Milanista

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Uh. We want to... win the Champions League. We want to win more Serie A titles. Not sure if you've heard about what Milan is all about. We've won the Champions League seven times. We were in the semi-final this year, with one of the youngest teams in the competition.

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Milan fans are convinced that we are the slowest club in the world, we cannot sell anyone that we need to move on, we never close deals and always let them drag on unlike X or Y club. Besides the fact that you guys are very warm and welcoming, seeing that we all have the same complaints has calmed my nerves down quite a bit.

Sure, sure. You don't care.

I can't wait to see you pretend you weren't salivating over Tonali when he turns you down.

Tonali is not gettable. Milan have no need to sell, we have the strongest financial foundations in Italy with Juventus, and of all of our players, we need him for homegrown rules. You'd have to pay 100m, sterling, to get him. Barella is more likely (but not at the price quoted) and Inter need to sell players. It looks more like our owners want to show that they are turning down EPL offers to ingratiate themselves with fans. Our owner just fired (wrongly) Maldini because his ego got bruised, I doubt he's about to sell Tonali. He's on thin ice with fans as is. Italian media is far more inclined towards protecting Inter, as they are favored by the journalist class and elite of society.

Fair enough. I do think he's better than Declan Rice, who is a very good player. To me, Tonali is in the Tchouameni, Camavinga, Bellingham level of midfielder--so for me, 80-100m (Euro) is a more accurate reflection of his price. Thank you. He'd suit the Prem, to be honest. There are some Milan fans who think he's a "jack of all trades and master of none," but that's them being bitter and angry. Milan fans, in particular, are prone towards seeing the grass being greener on the other side. We criminally underrate our own players, because Milan fans like to think of themselves as "objective" fans, and in their quest for objectivity, they are... over-correcting by being hyper-critical and fixating on a misplaced pass or mistake as if that defined the entire display, lol. Tonali is able to play as a regista (Pirlo-style CDM) but he's also able to play like a Van Bommel-style CDM, but you can also play him further forward--there is a group of Milan fans who think he should be paired with a more dedicated DM in our 4231, but I think our Tonali-Bennacer partnership is very strong, the issue is when Pioli (our manager) plays a second-striker as our CAM, it transforms our 4231 into a 424 that is very unbalanced. Even a midfield pairing with two out-and-out destroyer-type DMs would struggle. Even in that shape though, he's been the driving force in our team: that's what makes him such a great midfielder to have. He has grit, strength, speed--he can pass, playmake, shield a defense, he's really an all-action midfielder. People try to call him a mixture of Gattuso and Pirlo, but... he's really just Albertini. It would be quite a coup for you to take Tonali away from us. I honestly think the only way Newcastle buys Tonali is if you pay over 100m, sterling. If Enzo Fernandez went for 106m sterling, for a good World Cup run and six months in Portugal, then Tonali should go for the same amount. Again, even if we had to sell players (we don't) I just don't think we'd sell Tonali but other players, because of homegrown rules, we need more Italian-trained players in our squad. Milan is one of the few football clubs that is projected to make a profit, and we don't sell players. We let Donnarumma, a world-class GK, walk for free instead of selling him because we didn't want to sell him--of course when you replace him with an even better keeper in Mike Maignan, saving yourself money in the process, it helps lol. But we let Kessie go to Barca, Hakan to Inter, Romagnoli to Lazio, because we felt that it was better to keep them than to sell them. Sure, we tried to renew with them, but only on our financial terms. Kessie was asking for similar money to Rodri, so of course we didn't extend him, while Romagnoli was making Kyle Walker wages, etc. It depends on the price. If it was over 120m pounds, I'd understand it--but Newcastle will have to stop being the lovable team from the North with an actual fanbase with likable Howe at the helm; you'll have to go full-on City-mode to buy him. Our management group believes they are the smartest guys in the room, and after firing Maldini--who took the team from mid-table to Champions of the league and a CL semi-final in four years while spending less money than West Ham--and they have to prove it now. They've installed this man named Moncada, famous for working with current PSG sporting director Campos and helped him build that famous Monaco side (Bernardo Silva, Mbappe, Fabinho, etc) and he's been part of Maldini's team in getting much of world-class talent like Mike Maignan, Theo Hernandez, Rafa Leao, etc and now Moncada is our sporting director. Point being, if we sold Tonali, it means that we want to upgrade and the ownership believes they have the man and the data analytics team to be smarter than everyone else. I'm skeptical that they can do it as easily without Maldini, who I think was a huge part of our success and in getting our best players not just to come to Milan, but to extend with us--he's given our boys the passion and leadership to grow as players, to support them to grow, and served as a shield from the overly critical Italian media. Maldini is one of the true gentlemen of the game. He also knows how to find players. For example, after we passed on Botman, we went after Malick Thiaw, for 6m. The kid is starting for Germany now, he's imperious. Not only do we have Tomori (how does he not get called up for England? He's... he's incredible) and Kalulu, another young star at CB, as well as Kjaer, captain of Denmark. So... CB is not a priority for us. Attack is where we need work, and midfield, since Bennacer, Tonali's midfield partner, had serious knee surgery for an injury that kept him out of our CL semi-final against Inter. If only we had Leao and Bennacer, we would have been in the final. Seeing City play that poorly, we could have beaten them. Long story short: If we sell Tonali for 50m, euros, I'd be an 11. If we sold him for 120m sterling, I'd be a 4, depending on how good his replacement would be.

I would be shocked if they sold Tonali. Inter need money, Milan don't. If you wanted an Italian midfielder, Frattesi would be far cheaper than both of them. Inter are expected to sell big parts of their team this year, due to their poor financial state.

Let me cut to the chase: you're not getting Tonali. I read through this thread, and... I have to address some of the things I've read in here. It's my nature. I apologize ahead of time. Milan is currently the most healthy club, financially, in Italy. Inter are mountains of debt, and their owners, unlike Juve's, are unable/unwilling to put money into Inter. Inter are going to be selling. You would have a much bigger chance at Barella than you would Tonali. Inter need money, Milan do not. You aren't going to get Tonali for 50m, by the way. Maybe they will pick up the phone for 100m, if Declan Rice is going for that. Tonali is better in a midfield three, that's where he played before coming to Milan, but he's such a talent that he can play in our double pivot. His first year at Milan was tough, because he had to get used to the double pivot of our 4231. His second year, we won the league, and he was... a lion. I think people have underrated him this year, as he has been run into the ground, and asked to cover more ground than ever before. He's running an extra kilometer more than the second most on our team, each game, consistently. He's been run ragged this year and is constantly putting out fires. People who think he had an average year this year are... judging him on a curve. Our tactics have shifted from a genuine 4231 to more of a 42... attack! This has left our midfield and defense more exposed, as our manager has... he's had a poor season. There were rumors swirling that he was going to get fired, with reports that Maldini wanted to fire him (some say Pirlo others say Italiano [coach of Fiorentina]), but our new owners fired Paolo Maldini instead--who turned our team around, as our new ownership shifts completely into its "Moneyball" approach to building up a team. I also find the idea that we can't compete for the title or for the CL anytime soon... funny. Our team is still extremely young and if we add the right pieces, and our manager wakes up from his stupor, we are one of the best teams in Europe, like it or not, say we're lucky or not, without injuries to two of our best players in the semis (Leao and Bennacer) and we probably get to the CL final instead of Inter--and unlike Inter, our problems aren't against big teams, we actually tend to tear them to shreds. I'm not sure if you saw, but we... embarrassed Napoli 4-0 in their own stadium, and any team that opens up and attacks us. Our problem (well, our manager's problem), tactically, is that we struggle when we play small teams that defend in low-blocks. Provincial teams, like Inter. We just extended Rafa Leao, when he was supposedly going to be tempted by the Premier League--I think that temptation is overrated when you are at a club like Milan--and we also extended Bennacer, Theo Hernandez, Tomori, Kalulu, and a whole host of our stars. In short, we're not going to lose anyone we don't want to. However, let's say that the caricature that Italian teams are all struggling applied to Milan (it doesn't) but even if it did... we actually can't afford to let Tonali go. We don't have enough Italians in our squad, and we have to get rid of non-Italian trained players (players who have had their youth careers in Italy, regardless of nationality) to make room, and are currently seeking Italian players to add as useful backup players while finding ways to fit our new players into the squad lists. So even if we did have to sell Tonali (we don't) then it would be better for us to sell Maignan, or Tomori, or Kalulu, or anyone else except Tonali. Of course, I could be wrong. Our ownership did just fire Maldini for... asking for more money as he wants to win the CL now rather than in a few years. Maldini publicly demanded he wanted Milan to push for titles the year before, which firing him has put our ownership in a corner over what their ambitions are. Ownership has went out of its way to assert that their ambitions are still the same even without Maldini, and that they aim to be among the elite in Europe. For Milan, the CL is our identity, our DNA, and it is what most Milan fans value over anything else. So maybe we do sell Tonali? I doubt it, mostly due to our problem with having enough Italians. Plus, the kid took a pay cut to extend with us, to make sure he could get the loan turned into something permanent, and the club (Maldini) put their faith in him after a bad first year and he exploded. He was then rewarded with an extension and a pay rise afterward. He's a boyhood Milan fan, he's destined to be one of our future captains, along with Theo Hernandez, and this squad really does not want to leave Milan. They have bought into the rebuild of Milan. Now Barella versus Tonali... Is Barella better than Tonali? It's a weird comparison, because... They play in such wildly different systems. Barella is far less exposed, does far less defensive work, covers less ground, and is given more license to go forward. He plays as a RCM in a 352 and isn't as exposed to open space at Inter that he would if he played for Milan. I also think the fact that Tonali is three years younger is a huge element that is overlooked. If Barella played at Milan he wouldn't be able to handle our double-pivot, most likely, he'd play as our CAM. So... comparisons between the two are... odd, it's like comparing Lampard and Roy Keane rather than Gerrard and Lampard, and I know that isn't an exact parallel for Barella and Tonali, but... I hope you get my meaning, they are actually very different players. When they both play for Italy, there isn't a headache about fitting them in together like Gerrard and Lampard, they actually play together well, and... they do different things. When they play together for Italy, Tonali is the anchor, CDM, while Barella is always an RCM. He isn't as versatile as Tonali is. You can play Tonali further forward, you can play him as an RCM or LCM in a midfield three, but his passing range is underrated (he isn't Pirlo, but he's still got great vision) and I think is colored by this year being a tough one for Milan (despite us getting to a CL semi-final lol) as our attack was still the problem, putting more pressure on our defense and midfield. Do I think Barella is a good fit for Newcastle? If you want to play him as an LCM/RCM in a midfield three, yeah, maybe? He's petulant, though. He doesn't take his lumps, brush himself off, and get on with it. He's a far more... Italian sort of midfielder. He's more suited to the Italian game than he would be for the Prem. He yells at his own teammates, complains to refs constantly, while being one of Italy's golden boys, so it's not like refs are going to let opponents kick lumps into him. I don't think Barella would suit you, to be honest. He's a great player, there's no doubt, but he doesn't have the mentality for the Prem. Maybe he'd adjust? He's a very good player, but it all matters what you want from a midfielder. If you're going to continue with your tactical setup that you have now, it could work. If you want a more attacking LB instead then... Tonali would be the better buy, but... I doubt you're going to get Tonali. If you want him to play as your LCM and you get a more attacking LB, then... Botman is going to be left on islands, and there's a reason why Howe plays a CB as LB for your guys. Mind you, this isn't just something Howe did, but at Lille, Djalo, a CB, was played as a LB with Botman, so if you get Barella, and he's playing as your LCM... that could upset the balance of your setup. If he's your RCM, that might be better. Don't get me wrong, Barella is a great player, and if you want someone who offers more attacking threat from your RCM spot, then there are few midfielders in the world who do a better job than him. But he's constantly protected in Inter's 352 system, he doesn't just have a CB and CDM behind him but a RWB to shield him, and I think that in your 433, as it morphs, it would require Barella to put in more defensive work than he's used to--but he's done that while playing in Italy's 433, so he can probably do it. But back to Tonali? The idea that Milan would sell Tonali for 50m is... it's hilarious. When Chelsea wanted Leao, we pointed to his release clause, which was 125 or 150m? His new release clause was just raised to 175m. When Chelsea asked us for Maignan, Milan won't pick up for the phone for anything less than 90m, and reports are that 90m was still considered too low for Maignan. Our goalkeeper. What do you think we'll say about Tonali? Our owners just fired Maldini, who only extended his stay with them because he publicly demanded more money for transfers (which he didn't get)--but he also made demands about ambitions and that he wanted to win, and the new owners cannot really afford to sell Tonali, without causing havoc with the fans, but even then, let's say that Milan is poor and desperate (we aren't) like Inter (they are) because of the homegrown rules, we need to keep Tonali in the squad, anyway. Do I think this story is real? Sure. I'm sure Newcastle did approach Milan for Tonali. Lots of reputable sources are putting it out there. My guess is that our ownership is leaking it so that when we turn them away, they can look like heroes. Our new ownership has been dishing out dirt on Maldini, leaking his supposed "plans" for Milan to justify why they fired him. They want to shore up fan support and what better way than to turn down Newcastle and EPL money? There's no way he gets sold for anything less than 75m sterling. He's still eligible for U21 duty. I tried to use bold, italics, and underlines to break things up and give you a very thorough breakdown of things. I hope this helped. I always enjoy talking with you guys. Oh! And I told you so that Newcastle could make top four!

Morning/Afternoon/Evening lads.

I don't think you can get a more attacking-style LB, Botman will get exposed. At Lille he had Djalo as his LB, who is naturally a CB, and played LB next to him, and this year is playing as a CB. If you want to upgrade Dan Burn, more power to you, I haven't watched enough to determine how big a priority that is. But I don't think you can have a real attacking LB with Botman. You'd need a left-sided Ben White-style player, or you'd need to be far more dominant in your possession and play style to limit his exposure.

Does Newcastle need English players--hence the desire for Rice and Bellingham? Otherwise, I don't see the need for either one of them. They're good players, with a lot of potential, but the price they'd demand relative to their performance doesn't really seem in-line with their cost. If anything, you'd want Real Madrid to overpay and sign Bellingham, that could potentially free up Tchouameni or Camavinga to leave Real? Camavinga is the better of the two French young guns, in my opinion, but those players aside, I don't see the need for someone in the Rice and Bellingham price-bracket, especially in the CDM role. Brozovic from Inter could be gotten for very cheap, especially if Inter don't get CL football, as they are in financial crisis, and everyone knows it--so buyers are waiting for their owner to admit defeat before putting in bids. It could be a fire-sale there. Brozovic is one of the most underrated CDMs in the world. Isak seemed to be the only player that you went for that was in the conventional "big hype" market. Botman, for example, was the choice of scouts who are ahead-of-the-curve. You weren't competing with Man Utd, Chelsea, or Real for him--your biggest competitor for his signature was Milan, and we've adopted a very low-key approach that has served us very well. Those other big clubs pay premiums for players that become terrible burdens if they fail. West Ham's transfer business has actually been pretty good, but a little more flashy than Newcastle, the problem is Moyes has gotten a bunch of players that don't suit his tactics, and I think they're about to take some big losses on many of those players. Scamacca, for example, is who I want Milan to sign in the summer, but there are many other players there that West Ham have ruined, Aguerd, Paqueta, Vlasic, Haller--so I think it's better for Newcastle to continue on the path it's on rather than shifting towards a more "we need to splash the cash" because... you don't. Grabbing good players in bad situations or scouting smarter (like you have previously) is the better choice than trying to make "statement signings." Statement signings are there to win "who won the transfer market" discussions which tend to age badly. Who knew about your Bruno before you bought him? Not many, but look at him now. This last summer, Milan brought in a bunch of young talent, but our coach has not used them at all. We have this CB, named Thiaw, our manager (Pioli) barely used him, even though he has all this incredible talent, and then... with just an onslaught of injuries, he is forced to use him... and guess what? He is incredible. We have other young players that he hasn't used, that are as equally as talented, but refuses to use them... which during our 5-6 month-long injury crisis was a terrible decision, and now those same players are just sitting there with our first-team squad run ragged. The point is: in Howe you have a manager who is tactically flexible, looking at how he's done with Joelinton as one of his biggest tactical chess move. I think there's also a benefit to bringing in players who are brought in with less fanfare because I feel like it allows the manager to mold them a little more, especially with how tactics these days require more buy-in from players, since you can't really have passengers in the team anymore. Anyway, just my two (long) cents.

After beating Napoli 4-0, I think I got a little too cocky, please excuse me. I don't think Newcastle really flexes your financial muscle, it's not like it was a question over finances. You didn't pay some absurd sum for Botman, for EPL standards. He's a very strong CB, I just don't think he would work for us--and I think the way that he is protected with Dan Burn as a LB works really well for him and has allowed him to blossom. Howe should be getting more plaudits, because again, it's not like Newcastle are spending absurd sums--at least not yet--you're spending around Tottenham, West Ham, money, nothing crazy for the league. And look at West Ham. Spurs are also a disappointment, in my view. I don't even want to begin on Chelsea. Oh, and please don't apologize, I just thought I'd give you a fun fact like when people find out that only sparkling wine from Champagne can be called... Champagne. Y'know, the sorts of fun facts that make you the life of the party, lol. I should be the one apologizing, honestly, I'm sorry. The injuries to Milan this year (which are systemic at this point and the manager needs to take blame for them [as they are muscular in nature]) has made this a far less interesting championship than I expected. Our manager has stopped doing all the things that made him so interesting last year, he really mishandled every young player we have, and has run so many players into the ground, whilst also messing up his tactics. Having one of the top 10 worst keepers in Europe's top five leagues play most of our season when we have arguably the best keeper in the world (Maignan) injured doesn't help, of course. Now that we are healthy, the results have changed--though every team in the top 6 (except for Milan) has been implicated in transfer inflation, just Serie A being, well, Serie A. Italians don't protect each other for the good of the league like the EPL. I always keep my eye out for Newcastle, just to see how things are doing, since you all have been so nice to me.

We are doing just fine. No one calls our team "AC." We are simply "Milan."

I hope everyone's holidays were wonderful and that you all have a great New Year! I just wanted to log in and tell you all... I told you so. I told you that I thought your team could break into the top four, and while I do not want to put the evil-eye on your team, I just want to be smug about the fact that I was right about how good I thought Howe would do with Newcastle. I've been watching your games, and your team has a great spirit to it. Hope and your families are well!

Man, I think Tuchel and Boehly have done a poor job with Chelsea. Tuchel deserves way more pressure than he gets. He complains and cries like he hasn't spent insane amounts of money. He shits on his own players, and then when he needs to rely on some of these guys, because of injuries or whatever, he wonders why they play badly? How do you make Koulibaly look above-average in defense? He's one of the best CBs in the world. Defensive strength is supposed to be Tuchel's saving grace, and he can't even do that right? Chelsea tried to buy Milan's star LW, Rafa Leao. In the last few days of the window? 80m + Pulisic? Lol. You just paid 71m (euros) for Cucurella, an above-average RWB, while Leao was the best player in Serie A last year and the only LW in his age bracket better than him is Vini Jr. Tuchel is a fraud, I have no idea why he gets so much leeway. He doesn't take responsibility for anything and blames his players. Lukaku is a striker who I don't like, as a person, he's a weird guy, but Tuchel wanted a striker and ruined him. He called Conte, Lukaku's "daddy" and Lord knows what else, and doesn't play the guy in a way that gets the best out of him? If Lukaku was at Spurs with Conte, people would be amazed by him. I hope Newcastle takes Chelsea's CL spot. I don't think top 4 is unrealistic, it'll be tough, because Spurs will grind out wins, and I think Newcastle needs to learn how to do that, which will come with time, experience, etc. So many next year? It would probably be better to deal with the EL first, but I think top 6 is not an unrealistic position for Newcastle this year, not at all.

Our backup RB got hurt and will be out for two months, which in a normal season would be survivable, but with the CL and the insanely tight schedule, we needed someone. Our backup LB (Ballo-Toure)... he... "lacks confidence." Is the nice way to put it. Florenzi has played as a backup LB, not just RB, and he's a hell of a player, even playing at RW for us. Our captain, who is from our academy, and a hometown kid, is Davide Calabria. He's our poor man's Lahm, I don't think he'll ever be world-class, unlike other players in our squad, but he's a top RB in Italy, and he's a great kid. My great hope for Dest is that he will solve our RW problems, especially as Dest's problem seems to be that he's not a good defender. Our RW options are poor, and it seems we use a similar move to Real by using what amounts to a RWB as our RW, which Real use with Valverde--so my hope (and many others) is that Dest can provide that, as our current RWB-slash-RW is Belgian international Alexis Saelemaekers. He should go to a team with wing-backs, he'll be a good option, but as our RW? All tekkers, no end-product. Newcastle looks increasingly impressive every time I take the time to watch you guys. Howe might be the best English manager, it's gotta be between him and Potter at Brighton. Isak is a hell of a player, I thought he was expensive, but he looked deadly against Liverpool.

Bakayoko is the most infuriating player, because he is capable of being a world-class DM. Not even joking. His time at Monaco was impressive, and a player not doing well at Chelsea isn't unheard of, but he came to Milan on loan (first stint) under Gattuso as our manager, and first 2-3 months of the season he was shaky, but after? Incredible player. Chelsea asked for a high buyout, we missed out on the CL by a single point that season, and Bakayoko still had a lot to prove. He bounced around, went to Napoli, conflicting reports over how he did (I didn't follow) and then he came back to Milan last year, on a two-year-loan. He was terrible. He's infuriating because I don't know what the issue is. He seems to play with the handbrake on, as if he has to take it easy because he's playing in a co-ed rec league and doesn't want to hurt his sister who is playing on the other team. But I've seen him be this all-action DM with the running, hustle, interceptions, and control of a tempo through his play--but I haven't seen that in years. Not sure what the problem is, he's not a trouble maker and he's a good professional, when he's made mistakes, he's owned up to them, and I just... I don't get it. I'm surprised at the Newcastle link. If Howe can fix him, you have a top-class DM.

Some Italian sources are linking Bakayoko (on loan at Milan from Chelsea) to Newcastle. Do you guys need a DM?

Do you guys think you'll actually buy a certain Brazilian midfielder with a name that starts with the letter P? Also: my goodness, you guys looked class against City. I was rooting for you, but there's no shame in a draw. I was thoroughly, thoroughly impressed with Newcastle.

Mike Maignan. AC Milan's world-class goalkeeper is on £58k per-week. The per-week thing is a weird metric.

Michael Edwards, he was the sporting director for Liverpool and constructed their team. He was at Liverpool starting in 2011 and took over as sporting director in 2016. His recruitment has been data-driven and intelligent. It seems Newcastle's approach is very similar. I don't think sporting directors feature as heavily in English football as it does in Italy. In Italy, we seem to really fixate on the sporting director, and it seems that our managers don't have the same amount of say (on average) as EPL managers do. For someone like Allegri, Conte, or Ancelotti, and Capello, Sacchi, Lippi, etc in the past--they obviously get a bigger say--but in general the sporting director really brings the players, and consults with the manager, but the sporting director seems to have more control. Sir Alex did both jobs, as did Wenger, but I don't think managers have the time anymore to do both jobs. If I was the Glazers, I'd call him, put a piece of paper in front of him and ask him to write down a number he likes, and then let him do his work. They're spending Man Utd's money, anyway, why not let it be spent in the hands of someone who has a proven track record, rather than the guys who are great at getting Energy Drinks companies to give you money to promote their product?