Sandro Tonali

[GEFAFWISP]

1 hour ago, Shays Given Tim Flowers said:

Santon could also cover CDM.

Him, Schar and Colo for a 3 man defensive midfield in a Christmas tree formation, we'd never lose.

[The Prophet]

"Italians don't like it in England" seems like a massive generalisation. Plenty have done alright over here.

[Dr.Spaceman]

Del Piero had a few good games here

[Manxst]

9 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

"Italians don't like it in England" seems like a massive generalisation. Plenty have done alright over here.

Lots of the better ones seem to have been early PL adopters- the likes of Di Canio, Carbone, Vialli, Zola, Cudicini, Ravanelli, Di Matteo, Baiano, Eranio etc. Even the likes of Pistone got 149 PL appearances. There’s been a real lack of decent Italian imports lately, other than the odd one here and there- Jorginho, Ogbonna (Balotelli?!)

[Sima]

9 hours ago, The Prophet said:

 

 

 

Ginola morphing into this dude.

[gjohnson]

13 minutes ago, Dr.Spaceman said:

Del Piero had a few good games here

Usually against us

[gjohnson]

10 minutes ago, Manxst said:

Lots of the better ones seem to have been early PL adopters- the likes of Di Canio, Carbone, Vialli, Zola, Cudicini, Ravanelli, Di Matteo, Baiano, Eranio etc. Even the likes of Pistone got 149 PL appearances. There’s been a real lack of decent Italian imports lately, other than the odd one here and there- Jorginho, Ogbonna (Balotelli?!)

Guess it's not that they don't like it here there just hasn't been a huge amount of them....could easily say the same about German players. 

 

We have had a disproportionate amount of French, or French speaking players coming to this league. And of course Wolves bringing most of Portugal over

[Mikky]

I remember Forest signing Andrei Silenzi (not sure this is how you spell his name) one of the worst players I have ever seen 

[High Five o]

1 minute ago, Mikky said:

I remember Forest signing Andrei Silenzi (not sure this is how you spell his name) one of the worst players I have ever seen 

This I remember too 😂

[The College Dropout]

5 hours ago, Cronky said:

 

With Tonali, what I have a concern about is what you could broadly call the social side of it, not the football. He seems quite a shy lad, still young, and having to get used to a different way of life, culture and climate and without having any command of the language, it seems. Unfortunately, he's the only Italian in the squad. However, if he can get through that, then there's some parallels between the football craziness of Milan and Newcastle which may be appealing to him.

 

It's a reasonable point that Italians in the Premiership don't have a good track record, but I think the problem is usually the pace and physicality of our football. I don't think Tonali will have a difficulty there. In fact, he might thrive.

I think it’s more cultural. Italian footballers are like British footballers who like home comforts. Particularly ethnic Italians (excluding Emerson, Jorginho, Ogbonna) tend to struggle. 
 

Someone on Twitter said ‘Italian players get a whiff of adversity in the premier league and want to run back to mama’ and I think there’s a level of truth to that. 
 

I have no doubts about his ability to perform in the PL. But culture is always a risk with foreign signings - particularly Italians.  

[Vinny Green Balls]

This all sounds a bit horseshit to me. Probably has more to do with the relative strengths and financial clout  of the leagues over the last few decades. Best Italian players were staying in Italy for obvious reasons. 
 

what has traditionally been the number of Italian players coming in compared to French players? Considering that, are the success rates all that different? Then ask about Italian players in their prime coming over vs French players. 

[The College Dropout]

1 minute ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

This all sounds a bit horseshit to me. Probably has more to do with the relative strengths and financial clout  of the leagues over the last few decades. Best Italian players were staying in Italy for obvious reasons. 
 

what has traditionally been the number of Italian players coming in compared to French players? Considering that, are the success rates all that different? Then ask about Italian players in their prime coming over vs French players. 

That’s part of it isn’t it? There’s less incentive to knuckle down and make it work. Half a dozen Italian clubs will stump up the wages and a decent fee.
 

Like how Michael Owen came running back to England to join us. 
 

That Florian Thauvin attitude.  

[Erikse]

4 hours ago, Mountain said:

 

I personally don't think we've overpaid for Tonali, considering how crazy the market is nowadays.

 

Milan captain at 23 years old, Italy U21 captain and a player who will improve with age. It's hard to argue with that résumé.

 

Only concern is the "Italians not settling" thing but every person is different.

 

I guess we'll see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't even think we overpaid for Barnes given his output in the PL for the last 4 seasons and him being English. The biggest questionmark for me is Livramento, but the potensial reward is really high ofcourse.

 

 

Edited August 4, 2023 by Erikse

[Mountain]

42 minutes ago, Erikse said:

 

Don't even think we overpaid for Barnes given his output in the PL for the last 4 seasons and him being English. The biggest questionmark for me is Livramento, but the potensial reward is really high ofcourse.

 

 

 

 

No disagreements from me, chief.

[Geordie Boyo]

 

[The Prophet]

 

[Skeletor]

It's not fair on other men if Ginola can speak Italian on top of being the silver fox DILF that he is.

[Mikky]

Did well today 

[1964]

Did he?  I didn't watch the game but everything I read pointed at him doing not much at all.

 

I refuse to believe the NO faithful were not giving an accurate account given their record of tactical and player analysis.....

[Holloway]

His positional nous is beginning to emerge in the side already and his engine is formidable, he's going to be some addition

[Mikky]

6 minutes ago, 1964 said:

Did he?  I didn't watch the game but everything I read pointed at him doing not much at all.

 

I refuse to believe the NO faithful were not giving an accurate account given their record of tactical and player analysis.....

Disagree - he was really neat and tidy on the ball - played some nice passes 

[LFEE]

23 hours ago, GEFAFWISP said:

Santon back out of retirement for that LB slot. Sorted.

 

22 hours ago, Shays Given Tim Flowers said:

Santon could also cover CDM.

I know you are both half joking but Santon was very poor for us.

 

Watching a Chiesa documentary on Amazon covering his injury. Hopefully he recovers 100%.

[Geordie Boyo]

Covered a lot of ground in the first half, but didn’t seem to do much else. 
In the second half he really found his stride and became our rock supplying balls in attack breaking their attack up at the other end. I do think this will allow Bruno to link up more going forward with having a box-to-box midfielder like Tonali. 
 

A lot of difficult decisions to made against Villa with Gordon, Anderson and Miggy doing well along with what feels inevitable having a midfield 3 of or big joe, sandy and bruno. We’ll also be seeing how Barnes gets on tomorrow and I can definitely say Miley, once again showed he’s more than ready to be involved. 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by Geordie Boyo

[Shadow Puppets]

Met this handsome bastard and his lovely girlfriend today. Very canny.

 

His girlfriend says they’re settling in really well, love the city, but wish it would stop raining (with a smile).

[Matt1892]

I thought he was quite poor today and his passing was sloppy, he doesn’t seem to have much of an understanding with his team mates either but I’m sure that will come.

 

I think Howe might phase him in over a longer period unless we have an injury crisis.