He seems to have a problem maintaining concentration. On the plus side, he helped Milan today by giving them ammunition to low ball Barca’s transfer fee asking price. On the negative, he didn’t show much to justify maintaining a salary that is second highest on Milan (per Capology).
Something is wrong with the world. We have a big guy with the agility of an 18-wheeler whose big plus is his ability to intercept aerial balls in a league of dribblers (JAB in Portugal), a little dribbling demon in a league of thuggish defenders with lax refereeing (Pulisic in the EPL), and a fast wingback with no brains for tactics in Serie A. What's next, moving Pepi to La Liga?
I have a feeling Capology is crapology (but I know nothing about Dest' financial situation, tho the idea he's the 2nd highest paid player on that club seems... surprising...) I agree he loses concentration - or perhaps thinks too much - in the back, but he was nowhere near the big problems for Milan today. They were just bad - at least from the moment I tuned in around 30 in or so. Literally could not complete some of the simplest of passes. It was weird for the #2 team in Italy, like someone put a hex on them or something.
Thanks for those fact filled arguments leading to a focused and sound conclusion. You’ve persuaded me.
I wouldn't say Dest isn't good enough, but there are some major weaknesses in his game that make me think he isn't ready. Concentration is a big issue. He tends to ball watch a lot and it leads to free runners. The other big issue is he just tries to be way too cute with the ball and he ends up turning the ball over or tries to overcompensate by playing for a foul I actually am starting to think that Dest may be a string wingback currently
I still think the roasting he got for the 2nd goal yesterday was way overblown and lazy WRT the announcers on CBS. He wasn't ball watching... he was perfectly aware of the fact that he was facing a 2 on 1 in space and he was waiting for support from Tonali that never came. Watch the replay... Tonali literally jogs over while Dest has to face down two of the fastest players on the pitch. If he goes a step earlier then Pedro likely goes right at goal himself uncontested. He almost timed it right despite being 2 on 1... and the GK did no favors for anyone along the Milan D yesterday. That GK is so afraid to come out of his box it is ridiculous. It directly led to another goal as well and you could see how frustrated the entire D was with it. All that being said, Dest is still not the finished product and I think playing on a lower tiered team might be better for him. In short, I too think he is a bit overpaid and needs to improve his game on O and defensively on the left if he is going to play there but he isn't nearly as bad as some like to make him out to be. I know I would hate to play the RB/LB position. You are asked to run so much and get blamed for losing out on 2 on 1s. A good O is going to win 2 on 1s the vast majority of times.
@glutton4Bolts The details you provide in your posts are always appreciated, especially when (as now) I’m out of the country and with limited Internet access. My opinion: If it’s Dest jogging back, roast away. If Dest is trying and it’s the other guy jogging - roast the other guy. I do often wonder if foreign coaches (and their teams) watch video as fanatically as our football coaches do. (Our) football coaches seem to isolate every player on every play, watching over and over. “What could you have done better?” Do European soccer coaches watch as much, stop the video, and talk about options, choices, and appropriate blame? “Whose man was that coming through unmarked?” “Why did you circulate the ball back, when a (more attractive) through ball was so obvious? Once the season starts, the big teams (especially) often have two games/week, which would make for lighter practices but allow additional time to watch video and analyze tactics, set pieces, your opponents’ tendencies, etc. Anyway, it’s hard to believe that Milan’s coach - or any coach at that level - would watch the second goal, as described above, and determine that because Dest was the last defender Dest was at fault.
Fwiw I don't blame Dest for 2nd goal and most Milan fans don't either. Most are putting that one on Tatarasanu. Dest may have gotten beat but he didn't give up an angle. If anything the keeper didn't come out (who more established defenders at Milan like Calabria, Tomori, Kjaer, and Theo have all taken issue with) when he should have and despite no angle he still missed the shot and the rebound was given up. If anything Dest was ball watching on the first goal but so was the entire team. That's why I said they miss Maignan or at least need to give Devis Vasquez (who they just bought) until Maignan is able to go.
I don't "blame" Dest on the 2nd, but I do think he could have reacted sooner/stronger. As I wrote here or on pbp, I still get the sense he thinks too much as he gets close to his own goal, as opposed to having that instinct great defenders have of "feeling" the play as it happens, But he's very young and has a lot of time to develop that - just probably not at a Milan level. He ran the touch a lot yesterday, had some decent attacking moves, but also looked tired/ragged earlier than he should. He could use a solid run of PT I think.
Dest sucked yesterday lol but the whole team is going down the toilet unfortunately. Center backs suck and the backup goalie is serie b quality
And on Barca, Dest is well into bottom half of salaries which just gives an idea of how Barca got themselves into huge financial trouble. Milan is an entirely different animal with their salary structure.
I don’t doubt the salary, just that Milan is paying all of it. But I for sure don’t know. Seems a lot for an unproven kid unless u get a big % of sell-on or something.
Now that you mention it, I've hyped Dest so much in this thread that I almost feel entitled to a sell-on percentage myself.
Dest does not make the 23 man squad today, which has solved all of Milan's problems. They lead 2-0 in disallowed goals - but trail Sassuolo 4-1 in actual goals. One report said he had muscle fatigue.
Only thing I've seen has been speculation that Milan are trying to buy him for less than the purchase option, but I don't know if that's true.
While the last 4 -5 results have been a disaster for Milan it's not bad for Dest to be out of the squad today... ouch.
Barca is sweating it out. They are counting on a €20M transfer fee to help their financial situation.