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Serie A Thread - 2014/15 Season

Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

But you didn't really have much of a choice Zeem, did you? Cuz I think Milan and Bordeaux had already agreed months ago when the loan was initially made that IF Bordeaux choose to do so, they can make this move permanent by offering a certain amount of $$$ (that they have first option and if they do, the offer has to be accepted) and I guess Girondins decided to do so (They'd be stupid not to, to be honest) and Yoann wanted to stay with them.

So I think, yah having lost Gourcuff is a bad move by Milan administration, but they didn't lose him 'now', they dropped the ball on this case a long time ago. Just not officially until now

p.s. Very nice to see Pep dedicate the CL Victory to Paolo!!!!! And apparently Sebastien Frey is arranging a party for him too! :D

Long Live the Legend!
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I think this will open up a huge race for his signature next summer. Blanc has done amazing job.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

PLF said:
But you didn't really have much of a choice Zeem, did you? Cuz I think Milan and Bordeaux had already agreed months ago when the loan was initially made that IF Bordeaux choose to do so, they can make this move permanent by offering a certain amount of $$$ (that they have first option and if they do, the offer has to be accepted) and I guess Girondins decided to do so (They'd be stupid not to, to be honest) and Yoann wanted to stay with them.
So I think, yah having lost Gourcuff is a bad move by Milan administration, but they didn't lose him 'now', they dropped the ball on this case a long time ago. Just not officially until now
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You're probably right mate! I wrote that in a moment of madness. But Milan if they really needed him to come, they would have easily convinced him by giving him a starting place like they did with Borriello. I think what happened is that Milan couldn't give him that spot because of the other players they have which makes me sad because he is exactly what we needed. A great young player who is fired up to prove himself in a big team.

Milan should really have a great summer planned if they want to compete with the teams Inter and Juve, and even Genoa and Fiorentina are building. And Luca Toni is not the answer. :RANT:

PLF said:
p.s. Very nice to see Pep dedicate the CL Victory to Paolo!!!!! And apparently Sebastien Frey is arranging a party for him too! :D

Long Live the Legend!
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I hope Maldini scores a penalty in him :D
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

[quoteThe players called up to face Northern Ireland are:

Goalkeepers: De Sanctis (Galatasaray), Marchetti (Cagliari);
Defenders: Cassani (Palermo), Dossena (Liverpool), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Grosso (Olympique Lione), Esposito (Lecce), Legrottaglie (Juventus), Santon (Inter)
Midfielders: Biagianti (Catania), Brighi (Roma), D’Agostino (Udinese), Galloppa (Siena), Gattuso (Milan), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Palombo (Sampdoria)
Strikers: Foggia (Lazio), Mascara (Catania), Pazzini (Sampdoria), Pellissier (Chievo), Rossi Giuseppe (Villarreal)

Meanwhile, below is the players already confirmed to take part in the Confederations Cup, Lippi will add another ten names from the previous list to round out the squad.

Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), Amelia (Palermo)
Defenders Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Zambrotta (Milan)
Midfielders: Camoranesi (Juventus), De Rossi (Roma), Pepe (Udinese), Pirlo (Milan)
Strikers: Gilardino (Fiorentina), Iaquinta (Juventus), Quagliarella (Udinese), Toni (Bayern Munich)



on 4 june Lippi will make official 23 callups, by now he choose only 13 players, so by now I will switch Di Natale with Quagliarella, Aquilani with Iaquinta and Maggio with Legrottaglie (because they are all injured and surely won't be called for Confederation Cup)[/quote]

Exciting to see so many new names on here. I'm really hoping the best for Pellissier in his 1st NT cap :D . It's cool to see players from the lesser followed clubs get a chance like Chievo, Catania, Siena & Lecce.

So the players called up for Norther Ireland match will be fighting for 10 spots.

So basically:
1 GK: De Sanctis vs Marchetti
1 LB: Dossena vs. Grosso vs. Esposito
1 RB: Cassani vs. Santon
2 CB: Gamberini & Legrottaglie
1 Regista: D’Agostino vs. Montolivo
1 Metodista: Biagianti vs Palombo
1 CMF: Brighi vs. Galloppa vs. Gattuso
1 SS/WF: Foggia vs Mascara vs Rossi
1 CF: Pazzini vs Pellissier

My guesses for the final spots are in red

I could see them choosing Dossena over Santon; Mascara or Brighi over Pazzini. They already have so much firepower upfront with Gila, Iaquinta, Quags & Toni....not sure they need another CF. But I'd love for either Pellissier or Pazzini to make the squad.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Zeem said:
You're probably right mate! I wrote that in a moment of madness. But Milan if they really needed him to come, they would have easily convinced him by giving him a starting place like they did with Borriello. I think what happened is that Milan couldn't give him that spot because of the other players they have which makes me sad because he is exactly what we needed. A great young player who is fired up to prove himself in a big team.

Milan should really have a great summer planned if they want to compete with the teams Inter and Juve, and even Genoa and Fiorentina are building. And Luca Toni is not the answer. :RANT:



I hope Maldini scores a penalty in him :D
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Agreed it would have been the perfect time to cash in on Kaka and allowing Gourcuff to take his spot and using those funds on other area's.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

as Sina pointed out, milan lost yohann when they put that loan-purchase clause in the contract.

and however bringing back yohann would have meant selling kakà. now sure gourcouff had an amazing season. he stepped up and proved right those who considered him a fantastic talent.
but filling kaka's shoes? that's a huge responsability!

and however zeem it's not like milan is that far from the european big guns (namely man utd, chelsea, liverpool, inter and barca).

u definitely need to rejuvinate your defense. but we got to admit, milan is aready doing it. antonini had a very good first season ad i can see a bright future for this guy.... and if thiago silva is half as good as they picture it, that might be another great addition.

but the rest of the team doesn't really need extreme adjustments. i have huge expectations on the pato-borrielo partnership we should see next season.
and concerning the midfield....

gattuso----pirlo----ambrosini (or flamini)

-----------kakà

that looks awesome to me. this is a great midfield, with lots of balance and quality and none of em is really old yet. to be honest i can't think of many european stars who could easily get a starter spot in this midfield setup.


rumours say chelsea is after zhirkov (great signing!). if that's true, it might be the confirmation that ancelotti will be chalsea's coach next season, as carletto always said he loves yuri.

and there are others (scary) rumours. pirlo might follow carletto in london.
now that would be a tragedy!

concerning the italy call ups, i really can't understand why lippi insists on dossena as grosso's backup, given the amazing season balzaretti had :BLINK:

nice to see esposito though. he's been (along with pique, bocchetti, evans and kjaer) one of the most impressive young centrebacks in europe this season.

on this concern, after that fantastic sliding tackle pique did in the CL final, i told my mate "now expect everyone in europe saying - OMG this is da best young defender in da world!!! -" :LOL:
my friend (wisely) replied "yeah, that's because no one knows the likes of bocchetti, kjaer and esposito"
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

So Esposito is actually a CB who can play LB also? I know the 1st match that I saw him at CB it was a disaster paired with Schiavi. But since there I noticed he looked a lot more comfortable. I honestly wouldn't have put him in the class of Boschetti or Kjaer(and I would have been wrong). I would have compared him most similarly to Mantovani...
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Any truth to the rumour of Adebayor going to Milan? I heard Silvio wants CR7. Where the heck are they gonna get the money for that???
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

jmg721 said:
I honestly wouldn't have put him in the class of Boschetti or Kjaer(and I would have been wrong). I would have compared him most similarly to Mantovani...
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i realise i wasn't really clear in my previous post. what i meant to say, by reporting that conversation with my mate is that it's impossible to rate, label or classify any of em yet (pique, evans bocchetti, kjaer).
they don't have enough experience (i mean "starter-experience") yet, so the only thing we can say about them is wheter or not they're promising (or impressive). anything more than that would just be unappropriate and wrong.

so esposito doesn't belong to kjaer's or pique's class.... but that's because kjaer and pique themselves, still don't belong to any class at all.

in the last few years many young cbs impressed a lot: the first names that come into my mind are pique, evans, garay, santacroce (but there are probably a few others i'm forgetting right now), then this season kjaer, bocchetti and esposito (just to name a few) joined this group.
but non of em is a "great player" or a "young great player" yet. they're all just promising (or impressive) at the moment.
if i had to talk about a great young cb, then i would talk about zapata or felipe, who, despite their young age, already have much more experience than those guys i mentioned before. :))

edit: i forgot to reply to your first question, jason. yes, andrea is a cb who can also work on the left (in a 3 men flat-line). he also played as a pure leftback sometimes this season, but that's not his proper role.
pique is a bit better than him in terms of vision, bocchetti is a bit better than him in terms of technique, santacroce is a bit better in terms of anticipation and kjaer is a bit better in terms of positioning.

but as i said earlier what theese guys are today, can't tell us anything about what they'll turn out to be in 2,3,4 years.
they're all young promises today, and andrea might turn out to be a better player than all of em.
one thing is for sure. u don't see many tall centrebacks with such a high agility ratio. and his composure is just stunning for such a newbie.:))

juve and roma have been following this kid in the last 2 years... and if i remember well, milan too showed some interest on him.

2nd edit: Miccoli renewed his contract! rosanero till 2012 :DANCE:
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Nedved leaves Juve also, but not football. Interesting.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Grazie Nedved :SAL:. Even with all the diving he still one of the all time greats. But we need to start replacing these great players. Otherwisee serie a is going to lag once again in europe.

palombo isn't a deep-lying playmaker.
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But surely his playmaking skills are better than Conti, who you mentioned earlier in the same senetence as Liverani and D'Agostino?

Goalkeepers: De Sanctis (Galatasaray), Marchetti (Cagliari);
Defenders: Cassani (Palermo), Dossena (Liverpool), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Grosso (Olympique Lione), Esposito (Lecce), Legrottaglie (Juventus), Santon (Inter)
Midfielders: Biagianti (Catania), Brighi (Roma), D’Agostino (Udinese), Galloppa (Siena), Gattuso (Milan), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Palombo (Sampdoria)
Strikers: Foggia (Lazio), Mascara (Catania), Pazzini (Sampdoria), Pellissier (Chievo), Rossi Giuseppe (Villarreal)
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Where's Santacroce, Mannini, Balzaretti, Castellazzi, Conti, Pisano and Amelia?

Agreed it would have been the perfect time to cash in on Kaka and allowing Gourcuff to take his spot and using those funds on other area's.
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As an Interista I'd love for that to happen. No more Kaka *wipes forehead*... great, might as well hand us the scudetto first thing in August. I don't care how good Yohann is, if bringing him in will interfere in any way with Kaka's game (like what happened with Ronaldinho) then its good you cashed in on him now when he's a hot prospect. I don't think Milanista's appreciate how good Kaka is. I would trade 2/3's of the Inter squad for a semi-injured Kaka, any day :DD

And any thoughts on the apparent Lavezzi transfer saga? I hear he's not happy about his wages. IMO, with only 7 goals to his name this season, Napoli should go ahead and sell, replace him Quagirella and one other striker (maybe hijack Crespo deal before he signs for Genoa :D).
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

What was more disappointing...Catania's defense today...or Torino all season :FAIL:
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

What made my day was Sandro playing. Did'nt see that coming until I saw him warming up after Jankulovski got knocked down. Looked very solid and bring back confidence. :)

Leonardo is our COACH - Breaking News. Loved the fact Galliani kept on hugging him all game. :D

Maldini got what he got, an Amazing end. Great farewell and the fans gave him an amazing standing ovation.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Thanks Ancelotti..... one of the best managers around. Too bad it didnt finish as well as he had hoped thanks to our management.

Final standings:

picture6j.png
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

rfu said:
But surely his playmaking skills are better than Conti, who you mentioned earlier in the same senetence as Liverani and D'Agostino?
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i mentioned conti alongside of em coz he is a pure regista ;)
palombo is an amazing player. i can count just a few midfielders in europe as complete and "all around" as he is.

but as i said earlier, a metodista can't absolve regista's duties better than a proper regista ;)

rfu said:
Where's Santacroce, Mannini, Balzaretti, Castellazzi, Conti, Pisano and Amelia?
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balzaretti and pisano definitely deserved the call up more than dossena and santon. and i do agree mannini, castellazzi and conti could deserve a call aswell.

however theese callups don't deserve a particular attention, as they represent some sort of a "season prize" for a couple of interesting players..... amelia's spot is guarranteed for the impotant call ups.... and santacroce is on his way to get into italy's team :))


rfu said:
And any thoughts on the apparent Lavezzi transfer saga? I hear he's not happy about his wages. IMO, with only 7 goals to his name this season, Napoli should go ahead and sell, replace him Quagirella and one other striker (maybe hijack Crespo deal before he signs for Genoa ).
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it's not a matter of wage really. everything was ok, until lavezzi's agent heard about liverpool's interest.... as i said a few weeks ago...
however, even though lavezzi loves napoli, when a club like liverpool calls, u can't just pretend nothing happened. lavezzi and his agent might ask de laurentis to let him leave, and start complaining about it.... and this might help u a lot.
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so ancelotti eventually left.... got to say i'm quite sad about it. i still believe this is the stupidest move milan did in the past few years (and milan did a lot of very stupid move in the past few years).

speaking of tragic news.... ballardini is leaving aswell :CRY::CRY::CRY::CRY:
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Ibra was the second Swede to be the capocannoniere in Serie A. Gunnar Nordahl was the first one, last time 54 years ago (Nordahl won it 5 years in a row though).

Pretty good season for him with 23 goals and 7 assist in 34 league games. Personally I would like to see him in a better club, but it looks like he will stay in Inter. Can't see them having a chance on CL next season either from looking at what player they've bought and trying to buy.

Goals from other forwards in the team:
Balotelli: 8
Adriano: 3
Crespo: 2
Cruz: 2
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I think Amelia in the definite squad for the Confederations Cup and that's why he's not in the second 'group' of players.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

lo zio said:
so ancelotti eventually left.... got to say i'm quite sad about it. i still believe this is the stupidest move milan did in the past few years (and milan did a lot of very stupid move in the past few years).:CRY::CRY::CRY::CRY:
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I think it was definitely time for a change at Milan. But getting a coach that is already in the club and knows the players, I don't know.

Ancelotti, at Chelsea, can be very dangerous I think. He can choose any player he wants and the club will not have any trouble getting him like Yuri for example. He's got world-class midfielders, but would love to see how he plays wingers. Got to rely on pace though more, Seedorf will be a disaster there. :D

Good Luck Carletto! :SAL:
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I have a funny feeling that Leonardo will prove to be a very, very bad choice for Milan.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Zeem said:
I think it was definitely time for a change at Milan.
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it was indeed time for a change. galliani and berlusca should have finally back off and let ancelotti build the team he wanted. that would have been a good change.

with this coach change instead, milan is gonna get a coach who is even more tied to the club than carletto was.
wich means that for leonardo it's gonna be even harder than it was for carletto to say "No! i don't want this player! i need this one, this one and this one"

with this move galliani and berlusconi are gonna get even more freedom of action than before. and that's everything but a good news for a milan fan.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I agree with Ben.
People like Leonardo, who are tied to a club like that, should never become coach/manager.
Until now he was used to think in the long term.
Now he will be judged weekly.
A transformation like that almost never succeeds. In the end both Milan and Leonardo will loose. But Leonardo himself will be the biggest victim.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I'm with Ben on this, Leonardo's going to suffer because of his loyalty.
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Galliani and Berlusconi also haven't ruled out selling Kaka to Real. Could be long season for Milan fans :((
 
Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

lo zio said:
it was indeed time for a change. galliani and berlusca should have finally back off and let ancelotti build the team he wanted. that would have been a good change.
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Well we all know that never gonna happen. So let's stay in reality.

You can not deny that the Berlusconi era was Milan's most successful who ever the coach was, which means Berlusconi knowns football, very well I would say. It is not the best administration, but better than many other teams. Leonardo is definitely a risk, but so were other coaches this administration risked putting, and I think the turkey coach was the only one who failed. Let's hope Leonardo is not the second. :D

Also, Leonardo did get us Kaka, Pato, we will wait and see Thiago Silva, and I hear there is this guy named Kierrison in Brazil that we are after is pretty good. So in the end, Leonardo did scout us some talents who are the best players in Milan at the moment. Plus, recently Milan did pay 23 mill for 17 year old Pato, which must mean they somehow have confidence with his choices. Milan just keep getting more Brazilian. :D

As for his coaching skills, we will just have to wait and see. It is not important if you have a degree or not, but how you are with the players. That's what scares me, Leonardo knows the players and frightfully he might not have power over some. As for reading the game, Central midfielders are ussually good at that. :)

As for Galliani, well 20 mill were a splash at Ronaldinho, but then again, Kaka is not 100% staying and now that Perez is there, i'd say its a 50-50 chance. If that happens, who are the players out there for sale that can do this job? Gourcuff was good but we lost him, and Milan are definately not willing to pay 40 mill for a world class playmaker. Concerning Beckham, he was only for merchendaising to cover a little for Milan not joining the CL. As for playing him, well you can't get a guy to pay 10 mill out of his own pocket and not play him. All of us disagreed with this move, but Football these days is not only football.

For future signings, well the list is known. Adebayor, Mexes/Agger, and Kjaer. I got to say you can never disagree with the administration if they bring you these players.

For Ancelotti, no doubt one of the best, but after 8 years with almost the same players, it is hard to find motivation. He said he needed a new motivation and Chelsea can give him that. Best of luck!
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

I don't think we're that bad off as people are saying. Sure Leonardo loves the club and the club loves him... but he is quite a charismatic person and everyone loves him. He will also have Galli and Tassotti as his assistant managers - full of experience and have been around with Ancelotti.

I think Kaka will definitely stay this summer, especially since Leonardo is one of the key men in making him turn down City. Our attack will consist of Pato,Kaka, Ronaldinho, Borriello, Inzaghi and a new signing - none of our current players will go imo. Our midfield seems set as well, maybe with Seedorf leaving... but I really doubt it and we will keep our core midfield of Pirlo-Gattuso-Flamini-Ambrosini in the squad.

Our defense is already being rebuilt - Silva, Nesta are available finally. Favalli will have a smaller role and I think we will sign an established defender - the name that springs to mind to me is Mexes who I think is highly likely. Maybe we will sign another such as Astori or another Brazilian or south american such as Lugano as the press has reported. I'd love Kjaer! I think Abate will definitely return too.

Kaka has no reasons to leave... he's said countless times himself that he's happy here and is ready to lead this 'revolution'. He also gets paid a shitload and Leonardo is now the new manager... who will clearly center the squad around him.

I thought Ancelotti's main fault was being unable to motivate the players... but when he did... we had some years of great football.

As for Juve, I think Ferrara will stay... fans love him, hes a symbol and is a good man, much like Leonardo. I think the new thing to do these days is young in-grown managers, like Guardiola who only managed the youth team before being appointed. Its risky, but its how you maintain harmony.
 
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Re: Serie A Thread - 2008/2009 Season

Zeem said:
Well we all know that never gonna happen. So let's stay in reality.

You can not deny that the Berlusconi era was Milan's most successful who ever the coach was, which means Berlusconi knowns football, very well I would say. It is not the best administration, but better than many other teams. Leonardo is definitely a risk, but so were other coaches this administration risked putting, and I think the turkey coach was the only one who failed. Let's hope Leonardo is not the second. :D
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as much as i don't like berlusconi, i have no problems in admitting he's been a great president. results-wise he's been the greatest football club president in the history of football, as no one else in europe ever lead his club to so many trophies as he did.
plus, as u mentioned, he "discovered" a world class coach as capello.
----------------------------
everybody says he discovered sacchi too, but that's unappropriate. parma was the team wich discovered sacchi. after his first season as a coach, everybody knew he would have become a world class coach.... sure not so many thought he would have become THE coach, that he would have changed football as it was conceived..... but probably berlusconi himself didn't thought that when he hired him.
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but it can't be denied that something changed in the last 4 years. if u would have asked me about milan's administration 4 years ago, i would have told u berlusconi is the greatest president in the world, that galliani is top class and that braida is a legendary team director......
now i don't know what happened, but as a matter of fact, most of the moves made by them in the last 4 years were blatantly wrong.

nowe they're trying to make up (even though this last move isn't the best example, on this concern), but, then again, it they wouldn't have made so many mistakes in the last 4 years, they would have never found themselves in this situation.

leonardo has been a very good team director in theese years, but coaching is a different thing. i do agree big clubs do not need very knowledgable coaches as much as mid-class and poor clubs do. coaching a top club is pretty different; charisma, men management skills can be even more important than tactical knowledge and the ability to read the game.

but yet having a coach who can also read the game is definitely a plus. so why risking with a new coach, when u already have one of the 5 best coaches in europe?

the motivation issue isn't true. ancelotti wanted to stay. the players wanted him to stay (otherwise they would have done what juve players did in the last few months with ranieri), galliani wanted him to stay..... berlusconi was the only one who didn't.

u definitely watch more milan matches than me, mate, but from what i saw this season (and the last season too) every time ancelotti was allowed to display HIS formation, they team won and played some great football. it didn't happen very often, but that wasn't ancelotti's fault, of course.

and anyhow guys i'm not saying milan is in shambles. actually just a few days ago i wrote that milan seems to be on the right track to be back on top.
i'm just saying that this move, this particular move, doesn't seem (to me) to be good at all.... under many point of views.

in the end, having a monster like ancelotti on your side, can give u an enourmous advantage in certain moments. now u can't count on this advantage anymore.

btw guys, i really can't see why u'd like to get adebayor that much honestly... there would be so many better options... in italy aswell. i would probably drop borriello for te likes of villa, eto'ò, drogba, gila (:P).... but for adebayor? no way.

and keep your hands away from kjaer! :RANT:

jeez i still can't believe ballardini is leaving :CRY::CRY::CRY:
 
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