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Sven Botman

The Prophet

by The Prophet
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Milanista

Milanista

Posted
Posted
45 minutes ago, hoppaz said:

@Milanista what is your thoughts on Alessio Romagnoli? We are linked with him as a free agent.

If you are buying Botman, you won't sign Romagnoli. They're the same player. Left-footed CBs who can pass very well. I mean it, very well.

 

Romagnoli was supposed to be the next great Italian CB. We bought him when he was very young. He stayed with us during our banter period, was better than Bonucci when he was here, became our captain, turned down huge offers from Chelsea and other big clubs to stick with us. His development stagnated a bit, don't think he got called up by Italy when he should have, but he was expected to be the leader of Milan, being made captain at 24 would be hard on anyone, let alone a club that was (at that point) spending a lot of money, and still struggling.

 

He was compared to Nesta. Like Nesta, he is a boyhood Lazio fan who loved Milan, he wore Nesta's 13 shirt, so the pressure was there, and to be honest, I think he did very well his first few years here, in a team that was poorly constructed. He also wasn't being developed, new managers all the time. When Pioli came in, he looked like he was finally being settled, because in Jan. of 2020, we got Simon Kjaer, who I did not think would help, but he played at a world-class level, truly, world-class (which I define as being top 10 in your position, in the world) and Romagnoli did well next to him. Many thought Romagnoli finally had his mentor. We started playing a high-line. Suicidal high line, actually. Romagnoli struggled with that.

 

But in 20/21 he had a very poor second half of the season and then we got Tomori (Jan of 21) and he was displaced by Tomori. Didn't complain. Professional. He had a bad Jan-May '21 run.

 

In 21/22, he was determined to fight for his place. He was third choice CB, behind Kjaer and Tomori. Romagnoli was slaughtered for his 20/21 performances, and he actually came out with his best form when called upon in 21/22. Then he had a nightmare game against Sassuolo, where he literally fell flat on his face after being bamboozled by Berardi. Milan fans have written him off, they think he's terrible, even though he was very good outside of that performance. Like, excellent. Against Inter, where we won 2-1, Milan fans seem to forget that he was back there because Tomori had a minor surgery.

 

Romagnoli then had a groin strain, which pushed Kalulu full time in the second half of 21/22, and we were one of the strongest defensive sides in Europe with Kalulu and Tomori.

 

Romagnoli is a class defender, his positioning is very good, not perfect, but very good. He's not afraid, gets stuck in, but he's got a major weakness: he is slow. Actually slow. This is why the Nesta comparisons never made sense, because Nesta was fast. If you want to compare Romagnoli to Nesta, perhaps when Nesta was in his last year, his knees were a problem, and he had to rely on his guile. But even then, Nesta's positioning is what allowed him to compensate for his lack of pace at that age. Romagnoli does not have that. Romagnoli might be like many other Italian CBs who has a renaissance once he turns 30, like Barzagli, who until he turned 30, was widely seen as a laughing stock of a defender for his career, and his inclusion in the 2006 World Cup team as a funny trivia fact.

 

Most Milan fans appreciate him as a captain, as a professional, and that he stuck with Milan when he had every reason to leave. His lack of pace is what killed him, because Lukaku destroyed him. Lukaku shoved him around like he was playing against his little brother. Milan fans have fixated on his errors, which aren't anywhere near Maguire-type errors, but are treated as such.

 

I will be honest, the biggest reason that most Milan fans were indifferent to Botman was because they play very similarly. Botman is faster than Romagnoli, there's no doubt about that. If Romagnoli had pace, he would be an incredible defender, but, "if my grandmother had wheels..." but there's a very good defender in there, the problem is, he can't function in a high-line. He is a low-block defender. Elite, actually. But if you put him in an open field, with a high line, like we do, he can be torn apart. In my opinion, he would be perfect for Allegri's Juve. They play with a low-block, and the fact they haven't been linked is bizarre. The rumors are that he will be agreeing with Lazio, his boyhood dream. There are rumors now that he might re-sign with Milan, but, I would be surprised at that.

 

I went past the first sentence because without development, Botman can become like Romagnoli. Development of young players is more important than transfers. Romagnoli, unfortunately, has not developed, but he has all the tools, even with his severe lack of pace. His lack of pace is why I don't think he would be a good fit for the EPL. I don't usually buy into the whole thing about the EPL being special or whatever, but in Romagnoli's case, he could only play in Spain (for Atletico) or for Juve, he can't be in aggressive, proactive sides. That's the worry with Botman--but, to be fair to him, in 20/21, Lille were usually on the front-foot, attacking teams, and he was fine. He's faster than Romagnoli, but I don't think he's as good of a passer. He's stronger than Romagnoli, though, but it's the speed that is the big difference here.

 

As you can tell, I'm avoiding very important work by writing these posts lol.

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Super Duper Branko Strupar

Super Duper Branko Strupar

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Milanista said:

My apologies. I guess for us Newcastle is the part of your club's name that sticks in our minds.

 

For example, no one in Italy calls Milan, "AC Milan" or "AC." Milan is known as "Meelan" like an Italian saying the English word for the city (Italian: "Milano" - English: "Milan")--because our club was founded by an Englishman, and the name "Milan" stuck.

 

Inter Milan is known simply as "Inter" and their full name is "Internazionale Milano."

 

Interestingly our American owners are really pushing the "AC Milan" bit more, which I suspect is to ensure trademark protection, as they would have trouble getting it for the name of the city, but as "AC Milan" they can.

 

I really need to shut my mouth. Sorry for the insult, it was unintentional.

 

Didnt/Dont you have a cricket team as well?

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Milanista

Milanista

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Super Duper Branko Strupar said:

 

Didnt/Dont you have a cricket team as well?

Initially it was a cricket and football club, but the football part took off. Like Genoa, Italy's oldest club, cricket was part of the early clubs foundation, but did not continue for very long.

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hoppaz

hoppaz

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Milanista said:

If you are buying Botman, you won't sign Romagnoli. They're the same player. Left-footed CBs who can pass very well. I mean it, very well.

 

Romagnoli was supposed to be the next great Italian CB. We bought him when he was very young. He stayed with us during our banter period, was better than Bonucci when he was here, became our captain, turned down huge offers from Chelsea and other big clubs to stick with us. His development stagnated a bit, don't think he got called up by Italy when he should have, but he was expected to be the leader of Milan, being made captain at 24 would be hard on anyone, let alone a club that was (at that point) spending a lot of money, and still struggling.

 

He was compared to Nesta. Like Nesta, he is a boyhood Lazio fan who loved Milan, he wore Nesta's 13 shirt, so the pressure was there, and to be honest, I think he did very well his first few years here, in a team that was poorly constructed. He also wasn't being developed, new managers all the time. When Pioli came in, he looked like he was finally being settled, because in Jan. of 2020, we got Simon Kjaer, who I did not think would help, but he played at a world-class level, truly, world-class (which I define as being top 10 in your position, in the world) and Romagnoli did well next to him. Many thought Romagnoli finally had his mentor. We started playing a high-line. Suicidal high line, actually. Romagnoli struggled with that.

 

But in 20/21 he had a very poor second half of the season and then we got Tomori (Jan of 21) and he was displaced by Tomori. Didn't complain. Professional. He had a bad Jan-May '21 run.

 

In 21/22, he was determined to fight for his place. He was third choice CB, behind Kjaer and Tomori. Romagnoli was slaughtered for his 20/21 performances, and he actually came out with his best form when called upon in 21/22. Then he had a nightmare game against Sassuolo, where he literally fell flat on his face after being bamboozled by Berardi. Milan fans have written him off, they think he's terrible, even though he was very good outside of that performance. Like, excellent. Against Inter, where we won 2-1, Milan fans seem to forget that he was back there because Tomori had a minor surgery.

 

Romagnoli then had a groin strain, which pushed Kalulu full time in the second half of 21/22, and we were one of the strongest defensive sides in Europe with Kalulu and Tomori.

 

Romagnoli is a class defender, his positioning is very good, not perfect, but very good. He's not afraid, gets stuck in, but he's got a major weakness: he is slow. Actually slow. This is why the Nesta comparisons never made sense, because Nesta was fast. If you want to compare Romagnoli to Nesta, perhaps when Nesta was in his last year, his knees were a problem, and he had to rely on his guile. But even then, Nesta's positioning is what allowed him to compensate for his lack of pace at that age. Romagnoli does not have that. Romagnoli might be like many other Italian CBs who has a renaissance once he turns 30, like Barzagli, who until he turned 30, was widely seen as a laughing stock of a defender for his career, and his inclusion in the 2006 World Cup team as a funny trivia fact.

 

Most Milan fans appreciate him as a captain, as a professional, and that he stuck with Milan when he had every reason to leave. His lack of pace is what killed him, because Lukaku destroyed him. Lukaku shoved him around like he was playing against his little brother. Milan fans have fixated on his errors, which aren't anywhere near Maguire-type errors, but are treated as such.

 

I will be honest, the biggest reason that most Milan fans were indifferent to Botman was because they play very similarly. Botman is faster than Romagnoli, there's no doubt about that. If Romagnoli had pace, he would be an incredible defender, but, "if my grandmother had wheels..." but there's a very good defender in there, the problem is, he can't function in a high-line. He is a low-block defender. Elite, actually. But if you put him in an open field, with a high line, like we do, he can be torn apart. In my opinion, he would be perfect for Allegri's Juve. They play with a low-block, and the fact they haven't been linked is bizarre. The rumors are that he will be agreeing with Lazio, his boyhood dream. There are rumors now that he might re-sign with Milan, but, I would be surprised at that.

 

I went past the first sentence because without development, Botman can become like Romagnoli. Development of young players is more important than transfers. Romagnoli, unfortunately, has not developed, but he has all the tools, even with his severe lack of pace. His lack of pace is why I don't think he would be a good fit for the EPL. I don't usually buy into the whole thing about the EPL being special or whatever, but in Romagnoli's case, he could only play in Spain (for Atletico) or for Juve, he can't be in aggressive, proactive sides. That's the worry with Botman--but, to be fair to him, in 20/21, Lille were usually on the front-foot, attacking teams, and he was fine. He's faster than Romagnoli, but I don't think he's as good of a passer. He's stronger than Romagnoli, though, but it's the speed that is the big difference here.

 

As you can tell, I'm avoiding very important work by writing these posts lol.

Thanks I guess that is why Youtube has a lot of scouting action of him without crowds as he was not always in the first team. Nesta was a brilliant defender and I actually liked him when he came and commentated for the BBC a few year back. He spoke excellent English which was quite a surprise for someone who played in Italy mostly and I know in the MLS for a short period.

 

 

Edited by hoppaz

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Shadow Puppets

Shadow Puppets

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Hanshithispantz said:

I unironically like him [emoji38]

 

I would never actually watch his content but it's pretty obvious he's self-aware at this point.

 

The best thing about him is all of the wannabe ITK accounts trying to take the piss out of him, as if he isn't raking it in doing something he loves whilst they're 40-odd year old, playing make-believe on the internet for zero finantial gain.

 

 

 

I agree with your sentiment, but he’s making no money like. Perhaps a couple of hundred quid a month, max, from YouTube.

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Dr Jinx

Dr Jinx

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

I agree with your sentiment, but he’s making no money like. Perhaps a couple of hundred quid a month, max, from YouTube.


See that was True Geordie as well, he used to do those Mike Ashley rant videos like he was the biggest fan going, then as soon as he got the fancy studio and stooges to back him up, I’ve quite literally heard him say.. “well I’m not exactly a die hard football fan”.

 

But the main difference between them is that I’d happily go for a pint with TG, I’d want to get a restraining order again the other lad.

 

There’s no way he’s playing a character, it’s like saying that about Michael Owen, that he just decided to be the king of cringe. Nah, proper creepy behaviour.

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Shadow Puppets

Shadow Puppets

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Numbers said:

 

AP.JPG

Aye… it’ll be much closer to the lower end of those estimates (or below).

 

Source: I work with several decent sized YouTube channels as part of my job, and unless you’re pulling in several hundred thousand views per video, with daily videos, you’re barely covering your costs.

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Numbers

Numbers

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

Aye… it’ll be much closer to the lower end of those estimates (or below).

 

Source: I work with several decent sized YouTube channels as part of my job, and unless you’re pulling in several hundred thousand views per video, with daily videos, you’re barely covering your costs.

Yep 100%

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Nucasol

Nucasol

Posted
Posted
Just now, The Prophet said:

Circa £32 million including add-ons according to big Fab. That's less than what we had knocked back in January isn't it?

Expected with the January window premium.

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