You say this like Sarri just gives away positions in the starting 11. If he comes, he will be a rotational player and have an opportunity in the future to take over a starting role. Gotta be realistic with our expectations here. We all know by now how ADL and Sarri operate, cant understand why everyone is so cynical about it still. You might not agree with the methods, but clearly something is working.
Send Diawara and lose depth for Jorginho? That doesn't make a lot of sense. Rather have him here training in the system and taking his minutes when he can get them. Looked pretty confident to me stepping to the spot v Real.
He needs to play regularly, even last season when he took jorginhos spot in the starting 11 it was the period we lost the most points in serie A under Sarri. We can easily find a cheap vice-jorginho, perhaps an older player, until Diawara becomes of age. Right now Diawara isnt living up to his potential. I dont know whats wrong with him this season, he is doing so many dumb things on the pitch he almost never did last season. And he was terrible against city, just because he scored a penalty it doesnt change the fact he kept chosing the wrong pass often locking us in CIty's pressure. Its not fair he cant get games against ********ing benevento but is thrown in against city with the divas hamsik and Zielinski as well - he is not ready for that. City knew they could pressure diawara into making the wrong decisions which is one of the major reasons we got raped so hard
You said he doesn't have the confidence, but it takes balls to step to the spot and take that PK at the Ethiad. Also, what is the potential of a 20 year old? I think we sometimes forget how young some of these players really are. I remember get rapped by City in the second leg with Jorginho in for the same reason we always lose to big teams in Europe, we can NOT defend in the air especially on set pieces. We're also very susceptible to quality opposition that plays with a high pressure as we try to work the ball out of the back. At some point, the check book does matter in football. I agree tho, hes not playing as well as he did last year, but I want him here as someone who knows the system and is silky smooth with the ball. I also think his presence pushes Jorginho a bit which I'm in favor of. I don't understand how why there is so much to complain about in this forum. This is a special season and we should all be enjoying it to the fullest because there is a strong possibility we wont see one like it again. We're not a big market team and we're doing it the right way, that's gotta mean something to everyone. Those who dont care about that, probably support Juve by now anyways. Lets see if the lads can pull it off and welcome any help that comes in. I know I cant wait to see my first scudetto.
That was because Ghoulam went out. City couldn't catch a break before Ghoulam's injury. Our fullbacks were majorly handicapped which meant we could not retain position which consiquently led City dominance that led to those corners. Even if Ghoulam got injured we still deserved to win that game but Callejon and partially Hamsik wanted it differently. Our game is not to get significantly better at defending corners/set pieces, even I've had to realize that we simply dont have the players - our game is to not give away many set pieces. Confidence in possession, confidence in asking for the ball, confidence in dictating some play, confidence in his defensive work - he has not had any of that this season. He also lacks experience which is something that only comes from actually playing games. That aside imagine if Diawara went on loan and became a world star talent - that would mean if we have to lose either him or Jorginho (which is likely) we would at least get a big bag of cash out of it. Diawara is only 20 and has barely played football at a professional level, even Marko Rog has like 30 European Cup games under his belt. In fact Rog has played 174 games at a professional level whereas diawara only has 77. If anything I'd send them both on loan if Sarri keeps giving them this little playing time. This season a player like Rog has outperformed Diawara and Zielinski when all 3 have started together but cannot get a single start in Serie A or the CL. Diawara has been lackluster this season because he hasnt been able to make his teammates better, a job Jorginho is great at. When Diawara plays we see the the limitations in Hamsik and Zielinski's defensive capabilities, because the synergy just isnt there. I'm just saying I would like to see it happen but it probably wont, not under ADL, there's no way he is spending any money on a vice-Jorginho so Diawara can go on loan.
You don't think we have major deficiencies on defensive set pieces!? Obviously its best not to give up any, but realistically they are going to happen. When they do, they need to be defended and there is little excuse with a 6'5 and 6'3 CB along with an experienced GK are getting beat regularly against top flight opponents. John Stones, Otamendi, and Ramos all scored on us over the course of 4 games. There have been many others who have tapped in off a set piece practically unmarked, but lets just focus on the top teams since that's where we wanna be, right? To be fair, it has gotten a tad better this year, but it is still far too easy and we are way to exposed on these. Also, our offensive corners have finally come together and this is the first time is years its been a legitimate chance when we have a corner and not just a give away or a pass back into play. Thank you Kalidou for that. My point on Diawara and the kids is someone needs to be a role player off the bench and I would prefer that it is young talent, especially one that already knows the system, than someone washed up and slow (i.e. Giak, Valdifoiri, Maggio). I don;t know what you are seeing in Rog that makes you think he has out performed Zelinski who is the only player off the bench that is actually able to put himself on the score sheet. Granted, he has some easy misses, but who in our trident doesn't? I don't dislike Rog, I feel he is young and still growing, definitely shows some flashes running with the ball at his feet, but what really stands out more than anything is how wild he is when he steps on to the pitch. Almost a guaranteed yc with each appearance and just way too anxious to leave an impression. When Allan was struggling last year, I expect him to challenge for his spot, but didn't. I think you have more of a problem with Sarri's squad rotation and I (somewhat) agree with you on that. He has some serious trust issues with some of his players and probably rightfully so. That cup game against Atalanta demonstrated the lack of competence in the backups to fit into this system. I think its no coincidence that players get better the more time they spend here learning Sarri's tactics. Not to derail the conversation but its easy to draw a comparison to what goes on here in New England, the Patriots have the same philosophy in a systematic approach for long term success while balancing the books.
Love the conversation by the way. No disrespect intended whatsoever. Always happy to bs with another passionate fan of OUR team.
No worries I live in the bullshit. I agree with what you are saying from a realistic stand point because ADL most likely wont bring in a decent defensive midfielder who just turned 30 so we can send our players on loan. I try to look at it with an idealistic wishful thinking bullshit approach where we can get temporary filler players to make sure our youth players can get the game time they need. There are lots of quality "under the radar" players from around the world in their start 30's we can bring in to give Rog, Ounas, diawara some game time via a loan deal if Sarri wont play them.
Let us not forget the amount of times callejon has scored to convince us maybe he's ok, then back to the next game he's making everyone's blood boil again. I mean to say this in the least harshest way possible, but he is trash. I can teach a dog how to make runs into space, but I can't teach it how to kick a ball properly. Look past his defensive contribution and 'making space' and you see nothing. But it'll take us signing messi to probably bench him (or will it?)
Latest reports are that Napoli is giving up on Verdi (his wish is to play for Inter) and new target is Samu Castillejo.
I'm reading the same. I've never seen Castillejo play, but I've seen enough of Deulofeu to not want him. Probably would do well in the system, he just loves to throw himself on the ground and roll around. I like Verdi a lot and hope they get him. Asides from being Italian he has a wicked shot with both feet.
We might be getting Younes instead of Verdi or Deulofeu. I'm happy about this because Younes is much cheaper and has X-factor, something the other two dont have in the same way: Younes is a consistent dribbler completing alot more than he losses. This season Younes and Verdi have won 2/3 of their dribbles while Deulofeu has lost 2/3, this is all while Younes has attempted twice as many dribbles as the other two. Yes he is from the Dutch league, but so was Mertens, Suarez, Zlatan etc....
I read Younes is a foregone conclusion to join the team, its whether the teams can agree on a fee and he joins now, or on a free transfer over the summer. I know Dolberg is on their wishlist for summer too. My understanding is Verdi is top choice over the two La Liga wingers. Clubs have agreed on a fee and a contact has been offered, their party is waiting till he returns from holiday this Saturday and will decide by Sunday. Machach will be done tomorrow pending a medical. Inglese is staying at Chievo (I'm sure nobody is heartbroken about this). Worried about relying on Milik after back to back major surgeries. Mertens desperately needs some quality relief and a true number 9 would be ideal to sub in when he isnt getting it done up top. Hopefully that will be Milik, but I'm nervous on that one. Would like to see someone come in, even if its just on a short term loan. Has anyone heard about an outside back? I really liked the idea of picking someone up who can play on either flank, but latest I saw Vrsaljko is staying put for now and Darmian is in negotiations with Roma. Also saw that Ghoulam is close to a return and the Benfica back will join in June. Sounds risky to me. Would be nice to see one of these swing backs come in and challenge Hysaj for his spot while providing back up on the left. They really need to add quality players and finally start rotating the squad.
Speaking of the dutch league, have you seen what Kluivert's son is doing there? He is going to be a special player. Think United already have him lined up.
Dont forget about David Neres, future world star. I wouldnt mind getting dolberg either. But we are not getting any of them, instead we will get maksimovic's brother or something. I dont expect any decent talents without selling a star player of our own.
Agree that Verdi is best option. Deulofeu sometimes seams like too selfish player, slow to pass. Dolber and Younes from Ajax are also linked with Napoli.
Any update on Maksimovic? He hasn't looked half bad in his last two appearances. Definitely more comfortable on the ball. You would think they will give him a good, fair chance before cutting bait. I cant imagine Albiol has much left.
Younes isnot very good, or better formulated not good at all. He has no clue what he's doing..and neither are his team mates knowing what he's doing.
Dunno about that, but he wins almost all his dribble duels, but then he neither scores nor delivers a pass to a fellow player to score. So basically he's useless.
He will be loaned to Bari. btw. #Napoli, meeting with Simone #Verdi set for Monday: the latesthttps://t.co/SzXOaclrcj— Claudio Perfetto (@CPerfetto11) January 11, 2018