd work
D'Agostino-something we need
Pizarro-something we need as well, he would be great IMO...not freakin' Ledesma
Kacar-covers the whole pitch, insane
Krasic-new Nedved
...

This, our so-called system is not going to work because we don't have anything! This is a bad way to go because we miss a lot on the side, it's exposed way too much and they are not going to fix it unless they buy new players. Grosso and Grygera won't improve.

Buffon

Motta-Chiellini-Kjaer-X

Momo-Melo

Krasic-Diego-Giovinco

X​

Marchisio as a hot player rotation. Those 2 would miss many matches. Maybe not so many passing from them but it would much better with new and better fullbacks. It would work IMO.

I'll 100% agree with you on Diego needing someone else to make runs off him and make some space in the last third. Camoranesi, Giovinco. SOMEONE with a clue going forward. Midfield needs to be allowed to use more attacking talent, because it won't work without some width (I remember Bianconero going on about this in the summer, good call). If we have width I don't see the need for a regista.

Fullbacks who can't defend. Obviously Maicon is one of a kind at the moment in that respect, but I don't want someone clueless defensively like Marcelo. Even Vargas was converted to a winger because he is clearly a monster when it comes to crossing the ball. I'm liking Criscito a lot, and he has the ability to put in a cross from deep as well which is handy. I think Molinaro is our fastest defender actually, and he is quite quick. Shame it's all run no product. I wouldn't say Cáceres is slow either.

Kačar/Krasić I'll have to trust you on, I haven't seen either of them play enough to judge.

 

[IrishZebra]

Even with those changes (which I for the most part, support) Ciro will be unable to manage tactically and from a man-management point of view when it goes tits up, like it is now.
This is the same a Ranieri in 2008, he had the two madrid games to save his career at this club, he won them but keeping him was clearly the wrong decision,
ciros going to get worse before he gets better,

Prandelli or Hiddink would be able to build a fantastic team in no time at all and make it WIN

That's why my wish for July is a new manager.

 

[Salvatore]

What about Gian Piero Gasperini?

 

[IrishZebra]

Meh, top 5 choice

 

[Dostoevsky]

ok, I'll read it fast.

Motta We need much better if we continue this style and even in this 4-2-3-1 he can't defend much better than Zebina. He's just ok. I want better.

Kjaer

Krasic, I've heard some good things about him. The bad? meelan.

Ledesma, Pizarro. Bench players for Juve. One or the other won't make a change but could do better than some of our bench players.

Kacar. Only him for the mid and a freebie if possible. The money should go for the defense. Kjaer, Srna/Lichtsteiner/Sagna, Criscito/Kolarov...

Add a L. Fabiano or Dzeko and we're good.

Stop with that he can't defend! If we stick with this style we won't win anything. His job is not to defend but go attack where he's very good at, he can cover back without many problems. I think he's really underrated and he would be great here. His crosses are amazing and he's simply 10 times better than Grygera. We could pull a good deal with some of our players.

Screw Milan.

Pizarro would much much more than Ledesma. His technique is great and his creativity/passing is way better than Ledesma's. And if there's anyone overrated it's Lichtsteiner.

I just woke up so I'll try to reply to some other posts later.

 

[Cheesio]

There are so many holes in this team that we must fix as soon as possible. It's going to be hard and we're going to need lots of money but it's actually the only way for us to reach Scudetto. People who are making fun of Inter, put off Juventus goggles.

First of all, I want to mention how our defense is one-dimensional. It gets scary when you think about it for a bit. NONE of all those are fast enough, in fact, all of them are slow. Second, they can't pass...even short passes are pretty bad. We only have Cannavaro who has some technique and who doesn't rush in and makes stupid mistakes like Chiellini sometimes. Third, forget the idea of "OMG WE CAN'T BUY A FULLBACK WHO CAN'T DEFEND", or don't...but tell me why does it matter so much. It's important to cover some place but not to have 4 central backs who can't do shit on the side. Think of the strongest teams and see their fullbacks, see if they are good in defense. That sort of "I want someone who can defend good" is usually something that you can see only in Italy. We need someone who's fast, who can cross and track back. Grosso is simply a World Cup wonder that shouldn't be hailed and overrated. Saying he's better than Molinaro doesn't mean anything, anything. Deal was good, but he's not a good player and not a starting XI material. I hope he's really a short-term solution but I doubt. Grygera? I don't need to comment his play I guess. I never saw 3 crosses from him on the same match, never. He's simply binded on our half where he can't even defend and who's our weakest link actually. Chiellini is the only player who's worth of starting spot for the next season but he's making many mistakes. He tries to pass but it's obvious he can't. So, our defense, 6/10.

Now, midfield. I'm totally against 4-3-1-2 formation if we're going to play with our current fullbacks and with 3 DM, having Poulsen as our savior. Diego is a player that doesn't get enough credit. When he gets the ball it's easy to notice he's our most talented player but the truth is that he doesn't have any player to play next to. He can create a chance out of nothing but it's not easy to play that role when you have Poulsen, Melo and Sissoko behind, who can't really pass nor create something big. When he turns his head he can only see Grosso and Grygera far back behind. I bet he gets a headache. Now if there's something to change it has to be a player who can actually pass, someone creative. Xabi Alonso that we "missed" or someone like D'Agostino, even Zanetti. I like Marchisio btw, I have high hopes for him. Don't fool yourselves with the likes of Ledesma. He's simply not a player that we can use and don't look it one-sided saying he's going to be free. We're chasing CL and Scudetto, splash it or lose it.
Easier solution IMO would be to turn our back to 4-3-1-2 and go with 4-3-3 or maybe even better with 4-2-3-1. If Trez is going to leave it'd be our best option probably. We'd have Del Piero and Camo as subs (if it's some attacking formation), they are missing much already and I don't know if we can count on them. I hope Alex will find the way out of his injuries in the end. Tiago and Poulsen should see the light at the of the tunnel. Hopefully we'll swap some for Motta or someone. We're not playing Giovinco when we must, when he's the only who can change something, it's weird. So midfield when it comes to destroying I'd give it 9/10 but for something else 6/10.

Strikers and AMC...Diego is great IMO, he can make it. Del Piero is not getting any younger, injuries...Trezeguet is on his way out it seems. It leaves us with Amauri and Iaquinta. Amauri is a type of player I'd keep because I still like him a lot and he's very good IMO. Iaquinta would be just a back-up for me. Those two simply can't play together. They are really bad, arguing and destroying each other. It does not work. When we have all strikers in form I'd give 8/10 but in some other occasion 7/10.

There are just so many players that we could use.
Kjaer-great partnership with Chiellini, and he's calm enough to start some action
Motta-good choice and maybe some swap deal. Good player imo, good going
forward, great crosses.
Mexes-Save me the trouble, I think it could work
Rafinha
I liked Cissokho
Criscito- ...maybe
Hamsik-I'm not sure it'd work
D'Agostino-something we need
Pizarro-something we need as well, he would be great IMO...not freakin' Ledesma
Kacar-covers the whole pitch, insane
Krasic-new Nedved
...

This, our so-called system is not going to work because we don't have anything! This is a bad way to go because we miss a lot on the side, it's exposed way too much and they are not going to fix it unless they buy new players. Grosso and Grygera won't improve.

Buffon

Motta-Chiellini-Kjaer-X

Momo-Melo

Krasic-Diego-Giovinco

X​

Marchisio as a hot player rotation. Those 2 would miss many matches. Maybe not so many passing from them but it would much better with new and better fullbacks. It would work IMO.

rafinha and cazorla instead of motta and krasic and we're set

 

[Tommy]

Cazorla

 

[The Curr]

What about Gian Piero Gasperini?

As long as he didn't make us play 3-4-3.

 

[The Curr]

I am not so worried about our LB situation as some here are. We can NOT go on using Grygera. I know some people (most people) are skeptical of Caceres but come on, let's be honest here. He has got to be better than Grygera can ever hope to aspire to be.

So we can keep using Grosso for the next couple of years? I really don't want that. We need a new, younger LB next season.

It is unfortunately clear now that in order to fix what we need to be a complete team "interesque" is going to be highly expensive. I think once we get a striker that is a natural goal scorer ala Torres/Villa mold whose style is like no other will help us out immensely. IMO there are 4 kinds of strikers. 1.) bench/backup, 2.) workers, 3.) finishers, 4.) do-it-alls. When I say do it all I mean a player that works his ass off, can finish his chances, and has a style all his own that is a nightmare to mark. That is why I picked villa/torres because they IMO fit the mold of something we need. I am not saying go after one of them, but to find a striker like that would be priceless. Amauri/IQ can work sooo hard but if their is no end product it's just a waste of burnt calories.

We need a Trez replacement (I've never seen Dzeko play so I won't say if he's the man for the job or not), and a Del Piero replacement (JOVETIC :xfinger: ).

Our midfield is good. Don't change it unless we had a type of midfielder that is box-to-box. As much as i wanted a regista this summer I am happy with what we have. Our midfield is the least of our worries by far. You could tell Sissoko just lacked that burst of speed but once he gets his sharpness back and by God if we can keep a healthy midfield our center 3 will be absolutely deadly.

I think we could do with a passer in there (like Tiago but actually good). Sell Tiago and Poulsen.

Ugh...our defense. Where do i start? Gryera...i hate him so much i don't even feel like spelling his name right. Where the hell is Zebina? I mean we see him a game and he looks fine the poof he is gone for 3 weeks. We need a RB and my vote goes down to two of Rafinha and my favorite Srna. Center back Kjaer and that is the ONLY CB I want...no one else. He is young, intelligent, dare I say brilliant and has an air about him that just screams class. The "kids" positioning is brilliant. I mean damn if he can read a game as well as he does now can you imagine what he will be doing in 5-6 years?? Chiellini is still learning, but lets be honest he will never lead a back line, he will always be the destroyer of the defense but I don't see him directing 3 other defenders and still know what "he" has to do. 3 defenders is not going to be easy, that is why I am saying our LB is fine. I think Criscito will do great...fuck the haters/doubters. And DC...fuck those doubters/haters too. We had(have) two gems waiting to shine and we go for a grosso.

I don't think Criscito will come back.
I agree with you about DC.

I get tired of guessing numbers but here goes again:

Out:
poulsen 7m
tiago 7m
grygera 5m
zebina 4m
legro 4m
trez 7m

total: 34m

In:
kjaer:15m
Srna: 18m
dzeko: 25m
Criscito: 7m

Total: 66m - 34m (from sales) = 32m...not fucking bad at all.

It'll be hard to get that much for Tiago, Grygera, Legro and Zebina. I hope SUCKo is up to the job. Also, I don't think we should sell Zebina and Grygera.

Hopefully we can sell Moli to Roma.

In attack we get a great young player to replace a legend. Large shoes filled. Hell, at this point I am even up for selling either Amauri or Iaquinta. PLUS we have Giovinco who simply needs to transition into DP's role. I am not sure what the hell the delay is for that but it needs to happen.

IMO Gio's finishing will stop him from ever becoming a "DP", at any club.

 

[Red]

...

I could hardly agree more.

To be writing off this team and Ferrara and demanding big changes at this early a stage seems premature at best and plain wrong at worst.

 

[Osman]

Indeed, extremely well put Cronios.

 

[Bozi]

OMG Cronios is telling us not to be too downhearted and that there is hope

 

[Mark]

Stop with that he can't defend! If we stick with this style we won't win anything. His job is not to defend but go attack where he's very good at, he can cover back without many problems. I think he's really underrated and he would be great here. His crosses are amazing and he's simply 10 times better than Grygera. We could pull a good deal with some of our players.

Screw Milan.

Pizarro would much much more than Ledesma. His technique is great and his creativity/passing is way better than Ledesma's. And if there's anyone overrated it's Lichtsteiner.

I just woke up so I'll try to reply to some other posts later.

His crosses are amazing? I think he's not much better than Grosso in that department and he needs to defend well to play in Serie A. Guys like him or Zuniga would get sh*t every week here when they have a brain fart. Of course Motta is better than Grygera but I want a serious contender to start for us. Motta for Molinaro would be good but wouldn't really make us take the next step.

So Litch is overrated? ok, I'll stop.

 

[Mark]

RB: Sagna
CB: Kjaer
LB: Criscito
CM: Kacar and a freebie depending our system. A CM if we still play 4-3-1-2 or a player that plays wide in a 4-2-3-1.
FW: Dzeko or L. Fabiano

 

[Hust]

So we can keep using Grosso for the next couple of years? I really don't want that. We need a new, younger LB next season.

We need a Trez replacement (I've never seen Dzeko play so I won't say if he's the man for the job or not), and a Del Piero replacement (JOVETIC :xfinger: ).

I think we could do with a passer in there (like Tiago but actually good). Sell Tiago and Poulsen.

I don't think Criscito will come back.
I agree with you about DC.

It'll be hard to get that much for Tiago, Grygera, Legro and Zebina. I hope SUCKo is up to the job. Also, I don't think we should sell Zebina and Grygera.

Hopefully we can sell Moli to Roma.

IMO Gio's finishing will stop him from ever becoming a "DP", at any club.

Then we should just sell Giovinco because no one seems to know where to put him and our club is not giving him a chance anywhere or showing any consistent faith in him. He has only ever played when needed due to an injury stricken team. Perhaps its time to cash in. I would be up for a jovetic/giovinco swap plus cash to bring the viola man to replace DP...that I can live with.

I think we can get criscito back. We need to, he is better than molinaro/de ceglie and grosso has his moments but i have yet to see why we bought him. I don't think it would be hard to get the money i guessed for our players. i think we could come damn close to it. If anything use them in player exchanges.

My #1 pick for someone to fill trez's shoes is Dzeko. Who else is out there to do what trez does and is young? No one say L. Fabiano because what is the use of spending heavy money for an older player only to have to do it again sooner rather than later when we could get a younger player just as deadly and not have to spend heavy again in such a short amount of time. Our planning needs to be better.

I also meant that we get Criscito back and us DC/Grosso as backups. I actually forgot about Molinaro, so good we can sell him to Roma.

We really need some heavy investments. I am not talking about completely rejuvenating the entire team like Red was claiming a few posts back. I am merely saying that when we invest we need to invest HEAVY in a player that is going to bring quality from day one. Not someone with potential or has done well in the past like tiago or poulsen but someone that is going to light the field on fire in their positions. IMO Hamsik, Jovetic, Dzeko, Rafinha, Srna, Kjaer and even Criscito as well....all those players will guarantee success in their positions. They will do their jobs well...that is what is important there. We don't needs backups anymore we need players that can walk onto the top 4 clubs in the world and play. No more grygeras, etc. The time for adding depth is over and can no longer be an excuse, we need class with every purchase we make. If we can find some Bosmans that give us that then fucking great, but if not then we need to spend.

Also, for bloody sakes...we need to use our fucking youth academy for a change. NO MORE FUCKING LOANS otherwise our brightest talents like Iago end up on a second class teams Primaveras...that was the worst deal in years IMO. All of you claimed a loan would be good for him, no look at him. Shame on you.

Look at our team/club. We are screaming for them to take risks, make some changes, etc. Well playing youth in our starting 11 is just that. A risk. I really don't understand why some here are screaming for Ciro to take a risk, change the formation and all of these bold moves but no one wants to take the risk of playing a bright young talent. This is where I give clubs credit that find the Hamsiks, Lavezzis, Kjaers, Bocchetti's, Jovetic's, etc....that have the balls to take a risk and it gives them millions why clubs like us spend millions to buy those players. Its a vicious cycle and if we continue to have to spend 25m for a top talent because someone else found them then shame on us because we have our own in our own academy and instead of giving them a chance like another club would we send ours out only to end up in another teams youth team...fuck that.

 

[Mark]

Here's my take on it.

There are so many holes in this team that we must fix as soon as possible. It's going to be hard and we're going to need lots of money but it's actually the only way for us to reach Scudetto. People who are making fun of Inter, put off Juventus goggles.

First of all, I want to mention how our defense is one-dimensional. It gets scary when you think about it for a bit. NONE of all those are fast enough, in fact, all of them are slow. Second, they can't pass...even short passes are pretty bad. We only have Cannavaro who has some technique and who doesn't rush in and makes stupid mistakes like Chiellini sometimes. Third, forget the idea of "OMG WE CAN'T BUY A FULLBACK WHO CAN'T DEFEND", or don't...but tell me why does it matter so much. It's important to cover some place but not to have 4 central backs who can't do shit on the side. Think of the strongest teams and see their fullbacks, see if they are good in defense. That sort of "I want someone who can defend good" is usually something that you can see only in Italy. We need someone who's fast, who can cross and track back. Grosso is simply a World Cup wonder that shouldn't be hailed and overrated. Saying he's better than Molinaro doesn't mean anything, anything. Deal was good, but he's not a good player and not a starting XI material. I hope he's really a short-term solution but I doubt. Grygera? I don't need to comment his play I guess. I never saw 3 crosses from him on the same match, never. He's simply binded on our half where he can't even defend and who's our weakest link actually. Chiellini is the only player who's worth of starting spot for the next season but he's making many mistakes. He tries to pass but it's obvious he can't. So, our defense, 6/10.

Now, midfield. I'm totally against 4-3-1-2 formation if we're going to play with our current fullbacks and with 3 DM, having Poulsen as our savior. Diego is a player that doesn't get enough credit. When he gets the ball it's easy to notice he's our most talented player but the truth is that he doesn't have any player to play next to. He can create a chance out of nothing but it's not easy to play that role when you have Poulsen, Melo and Sissoko behind, who can't really pass nor create something big. When he turns his head he can only see Grosso and Grygera far back behind. I bet he gets a headache. Now if there's something to change it has to be a player who can actually pass, someone creative. Xabi Alonso that we "missed" or someone like D'Agostino, even Zanetti. I like Marchisio btw, I have high hopes for him. Don't fool yourselves with the likes of Ledesma. He's simply not a player that we can use and don't look it one-sided saying he's going to be free. We're chasing CL and Scudetto, splash it or lose it.
Easier solution IMO would be to turn our back to 4-3-1-2 and go with 4-3-3 or maybe even better with 4-2-3-1. If Trez is going to leave it'd be our best option probably. We'd have Del Piero and Camo as subs (if it's some attacking formation), they are missing much already and I don't know if we can count on them. I hope Alex will find the way out of his injuries in the end. Tiago and Poulsen should see the light at the of the tunnel. Hopefully we'll swap some for Motta or someone. We're not playing Giovinco when we must, when he's the only who can change something, it's weird. So midfield when it comes to destroying I'd give it 9/10 but for something else 6/10.

Strikers and AMC...Diego is great IMO, he can make it. Del Piero is not getting any younger, injuries...Trezeguet is on his way out it seems. It leaves us with Amauri and Iaquinta. Amauri is a type of player I'd keep because I still like him a lot and he's very good IMO. Iaquinta would be just a back-up for me. Those two simply can't play together. They are really bad, arguing and destroying each other. It does not work. When we have all strikers in form I'd give 8/10 but in some other occasion 7/10.

There are just so many players that we could use.
Kjaer-great partnership with Chiellini, and he's calm enough to start some action
Motta-good choice and maybe some swap deal. Good player imo, good going
forward, great crosses.
Mexes-Save me the trouble, I think it could work
Rafinha
I liked Cissokho
Criscito- ...maybe
Hamsik-I'm not sure it'd work
D'Agostino-something we need
Pizarro-something we need as well, he would be great IMO...not freakin' Ledesma
Kacar-covers the whole pitch, insane
Krasic-new Nedved
...

This, our so-called system is not going to work because we don't have anything! This is a bad way to go because we miss a lot on the side, it's exposed way too much and they are not going to fix it unless they buy new players. Grosso and Grygera won't improve.

Buffon

Sagna-Chiellini-Kjaer-Criscito

Momo-Melo

Krasic-Diego-Giovinco

Dzeko

Marchisio as a hot player rotation. Those 2 would miss many matches. Maybe not so many passing from them but it would much better with new and better fullbacks. It would work IMO.

I think we are completely over complicating our current situation. Our strikers are just not scoring the way they have in the last 2 seasons. Last year and the year before that everyone was scoring, this year it's definitely not the case. We are years behind Inter unfortunately. With a completely depleted offense they still win 5-0. Our offense is nearly full strength and we tie.

I am not so worried about our LB situation as some here are. We can NOT go on using Grygera. I know some people (most people) are skeptical of Caceres but come on, let's be honest here. He has got to be better than Grygera can ever hope to aspire to be.

It is unfortunately clear now that in order to fix what we need to be a complete team "interesque" is going to be highly expensive. I think once we get a striker that is a natural goal scorer ala Torres/Villa mold whose style is like no other will help us out immensely. IMO there are 4 kinds of strikers. 1.) bench/backup, 2.) workers, 3.) finishers, 4.) do-it-alls. When I say do it all I mean a player that works his ass off, can finish his chances, and has a style all his own that is a nightmare to mark. That is why I picked villa/torres because they IMO fit the mold of something we need. I am not saying go after one of them, but to find a striker like that would be priceless. Amauri/IQ can work sooo hard but if their is no end product it's just a waste of burnt calories.

Our midfield is good. Don't change it unless we had a type of midfielder that is box-to-box. As much as i wanted a regista this summer I am happy with what we have. Our midfield is the least of our worries by far. You could tell Sissoko just lacked that burst of speed but once he gets his sharpness back and by God if we can keep a healthy midfield our center 3 will be absolutely deadly.

Ugh...our defense. Where do i start? Gryera...i hate him so much i don't even feel like spelling his name right. Where the hell is Zebina? I mean we see him a game and he looks fine the poof he is gone for 3 weeks. We need a RB and my vote goes down to two of Rafinha and my favorite Srna. Center back Kjaer and that is the ONLY CB I want...no one else. He is young, intelligent, dare I say brilliant and has an air about him that just screams class. The "kids" positioning is brilliant. I mean damn if he can read a game as well as he does now can you imagine what he will be doing in 5-6 years?? Chiellini is still learning, but lets be honest he will never lead a back line, he will always be the destroyer of the defense but I don't see him directing 3 other defenders and still know what "he" has to do. 3 defenders is not going to be easy, that is why I am saying our LB is fine. I think Criscito will do great...fuck the haters/doubters. And DC...fuck those doubters/haters too. We had(have) two gems waiting to shine and we go for a grosso.

At the end of the day our next mercato is going to be much more expensive than this summer. We layed the solid groundwork for a super structure but we still have a ways to go. I think if we could spend the money this winter and get Dzeko our second half of the season will be so much stronger. Summer is when we spend our entire budget on defense.

I get tired of guessing numbers but here goes again:

Out:
poulsen 7m
tiago 7m
grygera 5m
zebina 4m
legro 4m
trez 7m

total: 34m

In:
kjaer:15m
Srna: 18m
dzeko: 25m
Criscito: 7m

Total: 66m - 34m (from sales) = 32m...not fucking bad at all.

that way we have a new CB plus Ariaudo as backup to replace Legro. We have a new RB srna and perhaps Caceres will stay. And whatever happens with Grosso/De Ceglie we would have Cricsito back. That is 8 defenders for the defense.

In attack we get a great young player to replace a legend. Large shoes filled. Hell, at this point I am even up for selling either Amauri or Iaquinta. PLUS we have Giovinco who simply needs to transition into DP's role. I am not sure what the hell the delay is for that but it needs to happen.

We get these players IMO our problems are solved and the 4312 will succeed. But only until then, right now I think with the players we have the 4231 will be the best.

To be the best we need to have the best (or close to it). The Poulsens and the Tiagos and the Gryeras and Grossos won't give us that. All you need to do is watch Inter. Their two best strikers can sit comfortably in the stands and watch their team beat a strong challenging team 5-0 while they watch us on the jumbo tron struggling to last 10 mins before conceding a goal. Unfortunately Calciopoli set us back years. Right now you can see that as clear as day.

I agree with alot Dusan said, though I am not the "transfer guru" so I don't think anyone will read this anyways.

Before you go raving on Ferrara, this system, his choices and our current performance, just consider a few things first!

When we made the planning of the season, we already had 4 high class forwards.
Just 2 AMFs (Camo,Giovinco) and 5DM/CMs (Sissoko,Marchisio,Poulsen, Zanetti,Tiago/Almiron)

So it was completely impossible to build a team for the 4-2-3-1 from there, without wasting all those players upfront and without that acquisition of at least 3-4 new AMFs (2 starters and 2 subs)
DP seemed fit, Amauri is young, healthy and will return on form soon or later, Iaq is on fire and Treze is finally back.
It would be a real shame to waste 3 of them on the bench at any time.
Because we had no good wingers and no option to turn back to the failed 4-4-2
So, we have preferred to switch on this formation, that fits with our available material and our number one target (Diego)

However, for this formation to work, we needed great fullbacks.
We got Grosso and Caceres and hoped that Zebina will be available too
(it seemed that way, at least to some).

Atm our original plans didnt fail just yet.
But only our adaptation to them, caused by the injuries that obstructed their use!

A healthy Zebina among Canna, Chiellini and Grosso wouldnt be that bad!
A Sissoko Marchisio Melo line wouldnt be intimidated by anyone and the pace, strength and even passing (Marchisio) coming from them and some decent crossing/passes from Zebi/Grosso
Would help Diego to overlap most of our current issues.
Ideally, upfront we would use a solid prolific finisher Treze/DP paired with a great creative beast-warrior-forward (Amauri/Iaq)

On theory we have enough subs to replace any of those key players (Caceres,Giovinco,DC,Camo etc) but for one reason or the other, they didnt...just yet...

Yesterday, we have seen how important a dynamic and fast paced player, like Sissoko, can be for our midfield. although the early yellow had his hands tied and he is not an AMF, many times he was in a position to threaten the opposition.
Imagine him being completely fit (lets not forget that he just returned from a long injury issue and lost most of the summer training) and adapted to the new acquisitions/teamwork and system!!
Imagine him to be paired among with an on form Melo and Marchisio!

Before we see that and it fails, we should stop asking for a change in formation right now!
Besides we dint have the tools for that. Giovinco is not having a great season,
to field a 4-2-3-1 now would mean:
-Less pressure to our fullbacks - Good
-Utilize just 2 of our 6 available DM/CMs - Passable, considering that 3 are injured
-Utilize 3 of our 3 AMFs (Giovinco, Diego,Camo) - Dangerous, what happens if one cant for any reason, at any time???
-Utilize just one of our 4 high class forward - counter effective, even with DP being injured

All that, just to become a bit more spectacular to watch?
Just drop all the training and schemes we have used and trained for so far and start the season from the beginning?
I believe at this point, without new acquisitions we cant and we should even consider doing that.


Sissoko has just returned, lets wait and see how his partnership with Melo and Diego will work out first. I believe that this was the bet of our season.
Yesterday Melo wasnt as good as usual, lets see what happens when all three of them are fit and rolling.
Lets see what happens if we put an on form Marchisio, Camo or Tiago on the mix.

Hopefully Amauri will start scoring too and we will stop wasting the opportunities we create. Imagine him coming back and paired with DP, while having Diego, Melo, Marchisio and Sissoko on their back and tell me that wont be an overkill!

We are a young team, with a new coach, new system and new key players.
We need more time to see our potential.
This is the price we have to pay, for taking that long to replace what was holding us back.

We have been constantly lacking two/thirds of our planned starters, in our first eleven, in key positions, so far;

Yes its normal to have creativity issues if Diego isnt absent out there,
Giovinco and Camo playing like Shit, when called to replace him and our fullbacks being our classic fullbacks...

Yes its normal to be intimidated in the midfield and lose solidarity if we lack
2 of our 3 starters (Sissoko,Marchisio,Melo)

Yes its normal to be a push over from Fiorentina's left side (Vargas,Jovetic)
When we have to rely on Grygera, because Zebi is injured and Caceres is not the acquisition we hoped to be...

Yes we are about to create and waste a whole load of chances upfront if we are playing without a finisher! Amauri and Iaq were always great at creating chances,
but not as effective when they had to finish them.

All those issues are affecting our team lately and IMO its normal that we under-perform, we are a new team and dont have the necessary teamwork to compensate just yet.
Its really unfortunate that we have to play, fielding using our the less optimal choices,for key positions (just 1/3 of our starters, not even 2/3, if not 3/3)
for every line, at almost every match,
but hopefully our luck will return some time.

That was one of the Inter's advantages against us this year and it has now started to pay off.
We may start rolling in the future and they may start chocking when they feel the pressure, but right now we cant press them and it all works to their favor...

I believe that we still have the resources to bounce back!
Treze seem to be returning, Amauri has finally scored, Iaq has a great season, Giovinco can surely do better than that, Caceres might eventually become a solution too, or we might finally make a RB acquisition at x-mas.
And do not underestimate what the Diego, Melo, Marchisio, Sissoko partnership can do.
We havent seen that yet and it was supposed to be that way, all season long!

 

[Dostoevsky]

So Litch is overrated? ok, I'll stop.

He had a couple of good matches and people are acting like he's Dani Alves.

Average player in my books.

 

[The Curr]

You're killing me with these essays. I'll read Cron's and Mark's later on.