Serie A 2011-12

Not sure if that was a correct sending off for Stakelenberg. That was way too harsh on him

Shouldn't have been a red, the ball had got away from him.

Yeah that is game over now. As much as Stekelenburg is a brning jls jew conte. That wasnt a red. Not even sure if it was a penalty.

Second red for him from the same ref.

Boring game tbh.The league is over now,can't see them slipping up twice.

Juventus

Super Winner wrote:Juventus

Dortmund, Juve, Real it's the 90's all over!

TM wrote:

Super Winner wrote:Juventus

Dortmund, Juve, Real it's the 90's all over!

Now, if only we could bring back the three foreign player rule.

You can never say never in this championship, every Italian team looks so average & inconsistent, but I think Juve now are the overwhelming favorites. And they fully deserve to be, probably the only top team playing to their potential with some consistency.

Milan have been fucked over by injuries though.

Jaime <3s Ozil+Khedira wrote:

TM wrote:

Super Winner wrote:Juventus

Dortmund, Juve, Real it's the 90's all over!

Now, if only we could bring back the three foreign player rule.

I'm so happy for Juventus and I really don't think they will mess this up now. And I hope Marotta doesn't sit idly by during the summer because Juve has to get a star striker, a cover for Pirlo(I suggest Pizarro once City is done with him) and I still don't quite trust their Cb's.

I said a couple of weeks ago "congrats Juve." I was reprimanded for my negativity.

I, however, said all that advisedly. It is a question of momentum.

Yes, we have had injuries. Yes, we have had dubious calls (so have others) against us. Ultimately, however, we just ran out of steam and couldn't finish the job. I have heard excuses, and I have even made some, about them not playing in the CL etc. But they did what they had to do. We did not. Juventus deserve the Scudetto, and we don't. Keep in mind that we failed to beat them in a direct encounter all season (yes, I know...the Muntari goal, but we played them three other times as well). We failed to beat Bologna and Fiorentina at home. That is where the Scudetto was lost. End of story.

Let's hope Juve strengthen and Italian clubs do well in Europe next season.

Of course whoever wins they title deserves it, that's unquestionable. Bad calls usually even out during a season anyway.

Though I'm not gonna do a 180 here, I stand by what I said since day 1, we do have a better team than them and we've been completely decimated by injuries. Just look at the impact an almost completely unfit Cassano has over a game, he played for a month and a half and he's still one of the assist leaders in Serie A. We haven't had this player since October and this is just an example, we've missed many important players for long stretches of time. Had Pirlo, Vucinic, Chiellini or any other key player(s) missed a significant amount of games for Juventus, then they would've struggled too.

This is not excuses, but facts. Excuses would've been to blame the refs or the fact that we were playing in Europe or something along those lines. Not taking anything away from Juventus, like I said they deserve to win the Scudetto, they've done brilliantly over the last weeks winning all of their tough fixtures.

And Forza, I just said that you were exaggerating as you were congratulating them with 7 games to go while they were 1 point up. We may view things differently, but to me that's exaggeration. I don't remember who it was, but last season a Milan fan here was also congratulating Inter for winning the Scudetto, because they closed the distance on us before the derby. And we ended up winning the league.

P.S. Even though I think Milan has the best team in Italy, this does not mean that I believe everything is rosy and that the management of the club is doing a great job. On the contrary, I've spoken about our serious shortcomings/deficiences and the inability/unwillingness to address them several times. But just because we have - in all probability - lost the scudetto, I'm not gonna go apeshit and start calling for everyone's head and claiming our team is completely crap (not saying you did this). Especially after a season like this.

I agree we have the most quality, and I also agree about injuries. But also consider that yesterday we were playing after a rest and with some players back in action. We looked jaded, however.

I think seedorf needs to gtfo. Sick of him. He has had good games this season, but it's his sense of entitlement that pisses me off. And of course other players that have been discussed also need to go.

Allegri needs to stay obviously because he has done a great job wih creaking thirty somethings.

While we knew the CL was out of reach in the last days of Ranieri's reign, the reality hitting us yesterday was still hard to take. Inspite of starting 4 "strikers", Inter looked impotent in the attack. Fiorentina of late are a decent team at home, and actually should have won if it were not for Cesar's brilliant penalty save. We had an opportunity to cut down Lazio's lead to 4 points, and jump Roma in the table, but we were just not good enough to take our chances.

I just hope Napoli win all their remaining games and take that 3rd spot from Lazio. That would be better for Serie A, as Napoli will probably strengthen during the summer.

For Inter, thanks to the renewed enthusiasm under the new coach, an Europa league spot is starting to look like a possibility. But we have many tough away games to negotiate, and will have to continue our unbeaten run right till the end to make it. Its not going to be easy, but Sneijder is back and things could pick up again.

I am still waiting to see a line up with Alvarez, Sneijder and Zarate supporting Milito. I think that could work, and next season we can replace Zarate with Coutinho.

Juve totally deserve this scudetto, their difficult run of games, they've risen to the challenge and been awesome, going to be a tough team to beat in Europe as well.

Milan have been utter crap for far too long this campaign, we're only this far close because Juve drew 100 games or whatever, i'd keep Nesta, Thiago, Cassano and Ibra, the rest can clear off for all i care

But don't you guys expect Baldie to add any players to the midfield this summer? I would be very surprised if you don't strengthen in the transfer window. It is obvious that Pato will probably be sold and then some striker will probably arrive. I'm guesing a new leftback too since Taiwo was a big flop.

According to La Gazzetta

Mathieu Flamini, Gianluca Zambrotta and Mario Yepes won't get their contract renewed ,while Mark Van Bommel will probably leave for PSV ,Seedorf might leave and Inzaghi could retire.

Which leaves Gattuso, Ambrosini and Nesta with new contracts.

But that is possibly 6 players leaving this summer which will certainly help on the wages. I was shocked to see how many players Milan have on their books on the first team although I know this is more typical of Italian teams. Then add Pato,Muntari,Maxi,Aquilani then you're down to 24 players from the current 34.

Only Boateng and Nocerino should stay of the current starting midfield. I like Aquilani but I haven't been that impressed by his performances for Milan. However if the supposed clause in his contract is true then Milan already have him for 6M which might well be worth it since he could start to show his potential but Milan should certainly not rely on him. So that leaves two big purchases for Baldie. With Montolivo very likely that should solve the Pirlo problem in midfield to some extent. And I'm guessing Allegri will prefer somebody with a more physical flavour for the last position they should use big money on Javi Martinez who can play as Cm,Dm and even Cb. It would be well worth it and suddenly Milan's midfield is much younger and still very strong athletically. Given Villarreal's situation they could get Borja Valero on the cheap and they would have essentially solved all of their midfield problems for a while.

Allegri likes Asamoah, who I'd think would be a great addition.

But he won't come cheap and Berlu ain't spending money these days unless it's for some 'marquee' name (Ronaldinho, Robinho etc), regardless whether they can help the team or not. I doubt we'll get him.

We'll get Montolivo on a free probably, and buy a striker if we sell Pato. I doubt we'll spend money on the midfield, though I'd love to be proven wrong.

The good thing is that we'll let a bunch of players go, I'd only keep Nesta and Van Bommell for another year (as they both still have it) and let go of the rest, but as speculated Gattuso-Ambrosini will also stay.

I think Milan will get in an LB and Montolivo, and long term replacements for Nesta, Seedorf, and Gattuso. And perhaps swap Pato for a top striker.

That's a lot of work and investment for the summer, but I guess they will make space in their wage bill.

LB: Criscito? or just Didac Vila?
CB: Astori? or Ogbonna?
DM: ?
CM: Montolivo - this is more or less a done deal.
AM: Kaka?
ST: Tevez?

And I guess its bye bye for Inzaghi, Yepes, Van Bommel, Zambrotta, Seedorf, Pato, and Flamini, apart from Oddo and Taiwo who are on loan.

Its going to be a critical summer for Milan, Inter and Juve in the transfer market.

Don't want Kaka' to be honest, though it seems likely he'll be leaving Real this summer.

Still, I'm against this move, just like I was against bringing Sheva back in 2008. Nothing against Kaka', but everyone has moved on now and I'd rather we get a promising player we can develop. Bringing Kaka' back reeks of sentimentality and falling in love with the past; sadly, the exact kind of move I see Baldie making.

Red n' Black wrote:Don't want Kaka' to be honest, though it seems likely he'll be leaving Real this summer.

Still, I'm against this move, just like I was against bringing Sheva back in 2008. Nothing against Kaka', but everyone has moved on now and I'd rather we get a promising player we can develop. Bringing Kaka' back reeks of sentimentality and falling in love with the past; sadly, the exact kind of move I see Baldie making.

I know what you mean... Though looking at the lack of quality AM's in the market, if you get Kaka for a good price, it might not be that bad... Tevez+Kaka for Pato+Seedorf will be good for Milan.

Ideally, if you can spend the money, you should be going after Modric/Ganso/Hamsik.

bluenine wrote:

Red n' Black wrote:Don't want Kaka' to be honest, though it seems likely he'll be leaving Real this summer.

Still, I'm against this move, just like I was against bringing Sheva back in 2008. Nothing against Kaka', but everyone has moved on now and I'd rather we get a promising player we can develop. Bringing Kaka' back reeks of sentimentality and falling in love with the past; sadly, the exact kind of move I see Baldie making.

I know what you mean... Though looking at the lack of quality AM's in the market, if you get Kaka for a good price, it might not be that bad... Tevez+Kaka for Pato+Seedorf will be good for Milan.

Ideally, if you can spend the money, you should be going after Modric/Ganso/Hamsik.

There are a lot of good young ones floating about

Handanovic, Criscito, Bocchetti, Acerbi, Astori, Ogbonna, Montolivo, Moutinho, Tevez, Falcao will be fine with me

Bye-bye to Yepes, Bonera, Oddo, Taiwo, Zambrotta, Antonini, Gattuso, Ambrosini, Emanuelson, Flamini, Seedorf, Pato, Robinho, El Shaarawy, Inzaghi.

Romford Pele wrote:

bluenine wrote:

Red n' Black wrote:Don't want Kaka' to be honest, though it seems likely he'll be leaving Real this summer.

Still, I'm against this move, just like I was against bringing Sheva back in 2008. Nothing against Kaka', but everyone has moved on now and I'd rather we get a promising player we can develop. Bringing Kaka' back reeks of sentimentality and falling in love with the past; sadly, the exact kind of move I see Baldie making.

I know what you mean... Though looking at the lack of quality AM's in the market, if you get Kaka for a good price, it might not be that bad... Tevez+Kaka for Pato+Seedorf will be good for Milan.

Ideally, if you can spend the money, you should be going after Modric/Ganso/Hamsik.

There are a lot of good young ones floating about

Care to mention them?

Belhanda
Eriksen
Gotze
Kagawa
Reus
Hazard
Lucas
Dzagoev
Parejo
Marvin Martin
Kevin De Bruyne
Sotiris Ninis

I still rate Ricky Alvarez very highly. Hopefully he can improve at Inter

Pirlo wrote:Handanovic, Criscito, Bocchetti, Acerbi, Astori, Ogbonna, Montolivo, Moutinho, Tevez, Falcao will be fine with me

Bye-bye to Yepes, Bonera, Oddo, Taiwo, Zambrotta, Antonini, Gattuso, Ambrosini, Emanuelson, Flamini, Seedorf, Pato, Robinho, El Shaarawy, Inzaghi.

That is easily a 100m+ bill. You think Berlu will spend anything close to that?

Back to the real world, what if you get like 20m for Pato, and Berlu puts in another 30m on that.... who all would you go for?

It may be too early to talk about transfers. But since we don't have much to play for, here is my initial take on what Inter should do.

#1. Decide on the coach.
It is becoming clear that Moratti will not show too much patience on young Strama. If he is not willing to give Strama 2-3 years to rebuild the side, its best to hire a coach who Moratti is willing to give time to. My preference is Prandelli, failing which we should go for one of Spalletti or Guidolin. These coaches could suit the resources available at Inter, and specially Prandelli could build something exciting for the future.

#2. Players who need to be sold
Pazzini needs to go, he is just not good enough for Inter. Cordoba is too old. If we can get a 5m+ offer for Forlan, we should sell him too. But if no offer comes, lets keep him as back up. Stank we should keep for the bench role. Regarding Sneijder, we may have to sell him to raise funds for transfers, but only if we get over 20m for him. If we can sell Maicon for anywhere over 10m, I would love to see that - maybe he needs a fresh challenge. I guess its also time for Orlandoni to retire. Chivu I would definitely keep - I hope we don't let him walk away for free, players of his quality will cost us at least 5-10m.

#3. Players we have taken on Loan
Zarate is not worth half of what Lazio are asking, and neither should we take up Palombo's option. Guarin I am not sure about, he does not look worth the money we are expected to pay - I would give him back if we have the option. Poli we should definitely keep.

#4. Players we have loaned out.
Muntari's contract ends, thank God. Pandev & Mariga we should get rid of. Benedetti & Caldirola are impressing in their loan spells in Serie B, and I would like to get at least 1 of them back to start training with the senior team. These kids could be our CB future. Coutinho we should definitely get back, and as for Viviano, unless we sell Cesar for big money, we should keep him where he is, just in case.

#5. To summarize so far:
IN: Coutinho, Caldirola, Poli
OUT: Pandev, Sneijder, Cordoba, Mariga, Pazzini, Palombo, Guarin, Zarate, Maicon

That should give us about ~45m of funds from sales. Plus the saved ~35 million from not taking up options on Zarate, Palombo, and Guarin. Hopefully Moratti will add to that, to rebuild this Inter, but even if we have 80m for transfers, we can do a great job of rebuilding on that.

#6. The Remaining Squad:
GK: Cesar, Castellazzi,
FB: Nagatomo, Zanetti, Faraoni
CB: Samuel, Lucio, Chivu, Ranocchia, Juan, Caldirola
CM/DM: Cambiasso, Stankovic, Poli, Obi
AM: Alvarez, Coutinho
FW: Milito, Forlan, Castaignos

#7. From the transfer market:
GK: We are good here. We should just promote youth player Di Gennaro to that third spot.

FB: We definitely need 2 top players here. I like Benatia of Udinese, who can play RB or CB. I also like Isla and Armero. Lets raid Udinese!

CB: We are short here, but we could manage with these resources in a season with no CL, hopefully giving some chances to the young lads (Caldirola & Juan).

CM/DM: I would like a top DM here, hopefully a ball playing one. Not sure who are the best available ones, but a 10m spend here (which is earmarked for Guarin) will be better spent on a quality, strong destroyer. If we can't find an Essien, I would mind a more attacking player, a direct replacement for the aging Stankovic... I really like Asamoah of Udinese. Or maybe Prandelli can convince Montolivo to join us, instead of Milan?

AM: That depends on the coach, whether we will play with wingers or not. If its Prandelli, then I guess a few hopeful punts on players like Vargas or Schelotto or Cerci may be needed. Vargas may be available on a cheap, and Prandelli knows how to get the best out of him. Or maybe Palacio?

FW: We definitely need a decent striker to share the goal-scoring burden of Milito, and while it may not fit in our budget, I would love to have Jovetic. Or a hopeful bid on Tevez or Torres or even the aging Drogba? A lot depends on how much money we have to spend.

#8. From our youth squad:
rankly, I would like most of our talents to be farmed out to Serie B to gain some exposure. Not sell, but on loan. I still regret the sale of Destro, we knew his quality, why did we ever do that? The only ones I would promote to the senior squad right away are the GK Di Gennaro, and Bessa.

#9. So our final squad in this fantasy world: The fantasy buys in bold below
GK: Cesar, Castellazzi, Di Gennaro
FB: Nagatomo, Zanetti, Faraoni, Isla, Benatia
CB: Samuel, Lucio, Chivu, Ranocchia, Juan, Caldirola
CM/DM: Cambiasso, Stankovic, Poli, Obi, Asamoah
AM: Alvarez, Coutinho, Cerci, Bessa
FW: Milito, Forlan, Castaignos, Jovetic

Coach: Prandelli.

Its an ambitious wishlist - Isla, Benatia, Asamoah, Cerci & Jovetic should combined cost at least 80m on the transfer market, but its something Inter need to spend on. These are also quite young players (23, 25, 23, 24 and 22), which is the kind of revolution Inter need. If we get these players, or equivalent ones, maybe in the future we will look at the sacrifice of Sneidjer like we do at the sacrifice of Ibrahimovic. Only in this case, the returns will be a bit more long term, and will take some time to build.

A quick look at our first and 2nd team, in a Prandelli style 4-2-3-1

Forza Italia!Forza Milan! wrote:I said a couple of weeks ago "congrats Juve." I was reprimanded for my negativity.

I, however, said all that advisedly. It is a question of momentum.

Yes, we have had injuries. Yes, we have had dubious calls (so have others) against us. Ultimately, however, we just ran out of steam and couldn't finish the job. I have heard excuses, and I have even made some, about them not playing in the CL etc. But they did what they had to do. We did not. Juventus deserve the Scudetto, and we don't. Keep in mind that we failed to beat them in a direct encounter all season (yes, I know...the Muntari goal, but we played them three other times as well). We failed to beat Bologna and Fiorentina at home. That is where the Scudetto was lost. End of story.

Let's hope Juve strengthen and Italian clubs do well in Europe next season.

We beat them in the Cup. 2-1.

Sorry but Juve doesn't deserve the title. We should have won this title.

Bogdan Stancu wrote:

Forza Italia!Forza Milan! wrote:I said a couple of weeks ago "congrats Juve." I was reprimanded for my negativity.

I, however, said all that advisedly. It is a question of momentum.

Yes, we have had injuries. Yes, we have had dubious calls (so have others) against us. Ultimately, however, we just ran out of steam and couldn't finish the job. I have heard excuses, and I have even made some, about them not playing in the CL etc. But they did what they had to do. We did not. Juventus deserve the Scudetto, and we don't. Keep in mind that we failed to beat them in a direct encounter all season (yes, I know...the Muntari goal, but we played them three other times as well). We failed to beat Bologna and Fiorentina at home. That is where the Scudetto was lost. End of story.

Let's hope Juve strengthen and Italian clubs do well in Europe next season.

We beat them in the Cup. 2-1.

Sorry but Juve doesn't deserve the title. We should have won this title.

Yes, I suppose. But it feels like a defeat. Lopez goal was awesome though.

Nah, Juve completely deserve it, we couldn't increase the gap and when it came to their run of tough fixtures they aced every one,

@Blue, course he won't spend anything, just compiling a dream list, shows the amount of work that needs to be done, funny that we've been in this 'transition' stage since 2007, a shit squad with lots of improvement needed and a lot of dead crap to get rid of. Nothing will change though, i expect us to fall back again next season, and i doubt there'll be significant signings in the summer.

@romford, Ghirardi announced Ninis for the summer last month,

Dramatic weekend in Italy as Juve move three points at the top of the league as Milan are held and Juve down Roma by four, but the biggest story in Italy was the Genoa fans and they're protest against the team.

Gabriele Marcotti and Mina Rzouki guide you through all the action, and are joined, as always, by Italian journalist Tancredi Palmeri.