Calcio Saga 20/21

Arquitecto wrote:Very happy with our performance last night. Our midfield finally is looking something that can dominate but our defence without Kjaer is rather worrying.

It is also worrying how good we are with Zlatan and without as he has now 3 goals in 2 games and scored our 3 of our last 4 goals.

He really does back up all the talk of leading Milan and on the pitch.

Still not expecting much though eager to see more of Tonali along with Diaz as well, next game.

kessie has become something else ... lol and i guess calabria too XD which is great
calabria played like the best ever game in milan shirt

as far as ibra goes i agree im concerned more about ibra but good news is that with or without ibra our on and off ball movement has been crazy good - its finishing we are lacking atm

i agree - we need to get tonali and diaz up to speed because this time we will have lot of games to play

Minister of Sport Vincenzo Spadafora has revealed stadiums in Serie A will gradually reopen from October 8.
https://www.football-italia.net/159237/spadafora-stadiums-gradually-reopen-october-8

atm the quota for attendance has been limited to only 1000 fans per game.
Lets hope that fall and winter is not a cruel one and everyone can have a safe and secure game to watch

I will wait a bit more to judge Kessie since he is merely hot in form at the moment and Calabria that is his ceiling as shown. He was touted to replace Abate but Abate tactically was brilliant by a point and very fast.


And that always has been the case without Ibra and the case many Ibra detractors made during Allegri's Milan in which many preferred Robinho and Pato to lead the line.

But as a whole a lot of chances were not created despite how mobile it was, and then of course those crucial goals let alone his on field leadership now that is stronger than it was then.

After submitting resignation due to Diawara error, Pantaleo Longo likely to join Hellas Verona https://t.co/TYLry0ufLY

— RomaPress (@ASRomaPress) September 22, 2020

Dobby is free ..

Deputy Health Minister Pierpaolo Sileri believes Serie A could allow ‘up to a third of the stadium capacity’ back into the stands.

https://www.football-italia.net/159296/sileri-20000-fans-could-be-allowed-olimpico

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lets hope so ; fan atmosphere is badly missed, club's revenue are drying its killing football as we know it so far.
this will happen given the strict health protocol is followed.

dunno the current climate and coronavirus status in general in italy but hope the difficult times are behind and that people are cautiously following health protocols to protect everyone around.

Arquitecto wrote:I will wait a bit more to judge Kessie since he is merely hot in form at the moment and Calabria that is his ceiling as shown. He was touted to replace Abate but Abate tactically was brilliant by a point and very fast.


And that always has been the case without Ibra and the case many Ibra detractors made during Allegri's Milan in which many preferred Robinho and Pato to lead the line.

But as a whole a lot of chances were not created despite how mobile it was, and then of course those crucial goals let alone his on field leadership now that is stronger than it was then.

actually ur right im gonna keep my feet on ground, nothing's achieved yet. still cant forget the abysmal first half season that we had - that has to change and as per theo's own words

"last year we started bad and finished very well, this season we have to start well and finish well" - words of wisdom right there from our theo

and @Mclewis, keep the optimism in tact bro - its just been what a month since friedkin took over and they are in the process probably of assessing the club inside out and hand picking people who fits within club's parameters in terms of visions, culture, success and so on.

Keeping dzeko will be a good success, plus i think personally i feel Roma arent in bad shape. Kumbulla is a good signing, and new signings up front and over time i think they will recruit good players.

there has been new developments about Francesco Totti's return to the club as well. and its just a start of a season. things changes really fast - this is a transition year that being said club atleast are in safe hands than previous owner

been reading a lot of critcism on Federico Chiesa *not here but outside - and recent backslash he is facing that he is not worth even 40 million and he rarely score goals for amount of games he plays ...

i just would like to point out that Chiesa is being played as a wingback in 3-5-2 by that fool iachini hence the problem. just before end of the season he temporarily (or so i thought he finally found a winning formula for this fiorentina team to play) 4-3-3 but in that formation Chiesa was the best as RW and scored hattrick and was incredibly scary in remaining games.
When Pioli was in fiorentina, Chiesa was arguably the most dangerous player in that team (remember they once annihilated Roma) - this 3-5-2 is a waste for Chiesa being a wingback

He is not definitely 70 million as per current assessment by Commisso they are just trying to not devaluate the player but 35-40 million is worth the investment for someone like Chiesa given he is played in his natural winger position (LW or RW) either one of them.

JespSwe wrote:and @Mclewis, keep the optimism in tact bro - its just been what a month since friedkin took over and they are in the process probably of assessing the club inside out and hand picking people who fits within club's parameters in terms of visions, culture, success and so on.

Keeping dzeko will be a good success, plus i think personally i feel Roma arent in bad shape. Kumbulla is a good signing, and new signings up front and over time i think they will recruit good players.

there has been new developments about Francesco Totti's return to the club as well. and its just a start of a season. things changes really fast - this is a transition year that being said club atleast are in safe hands than previous owner

I think Roma are in bad shape this season. They have to overachieve this season and then "catch up" to the kind of moves that Juve, Inter, Milan or Napoli are making.

Against Verona their best player was Spinazzola, their main threat. I dont know if that's a good thing though, as his injuries make him unreliable. If Roma had had Dzeko they would have scored, on the other hand, Verona hit the post 2 or 3 times.

Its a second season and Fonseca still hasn't found regularity. What is his best formation or lineup? His Roma always feel experimental, like a beta version. With Zaniolo's injury their problems grow a lot.

My main concern for Roma are the goals. After old man Dzeko their main scorers are Mkhitaryan and Pellegrini probably. Maybe Pedro if he fits perfectly. IIRC Kolarov was their second or third scorer last season.

There are a lot of good players, but they miss a few to give them a jump in quality, like Zaniolo. Like De Rossi, Salah, Nainggolan, prime Dzeko, etc.

That was the best Calabria performance I've seen in a while. It doesn't change the fact we still need a new RB though.

Zlatan's influence on the team can't be said enough. Even though he regularly gives them a telling off for screwing up, it's more to help them raise their performance than anything else. MJ esque really. He's one of our greatest players ever and if at 39 he can bring us back to CL it adds even more to his legend.

As for the Chiesa rumours, I know I've stated this plenty of times, but I think if the opportunity is there, we should definitely go for him.

I believe he would suit the tactical dynamics very well. We have two triangles on each side of the pitch. Our left triangle has Theo, Kessie, and Rebic. Theo is the dribbler, Kessie covers, and Rebic moves off the ball looking for the attacking spaces. Since our LB plays so high up the pitch, our RB needs to be more conservative. So the right triangle ends up having Calabria, Bennacer, and Castillejo. Calabria covers, Bennacer distributes, and Castillejo is the hard-working dribbler. If you ask me those are like the ideal complementary profiles in a 4-2-3-1. It's all about balance.

Right now, the key is to add quality to those roles without sacrificing the dynamics. I believe Chiesa would fit in on the right very well. He could perform Castillejo's role while bringing his superior individual qualities to the table. The number one thing I want from my attackers is that they have the ability to make something out of nothing. They need to have that one skill that they can do at a world-class level that can impact the game. Ideally, every player would have that quality, but if the modern top team attacks with five and has five players covering their backs, well you'd want those attacking five to have that quality.

Right now 4/5 of our main attacking players have that. They have that one trait that allows us to win games with it alone. Theo has his powerful dribbles, Rebic has his movement, Zlatan can do everything, and Hakan has his shot. Now I don't include Castillejo because although he can run with the ball, he doesn't have the ability to do it at a world-class level. Since I don't want us to sacrifice the current dynamics, well then I want us to sign a winger who can bring what Castillejo does but to a higher level.

That's why I think we should sign Chiesa. He's fast and he can dribble. Also unlike a lot of other dribblers, he's very direct and he dribbles TO THE GOAL. Not many dribblers actually attack centrally with the ball. I can count on one hand the number of players who can take the ball and break lines with it centrally. Most attack the byline or cut inside to shoot. So he's unique in that regard. He brings that while being a balancer to the team. Also add him having a nice shot, as well as being versatile, hard-working, young, and Italian, then I don't see any reason why Milan shouldn't sign him.

Given the high transfer fee we would likely pay for him, even if he doesn't turn out a world-class player, he would still be a better option than what we have. It reminds me of the Theo debates last year. Yes, they might have underwhelmed recently, but their floor is better than our current options, while their ceiling is MUCH better than our current options, hence if the opportunity presents itself we need to sign him.

I agree on Calabria, however i think we have more pressing concerns than RB, we need a RW and a backup LB, Laxalt is ass and needs to be bounced.

We need to offload:
-Laxalt
-Duarte
-Paqueta
-Halilovic

We need a LB, RW, CM and CB right now.

RB can wait until we cosnolidate on these positions, plus we have that Kalulu lad from OL.

If we can get:
-Bakayoko
-Chiesa
-Ajer
-Iago

I think we can pose a serious threat for top 4

The same reason why I want Chiesa because he can influence the game with his pace, dribbling, or shooting is the same reason why I've turned on Paqueta in the last year.  

He has no game-changing qualities in the final third. He can't dribble, he has no final pass, doesn't make deep runs, and he can't shoot.

It does make me wonder if that's it for Paqueta at the top level though. His best qualities are his press resistance and his work-rate. So maybe he can make a good career for himself playing deeper. Then again most managers don't want to play someone who relies so much on his instincts deep. I believe that was the reason Giampaolo didn't want to start Paqueta as a CM and instead of adapting to that he took offense to it because it's not the Brazilian way.

Honestly, unless Paqueta develops a game-changing quality, or adapts to playing with his brain more than with his feet, then it might be over for him at the very top level.

Kaladin wrote:I agree on Calabria, however i think we have more pressing concerns than RB, we need a RW and a backup LB, Laxalt is ass and needs to be bounced.

We need to offload:
-Laxalt
-Duarte
-Paqueta
-Halilovic

We need a LB, RW, CM and CB right now.

RB can wait until we cosnolidate on these positions, plus we have that Kalulu lad from OL.

If we can get:
-Bakayoko
-Chiesa
-Ajer
-Iago

I think we can pose a serious threat for top 4

If we weren't competing in the EL, I'd say we would've been guarantees for the CL places even with the current squad. But with the EL we definitely need more depth.

A new starting CB, starting RW, and starting RB and we would be competing for the league title, I'm not kidding. Replace Zlatan and upgrade Hakan by the end of next season and we will make a BVB/Ajax/Atletico/Monaco esque run in the CL in 2-3 years too.

The only question is that once we make that deep CL run within the next 5 years is do we sell our young talents to the super teams, or do we keep them and make it back to the top ourselves. Hoping for the latter, but wouldn't be surprised if the former becomes the case. Either way, if we can make the right signings, then I'm quite optimistic about the future.

https://www.milannews.it/news/tuttosport-chiesa-ha-in-testa-soltanto-la-juve-384989
unfortunately if reports are to be believed, chiesa only wants juventus. I agree he would have been perfect for us with the way we play and his directness quality pace he offers.
Juve no offense to their fans, arent a good place for Chiesa to be because he will be contesting with the likes of dybala, kulusevski, in milan he would be a direct starter no question - but if his head is set somewhere else we can look to strengthen somewhere else like CB.

anyway yesterday Chiesa's dad Enrico Chiesa and Fali Ramadani showed up in milan to held talks with our club. what was the discussion or what ideas were pitched by our club is not disclosed out in public. Ramadani also was probably there to discuss his other clients - milenkovic / nastasic

as for now our chances of chiesa has gone to slim to none based on price as well as player's will

Casciavit wrote:The same reason why I want Chiesa because he can influence the game with his pace, dribbling, or shooting is the same reason why I've turned on Paqueta in the last year.  

He has no game-changing qualities in the final third. He can't dribble, he has no final pass, doesn't make deep runs, and he can't shoot.

It does make me wonder if that's it for Paqueta at the top level though. His best qualities are his press resistance and his work-rate. So maybe he can make a good career for himself playing deeper. Then again most managers don't want to play someone who relies so much on his instincts deep. I believe that was the reason Giampaolo didn't want to start Paqueta as a CM and instead of adapting to that he took offense to it because it's not the Brazilian way.

Honestly, unless Paqueta develops a game-changing quality, or adapts to playing with his brain more than with his feet, then it might be over for him at the very top level.

paqueta atm is a lost cause to us. he has been given decent opportunities - actually he was tested as LW, RW, AM, playmaker, at which he failed in convincing pioli. problem with paqueta is that he is a player who relies on his skills way too much and keeps ball too much then gets surrounded by 3-4 players and he finds himself in trouble.



Kaka stated, “He must find confidence in himself. The last year went well, but the second year not so much, I know from experience.
“The other players start to know you, and it becomes more difficult. He must consider his quality.
“In a strong team he can become an important player.
“If you buy a Brazilian player he must know what type of player he is. Paqueta does need to adapt to Italian football a little more.
“However at the same time he mustn't lose sight of his footballing identity. He must stay creative, because that is what we are.

“He must become more practical, an not merely trying to dribble for the sake of it."


so actually he is doing quite the opposite to what kaka is saying lol. and aligns with what you say also.

Kaladin wrote:I agree on Calabria, however i think we have more pressing concerns than RB, we need a RW and a backup LB, Laxalt is ass and needs to be bounced.

We need to offload:
-Laxalt
-Duarte
-Paqueta
-Halilovic

We need a LB, RW, CM and CB right now.

RB can wait until we cosnolidate on these positions, plus we have that Kalulu lad from OL.

If we can get:
-Bakayoko
-Chiesa
-Ajer
-Iago

I think we can pose a serious threat for top 4

ye with these EL games , serie a ... im way too scared about theo playing too many games. though s..ty thing was that we havent even focused on LB at all. so laxalt will unfortunately stay. Duarte dunno this guy played little, got injured for so long, came back pre season struggled massively with low level teams, and also when came as sub and now is reported COVID positive so he will be out for another 1-2 weeks atleast then probably 2-3 games he wont play because he will have to catch up with training and finess... sigh.

paqueta just may actually leave - there has been some reports that lyon may get him (like suso deal) loan which becomes obligation after playing x amount of games). halivovic hmm is mystery.

Bakayoko situation is a strange one he has personal terms agreed with milan but now apparently PSG is willing to meet Chelsea's demands but new reports came out that tuchel actually dont want him. but chances are now that he will end up at PSG than milan.

Chiesa situation u can see above ; Ajer is a complex one because Celtic dont want to let him go. I guess we will have to stay a little bit patient until end of market for things to materialize if any

Breaking News : Milan have officially announced Zlatan Ibrahimovic has tested positive for COVID-19 and confirmed the rest of the team have tested negative.

This comes after Duarte was first tested positive and milan underwent test to entire team again beforehand.

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We could like potentially see chain of events with infection to rest of the members of the squad ..... this is messed up. Duarte was actually in the sub along with first team and been training with first team prior to test so ....

dunno guys ... zlatan out, this is going to be a tough to take ; per health protocols ibra will have to self isolate until he is fully recovered. so thats ...1-2 weeks out plus few games before he will be back..

Also dunno how thats going to affect the rest of the team in coming weeks - and dunno about serie a rules of how many min. number of players should be available for the game otherwise - this would go like worst situation for us like forfeiting the game due to lack of availability ;

again touch wood hopefully there will be no more serious issues and our players follow strict health protocol more seriously

Basically Serie A will be played until so many players get infected that many matches have to be suspended.

So if milan has a lot of players out infected and they can't account a full squad even with reserves, they can't ask for postpone game right? they will have to forfeit or you mean if within Serie A, many players in each club has too many infection will only change that?


man this sucks at such important stage of the season ; esp for us when there are matches that we needed to collect points

No one knows. What I guess is that they will try to continue with the league until it's too big of a problem that they can no longer work around. Enough postponed matches and we'll see a postponed league.

i see ; atm in general the news has been coming out stating that europe is bracing for second wave due to some high number of reported infection rate.

Inevitably i guess players are also probably going to be exposed in public. I hope it never comes to the situation where league goes to halt. in fact, i dont wish this happens to anyone in general public, and this time around europe and everywhere else brace for safe measures, social distancing masks, etc. scary stuff

anyway good thing ibra put some tweet to lighten up worrying fans

https://twitter.com/Ibra_official/status/1309142915210506244?s=20

pioooolllli...... NEVER again .... not 4-3-3 no 3 man midfield no bringing krunic or tonali along with kessie and bennacer ; no hakan as winger!
DONT be like persistent giampaolo !

4-3-3 isnt our style, we are rocking in 4-2-3-1 with relentless football ....

Well as Ibra changes form to Milan you can notice it even for a normal EL play off without him.

it's good for Milan that he 's going to miss the two easy matches in the season ( because yes, I predict an easy relegation for Crotone and Spezia, terrible squads, while Benevento can get saved . My predictions were Crotone Spezia and Udinese ...)

Anyway it is going to be a season very unpredictable.

For two reasons : Covid factor. For the first time , you 'll have come across an unkown thing as this, that it forces player to be out

and no teams have made a real athletic training so it means less energies or highest risk of injuries ...

you know a thing, so far Inter are one of few clubs to have had 0 covid cases . It worries me a bit. Unless we had it in January-February and we didn't know it ( when Covid was unkown but already spreaded in North Italy ) lol but I don't think it

Robespierre wrote:Well as Ibra changes form to Milan you can notice it even for a normal EL play off without him.

it's good for Milan that he 's going to miss the two easy matches in the season ( because yes, I predict an easy relegation for Crotone and Spezia, terrible squads, while Benevento can get saved . My predictions were Crotone Spezia and Udinese ...)

Anyway it is going to be a season very unpredictable.

For two reasons : Covid factor. For the first time , you 'll have come across an unkown thing as this, that it forces player to be out

and no teams have made a real athletic training so it means less energies or highest risk of injuries ...

you know a thing, so far Inter are one of few clubs to have had 0 covid cases . It worries me a bit. Unless we had it in January-February and we didn't know it ( when Covid was unkown but already spreaded in North Italy ) lol but I don't think it

surprisingly actually our team has been playing well without ibra also ; problem is that pioli started to get pep disease trying to overdo tactics.
this has been happening since shamrock games late in the game where then opponents starting to hurt us with pioli's abysmal subs

anyway - on ibra's absense due to covid i think like u said we got very lucky with our fixtures - crotone and spezia and maldini said that he should be back in 7 days if all goes well *actually ibra has to pass two seperate covid test before he is allowed in.
crotone after genoa demolition i believe will play hyper cautious but i think ur right i also predict that crotone and spezia will be out - lol and i predicted genoa

and yes i admit i have now second thoughts about our team's ability to suvive storm - not form not players but covid ... actually what even worries me is that we dont have theo's back up, we have no backup for even gabbia. and like you said players being forced out will envitably going to affect everything - in fact we dont even know where to pull reserves from cuz actually reserves are mostly playing atm.

there was a news from brazil that 16 players from flamengo tested covid positive, if something like that happens we are DONE....
plus like u said, players being forced out ... break coming back they cant immediately join cuz they are out few weeks missing on site training and fitness ... so like i agree injury problems may happen just like that.

the best thing we all can hope is that players, club, the families of players, if they want safe and sound season to happen for their players - they will need to follow super tight protocol like they did in early beginning of the post lock down season.

dunno how things will turn now i am even afraid that first duarte got infected, now ibra, and since this diease takes few days to exhibit and show up, i am praying this doesn't affect rest of the squad.