Wednesday Milan Musings

By: Gianfranco | July 9th, 2008

I want to apologize for being absent in posts the past few days. Work and real life soccer have been very busy, but the lack of any real concrete news has left me somewhat frustrated as to the developments of the transfer season. But there are some thoughts that have come from the past post’s comments and Milan news.

-Arsenal has decided to negotiate with Fester for Adebayor. This is promising because it means that the rumors can actually become a reality, and it also means that Gallianni is ready to play hardball will not stand for the EPL inflating prices of their players on the way out. Adebayor is worth about 20M to me, and should be valued around the same for Fester, but remember the idea of need, and Milan needs a striker.

Many of us here are divided on Adebayor or Dinho, and with Galliani claiming it is one or the other I am going to make one last push for the Adebayor camp. At 24 years old, and with his first full season under his belt at Arsenal as the starter, he scored 30 goals, and really seems like the type of guy to take on the burden of being a top class striker. The best is yet to come from Adebayor, and why not be the team that harnesses that, and after watching his press conference last week and hearing him state out of his own mouth that he wants to play at Milan, it leaves a bit more convinced, especially with the lack of CL play.

Dinho is OK, but for no more than 10M, and anything over 20M leaves Milan looking like suckers. This whole notion of class being permanent doesn’t resonate with me, class is something you strive and work for, and it is not something that can be turned on like a switch. Class is also something that you have to hunger for, because if not it will always elude. I will spare Dinho and not make any fat jokes here about hunger, but I do not think Milan can make the same mistake they made with Ronaldo all over again. Also, this guy is not like Kaka, he is like Rivaldo, Adriano, and Ronaldo who tasted success very early and became utterly cancerous to their clubs.

As a Milan fan it is easy to reminisce and remember the past and want to have things be like they were, but it is important to separate the Milan legacy from the history of players. The club needs to move forward and a 24 year old striker to play with an 18 year old striker and a 25 year old attacking mid makes far more sense than throwing another 27 year old CAM whose best days are behind him into the mix. It is very much OK to remember and appreciate Dinho for what he has done, but it is even more important to let go and realize that Milan is not the place for him to try and refind his glory, the likelihood of failure is to great to take that chance…

-I have been doing a lot of research on the Milan youth system, to see how the new youngster can fit into the current squad and be developed. Info on these guys is not as easy to come by as I had hoped but the youngsters that sticks out most for me is Antonini who can play LB or LM. This kind of versatility will be welcome and assure that there is youth in place to play the very important spot of LB, and help spell Janks or Zambro.

-The final point I want to bring up is in regards to Borriello, and the talk of him being the next Gila. Gila was a fantastic player prior to coming to Milan and his ability with Parma was truly spectacular. When Milan signed him I was ecstatic and couldn’t believe that such a young, smart player was coming to the San Siro. Between Carletto, the purchase of Ronaldo, and the lack of real confidence in his own skills Gila regressed into a shell of the great striker he was, and is now going to the Viola where he will almost certainly regain some semblance of form, even if he doesn’t achieve his Parma numbers all over again. What went wrong with Gila, can’t be done with Borriello, or else another very talented player will be wasted at the benefit of no one. Milan has a great potential to really rotate and keep the strikers fresh, and with the potential inclusion of Adebayor leaves Milan with an embarrassing wealth of striker options. It also leaves the possibility of striking combo to make the team more offensive, and opens up the door for Pato to become a tre quartista type player which is a role that I think he would excel in. His confidence on the ball and on the edges of the box is stellar for an young player and I can’t help to think how dangerous he would be next to Kaka and behind Borriello and Adebayor.

This season is perfect for Milan to grow a little, and as fans we have to accept potential growing pains, but there is no reason that Milan can’t challenge on all fronts that they playing in. They have depth in the attack and in the middle of the pitch and one has to think that with a healthy defense things look good to get back to the top of Serie A.