SES' goal was clearly onside.

There are several reports of selling him. Arsenal and dortmunt are interested. This would undo all the transfers rumored for next season imo. He is in the best form of his career since 2012.

We wont sell him this season unless we could get 30+ mils or something.

If we do sell him then thats taking step forward and 5 steps back. God damn it, i'd be so pissed

I doubt we would sell SES now. I think in 3-4 years and I hope we sell him to Arsenal at that time, I think that would be the most suitable team for him.

Btw . About El Shaarawy and if he would be able to play 10 , in case we got "a great striker" and maybe one more to partner him if Menez gets sold *

I was passing time in youtube watching stuff and i found a video of El Shaarawy in Padova. As i watched , i see that El Shaarawy was playing mostly as an attacking midfielder and iirc , that's where he made a name for himself at Padova , as attacking midfielder actually.

I know he's more of a second striker these days , but i am honestly surprised as to how reluctant most of you guys are , into seeing how serious the situation is with El Shaarawy . We will get a CF and no matter if we get another one for the 11 , or for the bench , the fact remains , it won't be El Shaarawy to partner our main CF .

It will either be CF - Menez , or CF - new forward . And i believe it will be Menez that stays put actually and will be paired with the new CF . So , back to El Shaarawy .

He actually has played AM at Padova , though not much after that. At Milan he only played one game as AM , in 11-12 in the cup , against Novara , in which he was really good at and also scored. Moving on , he's decent in link up play and he actually has a very good eye for the assist and the quality to pull through balls off ; we have witnessed this even this season , though the sample of games even is really small to make a solid case on his level of performance right now.

What's more , is that with his speed , dribbling , link up play , off the ball movement , decent at pressing and tracking back when necessary , opressive on the counter and i dare say lethal in his finishing... he makes a great modern 10 , in my honest opinion , either in counter attacks or in positional play .

Give him two forwards up front that can score and provide link up play and 3 midfielders behind him that can hold up play untill he gets in position to infiltrate and crack the zones and he will do an excellent job really .


With Mihajlovic we can also expect better performances than with Pippo . I don't know about you but i always believed SES would end up playing centrally anyway and i think now is the time for this to happen and actually return in being an attacking midfielder once again . He's really good as second striker and if we kept the 4-3-3 he would have most likely continue to be an impressive winger , but i am convinced his all-round game isn't necessarily that of a striker neither of a winger , his finishing is simply impressive and as far as winger status goes , well he's more of an all round winger than anything else , not your classical winger at least. I always saw him rather as a 10 who runs at players to break their zonal tactics , or his man , and either finish the chance / link-up and finish the chance / assist the CF .

El Shaarawy has made some impressive passes and assists in his early career so far, but it isn't even about the assists ; We would have that player who can move the ball up the midfield , we would have back what we have so sorely missed when Kaka left in 09 ; a player that will drive the ball under tight spaces and be a threat from the midfield , someone who can actually feed the forwards chances. Why pay crazy money for that when we have El Shaarawy , especially if it means he would get benched ?

I read somewhere though i don't remember where... and i don't know if that's what will happen either , but ; it said Mihajlovic wants a dynamic and fast player to play as attacking midfielder behind his two forwards , no more a classic trequartista . No Honda type behind the strikers. Honestly , who better than El Shaarawy for that ?? I know many of you guys doubt it , but i am honestly convinced he will explode there if he's surrounded by a legit working team around him and especially under a competitive coach .

Maybe that's the reason Galliani says 1 great striker and 1 great midfielder , afterall ??

Assume the plan is this :


Only way i see El Shaarawy actually NOT playing as an attacking midfielder next season , is we sell Menez and get someone like Kovacic for 10 .


With that being said , I wouldn't exactly count on Kovacic to arrive in any case . I think it's far more likely Menez will stay and will be paired with the new CF , whoever that is , and El Shaarawy to play behind them as a 10 . It really makes sense to me and i kinda think that's what Mihajlovic has in mind tbh . His 4-3-1-2 had exactly the fast type to play as 10 , not a classic trequartista by any means . And given that we have SES and he won't be a winger next season , it seems pretty straight forward what's going to happen , unless they are selling him or something , i very much doubt SES will be a benchwarmer next season .

I would do this


I would love to see Milan like that next season , in all honesty .

Good post, Dante. I accept your proposition that El Shaarawy could play as a 10, however what I consider unlikely is that Mihjalovic will use him there. The rumours about Sinisa wanting Bertolacci as a playmaker confirm in my mind the hunch that he'll employ a hard working midfielder behind the strikers, essentially an attack minded mezzala with an eye for goal. It fits the Soriano mould that he used with Sampdoria's diamond last season. I really hope that he surprises me with his boldness though. If we would commit to using El Shaarawy here it could be wonderful. It would take a period of adjustment but he has the basic tools to do so, his work rate is unimpeachable and he'd give us real flexibility and dynamism in attack when combining with the front two. We'll no doubt find out very early in the pre-season just whether Mihjalovic considers him capable of playing behind two strikers or not.

I guess so and like you said yourself , actually El Shaarawy has the workrate and quality to at least be considered. I can't say that's what will happen but honestly , i think it's most likely on the cards tbh with you.

Something i didn't really focus on because the post was already big , was the counters . Ses has sparked and has been involved in counter attacks from many positions in his games , regardless of where he begun games. I've seen him countless times actually doing great stuff as a 10 would have . Just look up some of his goals and assists , one don't even really need to have watched all his games for that matter ;

He's scored and assisted and taken part in many goals/goal scoring chances in the area usually attacking midfielders operate. Combined with his speed , his link up play , his work rate to support his team in defence , i think within a period of adjustment , there's definitely a good chance we may witness it , at least in pre season i am sure we will . Maybe it doesn't work , but Mihajlovic better try it before he benches SES .

Because honestly , it's quite likely unless Menez is going to be sold . And unless there's a very good offer , we shouldn't really sell him , our only legit striker last season with 16 goals , he deserves to prove he can be a better player than the soloist he end up being . That would leave SES to compete for the AM spot and really , he should be our main man there anyway , he can become our next big thing there imho .

On that point we differ, I'd swap Menez for a half eaten banana. Very good player but he'd be a hindrance to our new centre forward. Yes, he scored 16 goals this season but half of those were penalties and all of this when he was the focus of the entire team. What exactly is going to happen when everyone on the pitch isn't working exclusively for Menez and he's expected to play a far more selfless role? Prior to last season his highest tally in Serie A for a single season was 4 goals at Roma when he occupied a role similar to that he'd be expected to play for us next season. Is he still a quality player? Certainly and some of his link up play with El Shaarawy in particular is immaculate but the last thing we need is a player who thinks he is bigger than the club and that is how Menez plays on the pitch. His market value is sky high compared to recent years right now and I'd gladly cash in.

I do not necessarily disagree . I just think that's what they are going to do , unless a legit offer eventually arrives . He's most likely available for a team who will be interested , but on the other hand , it doesn't exactly seem we are shopping him around either , certainly not declared as gone .

As to the sporting side. Well i believe Menez is kind of a douchebag really . And i say this because , imo he believed most of his teammates to be scrubs and wanted to solve things on his own . I am not sure if that's right , or if that was the right thing to do if i am right , but yeah , it did seem he didn't believe in his teammates if you ask me. Maybe that could be fixed next season and surely things will change under Mihajlovic anyway , he won't have the cheeky freedom he had under Pippo , that is for sure.

All in all , i won't mind if he's sold at all . I would like it even if we got someone better as well , but then again , despite his penalties , he was still our best striker anyway and he even won a few of them by himself actually.

I said this could be the plan cause , if it's true and they want Ibrahimovic back , Menez won't act nor will he play as he did this season . Menez was legit near Ibra actually , they played well together at PSG . But anyhow . I would preffer a more reliable option like you , but i won't exactly hold my breath for Menez to get sold tbh. And in fact , next to Ibra , even Robinho did a fine job in his first season , Menez would be something similar just because of Ibra . No ? Robinho wasn't that much better at link up play if at all , certainly didn't count upon it more often than Menez did without Ibra . I think Menez may or may not be a better Robinho-2010 , next to Ibra. How possible that would be , i am not exactly confidend nor that willing to find out , but surely this must be in their plans if they can't sell him / can't find anyone better than Menez.

Whatever happens , we can be sure he won't sit at the bench anyway. Better hope a good offer arrives , elsewise he will be playing next season , at least that's what i think . I hate his solo BS and i was actually the first to call it around here , but we must be realistic and actually understand Mihajlovic will work different than Pippo , certainly Menez will have to straighten up if he wants to be a regular next season. No way Sinisa will tolerate his bs , so i am not that worried really.

I think whatever happens with Menez , it would probably be for the best. I just said , because there's a good chance he may stay , that such a trio would actually be considered with Ibra here. Without Ibra , i am with you really.

Stephan El Shaarawy welcomes Andrea Bertolacci and Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic to Milan. “I believe in this project.”

The Little Pharaoh had been linked with a move to the Premier League, but insists he wants to stay at San Siro.

“I decided to stay because I believe in the project and I’ve always said that,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

“I want to do well and I hope this is the right year to prove myself.”

The side has a new Coach, as Mihajlovic took over from Pippo Inzaghi.

“Mihajlovic made a good impression on me and we chatted for a few minutes. He is very determined and I hope he can get us on the right track straight away.

“He is a Coach who focuses on young players and has clear ideas. We spoke about tactics too, such as the 4-3-1-2 I played in as a trequartista or second striker at Padova.

“I think last season the problem was in our mentality, as we just had the wrong approach. This squad has a lot of character and in some occasions we could’ve done more.”

There are also strong reports that Milan will sign Roma midfielder Bertolacci for €20m, as he’s set to undergo a medical on Monday.

“I got to know him on international duty and he has great quality, so can give us a big hand. He’s really talented.”

-----------------------

From Football Italia.

Very promising hint about how he might indeed be used, though I won't be convinced until I see him used as an AM on a regular basis.

I'd also like to see SES in the trequartista role. I have always thought he was marginalised out on the left.

The games where he was marginalized on the left he would be marginalized in the middle as well.

I do want to see him played in the middle as much as you all, but I'm far less optimistic it will turn out well. The thing with playing as a winger as opposed to in the middle is that it's far easier to find space out wide. SES excelled when he was able to pick the ball up in space and attack defenses, either taking people on or going for the killer pass. In the middle, he's theoretically going to be involved more, but he won't have the same space and he'll have to improve the speed of his decision making. This season he was already taking too long with the ball and that was when he started deep in our half in acres of space. Receiving the ball in between the lines ~30 yards from goal and then being able to immediately play the killer pass or take on a defender and shoot will require him to step it up significantly.

Not saying he can't do it, but I will say the weaknesses he has shown in his game so far don't make him suited to playing as a 10 in my eyes, at least not yet.

Scored a goal on debut for Monaco.

This thread escalated rather quickly.

As much as its gonna make our club even more of a laughing stock, I hope he does well. Always liked him.

So he was loaned for a year with an mandatory option to buy if he plays a certain amount of games?

linetty wrote:So he was loaned for a year with an mandatory option to buy if he plays a certain amount of games?

can u stop pls

Another Casualty of our medial staff. Love the sell cheap, buy expensive policy we got going on. Nothing much changed.

The terms for El Shaarawy's deal are pretty much the exact same as the one we made for Gourcuff back when he was with us and we sent him to Bordeaux. I guess Galliani does not believe in learning from the past.

I could go on a rant about the matters surrounding the sale, but the issues surrounding the management are well documented in this section

Fact is, we'd be better off having him on board next season

Can't believe that he has actually been sold. Fml

Unfortunately for him, he's not a starter and is going to have a hard time being one with Monaco unless one of the others play poorly... Monaco play a 433 so there are only 3 forward spots. Bernardo Silva and Cavaleiro are too good to be in danger. Then you have Martial, Carrillo and Dirar to go along with SES. Now, he's clearly better than Dirar but Dirar is a heck of a defender from his forward spot to go with being decent enough on the attack.

It's not going to be easy at all. SES was on the bench and only a late sub in today's CL prelim game.

Man, I really don't want to see SES waste away on the bench of Monaco of all places.

If I was a Milan fan i would want too delete this thread.. It is like having your'e ex girlfriend on Facebook and seeing her tagged in photos with other guys and seeing her change her relationship status to in a relationship with another guy

Not buying that SES will rot on the bench this year. Its a long season and plenty of things happen. Players go up and down, injuries occur, and so on. SES is just as good as Bernardo Silva and the rest of them when hes given the opportunity, and it will come. Hes still getting use to the team and what the coach wants from him. Clearly he was never going to jump straight into a solid, established team.