State of Affairs: Attack

By: Gianfranco | May 29th, 2008

I am going to take a state of affairs for each position at Milan and then hopefully onto a state affairs for Serie A and UEFA.

Attack…

This is where everything seems to be up in the air. Pato and Pippo are staying on, but after that it is tough to tell what exactly is going to happen. Gila appears as good as gone to the Viola and one has to wish him luck and thank him for the goals that helped the Rossoneri cause. I will say that the thought of him reunited with Prandelli and Mutu is terrifying for me and for the Serie A but if it means he regains his form and returns to the Azzurri then more praise to him.

Paloschi is on the road to Reggina on loan, which will assure him first team football and possibly second the Borriello miracle at Genoa. Oliviera is officially off the books and Ronaldo, one would think, is soon to follow. That leaves Milan with a depleted bench of strikers and the need to sign more than one and fast.

When contemplating future strikers for the Rossoneri, I believe it is important to look at it in two different lights, or formations. The first being the Carletto xmas tree. As we all know the striker in the xmas tree must be versatile and capable of not only retaining the ball, but beating a man off the dribble, and making themselves a target on set pieces. Pippo was capable of this, but with age comes a reduction in skills and can no longer be the focal point or star atop the tree. Pato, in my opinion, is also not cut out for this even though his skills say otherwise, Pato is a classic partner striker who creates as well as he scores, and I believe will not see full potential all alone up top. It does not mean that Pato is not valuable or fantastic; it just means that he will need a partner, but we will address that later.

So who is the man to top off the xmas tree. For me it has to be one of the big three Toni, Drogba, or Adebayor. The most available being Drogba but depending on the Euro performance Toni may be swayed back to Italy, but it is highly unlikely. Adebayor is flattered by the praise and desire but also looks unlikely to move. This means that Milan may have to act fast on Drogba, but could lost out once again to the wrong side of town depending on who their coach is next season.

Eto is also a very intriguing player but I see him as more of a partner for Pato, with the ability to act alone. Borriello, if returned home, will also make a great partner for Pato and a great striker pair for the future. It again depends on the formation and supporting cast. Another player that intrigues is Amantino Mancini. It appears that Mancini had a falling off of form and may have played his last game in the capital. Though he is not a true a striker, he is very much in the same mold as Serginho and capable of any play on the left flank. This makes him all the more valuable and potential for great things; imagine he can play next Pato, Kaka, Pirlo, or Paolo/Kaladze…almost a no brainer.

A few more dark horses are Berbatov and Santa Cruz, with both unlikely to move, but both excellent players looking to make a jump to the big time. Both of them can play in a partnership and would be great additions to the striker pool at Carletto’s disposal. As you can see this matter is far from settled and one of the most exciting transfer spots in a long time at Milan…

Enjoy some of those guys together in action.