The Rumour Commode XLIV: Paragliding to Piolistine Crisis

[ACM14061988]

Suma said Furlani is attentive in this mercato and therefore Suma can't deny anything specially about Buongiorno, he said we are back to work in the italian mercato and Terracciano is a proof of it then we see what happens with Buongiorno

 

[Graeco]

obviously an elite Osimhen style CF would be dreamy

but we've scored the second most goals of any Serie A team this season, so I don't think that's our main problem (in CL we should have scored more, combination of bad overall play and terrible finishing in some matches)

we've conceded wayyyy too many goals though (20 to Inter's 9 and Juve's 12)

I think a different coach with different instincts could get a more solid defensive output from the players we have now, but if we're sticking with Pioli until the end of the season I'd like to see a strong DM come in

I think the defensive frailties are tied to the choices made in midfield. Whenever we lose the ball, our opponents seem to be able to all but teleport 2/3 the length of the pitch to be in 1-v-1s with our defenders. As much as I loath Krunic (even more now that he has been acting like a spoiled child), he at least was slowing down other team’s attackers on occasion

 

[brk]

What’s shocking? Wasn’t he at inter with Pioli? They all wore inter, fiorentina stuff before. Na?

Did I ever mentioned I believe he is the architect of that disgusting shit we play?

I assumed he came in much later, but yeah he was with Pioli the whole time. I honestly can’t believe we’re still building the whole billion euro machine around the ideas of Stefan Pioli and his buddies from Florence. The same analysts, the same coaches the same physiotherapists.

You’d think Elliott and RedBird will want to hire the best managers and staff around. It’s weird that we’re still persisting with this. I’m hoping he already knows he’s a dead man walking and that we’re planning for a managerial and staff overhaul in the summer.

 

[Curupira]

No reaction. Nada. Nothing.

Sometimes we lack that terror boys vibes we had during our better days, led by an in-form Rebic. That's the mentality we're missing right now, and in other videos, that was Sumas point.

I wholeheartedly agree with him on that.

I think this is a tiny bit harsh Alo.

Here's what I saw: especially towards the end of the game, our players were trying. Leao, as much as I have shat on his attitude, he did try to do his own rendition of Rebic. He ran at opponents and tried his best to make it happen.

But I think it's time for people to admit, that the Leao critics are not "hating on him", rather his "bag" is just really not that deep. Once he stands closer to the goal and not towards the middle of the field like people shit on Pioli for, his poor close dribbling is put under a magnifying glass x 100. He really tried yesterday, and for once I saw some fire in him trying to lead saying "no fuck this guys, we are winning this". But to describe him, a phrase the firearm and self defense guys in United States like to say, "you rise to your level of training, not to the level of the occasion". When shit gets hard, people rely on what they know, and for Leao is to try to beat people via holding them off and then bursting with pace to get open to either score himself or create an assist by passing to an open man bc defense has to shift its shape after he beat his man, and he needs space for that.

I agree with people saying Leao is unfairly asked to carry the team (i think it was SecondStar?). He isn't that guy and never was. But as one of his biggest haters, yesterday he really tried and showed the "winner" attitude many ask of him but he just isn't good enough.

 

[brk]

I know I’ve been trying to jinx the Conte thing but it’s working on me a bit. A part of me is actually curious to see how it turns out if we do hire him. Theo and Terracciano as wingbacks seem like a fit already. Leao and Lukaku up front. Tomori, Thiaw and Buongiorno at the back. Bennacer, Reijnders and RLC in the middle.


I mean… I can see myself drifting over to the dark side after a few more madnesses like last night…

 

[Alo88]

I know I’ve been trying to jinx the Conte thing but it’s working on me a bit. A part of me is actually curious to see how it turns out if we do hire him. Theo and Terracciano as wingbacks seem like a fit already. Leao and Lukaku up front. Tomori, Thiaw and Buongiorno at the back. Bennacer, Reijnders and RLC in the middle.


I mean… I can see myself drifting over to the dark side after a few more madnesses like last night…

Yeah I'm already there since you began to work your dark magic. Tho after your work on Popovic, I think we can kiss Conte goodbye

 

[Curupira]

I know I’ve been trying to jinx the Conte thing but it’s working on me a bit. A part of me is actually curious to see how it turns out if we do hire him. Theo and Terracciano as wingbacks seem like a fit already. Leao and Lukaku up front. Tomori, Thiaw and Buongiorno at the back. Bennacer, Reijnders and RLC in the middle.


I mean… I can see myself drifting over to the dark side after a few more madnesses like last night…

Conte haters,

NOW, you can really relax.

 

[Milan10]

Right??

There is zero excitement right now. Difficult to get excited.

We are safe from CL at the moment but yet there is nothing to fight for.

But you know what, it’s okay to have stress free seasons sometimes.

This is one.

It’s still better than banter era.

This season is actually way worse than anything in the banter era. Those squads were garbage and had almost no chance of qualifying for the CL.

This squad is actually very good and it failed out of the CL and Serie A contention by Thanksgiving and just crashed out of Coppa to an inferior team.

This is a wasted season, a season in which we should have won something and will likely come away with nothing because Pioli injured half of the team during a critical stretch and proved all of his critics right with incompetent tactics and leadership.

 

[LemonCookies]

Diaz looked like Messi 15% of the time, and hot ass 85% of the time. He never developed here, either. 3 seasons without any clear growth isn't good enough. Is he a good player and good guy? Sure. But ultimately not good enough for us and our aspirations, whether we've bungled said aspirations (again) or not.

 

[Graeco]

Those 2 strikers you picked are scoring goals in the Eredivisie and Bundesliga 2 of the easiest leagues to score goals in. Harry Kane hasn't even been in the league for 6 months and already breaking scoring records. As soon as Lewandowski left Bundesliga his scoring dropped and its dropped again even further.

Also I have no idea what your point is about Pavlidis. Ever since he turned up in Eredivisie he's scored goals in that league. He's played there for the past 6 seasons. So if you're trying to retort the attacking player not scoring at 21 you're doing a terrible job of it.

If you've watched football enough you know what strikers are finisher and who isnt and even then there are strikers who are good finishers but it's more instinctive finishes. Give them too much time theyll fuck it up. You know what a striker brings to the team beyond goals. All this is established early on.

Always an exception… Drogba was hard to even call a footballer as a kid. Had 1 good season in the froggie league, and then became a murder machine in his later 20s

 

[CanUNoTouch]

I know I’ve been trying to jinx the Conte thing but it’s working on me a bit. A part of me is actually curious to see how it turns out if we do hire him. Theo and Terracciano as wingbacks seem like a fit already. Leao and Lukaku up front. Tomori, Thiaw and Buongiorno at the back. Bennacer, Reijnders and RLC in the middle.


I mean… I can see myself drifting over to the dark side after a few more madnesses like last night…

Lukaku and Leao upfront

Lukaku doesn't link the play or hold the ball up well and he prefers drifting to the right so he can cut in. Lukaku wants to play as a oversize poacher on the shoulder of the last defender. Leao needs a reference to play off. When he goes from out to in. And Lukaku needs a worker alongside him.

 

[Milan10]

Of all the stupid, infuriating things about this season, the decision to go into a 3 competition campaign with Rade Krunic as the only “defensive midfielder” (he isn’t even one) has to rank at the very top. Going into the season planning to play a 433 with a 4231 with no DM in the squad. Like, what even is that?

You watch this team play, every opponent, every single one simply bypasses the midfield like the Germans bypassing the Maginot Line.

I want to play beautiful football, but Italian football begins with defending. Championship teams defend and you need steel in the midfield to do so in this era.

 

[milanator]

Suma said Furlani is attentive in this mercato and therefore Suma can't deny anything specially about Buongiorno, he said we are back to work in the italian mercato and Terracciano is a proof of it then we see what happens with Buongiorno

I wonder if this also a bit of an appeasement to the rightwing parties so they stay friendly to the stadium cause.

 

[CanUNoTouch]

Always an exception… Drogba was hard to even call a footballer as a kid. Had 1 good season in the froggie league, and then became a murder machine in his later 20s

You're doing Drogba a disservice. In his first season in the top flight he scored 17 goals. That is still better than anything those 2 strikers have done that he named. Then his reputation grew in his only season at Marseille soon as he scored those 2 goals vs Real on Beckham CL debut for Real and then murdered the Uefa Cup that season. He showed he could score big important goals and carry an attack. Drogba only score 20 league goals in a season twice and hit 30+ in all comps 3 times in his career. He only scored 20 goals + in all comps 4 times. People don't remember the volume of goals he scored they just know when it was a big match or in a final he would turn up to cause havoc and mayhem and usually score. Drogba was a big match player.

 

[Deep Fried Pizza & Chips]

This team lacks balance and cohesion, for me these are some of the essentials after half the season has passed:

- Theo is our best player, for many reasons but mainly because he can play anywhere at a high level. He can be used as a joker to support areas where there is a weakness.

- Adli is our only real playmaker, in terms of being someone who can dictate the tempo and brings other players into the game. He should be a starter eventually, even if he is far from being the finished product.

- Leao should be put closer to goal and he should be surrounded by players who can combine well with him such as Theo and possibly Pulisic.

- Pulisic should also play more centrally

- Giroud and Kjaer are almost finished players and should consider retiring or playing at a lower level.

- Loftus-Cheek lacks consistency and cannot be relied upon to play as a no.10 in difficult matches. He is not a great passer but he is a good finisher, its better if he arrives from behind.

- Musah should play centrally not as a wing back. Players who are not good at crossing the ball should not play on the wings.

What he said...

If you're at the Napoli game let's grab a beer and have a circle jerk over how right we are... Oh it'll be beautiful lol.

But seriously, Kjaer, Oliver(even if Jovic is out of form) should get a grand goodbye in the summer. Maybe see if they want to do their coaching badges and keep them on MASSIVELY reduced wages and have them as PT player coaches or something. Thru can't be relied on though... I get why Kjaer had to be used, but the way Padre positioned the rest of defence baffled me!!!

RLC, doesn't have what it takes to be a starter, let alone the linchpin for our attack... Why he was signed is beyond me?

Bench option at best, that's really all there us to say on him.

Musah needs a better couch to tutor him in a position of two. He's just going deployed innan almost scatter gun approach.... "Get the ball Musah!"... "Is that it coach?"... "Yes... Go get it!"

I'm not sure about puoisic playing centrally full time, I like him drifting in though. Him and ChK with Leao doesn't fill me with confidence when transitioning from attacking to being countered.

Leao is an.enigma, let's focus on other weaknesses before bashing the guy that's our "star". I do expect more from him though, but I'll give him this season to sort his shit out.

Adli once he escapes Pioli will be a very interesting and useful player!!! Maldini masterclass?

 

[Graeco]

You're doing Drogba a disservice. In his first season in the top flight he scored 17 goals. That is still better than anything those 2 strikers have done that he named. Then his reputation grew in his only season at Marseille soon as he scored those 2 goals vs Real on Beckham CL debut for Real and then murdered the Uefa Cup that season. He showed he could score big important goals and carry an attack. Drogba only score 20 league goals in a season twice and hit 30+ in all comps 3 times in his career. He only scored 20 goals + in all comps 4 times. People don't remember the volume of goals he scored they just know when it was a big match or in a final he would turn up to cause havoc and mayhem and usually score. Drogba was a big match player.

You’re right! I’d kind of believed the press at the time, that Chelsea bought him after just 1 breakout season in Marsaille. After looking it up, I stand corrected. I remember him well from his prime. The volume, quality, and diversity of his goals doesn’t give credit to what a monster of a player he was. He gave people nightmares, created goals for other players, and had insane assist numbers… particularly in feeding Lampard at Chelsea. He’s also one of the rare footballers who seems to be a great guy

 

[Jivara]

What he said...

If you're at the Napoli game let's grab a beer and have a circle jerk over how right we are... Oh it'll be beautiful lol.

sounds like a fun vacation . If I book the ticket I'll PM you

But seriously, Kjaer, Oliver(even if Jovic is out of form) should get a grand goodbye in the summer. Maybe see if they want to do their coaching badges and keep them on MASSIVELY reduced wages and have them as PT player coaches or something. Thru can't be relied on though... I get why Kjaer had to be used, but the way Padre positioned the rest of defence baffled me!!!

Oli and Simon are very likeable characters and deserve some respect for their roles at this club. They can get the goodbye at the end of the season no problem.

RLC, doesn't have what it takes to be a starter, let alone the linchpin for our attack... Why he was signed is beyond me?

Bench option at best, that's really all there us to say on him.

When he is good he is actually very good but he seems to be very moody. Maybe it's the language culture thing. I hope we get Ferguson, strong player, strong character.

Musah needs a better couch to tutor him in a position of two. He's just going deployed innan almost scatter gun approach.... "Get the ball Musah!"... "Is that it coach?"... "Yes... Go get it!"

yeah pretty much

I'm not sure about puoisic playing centrally full time, I like him drifting in though. Him and ChK with Leao doesn't fill me with confidence when transitioning from attacking to being countered.

Yeah for now Pulisic on the right is the sensible choice, he is good there but he is also a good finisher that's why I prefer that he moves inside more.

I think Chuk will come good in the end.

Leao is an.enigma, let's focus on other weaknesses before bashing the guy that's our "star". I do expect more from him though, but I'll give him this season to sort his shit out.

He is an enigma but he can be a better enigma with some better coaching, I feel.

Adli once he escapes Pioli will be a very interesting and useful player!!! Maldini masterclass?

Of course it's Maldini masterclass, it's the only thing he knows how to do

 

[Deep Fried Pizza & Chips]

You already used this before
Cone up with something new

Have I, shit sorry Bro... Getting old innit.

Was looking for some new Lego for the wee guy...

Point stands though, RedTurd can suck a dick till I can build a Lego San Siro set!!!

 

[Deep Fried Pizza & Chips]

sounds like a fun vacation . If I book the ticket I'll PM you

Oli and Simon are very likeable characters and deserve some respect for their roles at this club. They can get the goodbye at the end of the season no problem.

When he is good he is actually very good but he seems to be very moody. Maybe it's the language culture thing. I hope we get Ferguson, strong player, strong character.

yeah pretty much

Yeah for now Pulisic on the right is the sensible choice, he is good there but he is also a good finisher that's why I prefer that he moves inside more.

I think Chuk will come good in the end.

He is an enigma but he can be a better enigma with some better coaching, I feel.

Of course it's Maldini masterclass, it's the only thing he knows how to do

Ferguson and Ricci, mama Mia.

Pobega and Colombo to Torino as makeweights in deals for Ricci and the defender I can't pronounce yet lol... Bello!!!

 

[Samaldinho]

I haven't seen his newest video yet, so I don't know exactly what he meant by 'inexperience,' but in other videos weeks ago, his remarks about us getting way too scared and anxious when opponents apply just a slight bit of pressure were spot on.

We rarely escape those moments during a match. When the pressure grows, and the opponents' rate of chances created increases, we sooner or later concede and then crumble, unable to show any reaction.

This was perfectly demonstrated yesterday. A decent game until Atalanta shifted gears. Almost giving away a penalty. Then, out of the blue (in what were rather poor 10ish minutes before), we score - but Atalanta doesn't ease off and immediately scores. From then onward, the match was basically over, becoming more depressing by the minute. No reaction. Nada. Nothing.

Sometimes, we lack that 'terror boys' vibe we had during our better days, led by an in-form Rebic. That's the mentality we're missing right now, and in other videos, that was Suma's point.

I wholeheartedly agree with him on that.

The tactical mess that was last night, as well as many of our other debacles this season, makes me push back against this mentality argument.

There are problems in how we are set up, what roles we ask players to perform, what we expect players to do.

Why deviate from the 4231 that was working well to try an experimental 343 with a youth player on one side, Theo as a CB, Calabria as the other, with Musah as your other wingback? While depending on RLC to hold your center?

 

[Edu-bY-A]

I wonder if this also a bit of an appeasement to the rightwing parties so they stay friendly to the stadium cause.

LOL

 

[Kmoney]

With Krunic gone, I wonder if we are getting another midfielder.

If we get spend some good amount money on a CB or a DM, I think Conte is coming

5-0-5 bro, no mids needed.

 

[Pigeon]

With Krunic gone, I wonder if we are getting another midfielder.

If we get spend some good amount money on a CB or a DM, I think Conte is coming

oh we are

he’s coming back febuary by the latest. world class guy i heard

 

[Deep Fried Pizza & Chips]

Real question is, cdk going to come back to us or nha?

Haha, to rotate with Jovic possibly... What a turn around it would be if he develops as Moncada thought.

As a front two with Jovic under Conte, playing devil's advocate for a moment lol.

We need a real president. I don't want to see Pioli complain like this, we need a figure in the managment. I am so tired of Scaroni

He's another yes man, we need to start punching up and looking at who put some of these idiots in power!?

The need is clear but the player within a reasonable fee who we can get in January isn’t

It’s not like management sees this team and doesn’t know we could use a midfielder

Look at the previous management, they ignored RW and CF for years

How are new management doing with the DM we needed in the summer?

Let's not make this an old management problem... Management that addressed central defence brilliantly, LB, LW, found stop gaps in attack and got us a decent midfield to build on from.

We needed a DM in the summer and new management doubled down on fucking Krunic lol and hoped we'd be fine till Ben came back from Africa lol.

But yeah, this is probably Maldini fault?

I assumed he came in much later, but yeah he was with Pioli the whole time. I honestly can’t believe we’re still building the whole billion euro machine around the ideas of Stefan Pioli and his buddies from Florence. The same analysts, the same coaches the same physiotherapists.

You’d think Elliott and RedBird will want to hire the best managers and staff around. It’s weird that we’re still persisting with this. I’m hoping he already knows he’s a dead man walking and that we’re planning for a managerial and staff overhaul in the summer.

It's all Maldini's fault for giving him a new contract bro... Poor RedBurd having to deal with this fall out.

But seriously, RedTurd are so unserious just lie for not ripping the bandaid off!!!

I know I’ve been trying to jinx the Conte thing but it’s working on me a bit. A part of me is actually curious to see how it turns out if we do hire him. Theo and Terracciano as wingbacks seem like a fit already. Leao and Lukaku up front. Tomori, Thiaw and Buongiorno at the back. Bennacer, Reijnders and RLC in the middle.


I mean… I can see myself drifting over to the dark side after a few more madnesses like last night…

I'm feeling this lol... I want Motta and think he's the cheapskate, sorry sensible option; I serouslyntiinm he's a shout.

But; Conte sounds so good right now lol.

the guys a prize fanny, and he's could be very destabilising... But any worse that Pioli???!!!

 

[Samaldinho]

Yesterday pissed me off.

I don't think Reijnders pushed De Roon enough for a penalty, De Roon was going to collide into Gabbia regardless, Gabbia got there, I don't think Tiji's contact was penalty-worthy, I just don't. Jimenez had good attacking moments, but defensively, he's not ready. He's a kid. He needs time. I also think trying a kid in a new-look 343 with a makeshift CB in Theo next to him was another unforced error, and another makeshift CB in Calabria on the other side, mind you.

Musah had a very poor game. I love the kid, but he did. RWB is not his position and he's just coming back from injury, and RLC as a CM in a two-man CM unit looked bad, especially with RLC not putting in the work defensively that is required of that role.

Then when we started chasing the game... Terracciano, Theo, and Leao all seemed bunched up in the same space. Just a glob of... players, within a defensive block of opposing players, where we pushed another body (Giroud) to be in the box, and our crosses and set-pieces were not dangerous enough. Liverpool just lob crosses in, and most of them are unsuccessful, but they do other things to disrupt defensive blocks, things that Pioli doesn't value: passing and movement.

We conceded a shit goal after scoring a great opener. It's true. But that space where they scored, that space was there the entire game.

Gasperini has changed his approach to playing Pioli. This isn't normal Atalanta, they sat back. We had a lot of possession in the first half, and just dribbled our little hearts out and put all this effort to do... nothing.

Atalanta was fine sitting back and letting us have possession. They picked their spots to attack, and when we pressed them into winning possession back, either high-up or in transition when they attacked... we didn't play the ball crisply enough to punish them.

This isn't new. This is what Juve did to us. This is what Inter did to us. These collapses show up against Napoli, against Lecce, because Pioli isn't adjusting. Opponents are making in-game adjustments and Pioli isn't. He spent the entire summer working on a 433 that we have abandoned.

It really sucks that Krunic isn't a resource anymore, because when he cared and was a good soldier, you could put him in and he'd work his ass off to cover up the space that we keep getting eaten alive in: that top-of-the-box cut back.

Pioli is trying to spread other teams out, but all he's doing is creating this massive gap in our formation, spreading us out length-wise, not just with width, which is suicidal.

We were just finding our feet with a return to our more typical 4231 in the games before this. It was working. The players looked more comfortable. What does he do? He goes 343 and then when chasing the game, we're essentially playing a 244.

-------Giroud
-----------------Jovic
Leao-----------------Pulisic
---Terr---Adli---Musah
---Theo
--------Kjaer----Simic

That was our shape, with Adli dropping deeper to collect the ball. It was a fucking mess.

Did we have bad performances? For sure. Jovic was terrible. Kjaer did not inspire confidence. Musah was shaky. RLC was pouting. But there's no coherence to how we are playing.

We play like a Sunday league team.

I keep hearing that our summer market was great, and yet... here we are. Out of the CL, out of the Coppa Italia, in the EL, and 9 points back of 1st place in Serie A. Maybe our transfers haven't been the problem?

 

[Mr. Tea]

why you no do dis bioli?

That midfield is scary

 

[CanUNoTouch]

You’re right! I’d kind of believed the press at the time, that Chelsea bought him after just 1 breakout season in Marsaille. After looking it up, I stand corrected. I remember him well from his prime. The volume, quality, and diversity of his goals doesn’t give credit to what a monster of a player he was. He gave people nightmares, created goals for other players, and had insane assist numbers… particularly in feeding Lampard at Chelsea. He’s also one of the rare footballers who seems to be a great guy

People overvalue goals. Are goals good and important sure but not all goals are equal. I judge a strikers goalscoring record on who they scored against the importance of the match and what type of goal was it. Was it the 1st goal? equalising goal? or winning goal? I have no time for stat padding scorers when the game is already won at 2-0 3-0,4-0 and only then do they score a couple of goals or consolation goals.

And to go back to the original point which kicked this all off. An attacking player has to be a threat to score a goal. At all levels that's why wingers at youth level often get moved back to being FB and WB's roles when they moved to senior football because either their attacking play isnt good enough or they just arent a goal threat from nearer to the goal. How do they strike the ball. What type of chances are they getting what's the movement like to get those chances. Are they only getting transitional chances crossing chances or they know how to find the space in a crowded box. Or all the above.

There's so much intricacy and nuance on attacking players that just go beyond them scoring goals that most people jsut don't understand. Their level of understanding is going on Transfermarkt and going well he's a good player he has 12 G/A without any real context behind it.

 

[ACM14061988]

Dragusin agent said he spoke with Moncada but told him Dragusin gave his word to Tottenham and wanted to keep it

 

[ACM14061988]

 

[nefremo]

The fuk we need Buongiorno for? Just sit still until June and build with a new manager. Stop giving Pioli players. We have enough quality to beat scrubs in Italy and that should be more then enough to guarantee top 4. Even with the shit half season and tons of injuries, we are comfortably sitting 3rd. No chance of anything else anyway. So don't waste cash for Pioli.