Thursday Milan Musings
By: Gianfranco | July 31st, 2008Well there is a lot to recap from the week so best get down to business…
-Milan won the Trofeo TIM and though I don’t want to look all that much into a pre-season tournament I will say it was nice to the boys in action and smiling. I have not seen smiles like the ones I saw a few days ago, since Pato’s first game and the thrashing of Napoli. It is nice to see joy on the player’s faces and I can only hope it continues into the season as well. In the words of Eric Cantona, “If you find joy in football, then you will play beautiful.” Throw in some silverware and that is what we are all looking for.
-Speaking again of the Trofeo TIM, Abbiati was Man of the Tourney, and is making a very strong case for grabbing and holding onto the GK spot. At this point is there anyone that can argue? With the emergence of Abbiati and the performance of Kalac in the final stages of last season, Nelson Dida has become even more expendable, and even more un-sellable. His wages on his contract signed last season are high, and the likelihood of someone wanting to pay that is not very good. It looks Fester is going to get burned on this one. Maybe a loan so the bum earns his money?
-Speaking of loans, Paloschi will not be going on one just yet. A rash of striker injuries hitting both Borriello and Pippo leaves Milan thin in the striker department once again, and means Paloschi will be thrust once again into the spotlight. This is fine for the time being, but if it means Paloschi getting playing over the course of the season, it may be beneficial if he does in fact go out on loan like Boriello before him.
-At the moment the club is in a bit of injury slide with both Borriello and Flamini taking knocks, an even though I have called for the firing of the Milanello staff. It is important to note that over the years Milan have enjoyed long stints of healthy player as well as longevity for players like Paola, Cafu, Serginho, and so on. Milan have always been able to squeeze the best out of players over 30 and Milanello is truly a testament to that success.
-Just when we though Fester had forgotten how to buy young players, he goes and gets an 18 year old Uruguayan player by the name of Tabare Viudez. The youngster is listed as a midfielder however he can play defense and he may very well play a part this season if he stays with the big club, or just below in the youth squad. It is uncertain at the moment what his role but Carletto has said he will play when he arrives to make that determination. Milan have also secured a loan for a second Uruguayan youngster in Cardacio who is seen scoring a goal here.
Cardacio is a CM who may prove a great pickup or another floater like Gourcuff, again only time will tell here.
-Milan showed little to no interest in RB Ferrari of Roma, but has made some noise regarding defender Ivanovic from Chelsea. It is unlikely that Ivanovic will actually arrive during the transfer window, but it is comforting to know that Milan are shopping for defensive help. Be it for now or the future.
-AC Milan Channel did a spot on the Champions League today chronicling the fact that in the last twenty years no club has even come to close to what Milan has accomplished on the Europe stage. Enjoy it, because it never gets old.
Sorry for the lack of photos in the posts in the coming days, but I am having some techinical difficulites.
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Category: Musings
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Comments
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As for Dida, I read somewhere 2day that the problem is the fact that no team can/will match Dida’s wage (who would want to?) so we are stuck with the guy and i have to say 4 the umpteenth time that his presence in the squad is really pissing me off.
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United States
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Nina- i think that Maldini should be used sparingly during the coming season.
As i for one, want him fully fit when we play Juve/Merda/roma & the bigger teams in the UEFA cup. He is getting on abit and im half expecting to hear he has picked up a knock or something and will be out for weeks at a time (God forbid!).
I remember what a dark time it was when Baresi retired (made worse by the fact that he left when we seemed to be in a footballing wilderness) and im sure his leaving has set me up for coping with the loss of Maldini. I truly agree we should be cherishing every stride and tackle he makes this coming season, it will be not only a loss to Milan, Serie A or even football but to world sport (and i truly mean that).
Not only is he the consumate professional but he comes off as a true sportsman and hopefully we can attract worthy successors to him.
But, one thing i think that the roma fans dont get is that no one player is bigger than the team, i personally survived when Baresi called it a night, so did MILAN and I will still be here after Maldini goes, so will MILAN!
Lets just start the season this sunday damit!
Just cant wait!
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Nina,
I share the hate for the red and black as well.
But atleast I can come one here and discuss calcio….can’t say that about Roma’s page.
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United States -
Honestly Antonio,
Looking at the signings that the Serie A clubs have made (and yet to make) it is good to see them sharping their knives as they watch each other with an eye of caution and will no doubt slit throats across Europe also!
Barring roma maybe (how topical!) i think that alot of Serie A teams have genuinely built upon last season. As well as wanting Milan to do well (scudetto & uefa) i also want to see a genuine charge by ALL the usual suspects in Europe.
I can see the steady hand of Ranieri guide La Signora through to the far stages of the CL.
I dont see who honestly means it when they say that Mourinho wont make good on his arrival on the dark side of town. Forget what happened in the TIM, the merda will do well in the CL.
The Viola, well i think the combo of Muta & Gila could be super sweet and Prandelli will no doubt be working overtime on it, they almost shot themselves in the foot when they considered letting Mutu go.
LOOK OUT FOR THEIR SUMMER SIGNING STEVAN JOVETIC!!!!!!!!!
This kid is hot! No less than the old Milan Legend Dejan Savicevic touted this kids to all europe (im sure Milan passed) but the Viola are def to be watched out for in Serie A.
Even Napoli stand a good chance in Europe, these guys have a tenacity not seen for a long time in Serie A and kind of reminds me of the Serie A of the early 90’s (they may not have the star studded squad of the top 5 – but they have more heart than most!).
And lets not forget the Rossoneri (as if) with Abbiati showing tremendous promise (Carlo, please take note!). We currently have Pippo, Nesta, Boriello & Famini out through injury as well as no Pato & Dino due to the Olympics but once these guys are ready to go alongside a rejuvenated Maldini, a Zambrotta raring to go, Seedorf firing on all cylinders, Pirlo back to his best (fingers crossed) no one is gona touch us!
Overall, imo, Serie A is def on the up!
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Avia,I know what you mean, we wouldn’t want him to pick an injury(God forbid).I’m actually planning a trip to Milan with my family sometime before the season ends. I just have to see him playing one more time before the goodbyes and the farewells. For some reason, I’m just never prepared for any of our good old players leaving, I wasn’t prepared for Baresi, or Costacurta , and nothing will prepare me for Maldini’s departure; just the thought of it makes my eyes tear up. Can’t we just hold on to him a little longer??
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Napoli is definitely the team to watch out for this season. Marino has made some excellent signings during the winter transfer window, and also during the summer and ever since the De laurentiis purchase, the club is moving on up. I’m secretly praying for their success, not switching colors, or anything, but for some odd reason, I have always had a thing for Napule lol.
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lol@antonio
Same here!Posted from
United States -
Trust me Nina, you dont wanna, i worry about the times when younger players will maybe start to get the better of him, would rather see him end it on a high.
Im actaully off to see our beloved Rossoneri play in the friendly against Man City next Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just wana go sleep for 7 days!
Ditto; the idea of watching Milan play before Maldini goes, im planning on getting over to Italy during this season hopefully.
I know what you mean tho, u can never truly prepare yourself for the daparture of a player of his class, calibre, success ect.
You just have to suffer it and survive it, thats all any of us CAN do lol!
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Dida’s wages are about 4.5million euros per year, if I’m not mistaken. That makes him the 2nd most paid Milanista behind Kaka’. Same salary as Nesta, Kaladze, Gattuso, Seedorf, Inzaghi, Pirlo, and Ronaldo. That is massive, and Dida apparently doesn’t care about playing, so who wouldn’t want to collect that kind of pay check? No club will take him for more than 1million euros pay.
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Avia,don’t forget to tell us all about the friendly with Man city,lucky you!
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Hey guys…I’m leaving for NY on Monday and won’t be back until the following tuesday! I’m staying with a friend and *gasp* her dad’s an interista…don’t worry they won’t convert me…I will be strong! and i’m bring my shirt with me…the keep milano tidy!!!
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Dida is the highest paid GK in Europe behind Cech, and he is third string!!!!
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you guys are very harsh on totti.
while the whole article is about his technique and artistry, you go off on a different tangent about his achievements.
its apples and oranges, and it kind of makes no sense in the context of the article itself.
its like calling batistuta a mediocre player because he won nothing.
there is far more to football than the end result… why waste 90 mins of your valuable time if you are only concerned about the result? get some work done, make some money, check the final result and continue your day…. or not. watch for great technique, watch for beauty, watch for art. watch football.
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harsh on Totti!? Not harsh enough if you ask me, and Batistuta won about as much as Totti…not very much…
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I am always proud of how everyone handles themselves here in our discussions and it is great to be associated. It is amazing that even Inter and Milan fans can engage in a real discussion, while Roma fans cant get their act together to defend their own “folk” hero for a minute without calling someone a name.
All hail Totti the Vialli of Roma!!! Oh wait, at least Vialli won something!!!!! In fact I think comparing the two is almost an insult to Vialli!?
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again, you are ignoring the whole point of that article, which was talking about totti’s unique technical ability and NOT about his achievements (which he has quite a number of individual ones…).
if you are going to say batistuta wasn’t a quality player and is exaggerated, well i can’t really accept that even as an opinion…
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Vialli captained Juve to a Champion’s League win, Gianfranco. I believe Totti is missing the big ‘ole ears.
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Ok im not here to troll, and in fact gianfranco i think you made some solid points on the roma blog, which i can agree with, and there should be no place for insults regardless of the situation. At the same time though you cant really say that totti has won nothing…
As far as individually he was Serie A young player of the year, Serie A footballer of the year twice, runner up 3 times, was one of pele’s top 100, won italian footballer of the year 5 times, was runner up 3 times, was serie a top scorer once, and won the european golden boot in his first year playing as a true striker (could have won it last year barring major injuries). As far as team honors there was of course the scudetto in 2001, then god knows how many runners up, two super coppas, two copa italias, a couple azzurini championships, euro runner up in 2000 (shouldve been first had it not been for certain del piero misses), and then of course the greatest team honor any footballer can recieve, Campioni del mondo 2006. To me at least that is hardly winning nothing.
Now you cant honestly fault batistuta for not winning trophys I mean hes a legend and one of the great strikers (56 goals in 78 appearances for argentina, and we all know what he did for fiorentina and roma, fiorentina in particular) of all time regardless of how you slice it, so ill just dismiss that as venting.
Now if were measuring greatness upon how much the player has won, then yes i will agree with you and anyone else that totti is not in the top five italian players of all time, but i dont think you can measure a players greatness based solely upon this variable. Regardless of the sport there are countless players who have accomplished a lot in terms of team accolades but who are less skilled then others in the same position. Sorry for the american example but is Trent Dilfer a better quarterback then Dan Marino, because he won a super bowl and marino didnt? I think not.. Simlar examples can be made in all of sports. To me totti is more then any trophy. Year in and year out he carries the hopes and aspirations not only of the team but of an entire city squarely on his shoulders (lazio fans can stay in the suburbs) with par support at best for the majority of the time. No name you throw out from the great milan teams can make that claim whether its baresi, maldini, gullit, donadoni, or whomever have been surrounded by players of similar skill and ability whom they could fall upon on a bad day.
I mean theres really no way to truly measure a players greatness. Then once you begin comparing players of different positions it becomes almost impossible to come up with anything anyone can agree upon. To me totti is one of the top five italian players of all time at least top 10 and possibly tied for best attacking italian player of all time with baggio. I think he has revolutionized the italian game far more then any other italian player of the last 10 years, by helping to bridge the gap between catenaccio of the old days and the more modern high paced game, but this has been far better and in far greater detail by John Silver on the roma blog. So lets just agree to disagree here, and conclude in a debate like this noone can really truly be right and there shouldnt be any hard feelings on either side.
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“there is far more to football than the end result… why waste 90 mins of your valuable time if you are only concerned about the result?”
In the words of Vince Lombardi, “If winning doesn’t matter, why do we keep score.”
There are only a handful of players that don’t have to win anything, and still be considered on the best of all time. Totti, doesn’t have THAT AMOUNT of skill, to be in that very rare category. He is good, yes.
However, when it comes down it, all that matters is the W’s and the tropheys. And, Totti doesn’t have many of each…(Mainly, the latter.)
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My 2 cents on this whole Totti issue is :
You don’t have to win championships to be considered a GREAT..
Totti didn’t win all those awards by chance. He deserved every single one of them, even though he didn’t end up winning anything, his influence on the team was huge.. You really think Roma would have got all those runner-ups if it wasn’t for him?
There’s only so much you can do in an average team. He’s not one of the top 5 greatest players ever, no way.. But he’s undoubtedly one of the greatest Italian of this generation, along with Del Piero and Maldini.
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Antonio, I disagree.. He does have enough skill to be considered a great, and not just good..
Who is great in your opinion?
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Kuwait -
Pat, I take none of Totti’s persoal accolades away, and I even have no problem saying his a good/great player. But to consider Totti among the elite players of all time in the Serie A is a disservice to the elite players. As I stated a few times to be considered in that elite class a player must be able to thrive and excel on the biggest stages, whereas Totti has not. Also the number one gripe for me and to Roma fans as a whole, is if your Totti and your team was so good would they have not have won one scudetto and kept Inter off our backs for these three years. For that Totti and his team is a failure, the mere fact that it took the addition of Batigol to win the scudetto goes to show that Totti is not the man to lead the team to the promsed land. Back to an American reference Pat, if I may, Jim Kelly is a hero in Buffalo, but is a goat almost everywhere else…
Shehan, the point the article is trying to make, for me at least, is to compare the playing style Totti to Samba style, and gasp even Baggio. Baggio is a national here who when the Azzuri needed him most he led them the final in 94. A performance that is second only to Diego in ‘86.
Many players before Totti have won accolades on the personal level, and many of these players have and will be forgetten by fans outside their inner legion. But players that won things on the collective will always be rememebered because championship legacies live on for years and years past singular awards.
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Updated repost:
Gian/Alessio/Antonio – ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Im in stitches after having read the BS over on the Roma page!!
I only ever come here and never really feel the need or watever to go over to Roma/Juve/Merda aka “Darkside” pages.
Gian, our humble host, always imo, transmits a genuine love for all things red & black whilst keeping a good balance overall and calls it as it is even if it means laying into one of our own beloved players (we all gave Oddo such a hard time the past season for example).
Gian has been accused of being Nationalistic at times and he has even pitched the idea of selling Kaka (gasp, shock, horror)!!!!!!!!!
But the complete garbage that appears to be spouted over on “SS” Roma is genuinely funny imo.
Moka – i think the point is that Totti appears to be the “be all and end all” for half the roma offside.
Shehan – As eloquent as the article is, it is very short sighted and doesnt genuinely compare Totti to equal talent.
Totti is more Beppe Signori than Baggio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ_fR_WnmbM
Yes – Totti has great ability but to say he owns Baggio is almost absurd, to claim Totti to be in the top 10 of all time greats in the world of football is even more absurd.
Do the roma fans need to be reminded of how well Totti did against ManUtd when they were technically crushed and played off the pitch in Manchester???
Totti went AWOL when he was needed most! Sorry its true.
Totti is a SWEET player and i dont think anyone is saying he isnt but he appears to be considered bigger than the club of AS Roma.
We get more from Kaka than they do from Totti, the roma fans appears to lack the abilty to objectivley discuss their points and arguments.
Kaka stepped it up when we faced ManUtd remember!
I would have thought Fonseca and Balbo would have been bigger heroes for the romanista and god knows, how ever you toss the coin Batigoal DID more for Roma.
Gian – i tip my hat to you in the intelligent way you put over your arguments and opinions, I fell out of my chair laffing when i saw how the roma fans responded to your and Antonios arguments.
Antonio, i hate the merda (sorry, it just comes naturally when u have deep love for the Rossoneri!) but here you will find that we regularly cross swords with each other as well as other “Darkside” fans but we dont resort to playground name calling and insults.
Forza Milan!
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A little refresher about Baggio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzKTC2aaENQ
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Interesting idea from Galliani in today’s Gazzetta. He wants Ancelotti to try Ambrosini in central defence.
When you see the list of the other alternatives he mentions (”Bonera, Digao, Simic, oltre a Maldini”), you can understand how he gets there.
http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/SerieA/Squadre/Milan/Primo_Piano/2008/08/02/galliani.shtml
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