The Rumour Commode XLI: Ragnarok

[Milan10]

Maldini needs to get back to his roots.

Last summer was mostly a mistake but otherwise we’re overlooking the crazy work they did in fully reshaping an entire team in about 3 years, only Calabria remained. And more competitive, younger, and cheaper. They can and I think they will have a good summer and revitalize the squad.

We need a deeper team and I’d like to see some interesting loans if possible. Dalot was a good backup and utility guy, diaz stayed for 3 years, tomori was a loan that worked, Salad was loan I think. Some didn’t work at all but the point will always remain that for a team on a budget it is a sound way to fill out some roster spots.

I get why they wanted to get away from that and have more control over our players but I also think having a couple extra talented players on the squad this season may have really helped out.

Part of me thinks they had the summer planned out differently, but the sale of the club scuttled plan A. They scrambled at the end after missing their primary targets, except CDK, and we ended up with Vranckx, Dest, Thiaw (jackpot). I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, because of their track record.

I want to see the timeline next season in which Vranckx, CDK, Adli, and Thiaw all develop into stars. Then, we look back at the 22/23 market as a masterclass.

 

[Kmoney]

View attachment 20057
Or...

Is the back really gonna be a red patch?

This red is way too light. It’s almost orange

 

[Kmoney]

Yeah - I mean this summer too we've already heared every number between 50 and 100M thrown around, eventually someone will get our net spending right, even if it's only by accident - even when Longo last year never spoke of net spending but spending period, so I'd argue even he was wrong all together

I'm not saying it's impossible that our net spending will be 50M in the end. I'm only saying no one can know our net spendings now because that will heavily depend on what wages and taxes will be "attached" to them - and that's still a rather simplistic way of approaching the complexity of each transfer, let alone a whole mercato, especially when we think of all the variables like who gets how much % from international image rights, national image rights, sponsorship deals, sign-on bonus, commissions, kit sales, merch, and and and. Even we simple minded people from the RnB Business School of Internet can't nearly fathom how crazily complex these deals and negotiations are. Ironing out some last details shortly before a deal is announced is probably the closest we ever get to that complexity.

Breaking all of this down to a simple budget... It's just as random and wrong and misleading as it can get.

You are welcome to join #amortizationforce, I have founded this faction yesterday to wage a war against the transfer budget pandemic

 

[Milan10]

Krunic #10 please I want to win trophies

We are a hell of a team with Krunic at CAM, why didn’t Padre just do that forever

Bennacer goes down against Inter, put Krunic at CAM you bald dingus. Oh, the pain I feel right now.

 

[Kmoney]

seems weird

7 Rafa
10 Sergey
11 Scamacca
3 Daniel

 

[Kmoney]

Theo is going to lose his best friend. Time for CDK to step into those shoes.

I’ve been doing running the numbers and CDK’s confidence seems to have plummeted after his first haircut in Milano

We’ve all been there, you move to a new place, get a shitty haircut from a new barber, and lose confidence for like 10 days

CDK was 10 months but yeah same shit

 

[Ash-ish]

We are a hell of a team with Krunic at CAM, why didn’t Padre just do that forever

Bennacer goes down against Inter, put Krunic at CAM you bald dingus. Oh, the pain I feel right now.

Krunic was doing Kessie’s job which Bennacer couldn’t. Maldini is doing a good job filling with physical mfers. Our lack of speed is concerning well one battle at a time.

 

[Ash-ish]

Cdk will be fine get me sms, kamada, striker and keep Adli. Is there a dm available in the market who is better Krunic? If so get one.

Cheeks is wasted money if we are not selling Bennacer. I won’t say no to a physical dribbler.

Bennacer in rotation is a good player

 

[Cloren]

Tottenham was easy now? Easy? People have said here that Milan would be relegated in the EPL. How often did we hear "let's beat an EPL team first before we talk," hm?

The reason why Spurs was an easy tie was because... Pioli didn't stumble into the simplistic traps that Conte wanted him to. Those stupid 352/343 bullshit formations (particularly those deployed by Conte) are centered around one team taking initiative and then using the fact you don't have relegation-quality attackers to punish the other team in transition.

If Pioli played Spurs like he did against Inter, I think we would have seen a similar outcome.

I think looking at Tottenham as "easy" is revisionism. Genuinely. The solution for the 352/343 with us is having either a truly physical presence in the center, to disrupt their build-up and source of their transitions (like Krunic or Pobega [against Juve]--or even the hardwork [and respect Inter gave the threat of] CDK did in the first derby this season) or you have a CAM that is so threatening, attacking-wise that it forces their midfield out of it's shape.

Pioli used this strategy to great effect against Juve, won comfortably, and then went back to a 424 against Juve when playing them the second time. Why?

Pioli didn't learn his lesson against Spurs when he played Inter. Which is maddening.

Hand-waiving away the challenge of Napoli due to... "match ups" means that... if we played against stronger sides, that played domineering football like Napoli does... we'd be... "matched up well" against them... so was Tottenham really the easiest team for us to face? Because it seems that when teams attack us, we tend to slap the shit out of them.

Napoli isn't about "match-ups" it's about tactics. Pioli wants to use his "fastball" no matter what. Even when he knows the curveball will work better, he insists on using a fastball.

The weird thing is... he figured it out against Juve, without prompting, by playing Pobega there the first time. Without warning. So he's capable of figuring things out, without needing some accident, like using a 343 in response to a 343 being the best approach for us, which only happened because of the January crisis.... so why does he do the things that he does?

Okay bro calm down.

I wasn’t necessarily talking about the quality of the opponent but more of the draw.

You’re also right that no point talking about matchups. Just because our Pioli’s main ‘fastball’ game suits playing vs Napoli doesn’t mean Inter shouldn’t be easier for us, if Pioli wasn’t a stubborn and more flexible with his tactics, adapting based on opponents. Inter is and should theoretically be easier for us than Napoli, if Pioli had more tactical flexibility.

We have a strategy against teams like Napoli, our normal game with a midfielder in the CAM spot like Bennacer/Krunic. We have a strategy against teams like Inter/Conte, a more reserved lineup to prevent them from attacking us in transitions. It’s on Pioli to realise this and adapt. It would be nice if our A game can work against anyone but that would require having elite players in every position or at least in his system

So anyway, getting Napoli in the QF wasn’t really lucky, fairs dues on that. We could draw Chelsea, Benfica, Inter, Madrid, Chelsea, City and Bayern.

Napoli > Chelsea, Inter, Benfica. So getting Napoli was the fairest draw. Not too unlucky, nor to lucky. They’re right in the middle in terms of difficulty. So let’s call it a normal/decent draw that one.

Now as far as Spurs are concerned, as mentioned, I wasn’t talking about their overall quality but draw wise. We could have gotten Porto, Bayern, Spurs, Madrid, City, Benfica.

Among all of these and considering European flop Conte was managing Spurs, Spurs was to me and many others the easiest opponent. Even easier than Benfica/Porto honestly. Spurs are simply just not that good. So I’d say getting Spurs was really the luckiest of the luckiest because they were the easiest opponent of the lot we could have gotten. Benfica fair draw. Madrid unlucky. City unluckiest. Spurs luckiest. IMO

 

[Ash-ish]

I want to thank conte for sabotaging spurs when we were getting our ass beat by everybody in January. Best cl knock out game for us was first leg against Napoli. Krunic supremacy where Bennacer got motm

 

[Cloren]

Look at the positives, if this is an accurate depiction then there's only two more possible options. He's better than half way there!

Post this gif in your signature instead, would suit better

 

[Ash-ish]

Is there any fast right wingers available? They were dime a dozen 2 decades ago. We want some serious pace because our rbs are ass.

 

[Cloren]

Beef between Pioli and Kjaer?
For sure, not as bad as the media want to paint it.
View attachment 20063

100% bullshit!

This means kjaer should stay next season!

 

[K77SH C]

Part of me thinks they had the summer planned out differently, but the sale of the club scuttled plan A. They scrambled at the end after missing their primary targets, except CDK, and we ended up with Vranckx, Dest, Thiaw (jackpot). I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, because of their track record.

I want to see the timeline next season in which Vranckx, CDK, Adli, and Thiaw all develop into stars. Then, we look back at the 22/23 market as a masterclass.

Good point. MM spent half the summer negotiating their own contracts, which lost valuable time. Hopefully they have a full summer to spend a decent amount of money this time round.

 

[Cloren]

Mourinho and others must stop dehumanising referees before someone gets hurt​

Disgusting scenes. I hate these kind of fans, grown men who can’t draw a line between football wars and real life.

It’s a game of football for gods sake. So pathetic…

 

[Ash-ish]

Kjaer needs to be released but that man looks so magnificent. We need another starting center back along with thiaw and Tomori.

How many of you cryuffs think Pierre is better or more talented than Tomori?
Patosheva and MilanMb can skip it.

 

[K77SH C]

Kjaer needs to be released but that man looks so magnificent. We need another starting center back along with thiaw and Tomori.

How many of you cryuffs think Pierre is better or more talented than Tomori?
Patosheva and MilanMb can skip it.

For me Kjaer's time is up. Next season needs to be his last and it should be as backup.

From what little we've seen of Thiaw, he's the perfect replacement.

I think Pierre will become a far better defender than Tomori, who I believe has a lower ceiling to Kalulu.

 

[Ash-ish]

For me Kjaer's time is up. Next season needs to be his last and it should be as backup.

From what little we've seen of Thiaw, he's the perfect replacement.

I think Pierre will become a far better defender than Tomori, who I believe has a lower ceiling to Kalulu.

Tomori is, was and will be superior.

 

[Cloren]

Theo is going to lose his best friend. Time for CDK to step into those shoes.

This is so cringe and cute at the same time

And yes I’m a bit worried what will this do to Theo. Losing 2 of his best friends won’t be easy at all.

Diaz was very good for the morale. It’s a shame but he’s just not worth 30m. If he was 10m I’d get him to be a rotational player at RW and keep the squad happy with his vibes.

Unfortunately he’s too expensive and not good enough. We have to let him go. Despite the great vibes he bring.

 

[taura]

 

[Congo Powers]

Paolo will do what he does in Ibiza.. next year Charles will predictably show exponential growth..daniel Maldini will either win young serie a player of the year on loan or rejoin the team
Damn I am so glad I am ac milan fan (only watch ac milan games)

 

[Cloren]

I want to thank conte for sabotaging spurs when we were getting our ass beat by everybody in January. Best cl knock out game for us was first leg against Napoli. Krunic supremacy where Bennacer got motm

I thought Krunic was at his best in the 2nd leg vs Napoli.

 

[brk]

1. Win the league (pot 1 implications)
2. CL quarters a minimum
3. 100% deprioritize coppa… stick to league and CL fronts

Pot 1 won’t really matter by then. 24/25 season it’s the CL Swiss model format. Really doesn’t matter as much which pot you’re in.

 

[Cloren]

Pot 1 won’t really matter by then. 24/25 season it’s the CL Swiss model format. Really doesn’t matter as much which pot you’re in.

CL won’t matter by 2024/25 season. Super league is happening

 

[brk]

CL won’t matter by 2024/25 season. Super league is happening

I don’t know. If it’s not replacing domestic leagues by combining Italian, German, Spanish, French and Dutch leagues, plus top teams in Europe, then I don’t see the point. I always thought this was the only move they could make that wasn’t just a rebrand of the CL under new management.

Create a new top level European wide league, and have all the domestic leagues be a division under that. You get promoted to it and demoted back to your domestic league.

 

[Berlusconi]

I wish.
Bellingham is an insane talent.

Quite overrated I feel

 

[ForzaMilan2]

It's not true.

To criticise pioli means you can lay the blame on one single person and if he is replaced by their favorite Italian unicorn then everything will be fixed.

To criticise Paul means admitting the entire project has veered off course. All the super optimistic projections will not be happening any time soon. And to fix the project requires replacing the SD and/or the fodder army they have stacked on the bench with a highly optimised budget.

It's a much much bigger problem. You have to replace a dozen players and staff. And if you smoked too much of that "Maldini is the identity of our revival" bunt then it's existential.

I personally just enjoy the spin the latter come up with.

I think this is a somewhat simplistc view. Sure, the last MMM mercato was pretty bad. However, if you look across 3-4 years the picture is quite different. Similarly, drawing conclusions by narrowly focusing on a role that was botched is like seeing the tree but missing the forest. Putting all the blame on MMM is just as wrong as putting all the blame on Pioli. Looking at Milan and MMM as a failure given how far we have come in the last few years is just baffling.

So your solution is to sack MMM. And you would replace them with ... ? Someone else with a better track record? Rangnick, perhaps? Sure, if MMM keep botching mercatos it may come to that. But this is not the answer right now.

 

[DonSilvio]

Not bad actually

 

[Thenebra]

So far so good.

Fast and smart.

Keep it up.

 

[Ryo]

Give us Barca next season. Leao will do the same thing.