The Rumour Commode XXXV: Champions Edition

[Pingu]

Trust plan b dawg

Come May, last game of the season deciding CL spot like last season:

"Trust plan Z"

 

[Tantalis]

Come May, last game of the season deciding CL spot like last season:

"Trust plan Z"

Always trust zlatan

 

[ZBoban]

If you don't have faith in the current policy that's ok. I ask you why? The current policy has brought us back to the top four in Serie A with young talents that are developing. We've stayed in the top four, even while facing a huge injury crisis.

I think you're easily spoiled and don't have the patience it takes to get back to the top of Europe. There are no shortcuts.

Just because I have faith in a long term policy doesn't mean I have to agree with every aspect of it. Are you telling me they are infallible and somehow every move they make is the right one?? I certainly don't think so. They've made some great decisions so far as a management group and some mistakes as well. I truly believe not making a small investment this mercato will come back to haunt us.

 

[leaf]

Just because I have faith in a long term policy doesn't mean I have to agree with every aspect of it. Are you telling me they are infallible and somehow every move they make is the right one?? I certainly don't think so. They've made some great decisions so far as a management group and some mistakes as well. I truly believe not making a small investment this mercato will come back to haunt us.

Exactly

The posters who criticize the plan also trust the plan. I know I do....It's gotten us pretty far from the banter era.
But no plan is perfect and with time some adjustments are good or even necessary.

The ppl making projecting hypotheticals about "What if we reinforced and didn't win the scudetto" also need to answer:

"What if Adli came and we got worse in June?" That could happen. What is far less certain is where we'll be in the table come this time next year.

 

[Rossonero81]

Just because I have faith in a long term policy doesn't mean I have to agree with every aspect of it. Are you telling me they are infallible and somehow every move they make is the right one?? I certainly don't think so. They've made some great decisions so far as a management group and some mistakes as well. I truly believe not making a small investment this mercato will come back to haunt us.

What is it that you don't agree with? We don't have the money we need to buy the player we want right now. We also have to deal with clubs in the middle of the season. Of course they don't want to see their best players leave in winter. Going for a small investment, option B is what I call it, is something we can't afford. Going for option B now, means no option A in the summer.

I for one am not worried at all about finishing in the top four. It seems a lot of you are pissing your panties while we have been grinding points during an injury crisis. We will make UCL and we will strengthen further in the summer.

 

[Rossonero81]

See above.

Miss top4 this year and watch project being reset as Theo Leao leave.

Wait for better deals for Botman and Sanches and watch bidding wars in summer.

Other clubs want good players too! This plan is nothing unique.

It seems so for us, at the back of last lost decade. For others its normal business.

Good players are even more expensive in the winter, because the selling club has to buy a reinforcement in a tight market.

Botman and Sanches are not the only players in the world. Companies that rely on one candidate for a vacancy will often be disappointed. There will be a lot more candidates on Maldini's list.

 

[nekky]

Castillejo saga is going to serves a warning for “overextend a little bit to win Scudetto”.

Fans can hate him all they want but to get paid playing with Ibra, Theo, Rebic or get paid less playing with mid table fodder, choice is pretty clear.

Define "playing"

 

[Samaldinho]

So, if we invested and didn't win shit, and just became Napoli, then what?

I'm sure all the fans would just shrug and be like "oh okay, can't complain now."

 

[leaf]

So, if we invested and didn't win shit, and just became Napoli, then what?

I'm sure all the fans would just shrug and be like "oh okay, can't complain now."

I would. Why did ppl get mat at Giroud for that chance he had? Maybe if he did better he still wouldn't have scored but at least he gave it a shot.
Sevilla bought Martial to keep pace with Real Madrid.
They are in more or less the position we are in, just a couple points behind.
Real have been fairly consistent but if they slip up Sevilla will pounce, if not, at least they went for it.

I have no idea why every scenario automagically turns to Napoli in your world.

 

[Rossonero81]

I would. Why did ppl get mat at Giroud for that chance he had? Maybe if he did better he still wouldn't have scored but at least he gave it a shot.
Sevilla bought Martial to keep pace with Real Madrid.
They are in more or less the position we are in, just a couple points behind.
Real have been fairly consistent but if they slip up Sevilla will pounce, if not, at least they went for it.

I have no idea why every scenario automagically turns to Napoli in your world.

How is it so hard for you to understand that you can only spend your money once?! If we would get a plan B defender and lose out on top 4, we would be in big trouble. A plan B defender could also stand in the way of other promising players like Kalulu. Maldini has judged the situation and won't risk to lose money on plan B, while we have four defenders in our squad.

 

[Samaldinho]

I have no idea why every scenario automagically turns to Napoli in your world.

It's a comparison. I'm not sure how you wouldn't see it as a crushing failure, because if "winning is everything" then you'd imagine that Napoli's folly in winning Serie A would be seen as some monumental failure.

The difference I think between our positions is that you think Milan's ability to win titles is perilous, and I don't. You're acting as if Milan will never be able to get back here.

Last year most of you thought we'd be mid-table, that we'd be behind everyone. We weren't. This year was supposed to be some insurmountable challenge in Serie A with Allegri, and Mourinho, and oh my! Sarri!

I dunno, if we don't make top four, I'll be sad, crushed, upset, and angry. But I don't think it would spell the end our project or our quest to win. Progress is not linear.

 

[leaf]

How is it so hard for you to understand that you can only spend your money once?! If we would get a plan B defender and lose out on top 4, we would be in big trouble. A plan B defender could also stand in the way of other promising players like Kalulu. Maldini has judged the situation and won't risk to lose money on plan B, while we have four defenders in our squad.

Which is more likely....to miss out on top 4 with this squad as we are or to miss out on top 4 with Faivre and Botman?

Also I have no idea what you mean by the bold. Spend your money once? WTF does that mean
We only have error prone defenders Kalulu, Gabbia and Romagnoli with Tomori and Kjaer injured
Tomori will take time to get back in the groove. Kjaer is out for the season.

Rebic has been injured a lot this season. iBra as well. Then there's covid.
If Leao gets injured you'll see just how much we'll struggle
If you think our present attack is enough to make it over the finish line, I really hope you are right.

 

[Balo45]

I actually bet a lot of us not doing anything this winter had to do with not being in Europe anymore.

After inter did it last season most of us automatically go for the idea that it should be easier for us to go in for the title now. But since so much of our form has been based on injuries and absences, I would absolutely not be surprised if their rationale is basically “oh well we have fifteen games left and the schedule is easier, let’s start prepping for the summer.”

 

[Rossonero81]

It's a comparison. I'm not sure how you wouldn't see it as a crushing failure, because if "winning is everything" then you'd imagine that Napoli's folly in winning Serie A would be seen as some monumental failure.

The difference I think between our positions is that you think Milan's ability to win titles is perilous, and I don't. You're acting as if Milan will never be able to get back here.

Last year most of you thought we'd be mid-table, that we'd be behind everyone. We weren't. This year was supposed to be some insurmountable challenge in Serie A with Allegri, and Mourinho, and oh my! Sarri!

I dunno, if we don't make top four, I'll be sad, crushed, upset, and angry. But I don't think it would spell the end our project or our quest to win. Progress is not linear.

Fans are fickle. We have barely started on this new journey with a clear plan and people already want to deviate from it.

 

[leaf]

It's a comparison. I'm not sure how you wouldn't see it as a crushing failure, because if "winning is everything" then you'd imagine that Napoli's folly in winning Serie A would be seen as some monumental failure.

The difference I think between our positions is that you think Milan's ability to win titles is perilous, and I don't. You're acting as if Milan will never be able to get back here.

Last year most of you thought we'd be mid-table, that we'd be behind everyone. We weren't. This year was supposed to be some insurmountable challenge in Serie A with Allegri, and Mourinho, and oh my! Sarri!

I dunno, if we don't make top four, I'll be sad, crushed, upset, and angry. But I don't think it would spell the end our project or our quest to win. Progress is not linear.

I dunno who thought this season wouldn't be great....certainly not me.
Inter lost Conte, Hakimi and Lukaku...I thought we'd be cruising (no homo) to 1st place.

Unfortunatley we aren't and this also proves my point that there are no guarantees no matter how well your squad is built.
The "success is not linear" thing is and has always been my point...you are the one acting like the incremental improvements would be seen proportionally to the plan.
The Hakan sale ended up hurting us more than we thought because Diaz actually started off so well.

 

[joyrider]

Lazetic will learn a lot from Giroud and Ibra an Marco Van Basten video tapes.
He's gonna be a beast in no time.

 

[Tantalis]

Lazetic will learn a lot from Giroud and Ibra an Marco Van Basten video tapes.
He's gonna be a beast in no time.

Would be cool, hope fans give him support and time.

 

[Rossonero81]

Which is more likely....to miss out on top 4 with this squad as we are or to miss out on top 4 with Faivre and Botman?

Also I have no idea what you mean by the bold. Spend your money once? WTF does that mean
We only have error prone defenders Kalulu, Gabbia and Romagnoli with Tomori and Kjaer injured
Tomori will take time to get back in the groove. Kjaer is out for the season.

Rebic has been injured a lot this season. iBra as well. Then there's covid.
If Leao gets injured you'll see just how much we'll struggle
If you think our present attack is enough to make it over the finish line, I really hope you are right.

Most defenders are error prone. We can't afford elite defenders with experience, so we have to deal with errors. Making errors is what helps a player to grow. Tomori is out right now, but a partnership between Kalulu and Romagnoli has to suffice until he returns. Even Tomori made some errors last season while he was adjusting to the league. No one expected him not to, but we accepted them as we saw him grow. I am more than willing to watch Kalulu develop and stumble here and there in the meantime. It doesn't mean it will cost us top four. I have faith in him.

We are improving, but still on a tight budget. If your budget doesn't allow big purchases, you have to be critical of every move. Spending 10 million now on option B, means spending 10 million less on option A in the summer.

 

[Rossonero81]

Lazetic will learn a lot from Giroud and Ibra an Marco Van Basten video tapes.
He's gonna be a beast in no time.

You can try to learn from van Basten videotapes, but it is more likely you will fall in love.

 

[leaf]

Most defenders are error prone. We can't afford elite defenders with experience, so we have to deal with errors. Making errors is what helps a player to grow. Tomori is out right now, but a partnership between Kalulu and Romagnoli has to suffice until he returns. Even Tomori made some errors last season while he was adjusting to the league. No one expected him not to, but we accepted them as we saw him grow. I am more than willing to watch Kalulu develop and stumble here and there in the meantime. It doesn't mean it will cost us top four. I have faith in him.

We are improving, but still on a tight budget. If your budget doesn't allow big purchases, you have to be critical of every move. Spending 10 million now on option B, means spending 10 million less on option A in the summer.

So you answered 0 of my questions. Interesting.

 

[rossonero1]

Di Marzio: "Milan tried to take Botman and Sanches already in January. These will be investments that will be postponed until the summer."

 

[Rossonero81]

So you answered 0 of my questions. Interesting.

Which question didn't I answer?

 

[rossonero1]

So hypothetically we could be possibly looking at something like this in the summer?

X/Giroud/Lazetic/maybe Ibra?/Colombo

Leao/Rebic--Adli/Diaz/Krunic--X/Saelemakers

Sanches/Bennacer--Tonali/Pobega

Theo/Toure--Botman/Kjaer/Gabbia--Tomori/Kalulu--Calabria/Florenzi

Maignan


Ibra renewing will probably depend on how he holds up the second half of the season plus if Sweden make it out of the playoffs. I think they'll sign Belotti for free or someone like Origi. I included Colombo because I'm sure he'll get the preseason to see how he looks. I'm guessing he'll probably go out on loan again to a Serie A club.

RW is a must. I wouldn't be surprised if they went for Bernardeschi for free. Di Maria could be a possible option. He's free and Maldini and Massara seem to have a good relationship with Mendes going.

Maybe a young CB depending on what they do with Gabbia. Maybe they keep Messias for cheap.

 

[General]

Which question didn't I answer?

don’t bite

 

[Ryo]

Which is more likely....to miss out on top 4 with this squad as we are or to miss out on top 4 with Faivre and Botman?

Also I have no idea what you mean by the bold. Spend your money once? WTF does that mean
We only have error prone defenders Kalulu, Gabbia and Romagnoli with Tomori and Kjaer injured
Tomori will take time to get back in the groove. Kjaer is out for the season.

Rebic has been injured a lot this season. iBra as well. Then there's covid.
If Leao gets injured you'll see just how much we'll struggle
If you think our present attack is enough to make it over the finish line, I really hope you are right.

Same likliness as Vlahovic and Zakaria going to Juve and still not making top 4.
We made 2nd with this current core of a squad even with EL obligations until March.
We can repeat that no problem with our current batch of players (quality increase from last season), and less games to play.

We have 14 league games left this season.
The team is 2nd/3rd despite all the injuries (of which we only have Kjaer long term now, nearly everyone will be back for the derby).
Plus, we're not playing Inter or Napoli every match.
We've already played Juve and Roma, Fiorentina weakened significantly, we only have 3 tough games left.

 

[ROSSONERI7]

Lazetic will learn a lot from Giroud and Ibra an Marco Van Basten video tapes.
He's gonna be a beast in no time.

i like his full package. still very young so still very far. finishing is 1 thing that can greatly develop with time (it's already not bad). but his all around game, i like.

seems like a CF who makes others around him play. energetically popping all over the field. to hold up, lay over...
When he hits his stride, he could be that striker with 20-25 goals but everyone else around is scoring more as well. and in today's football i prefer that to a pure goalscorer (which he could still become himself).

 

[Alo88]

Really shrouded business Juve made there. But then also not. Getting Tottenham to agree to loan Kulisevski and buy Bentancur on a potentially combined 60M is... Wow. But then the majority of those 60M is subject to making CL next season while Kulu must have played 50% of the games (basically meaning he's a starter for them), which are both very difficult objectives IMO.

Best case scenario Juve got at least most of Vlahovic' card back. Worst case scenario they postponed a tricky problem for 18 months. Not sure how to define this.

Vlahovic IMO is an operation that doesn't make me too envious. Between card and salary that's a damn huge risk they are taking there and Vlahovic has still everything to prove. It's as if they didn't learn anything from Higuain or Ronaldo, even if Vlahovic is much younger obviously - which paradoxically could make it an even bigger risk when carrying already so much pressure at his first big club.

The one operation that really leaves me buthurt is Zakaria. That's the business I admire someone for, not the one where someone just throws money at until it succeeds. In Zakarias case however they got a young, potentially world-class player with a current MV of 30M for only 7M (because of an expiring contract) and on top of that on reasonable wages too. Low risk, high reward. Damn. In that case I wished that were us.

---

Sorry for the Juve-only post. I'm just too tired to discuss and rediscuss the ever same topics about Milan again and again and again and maybe looking and analizing others mercato could be a fresh new take. In terms of Milan I hope we can finally move on and start to focus on the derby, which could be a season changing game.

 

[ZBoban]

What is it that you don't agree with? We don't have the money we need to buy the player we want right now. We also have to deal with clubs in the middle of the season. Of course they don't want to see their best players leave in winter. Going for a small investment, option B is what I call it, is something we can't afford. Going for option B now, means no option A in the summer.

I for one am not worried at all about finishing in the top four. It seems a lot of you are pissing your panties while we have been grinding points during an injury crisis. We will make UCL and we will strengthen further in the summer.

Don't agree with that at all. I am not so confident in a top 4 finish as you are because we will continue having the same issues. Our injury crisis will not magically go away because you wish for it, see the last 2 years. When you rely on 35 and 40 year old strikers to lead the attack, injuries tend to get worse not better the deeper you are in the year. But regardless of that, I don't see an investing moderately right now as hindering our summer mercato, I see it as securing a top 4 finish that will allow us to invest even more in the summer. Guaranteeing a top 4 finish now for me is far more crucial than anything, it gives us more options in the summer. Good luck making any kind of move this summer if somehow we don't make top 4.

 

[leaf]

Which question didn't I answer?

See below:

Which is more likely....to miss out on top 4 with this squad as we are or to miss out on top 4 with Faivre and Botman?

Also I have no idea what you mean by the bold. Spend your money once? WTF does that mean
We only have error prone defenders Kalulu, Gabbia and Romagnoli with Tomori and Kjaer injured
Tomori will take time to get back in the groove. Kjaer is out for the season.

Rebic has been injured a lot this season. iBra as well. Then there's covid.
If Leao gets injured you'll see just how much we'll struggle
If you think our present attack is enough to make it over the finish line, I really hope you are right.

You actually explained what you meant by spend your money once...my bad.
But you didn't address the first question

 

[AC_Wesley]

don’t bite

Its too late. Hes stuck now