i think we pretty much gave up on that mr x years ago

I've spent most of my working hours here today waiting for an official announcement, I am very excited about this deal, and will be very disappointed if we don't get him now.

WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SUCH A GOAT ATTACK! I can't wait!

I am really excited to see our attack, but I am also worried about SES. You think Balo will help him get better or just slow him down...

Milan31 wrote:I am really excited to see our attack, but I am also worried about SES. You think Balo will help him get better or just slow him down...

Nazionale.. he wont let SES down

dat media attention Super Mario brings.. might get annoying like with Ibra tho

prolly sell a few shirts if he actually works hard for this team, like with the azzurri

KR10 wrote:

Arquitecto wrote:

baresi wrote:
sorry pal, I tend to disagree here.
Well you complain how short sighted the board are and then complain that Balo is cup tied, I don't think the board would panic buy players just for this season's CL fixture with Barca, IF and only IF we get Balo I think they are planning for the future and not short sighted as you mentioned. The CB role is one of the toughest out there and for a new signing to show his impact he needs time to perform that role with the group, if they buy a CB just for the CL OF THIS SEASON THEN i would call the short sighted, unless we get a really good and sound CB which I can't think of any on the market for now.

Anyway SES Niang and Balo in the middle is sexy.

I never criticized the fact that he is cup-tied, that criticism I held for Kaka in another thread.

Yet I do think the last place where we need reinforcement is in our front line which is producing the most positive results compared to our average back line and midfield. Its unlikely that we qualify for next season's champions league as it is, so why not reinforce our weakest points rather then spend on an inconsistent, ill-disciplined forward who is going for a large sum of money?

We have conceded 28 goals in the Serie A which is an unimpressive defensive record, and I don't even have to mention how our defence and midfield was exposed within Europe.

The fact is reinforcing vs Barca was needed given the massive benefits of going through in the Champions League cause if we don't finish in Top 3 or find victory vs Barcelona, we are facing a MASSIVE loss and it doesn't help spending over 20 on Balotelli when we can use that money on areas which requires far more assistance.

Yes it will be exciting to see SES-Niang-Balo yet we have enough depth there with Pazzini and Bojan who are capable of filling such slots. I can't say the same about the 2 other areas.

We have only one player in our team capable of playing CF: Pazzini. I don't want to hear about Bojan anymore, he clearly can't play in the center. So we obviously need another CF.

Robinho is useless at this point, is head isn't in the game, so I wouldn't really count on him either.

Niang is 18. Enough said.

A top quality CF is something we lack. Top quality CF's are 40+ mil these days, so getting Balotelli for 20 mil is actually a great deal, providing it works out.

From a technical perspective this is a great move as well. We cross the ball in about 10 times per game but have scored maybe one headed goal all season. Why? Because we have midget Bojan and weakling Pazzini in the center.

We will fix our defence in the summer. Midfield won't need much work with Saloman, Sapponara and NDJ retruning. Also, our mid is much better now with Boa back in midfield. Mexes-Zapata isn't bad for now, we were terrible on defence because we kept changing CB partnerships more so than the lack of quality.

I think Kaka would be a mistake. I don't wanna see 4-3-1-2 again. 4-3-3 is the way forward with the way our team is shaping up.

To sumamrise, this move has some risk but a top CF is by no means a waste of money. Also don't forget Bojan is leavign at the end of the season so we have to spend on a CF anyways.

KR my friend, I will have to disagree with you here. I'll make it organized.

-We don't even know if we will continue to play a CF given how many times Allegri has played a False 9 when Pazzini doesn't play. The 4-3-3 as evidenced by Max's words could even just be temporary as unlikely as that is as of now. Thing is Bojan is simply training to grow his muscle in order to play in the centre for Milan when we attempt to buy him but that also is hypothetical. Point trying to make is we are far more equipped and ready in our front flank then we are within our midfield and defence. Why spend 20 million Euros (which is a devastating amount for a club who financially are weak) on an inconsistent, ill-disciplined maniac who will not guarantee instant results let alone results for the money we paid for him? If anything we needed to split that cash and sort it out between the midfield and of course our astonishingly bad back line.

Who said Bojan will be leaving? Galliani made a breakthrough with Barca in lowering his price to 12-15 million in which Galliani intends to pay if afforded.

-Midfield? De Jong will not even be here this season let alone guaranteed to come back into his wonderful form after this crippling injury. Saponara is a Serie B talent and unproven. Saloman? Another guy from Serie B. I can't even agree about Boateng has deploying him back in the midfield has brought moderate results as his tactical limitations is exposed there.

-Our CB line-up keeps changing since we don't have anyone to compliment one another. Allegri bases that based on the opponent which is why he changes it so many times. Mexes is our only consistent man. Zapata is physically excellent yet brainless, Yepes is impressive when not exposed to pace, Acerbi a growing talent was sold (which is ) and we have no one left aside from that.

I agree that we are lacking in a true CF yet pooling all that money into Balotelli for 20 million when more shrewd, less expensive deals regarding that money can be used in reinforcing all areas, is just absurd. Its typical Milan who don't know how to build a team and only opt for Hollywood players up front when the areas around them need assistance.

Balotelli may just perform for us and all, but in order for Top 3 (which is DIRELY needed) we needed a far less more tactical plan.





-

Arch, this is the world we are living in - all the drones will be happy with this Hollywood line-up. I think it is safe to say this move was a step in the "wrong direction", in a sense that I thought management was doing a good job of moving towards a new direction. While that "spectacular" transfer window brought us success, it was merely short-term success and I do not think we were close to winning a Champions League with that squad.

What is done is done and we will have to see what happens, but I cannot imagine this ending well in the next 2-3 seasons. Like you said, 20 million is too much money for a club with our Financial situation.

THC 10 wrote:Arch, this is the world we are living in - all the drones will be happy with this Hollywood line-up. I think it is safe to say this move was a step in the "wrong direction", in a sense that I thought management was doing a good job of moving towards a new direction. While that "spectacular" transfer window brought us success, it was merely short-term success and I do not think we were close to winning a Champions League with that squad.

What is done is done and we will have to see what happens, but I cannot imagine this ending well in the next 2-3 seasons. Like you said, 20 million is too much money for a club with our Financial situation.

Thing is Dom, if we look at the positive side, signing Balo has its merits:

-Despite the haters who look only at his antics, Balo has world class potential. Look at Balotelli for Italia, plays his heart out, celebrates by kissing the badge, doesn't have a single disciplinary problem. Inter and City? City he could not give a shit about while Inter is actually the rival of his club, Milan. So where does that leave us? With Allegri the master of controlling and taming egos, along with Balotelli finally coming into a club that he loves, we CAN see the Balotelli that we see for Italia. We can see the Balotelli who all Italians want to see. My personal prediction is that he will be the same guy but I wouldn't argue against anyone who presents the factors I did above.

-Thing is we have no chance for the Champions League, Balo was bought for future reinforcement of our talent soaked front-line along with the objective of him helping us get to the Top 3 which is more important then anything or everything for Milan. Its THAT important. Yet given our iffy defence, our almost non-existent midfield bar the fantastic Montolivo (De Jong injured long term), we needed to find balance within that the squad as a whole, something we haven't done since 2007.

KR10 presented good points such as our lack of prolific CF and the needed for aerial threat since Pazzini has seemingly declined (actually doesn't suit the system) in his aerial threat but more important issues were needed to attend to.

-Frankly I never bought that we don't have the money. Ask Art Morte who regularly praises Milan's revenue as this year it was 250 million. Yes we incur losses through a stadium which isn't owned along with lower fan prices yet my actual prediction for a long time was that Berlusconi has been using our money to recover from his lawsuit which cost over 550 mil and using it to fund his current lawsuits.

-We bought Balotelli so Galliani can say: "We must thank Zio Berlu for what he has done for us etc/cliche" so Berlu can say: "Balotelli is a present from me to you Milanisti"(which is f**king stupid considering his job is to pay) AND something no one has guessed. Drum roll please. Do it.

-We spent that money on the star simply because Berlusconi's running for election once again. Figure out the economics and what buying Balotelli for Milan will help Berlu.

- and lastly Homeland is shit.

Balo either performs or he explodes... it's a 50/50 proposition. His off the field activities are a big problem too. He parties like a champ lol. I don't know. If i were Milan and i had 20 mil to spend, i may have perhaps gone for Mbiwa for 8 mil and made a run at Holtby. You get a good CM and very good CB who will no doubt contribute for years. Both could even be superstars very easily. Instead, you go for broke on a guy who, frankly, has never produced a good season. All hype. Even in the Euro, it was the Germany game and that's it.

I hope it works out well for you guys. But i can't say that i'm impressed with Milan's management here. No idea what the plan is.

Arch, check my post in the general section thread - I do not deny that this move has its benefits.

P.S. You have my sides aching

P.S. P.S. (I hadn't finished reading all of your post) - we are oddly thinking on the same level right now, get out of my head

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

Congrats guys, hope it works out well for you

for Serie A i'm really happy for his return. Congrats

we need a competitive Serie A for the clubs to grow.
as in economics the lack competitors makes the few strong lazy and eventual weaker and in the end affects the competition.

i really hope Balotelli helps you qualify for Champions League next year and restart the Serie A title challenge next year.

oh...and i glad you took him...and not us

at least its more entertainment for us watching milan week in week out

I'm dead

I hope to see him on Sunday....
------------------Balo--------------
----SES-----------------------Niang---

Cant wait.

all that is left now is Hiram meir.

baresi wrote:I hope to see him on Sunday....
------------------Balo--------------
----SES-----------------------Niang---

Cant wait.

its typical that new players dont play right away, and it would be sad if he didnt get at least 45 minutes

Overnight breaking news. Balotelli is set to return to milan on a free loan. Confirmed reports of him meeting with Mihajlovic in Florence lat night. What do you guys think?

It's a free loan with Liverpool paying part of his wages. I don't mind this. Better than having Matri

Do you believe Balo is going to get himself together?

The only way I'd be happy with this is if we got rid of Matri as well. Balo can be a decent 3rd choice option I guess - but I'd rather Niang got some chances.

Also, if this deal goes through, does that mean Menez will be sold?

I've answered in more detail in the transfer market thread but as shamr said, it's a free loan with Pool helping to pay his wages. 12 months after they gave us 20 million euros for him, that's a pretty sweet deal.

The most important thing is that we wouldn't be relying on Balotelli as a first choice. He'd be given an opportunity to prove that he can displace either of Bacca or Adriano instead of having the likes of Matri challenge them. If he can't, not much changes for us on the pitch. If he can, fantastic.

Don't really see too much wrong with this tbh. Especially with 'pool subsidizing his wages. And if he does do well, his transfer fee should be low as well since 'pool are desperate to offload him. If he doesn't do well, just send him back. As long as there is no compulsory clause to buy him in the load deal, I'm fine with it!

I was calling for Balo when we were talking about transfers in another thread. People said I was crazy. But they forget he played amazing for us. 30 goals in 50 games. Now he will be extra motivated to shine...this is literally his last chance to prove himself.

Given the circumstances...its a free loan and partial wages. Don't see much wrong with it.

We still need a solid player to connect the midfield. I wish we could get Isco.

Why the heck not? Come home Balo. <3