The Story of Milan, the Vulture Fund, and the Returning King: 18/19 Season

Unbelievable that nobody's been hangin' around the Milan forum for such a LONG time, isn't it?
Used to be we had cool, lively discussions here every single day, if not hour. Well, what can you say? It's mostly about the battle with time and its bastard of a child: gettin' old.

So, guys... We all know how it's gone down in Via Aldo Rossi these past months. No need to go through the whole Mr. Li-Elliott duel and sacking of Fassobelli. Instead, howsabout we have ourselves a study of the remaining three weeks of the transfer window?

Considering that every football team, no matter first-rate or seventh-rate, needs at least two players for each position, our squad may best be described as imbalanced. For instance, while Çalhanoğlu and Kessié have no substitutes at LW and RCM respectively, we have six fullbacks (the seventh one could be the exciting Bellanova) and no less than five strikers. The number of redundant players is just overwhelming. However, Leonardo is working to prune the squad as we speak.

Based on the two-for-each-position rule, We currently need a LW, RCM, LCM, and even RW. Some of the substitutes we do have are not necessarily bad, but terribly doubtful, such as the position-less Borini, the unproven Halilović, and the super-average Bertolacci.

I hear Bakayoko is a done deal.
https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/ac-milan/transfer-talk/news/bakayoko-to-join-milan-on-loan_332665.html
And Kalinic to Atletico is almost official.
https://www.calciomercato.com/en/news/kalinic-passes-atletico-madrid-medical-announcement-imminent-99308

In terms of sales, we also have to work hard to get rid of Bacca, Antonelli, and Mauri outright, as well as Locatelli, Calabria and Andre Silva on loan.

The biggest regret of the summer so far is missing out on that valuable free player, Bernard. It is also a shame that we paid 20m for Biglia (b. 1986) while Witsel (b. 1989 and five times better) is going to Dortmund for the same fee.

Finally, we must accelerate our efforts to land the missing midfielder and winger. I suppose our best bets currently are smart i.e. loan or cut-price deals for two of the following: Martial (wants out), Candreva (possibly wants out), Malcom (won't get games), Arthur (won't get games) Kovacic (wants out), and Rabiot (one year on his deal). There are ridiculous reports on Leonardo's mad idea to sign Milinkovic-Savic and Draxler, but let's not get carried away.

So, by the end of the window, I can realistically imagine the following team:

Starting XI: Donnarumma - Romagnoli (C), Caldara, Conti, Rodriguez - Rabiot, Kessié, Kovačić - Çalhanoğlu, Suso, Higuain
Bench: Reina, Zapata, Musacchio, Strinic, Abate, Biglia, Bertolacci, Bakayoko, Bonaventura, Halilovic, Cutrone

Hello iras, nice to see you post. I always loved your posts in the off - topic section as well as your emotional posts on Milan. Hope you're doing good.

As far as team is concerned, I am very excited that Leonardo is back.

It is very apparent to feel the reinforced faith that his return to Milan board has brought. You can see that the man knows what he's doing. It feels like he has brought back the allure of joining a club like Milan. Last year this time, we were signing players left, right and center. Good players, mind you, but players who had plenty of doubts cast on them, while Fassone and Mirabelli didn't really do a bad job at that, there was always an air of " This is the best that we can do considering that we don't have CL or funds to attract the best". But that feeling isn't there in the club anymore. While it has a lot to do with the fact that Elliot have taken over, I don't think a player like Higuain would have joined, or we would confidently look at players like Rabiot, SMS or even Bakayoko with anyone but Leonardo incharge of things.

Also very excited to see what developments the presence of Maldini will bring about at the club.

Bakayoko is clumsy, lacks ball control and can't complete simple passes based on what I have heard from Chelsea fans. We don't need a 40 million euro substitute to Kessie. That would make no sense. You don't spend that much for a bench warmer.

On the bright side, Higuain and Caldara were masterclass transfers. I'm just not sold on Bakayoko. I was right about Kalinic.

Btw, kovacic is out of the question.

Rabiot is a high possibility. I just don't get why we are selling Locatelli when we are short in midfield. If we are putting in a monster bid for Milinkovic-Savic we better do it soon. If we are selling players to balance out the sheets if we do Leonardo better act fast.

So far the jury is still out on this summer. And a 40 million bench warmer would be a tremendous waste of money.

One other note... Many of the transfers Fassone and Mirabelli did were quite good. Two were not (Kalinic+Borini). Bonucci (gone now), Conti (despite his injury) and Calhanaglu were great transfers.

GiancarloC wrote:Bakayoko is clumsy, lacks ball control and can't complete simple passes based on what I have heard from Chelsea fans. We don't need a 40 million euro substitute to Kessie. That would make no sense. You don't spend that much for a bench warmer.

We only have an option to buy at 40 million, not an obligation. Bakayoko didn't have a great season, yes, but can't think of anyone better who'd be willing to come to Milan to compete for play time with Kessie. If Bakayoko doesn't come good, no loss for us, and if he does have a good season, we can definitely negotiate as I don't think anyone will be willing to pay a similar price for him.

As far as locatelli is concerned, we wanted to have a buyback clause inserted, which Locatelli didn't want. He was very much in our club's plans, but apparently he was not happy to stay.

We will see what happens. Leonardo does have a good track record with young players, so perhaps I'm wrong about Bakayoko. Nonetheless, SMS is looking more likely by the day... It would be crazy if he joins us. Highly unexpected.

Higuain, Caldara, Bakayoko, SMS and possibly Castillejo (or Promes)?

Wow. I can't say I saw that coming when the summer started.

Zlatan wrote:Hello iras, nice to see you post. I always loved your posts in the off - topic section as well as your emotional posts on Milan. Hope you're doing good.

As far as team is concerned, I am very excited that Leonardo is back.

It is very apparent to feel the reinforced faith that his return to Milan board has brought. You can see that the man knows what he's doing. It feels like he has brought back the allure of joining a club like Milan. Last year this time, we were signing players left, right and center. Good players, mind you, but players who had plenty of doubts cast on them, while Fassone and Mirabelli didn't really do a bad job at that, there was always an air of " This is the best that we can do considering that we don't have CL or funds to attract the best". But that feeling isn't there in the club anymore. While it has a lot to do with the fact that Elliot have taken over, I don't think a player like Higuain would have joined, or we would confidently look at players like Rabiot, SMS or even Bakayoko with anyone but Leonardo incharge of things.

Also very excited to see what developments the presence of Maldini will bring about at the club.

It's awesome to see you guys around. Thanks.

I've always been of the opinion that a team is as good as its bench. Real Madrid ruled Europe because they had Vazquez, Asensio and Kovacic on the bench.

It's been years since we last had a presentable bench. There was a time when we could call upon the likes of Cassano and Robinho to come in and change something, but last year? Borini, Kalinic, Montolivo... This season, we already have Cutrone, Bacca, Halilovic, and Bakayoko, while Bonaventura and Biglia could be sent there if we sign a quality midfielder and winger.

The starting XI that I imagined can still take shape, only Kovacic is of course gone and in his place we can imagine Bonaventura or an incoming midfielder. I hate fantasy football and would never imagine my favorite players (Messi, Aubameyang, Modric, etc.) here. Instead, my (realistic) expectation today involves a switch to 4-2-3-1, with Rabiot and a capable winger added to the XI for less than 50m in total.

Donnarumma - Romagnoli (C), Caldara, Conti, Rodriguez - Rabiot, Kessié - Promes, Çalhanoğlu, Suso - Higuain.

Looking forward for the season.

After the summer we have had, to come out with:

New owners, and gone is the talk about $$ and if we have it.

Out with Fassone and Mirabelli, as well as out with many of their mishaps on the market. In leonardo, and il capitano.

In: Reina, Strnic, Hallilovic, Higuain, Caldara, Bakayoko, Castellejo, and perhaps even Laxalt

Out: Kalinic, Silva, Bacca, Bonucci, Antonelli + one of bertolacci/montolivo and possibly RR

additional notes: anybody else noticed how gigio rumours have died, and he seems to feel settled? knock on wood and all but with maldini there who else but him could grow our future capitano. On that note: Romagnoli is also a stud, probably our most consistent player since his arrival, and now ready to take the milan #13 to its original glory.

Not been so pumped to watch our first game in years, literally

Last summer felt too good to be true and thats exactly what it was, this time we have club legends calling the shots with money behind them

I think we have what it takes to displace one of roma/napoli/lazio, but we need to back it up on the pitch

Laxalt is done. Genoa still owed us money for Lapadula. That worked to our advantage.

A big name midfielder and maybe another striker may arrive.

Not all of Fassones and Mirabellis transfers were bad, but some were. Kalinic... I'm still surprised that we were able to sell him, especially after the nonsense he did in the world cup. What on earth was Atletico thinking?

i think they saw it as a huge gamble, but from an economic standpoint,

Kalinic can be seen as any other business acquisition, basically that he can be acquired for much less than his real market value.

Aside from that, he fits the profile of a vice-Costa when needed and to have a sub the quality of kalinic (in Madrids opinion) for much less than market value makes sense when you consider gamiero was their backup before.

Simeone must approve of him no doubt

Kalinic may work at a midtable team, but i always thought he was not much of anything for Milan. His valued tumbled. I think we got more from his sale than he is worth. He really was bad for us.

as long as Bakayoko sucks for chelsea but does great for us, that will do. that chelsea team last year was a mess and it wasnt just Bakayoko who was sucking... pretty much everyone except willian, hazard

AC Milan officially announced that our incoming transfer dealings are over.
Except for Montolivo who is almost certain to join Parma today, the squad is now established as follows:

Goalkeepers: G. Donnarumma, Reina, A. Donnarumma

Defenders: Romagnoli, Caldara, Musacchio, Zapata, Rodriguez, Conti, Laxalt, Calabria, Strinic, Abate

Midfielders: Biglia, Bertolacci, Mauri, Kessié, Bakayoko, Bonaventura, Halilovic

Forwards: Higuain, Cutrone, Suso, Çalhanoğlu, Castillejo, Borini

Milan's starting XI 2018-19:



Reserve XI:

Too thin and a missed opportunity. We will end up in sixth place again. And I don't think we bought Laxalt for the bench, which makes it even more strange that Rodriguez stayed.

Let's review last season in one post:

Montella:

He killed Fassobelli to get Kalinic (     ), so he was too embarassed to leave the useless bastard on the bench. By his childish, misjudged, cheap insistence, he deprived us of Aubameyang, a player I consider light years ahead of Higuain, Kane, etc.

Meanwhile, Cutrone did too well in August and September, so Montella was basically screwed. He also developed this inexplicable obsession with 3-man defense, and turned Milan into a circus. At one point, he benched Suso to go 3-4-1-2. Oh my God! Could anyone believe that now?

So, Montella saw sense and reverted to 4-X-Y. His biggest mistake, however, was to bet on Borini rather than Hakan at LW, reasoning that Bonaventura and Suso offered enough creativity and we needed a tireless runner at LW. The result? Milan was just unwatchable. Horrible. Montella got the sack. Phewww.


Gattuso:

What Rino did last year in terms of tactics and fitness was no genius stuff; he just saw the obvious, and did the obvious. He saw firsthand how pathetic we were physically, how poorly our attackers moved, and how anything-but-creative our midfield was, so he put in Bonaventura and Çalhanoğlu on the left and they, along with Rodriguez, combined really well and saved our season... if you can call it that! Arguably more importantly, he transmitted his passion for intense football and his Rossonero pride to the players and got their fat, indifferent asses running again.
Montella was incapable of any of the above.

And then, when almost everything felt right, Gattuso was betrayed by his strikers on a weekly basis. The management bought ZERO wingers in the summer (yes, even Hakan wasn't a natural one), Andre Silva's confidence and swagger were just distant memories, how Kalinic performed was indescribable, and Cutrone was too green to carry the goalscoring burden on his 19-year-old shoulders.

Now, we have Higuain, a born goalscorer who rarely gets injured, and we have a team who knows how their coach wants them to play. The whole team, especially Hakan, will be way better physically, and we have an incomparably better set of substitutes than last year. If our starters fail to do much, we have at least a few players on the bench who offer something different, if not necessarily better. For instance, Cutrone presses better than Higuain, Castillejo is the fastest player on the team with great direct runs, and Halilovic is a skillful kid who can actually move the ball around. We must've gotten rid of Borini and bought a first-rate LW, but we're not as terrible as last year.

The biggest regret is that Conti got his other knee injured as well (like me!) and realistically speaking, he won't be himself this season. ACL injuries are only SAID to get well in six months, but experience has taught me it takes closer to two years to FULLY heal.

I'm not dumb, we're behind in many aspects, especially due to the lack of a Modric-like string-puller and goal-scoring wingers, but we do stand a chance unlike last year. With Gattuso and our young guns, we're allowed to cautiously dream.

A chance for an EL position and more lost revenues. Unless we get more serious about winning the EL, we are in big trouble once again. By the way, Aubameyang hasn't exactly lit the PL on fire. He would have done better for us.

As far as Hakan Calhanoglu, remember when he came to us he was suspended from playing for many months (I can't recall for what) . So he was not fit and had to adapt to a new league... He deserves some applause for working hard.

On the point of players not being fit last season, I would also like to point out that we played a lot of competitive games early in the season, and it was almost the same playing eleven which also completed the season. Lack of any bench options was also a reason for the same players playing so much, especially Kessie, Hakan and Bonaventura. Hakan, and also the team very much alike, would get completely burned out by the hour mark, which basically meant we were never going to come back once we went behind in the second half.

I was very disappointed with Bonaventura last season, there were plenty of games in the second half of the season where he would continue to keep playing despite being completely wasteful and looked tired always, hopefully his form picks up this season or else we'd see someone else take up that position better. I feel the role Jack is playing in the team right now is the perfect position for Hakan. Despite his his strong second half of the season, it always felt like Hakan was confined by being out on the wing, and he'd be even better if put in a position with more space to manoeuvre, so I would like to see him start at Jack's place with Laxalt as the winger.

Laxalt was one of the players who impressed me the most at the world cup and I wanted to follow him at Genoa this season, I was just so happy when I learnt that Milan were signing him and I am sure he'll be a hit with us.

Strinic is out indefinitely.

http://app.football-italia.net/index.htm#article/footballitalia-126426&menu=news-all

Heart condition. Its uncertain if he will play again. Scary condition to have considering he played heavily during the world cup and played multiple 120 minute games.

How the hell could the celebrated MilanLab have failed to diagnose Strinic when he underwent his medical? Or did they? Is this why Milan acted so fast to sign Laxalt?
But it must be a recent thing, mustn't it? Otherwise, Croatia's doctors or his previous clubs' would've found out about it.

I can't begin to say how happy I am for the guy. He could easily have become the Croatian or Rossonero Marc-Vivien Foé. Thanks heavens he dodged the damn bullet. Would've been devastating, to say the least.

Meanwhile, I was happy to see Juve looked anything but all-conquering! It was gonna be a sweet upset, if not for Bonucci and the wonderful Bernardeschi.

Mirabelli signed Strinic. We had a change of ownership. My guess is the signed him hoping there was nothing serious.

Laxalt was more an opportunity I think because Genoa couldn't pay for Lapadula.

Is there a reason why Milan aren't playing this weekend?

RealGunner wrote:Is there a reason why Milan aren't playing this weekend?

Sampdoria and Genoa both had their matches postponed because of the bridge disaster