Is it finally safe to say that Merkel was over-hyped?

I think I saw a goal.com article at the before the start of the season that had some of the editors picking him as the potential Serie A young player of the year..

There were many thinking he'd finally be a primavera player able to make the jump to first team action without much delay.. People wanted him to start for us in certain games last season..

I think I recall hearing boasts of a young Schweinsteiger... amongst other premature praise.

We gave up half of his rights in the Boateng deal.. Send him to Genoa for "first team experience." (Which we say about all of our Primavera and they rarely get any deserved time.)

Speaking of which... Albertazzi isn't exactly lighting things up at Getafe.

I think Strasser and Paloschi are the only guys out there actually getting top flight minutes right now.

Here we are 5 games in and not only has Merkel not made a single appearance for Genoa, but he's not even made the bench for a majority of them. I realize it's super early in the season and he could have his moments in near future, but what gives? Is Genoa's midfield that good and deep? Or is he just another decent young player with promise that got over-hyped way too early?

What about the hype Sharawy got, I bet Allegri wont even use him anymore either

At least Sharaawy had a full season at Padova to earn his hype..

Merkel will be a good player when he grows older but I doubt he'll be the star player of our midfield

Albertazzi never impressed me, he was very over hyped

It's Verdi and Calvano that are our stand outs
Cal another was being scouted by ManU and Arsenal (reports from years back) and Verdi is impressing at Torino

Merkel's just not physically ready in my opinion, I don't believe any reluctance to give him chances is based on talent. He has to break into a different system than in Milan, so he deserves more time to show whether he can use his Genoa experience to develop further or whether he needs a stint elsewhere.

All your young midfielders are either poor man's Crisetig or Tassi.

No, on the real tough I think the boy is really talented. Give him a break he's just 18.

nicholasmenger wrote:I think I saw a goal.com article at the before the start of the season that had some of the editors picking him as the potential Serie A young player of the year..

There were many thinking he'd finally be a primavera player able to make the jump to first team action without much delay.. People wanted him to start for us in certain games last season..

I think I recall hearing boasts of a young Schweinsteiger... amongst other premature praise.

We gave up half of his rights in the Boateng deal.. Send him to Genoa for "first team experience." (Which we say about all of our Primavera and they rarely get any deserved time.)

Speaking of which... Albertazzi isn't exactly lighting things up at Getafe.

I think Strasser and Paloschi are the only guys out there actually getting top flight minutes right now.

Here we are 5 games in and not only has Merkel not made a single appearance for Genoa, but he's not even made the bench for a majority of them. I realize it's super early in the season and he could have his moments in near future, but what gives? Is Genoa's midfield that good and deep? Or is he just another decent young player with promise that got over-hyped way too early?

The Schweinsteiger stuff was BS from the beginning. It was always gonna happen just because of their similar looks, particularly the hair. they don't even have similar playing styles. Merkel is nowhere near Schweinsteiger's pace, and his direct approach is totally different from what one would expect form merkel.

All that being said, he's still a bright young talent ofc. He's not overrated IMHO.

disait wrote:All your young midfielders are either poor man's Crisetig or Tassi.

No, on the real tough I think the boy is really talented. Give him a break he's just 18.

Crisetig and Tassi are poor man's Calvano

Nice left footed assist against Juve so far. Before the assist was pretty meh.

great performance today a bit static but its like his second game for genoa if im not mistaken....hit the post twice and the set up the first genoa goal..

hope he gets to learn a lot at genoa.
With his performance today, i think he is on the right path

Heard he had a good game. What position did he play?

After the assist the guy just changed, had a good game, he played an AM.

Showed some skills, got Pirlo booked.

At some point marked Pirlo and shot him down.

I think he'll get more games after his performance today.

yeah, I always liked Merkel. He's a bit different from most of the players we have now. He's fast, athletic, can shoot, can make assists and he tracks back to help out the defense and all in one - I think that with more experience he could be a great AM or CM, but he's not going to burst onto the scene just yet.

Merkel had a very good game today, it has to be said.

Off a corner, he hit a volley back facing to the net with the back part of his foot that went just inches wide. Not sure if it was a fluke, probably was, but nonetheless, good skill.

Then he scared Juventus when he put in a header that was a bullet that went straight off the bar, while Storari was powerless. Had it been lower, certain goal.

Not to mention that he got an assist on Marco Rossi's first goal, albeit Lichtsteienr allowed him too much space because well, it is Lichtsteiner.

Overall, a very good showing from the lad.

performance of merkel was very good. also a former rossoneri matri scored brace, he deserves starting lineup place in azzurri and juve.

btw, on merkel, seeing him fighting for his position in genoa, i liked this idea very much. actually its very nice that merkel went to genoa, a team who normally fight in top flight in serie a.

if our youngsters who after graduating from youth team is sent to loan or coownership, they should be sent at top team like genoa or palermo udinese, ... not in serie b team or relegation struggling team.

its very convincing to know merkel is in genoa, strasser in lecce not bad, atleast he is gaining seria a action we will observe.

its pity that verdi is playing in serie b, because he is very talented too he should end up playing for udinese or genoa too. this way our youngsters remain in competitive group, gaining serie a experience, while fighting for position and we can observe their progress too.

hope merkel strasser can progress enough in their respective clubs and gain valuable experience and hopefully be ready to replace some of our veterans...

Merkel is MOM. I was really impressed by him yesterday, very solid game.But let's see how he does in further games.What he needs right now is regularity and consistency.I just hope he'll keep it up.

Merkel is Milan's Giovinco...
Young players with alot of potential that go to other clubs & prove their worth...
Milan should get him back or I will call Conte & tell him to sign him up

He's not really our Giovinco

He needs to be playing consistently and effectively at Genoa for that tag

His case is not like Giovinco at all. Most of our graduated primavera players are on loan or co-ownership. If ypu want someone compared to Giovinco then the closest case is Paloschi.

2 starts in 2 games... Hopefully he can keep it up.

4 call-ups, 3 starts, 2 assists... really didnt expect that...

I read he played great in last match in mid-week

I still have high hopes for Merkel, if can get 20+ starts a season and stay fit he'll come good, besides his still a baby for Milan standards