WHO should stay and who should go?
Ahh it’s that time of year again. The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and Adriano Galliani is wheeling and dealing on the next big star. I love transfer season, one of my favorite times of the year. This piece will preview the transfers of 2011 in 4 parts: Current GK’s and Defenders; Current Midfielders; Current Attack; and the incoming players.
Enjoy!
Gattuso opens door to Anzhi: “I have to consider it”
Milan and Legrottaglie set to divorce
Goalkeepers:
Christian Abbiati– The man was a machine this season. He had just as much to do with Milan’s top defense in Serie A as Thiago Silva Alessandro Nesta did. It’s a criminal offense he’s not in the Italy setup.
Verdict: Keep him, could be our #1 for the foreseeable future.
Marco Amelia– He had some great games backing up Abbiati this season. But the 2 games that stick out to me are the 4-4 draw with Udinese and the 2-2 draw with Palermo at the San Siro that cost Milan a spot in the Coppa Italia. How many goals would Abbiati have given up if he were in those games? I’m still not sold on Amelia, but for now he is our #2.
Verdict: Keep, Galliani has already confirmed that Milan have full ownership of Amelia now.
Flavio Roma– Haven’t seen much of Roma since he joined in 2009, but when I have, he has not disappointed. He has a professional attitude as a veteran presence.
Verdict: Keep. Already extended his contract for the 2011-2012 season.
Defenders:
Alessandro Nesta- One of the greatest CB’s that has ever stepped foot on a pitch. Not much deliberation here.
Verdict: Keep. Already extended his contract for another year.
Thiago Silva: Top 5 CB in the world right now. No-brainer.
Verdict: Keep. Extended until 2016.
Ignazio Abate: I must be honest, last season under Leonardo, I did not think Abate was up to Milan’s standard. He couldn’t stop a hippopotamus from dribbling around him. I wanted Oddo to play ahead of him. Let me repeat that, I WANTED ODDO TO PLAY AHEAD OF HIM. Then this happened http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-6Zh3y_5fk Abate’s coming out party. From then on, he has stamped his future as Milan’s RB.
Verdict: Keep.
Luca Antonini– This was a player that was tough for me to watch this year. He had a break out season under Leonardo, but this season very evidently seem to have lost every bit of confidence he had gained under Leo. He was a complete liability at times. Even lost his place to Jankulovski, whom I never thought would play for the Rossoneri this year. He is on contract for 3 more years, and hopefully he can regain his form, although it may be too late as Taiwo, Zambrotta and maybe even Urby and Didac are ahead of him in the pecking order.
Verdict: Keep, for depth more than anything.
Massimo Oddo– The man once known for his good crosses is the reason why Serie A have installed nets in all stadiums in which he plays for the safety of the fans. On a serious note, he did not play much this season but had a great game against Napoli in the early part of the year that ended up having big Scudetto implications.
Verdict: Keep. He has one year remaining on his contract. I don’t see Milan extending his contract.
Gianluca Zambrotta: Stood in at LB for most of the second half of the season. Great outside back on the downhill of his career. His versatility of being able to play either side has allowed him to be of great use to Massimiliano Allegri.
Verdict: Keep. Like Oddo, his contract ends next year and I wouldn’t bank on an extension.
Daniele Bonera– Correctly nicknamed Bone-head-era, every Milanisti lived in fear when he was on the pitch. Played all across the back line, and was a liability in every position played. Depending on what happens whether Davide Astori will return to Milan or not, he could be sold.
Verdict: Sell. Astori is much younger with more potential.
Marek Jankulovski– I was glad to see him finish with a good couple of games before he suffered a season ending knee injury. He had a good career at Milan and his last few games he gave Milan good games at the thin in quality LB position.
Verdict: Release. It has long been known that Janks would leave after this season, and he’s leaving on a good note.
Mario Yepes– I am very happy with Yepes’s performances this season. It’s somewhat unfair that many will remember the missed tackle on Aaron Lennon that resulted in the goal sending Milan out of the CL. He stole the backup CB job from Sokratis and Bonera and no one argued. He’s an experienced player that doesn’t complain, does his job, and takes advantage of an opportunity presented to him.
Verdict: Keep. Great investment from Galliani.
Sokratis Papaslkjfaosjdlkfjolous– It was music to Milanisti ears when the news came out that Sokratis would be returning to Genoa. Given plenty of chances, and he proved over and over again that he is not of Milan quality, as the ancient Greek Philosopher for which he is named would be a more reliable option in the back than the Greek international.
Verdict: Returned from loan to Genoa. Deserved.
Didac Vila– Rumors that this Didac character never actually existed are now quashed with the young LB making his debut in the last game of the season. He looked a bit raw, but certainly an option for the future.
Verdict: Send out on loan to gain experience. He probably will not play much next season and rumor is a loan to his former club Espanyol is on the card.
Nicola Legrottaglie– Emergency signing in January due to injuries. Only played in a few games this term and will most likely not return.
Verdict: Release. Services will most likely not be needed and he will most likely search for a club where he can play regularly.
Follow Tony on Twitter: @GordonSoccer21
If u decide to loan didac,what then wil happen when the african championship begins.Taiwo wil leave then we wuld have zambrotta and antonini.Keep didac and get danilo to compete with abate at RB and bring back astori.What a competitive defence line.
Where is the link mentioned on Abate’s session? =P
I corrected it, thank you :-)
Totaly agreed.
great one there. Watch out NASRI is on his way to milan.
so far so good.i give u pass mark for u. keep it up
Nice Article :D
Decent article but not great. Some of these are just obvious. Abate and Thiago Silva are integral parts of this team. More discussion of midfield is also necessary.
Thiago Silva’s awesome!
Agree for the most part. But I think Antonini for sure should go (if Juve still want him)and maybe Oddo as well. Zambrotta cover both sides of the pitch. If have seen Sokratis do well for Greece and he is only 22. Did he really get a fair chance? I’m not sure though i’m not devastated to see him leave.
Sokratis got his fair chance on numerous occasions and he was non-existent comparable to a bag a flour in the center of defense. Plenty of CB’s that young that Milan could go after, including in our own youth department. Also not too difficult to stand out in the Greek national team.
Nicola Legrottaglie in fact played no more than 33 minutes, but other than that, it’s a good article.
Abbiati for forseeable future? I disagree with that. He is a good keeper but I would like to see Amelia as our #1 keeper. He was awesome against Udinese!
Thiago Silva is top 5 defender in the world? Are you mad? He is the best in the world. No one is better than him. Vidic or Pique comes after him.
1 vidic 2 puyol 3 t silva and pique sux man really sux
no man puyol has been out injured too long this season to be called 2nd best defender in the world.. thiago silva is 2nd behing vidic..
Pato i would love to agree but in all honesty i cant compare the 3 (or 4 counting puyol) all 4 have difrend players around them Thiago Silva has had to make runs from CB all the way to a 3rd striker at times and still get back to defend Pique has done the same these past 2 season adding the fact that he has an attack minded RB and the only one in defence that has been the same has been alves and Pique Vidic has alot of experience around him and players who like to track back to… Read more »
God forbid,if abate should be out of the season injured what then happens to our RB?We need danilo.Just look at barca,there is alves,adriano,maxwel,abidal for both RB and LB that is a real competition.Sign danilo and you will see the best of abate.Good competition is needed in all departments.
Maybe this is the reason why Milan is keeping Bonera. Bonera can play in RB too & I think he played better there than as a CB.
I don’t like the idea of going after Danilo. We can bring up a youth player if necessary, or Oddo, Zambrotta, or an on form Antonini can step in if necessary. If a long term injury, look for a January transfer.
Think we still need (young) cb and rb. Nesta and silva would be in back with mexes would be the 1st choice but the problem here is that we would always be experiencing some injury problems, with nesta and mexes mostly. So here we would be needing a good quality young cb who would certainly (if proven) be given 20 to 25 games this year and next year would be competing with mexes for starting team place. Personally i think astori is a good player but not that good enough to give mexes some competition and would only be wasted… Read more »
Not a bad article….
But KEEP Antonini?
Oh man, I’d pay a transfer fee just to get rid of Bonera and Antonini.
20M even haha
I have thought the same at times. But let’s not have a short memory, Antonini had a great year under Leo and we should keep him because he showed he can play at a high level. Not world class, but certainly backup worthy.
o lord here we have Giancarlo thinkin he can write and do everything better AGAIN… 40th time now isnt it as for the article it was greatI can see keeping Antonini, he has had his bright spots along with his dark dark mistake… If something happens he would be good for a few games Didac has the potential to be amazing.. but for now give him some time maybe a half season loan to keep him match fit and ready for the long hall seeing as Milan are in 3 trophy races and could use the extras Bonera has had… Read more »
oh lord cavey is back posting his usual bullsh*t. And my post got deleted once again. There was nothing about midfield in here. That’s my problem.
Bonera won’t even play if Nesta comes back… come on man. Your post is a blunder!
And stop deleting my posts!
Giancarlo, this transfer preview is in 4 parts, Midfield is next, says it in the introduction :-).
How about Darmian as a backup RB? I really liked the kid while he was with us back in the days…
Well… Jankulovski, Legrottaglie and Sokratis are gone.
Now we should sell BONERA, ONYEWU (who will be back from loan) and loan DIDAC VILA.
And we should bought in just ASTORI.
For next season ODDO, ZAMBROTTA, NESTA and ANTONINI might leave so, we will need some fresh blood like KJAER, VAN DER WIEL and our Primavera players.
That all for defence!
Cheers and Forza Milan !!!
Agree with Astori and the Primavera.
Possibly the best article I’ve read in a while, couldn’t agree more.
we need a RB like astori
CB i mean
Ac milan next 2011 formation 4-3-1-2/4-3-3. Kepeer : marco amelia, defender thiago silva,YAYE TAIWO,PHILIP MEXES,abate/antonini, midfielder : GANSO/HAMSIK/VAN DER VART,van bommel,prince boateng striker : pato,ibrahimovich,robinho,cassano
I agree we need RB