WHAT MILAN NEED TO DO NEXT SEASON: It’s no secret that the absence of AC Milan from the UEFA Champions League next season is a big disappointment. With seven games left to the season, there is still hope left of making the Top 5 of the Serie A and qualifying for Europe’s second-tier competition, the Europa League. Moving forward, it is important that Milan identifies the weaknesses that their side currently possesses and plans their transfer strategy accordingly. Last summer’s transfer window was extremely underwhelming and marked by a terrible signing in the form of Alessandro Matri for 11 million euros. The strategy has so far got off to a pretty good start with the report of Adel Taarabt making his loan spell from Queens Park Rangers a permanent one for around a 4 million euro fee. If in fact Coach Seedorf, or the subsequent coach for that matter if Seedorf is sacked following the season, decide to continue employing the 4-2-3-1 formation, then personnel decisions will be very important. Taarabt’s signing will solidify the right side of the 3 attacking midfielders. The return of Il Faraone, Stephan El Shaarawy from injury this week means that he will most likely go back to his original position on the left flank that saw him take the Serie A by storm a year and a half ago. This leaves the trifecta of Kaka, Keisuke Honda and Ricardo Saponara for the all-important central midfield role. During the transfer window, Milan should look to land another versatile winger for relatively cheap.Andrea Poli who is more a central midfielder can also play wing but is more deadly around the box. For the defensive midfield, it looks as if skipper Riccardo Montolivo will be departing for the EPL, with Arsenal a high possibility. Bryan Cristante needs his opportunities alongside stalwart Nigel De Jong, ahead of both Essien and Muntari, once he returns from injury. Essien and Muntari should be sold to make room for younger, promising talent. Seedorf:”Balance will come with time, we have to keep fighting” Galliani: “A big improvement in results and in our play” For Milan the striker role could be a very important point. Mario Balotelli seems to have somewhat gotten control of his emotions under the guidance of Seedorf, which is a very important positive for this team. Everyone, whether a Milan fan or not, can see the absolutely insane amount of talent and upside that Balotelli possesses. You don’t have to look very far for evidence. When Balotelli has the ball at his feet and shielding it, almost 90% of the time the opposing team decides to foul him. This can be for none other than the fear of him turning and beating them with pace and skill. Anyways, for this reason, the success of Milan will hinge on Balotelli staying with the club in the summer. Some links have been made with RVP and a few other players but Balo should stay and continue working with Seedorf. Andrea Petagna should also start to see more playing time instead of Pazzini. Robinho needs to be sold so that the wages he makes can be offloaded and better utilized for other more promising talent. The defensive side of the team is the department that needs the most help. Step one would be to ensure the services of Adil Rami permanently. Getting rid of Mexes and Bonera would be a great move but I doubt the latter would happen. Many people are calling for the promotion of Davide Pacifico, the captain of the Primavera squad and stud center back, to the first team. Milan also has at their disposal Jherson Vergara who has huge potential as well. In the transfer market Galliani needs to find a stud left-back as neither Emanuelson or Kevin Constant should be playing there. Fabio Coentrao, who has fallen out of favor at Real Madrid, has been linked with a possible move to Milanello. On the other side, both Ignazio Abate and Mattia DeSciglio play lights out, with Abate maybe losing a bit of favor to Mattia. MDS has shown his superb crossing ability, ability to defend world class players and pace up and down the flank in addition to an excellent work rate. Finally, at the keeper position it’s no secret to anyone that Christian Abbiati has been losing his reflexes little by little. That’s to be expected at his age. Genoa shot stopper Mattia Perin has been hailed as his replacement and he is a great successor and one who will step right in and make an instant impact. Of course Gabriel should also be considered as he has tremendous potential for a 19 year old but still needs some time to polish his skill set. If Milan are able to qualify for the Europa League, that will give them a bit more money to add to their purse. Owner Silvio Berlusconi needs to inject some cash into the front office’s accounts so that some good old fashioned Milan transfer dealings can be done. Overall Milan is in a good situation if they can offload the dead weight and reinforce the team with promising youngsters. Seedorf’s Dutch minded approach should ensure a focus on youth and hopefully next season will see the ascent of Milan again to the European powerhouse ranks
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 13:09:39 +0000
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