Mario Balotelli & His Possible Departure from AC Milan

Note: I apologize in advance for my bias dislike towards Mino Raiola and if I come off biased towards Balotelli.

There's been a lot of talk about Mario Balotelli in recent weeks. First there was his suspension for screaming at the referee after the Napoli match, then he shoved a cameraman and to top it all off, his superstar agent, Mino Raiola, came out and said that a move to Chelsea is likely for Mario, considering the possibility of him rejoining Jose Mourinho from their time at Inter together. Of course, this sparked a massive uproar all over the place, as does anything that has to do with Mario Balotelli. Talking about transfer moves in October/November is ridiculous as it is, but to say that such a big name player could be leaving a club so soon to go back to a country he was desperate to get out of is not even worth mentioning.

Mino Raiola

If you are not aware of who Mino Raiola is exactly, he is a very well-known agent, known for being the agent of some of the biggest names in football like Mario Balotelli, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho, Paul Pogba, Marek Hamsik and many others. He has a very big mouth (much like his waistline) and tends to cause a lot of controversy. Mino always tries to get as much money out of a club as possible, making negotiations between club and player drag out longer than necessary. This money-searching gene that he contains is probably the cause for this sudden rumor of Balotelli heading to Chelsea. Raiola was quoted as saying that Mario won't stay at Milan forever and if things don't change soon, his superstar client may want out. Considering it's Mino Raiola, this is most likely and simply a message to Galliani and Berlusconi to give Mario a pay raise, which would then mean more money for himself. This comes to no surprise as Raiola has had similar instances with his other clients, especially with Ibrahimovic. This is what makes Raiola so popular among players though, he gets them more money.

Mario Balotelli

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably(should) know that I am a massive Balotelli fan. I've been watching him since 2010 and became an instant fan of him when I was watching his debut for Italy. The thought of Mario leaving Milan makes me cringe, but even I have to admit that he's not going to stay forever. However, I absolutely do not believe he will be leaving any time soon, especially back to England. His turbulent time at Manchester City and the British media drove Mario out and brought him to the club he supported as a child and loves so much. In my opinion, since his move to AC Milan, I would consider Mario's time fairly successful for the most part. However, he still has to prove himself as an elite player in the world. He is almost the sole reason why Milan is in the Champions League this year at all. If Milan stays in its current state as it is right now, I can only expect Mario to stay for another 2-3 years. He is too great of a player to stay around a mediocre squad for too long. If Milan does turn around and become what it is known for, then I can expect Mario to stay for possibly another 7 or 8 years or even for the rest of his career. What I expect to happen is for Mario to probably stay for about another 5 or so years and at that point, a move could be very likely for him. Despite this, I only see a very select group of teams that he would go to, two of those teams would be Barcelona and Real Madrid. My reason for these two teams is that Mario had a tryout with Barca when he was 15 years old, but didn't make the team due to their interest in someone a little older than he was, Messi. Mario also has a good relationship with Neymar which could lead to some luring from the Brazilian. The possibility of Barca having Balotelli, Messi and Neymar in attack is very real and very intriguing. Real Madrid is another likely destination as Mario was a bit of a Madridista as kid, watching players like Zidane and Ronaldo in the prime of their careers. The third team I can see Mario joining is Bayern, simply because they have so much money and because I see absolutely no chance of him going back to England. This is all just wide speculation and in the end, it's really up to Mario what he wants to do.

Galliani and Berlusconi are going to have to make some changes in order to make Balotelli want to stay. Mario likes to be the main man on a team, but he's going to need some help in order for himself and the club to be successful. Hopefully, the ship turns around, Mario becomes what we all know he can be, the media backs off and Milan has yet another legend to remember forever.

Mario Balotelli: Who He Can Be | Final Part

~Who He Can Be

Everybody knows Mario Balotelli is talented and has massive potential. Whether you like him, love him, hate him or despise him, nobody can deny that he is a great player. However, just how good is he now and how good can he become?

If you read my blog regularly, you'll have noticed I posted(lipumafootball.blogspot.com) a list of who I believe are the top 20 players in the world, not too long ago. On that list, I had Mario at number 7, just below Gareth Bale and just above Edinson Cavani. Some people might say I'm absolutely crazy for putting him that high, some might agree with me and some people might even say he's higher than that. I thoroughly believe Mario is a top 10 player in the world and would even argue he is a top 5. However, you could argue he's not top 10 or 15 or even 20. According, to EA Sports, he's not even top 50, which is going too far, in my opinion. The world of football is so gifted and so talented and competitive that ranking players is just pointless. What Mario is for a fact, is a phenomenal player who, at the age of just 23, has accomplished more than players in their 30s. He won the Treble with Inter when he was only 19, he won the Premier League at 22 and was a runner-up in the Euros also at 22 years old. In each of those titles, he played a vital role in his team's success. Now, he could even win the World Cup before he's even 24 years old. Talk about a resume. Besides players like Pirlo, De Rossi and Buffon, it's not hard to argue that Mario Balotelli is the best Italian player and looks like he will be for a long time. He is on pace to becoming one of the best players the world has ever seen and when he says winning the Ballon d'Or is one of his goals, you can't blame him for going for it. Messi and Ronaldo may be way beyond Mario's level, but Mario is - believe it or not - still considered a "young, developing talent". He's an incredible, 25 for 25 on penalties due to his unflappable confidence and his slight pause just before he strikes to the ball. Mario's thought of as a typical, Italian number 9, who just stands in the box and finishes. But Mario is so much more than that. He has incredible creativity and finesse to his game. From his iconic "scorpion pass", to his backheels, his reverse-footed chips across the field to a flying winger, his "Ronaldo-like" free kicks or his blasts from 15 yards outside the box into the upper corner. Many people also don't know that Mario has loads of pace. See him run full speed in a straight line and he'd be able to keep up with Jesus Navas, no problem. As if there wasn't anything else to add, there is. He is an extremely versatile forward, as he can play as a lone target man or on the left or right wing. He can either way wait as far up as possible for a midfielder to give him a long, deep ball to chase, like what Montolivo did versus Germany in the Euros and it created one of the most famous goals(and celebrations) we have seen; or, Mario can drop back into the midfield and help build up the play, much like what Messi does. Mario Balotelli can do it all. He is almost an identical copy of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in how well-rounded of a forward he is. Seemingly enough, Mario can become even better than Ibrahimovic, and, in a way, he has already accomplished more than Zlatan has in his career. Mario Balotelli has all the tools to become, I'm going to say it, the best player in the world. Even beyond Messi, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic or Bale. Messi can't go up for headers, Ronaldo can only play on the left wing, Ibra can do it all, but is possible to be better than and Bale has proven he can carry a team, but only has one season of true greatness under his belt and hasn't won anything yet. The only thing holding Mario back is the rage being held inside him and is released when defenders tackle him in a dirty way or when he can't finish chances. Imagine a Mario Balotelli with the calmness of Andrea Pirlo. There is no doubt that would be the most lethal striker in the world, but it's all up to Mario himself to make it happen.

There is no doubt that Messi and Ronaldo are the two best players in the world and by no means am I saying Mario Balotelli is better than either of them, but Mario absolutely has the qualities to his game to be better than them. At the age of 23, Mario is still 2-4 years from his prime and if he is this good now, the thought of him only getting better is ridiculous and makes you wonder just how much talent can be fit into one person. Goals, wins, trophies and most importantly, time, will tell what Mario will become. From now to the end, it will be pure entertainment. On the pitch and off of it. It will always be him.

"Why always me?"

Mario Balotelli: Who He Is | Part 2

~Who He Is

It was one of the biggest blockbuster moves Milan had made in a long time. It was a move Milan desperately needed in the middle of what was considered a horrid season by Milan standards. There were fans at the airport waiting for Mario's arrival, screaming, cheering, waving red & black in the night sky. It was like the white knight had arrived to save us. All the attention, all the pressure of the most successful club in the world was now solely on Mario Balotelli and he absolutely embraced it. The signing of him not only reenergized Milan and Milanisti alike, but it reenergized Mario as well. He was finally playing for his favorite club not too far from his family in hometown Brescia. It was a dream debut for him. Mario's first match for Milan was against Udinese at the San Siro. Stephan El Shaarawy came down the right-hand side and tried to put the ball in the box, but it was deflected by some defenders and eventually found it's way to Mario's left foot. Mario smashed it in to score his for goal for Milan and give Milan the 1-0. Then in injury time Mario stepped up to take a PK in a 1-1 game, unsurprisingly, he scored and Milan won the match 2-1 all thanks to Mario Balotelli. Mario went on to score a goal in practically every single game for Milan for the rest of the season and push them into 3rd place in Serie A, to qualify them for the Champions League.

You can just tell Mario is at home in Milan. He's very happy and comfortable, playing great and not getting in the media for the wrong reasons like he did in Manchester. Mario has always been a love/hate kind of guy and while he was at Manchester, it was pretty clear he was mostly hated. However, since his move to Milan, his popularity has gone up even more and has won many fans over. Mario is the heart of Milan now. He's also the face of the Azzurri. His move to Milan has not just directly helped the club or himself, but has taken massive attention and pressure off the entire squad, especially Stephan El Shaarawy. In the first half of the 2012/13 season, Stephan was the only Milan player performing and all focus was on him. Mario's arrival in January completely changed that. He loves attention and handles pressure as if there isn't any pressure at all. Mario is a completely different person now, mentally. He is relaxed and can focus his attention completely on playing football. After an extremely successful half season with Milan, Mario continued his run of form into the Confederations Cup in Brazil. He helped Italy take third place after a lose to Spain in the semi-final and a win over Uruguay in the third place match. He is establishing himself a one of the best in the world and why he can help Italy win it's 5th or even 6th World Cup.

"Winning the World Cup is more of an objective than a goal." - Mario Balotelli
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zC2x0Ipa7Q

Mario Balotelli: Who He Was | Part 1

Trying to explain what Mario Balotelli is like to somebody, is like trying to explain how babies are made to a 5 year old. They'll laugh, they'll cringe and eventually become confused. Not even Mario himself can explain his personality. "If I tried to explain my personality to you, we'd be here for 2 days", he once said to an interviewer while at Manchester City. With his big personality, the clothes, the cars, the girls, jewelry and most importantly, the footballing skills, Mario Balotelli has become one of the biggest icons in not just Italy, but the world. However, a lot of people don't know much about him and that creates a lot of misconceptions.

~Who He Was

Mario Barwuah was born into a poor Ghanaian family in Palermo, Sicily. Nearly dying from an intestine disease at the age of three and not being able to afford the medical bills, his parents sent Mario to a foster family in Brescia, a town not too far away from Milan. The Balotelli family. Thanks to the Balotelli's, Mario's life was saved and within a matter of weeks, he started playing football for the first time in his life. By the age of six, Mario would go everyday after school to a football field and play for hours and hours each day with either friends or by himself. He would try to mimic players on the Azzurri at the time and try to be just like them. Mario took this very seriously and truly wanted to get better each day. On days when he wasn't able to play, Mario said he would cry for the rest of the day and not eat dinner. The Balotelli's saw that Mario had talent and decided to let him start playing competitively for a small club team in Brescia. At the age of 16, Mario got his first crack at professional football with Serie C1 side, Lummezzane. Coaches instantly saw the potential Mario had, but Mario was only able to make 2 appearences with the senior team. Despite barely making it with the senior team at Lummezzane, Inter knew Mario was something to look out for and when he was 18, Inter signed him to a 3 year contract. This is where Mario Balotelli really started to shine and become the player many coaches knew he could be. Two years before he was even old enough to drink in the United States, Mario played a vital role in Inter winning the Treble in 2010 by winning the Scudetto, Coppa Italia and the Champions League. Newly equipped with big money, Manchester City bought Mario from Inter for 21.8 million euros. Mario said that the only reason he went to City was because of Roberto Mancini. Despite having a manager he felt comfortable with, Mario's career started to spiral out of control. The British media started to see this and were instantly all over party boy Mario. There are hundreds of rumors of things Mario did while in England, but he has said most of them are false and made up. From lighting fireworks in his bathroom to getting in a physical argument with Mancini, Mario's time in Manchester was mostly in turmoil. However, despite these incidents, Mario performed well and continued to give Italians hope that he can be a great player for the Azzurri. In 2012, on one of the most ridiculous days in football, Mario fell down to poke the ball to teammate, Sergio Aguero, who scored the goal that would win Manchester City their first Premier League title in 44 years. The run of good fortune continued for Mario with the Azzurri. In the Euros, Mario was one of the most clinical and phenomenal players for not just Italy, but in the entire tournament as well. Italy was put in the same group as defending World and European champions Spain, alongside Croatia and Ireland. Italy and Spain were clear favorites to get out of the group stage, but the world was watching with intent eyes on which would win the group. It was Mario's first major international tournament and it was the perfect opportunity to show just how good he was. He did that and more. Mario scored a spectacular over-the-head goal against Ireland to secure Italy's spot in the quarter-finals against England. Versus England, Mario did what he did best and scored a PK against, then teammate, Joe Hart, to help Italy into the semi-final against international giants, Germany. Germany were the favorites in this match and heavily eyed on to win the tournament. However, everyone knew it would be a very good match as Italy showed they were back to their usual ways and also how Italian teams tend to have the Germans number. It was the case that night as Mario single-handedly took the Germans down with two incredible goals. His iconic flexing of the muscles celebration came from his absolute rocket into the upper 90 to put Italy up 2-0 and seal the game up to jump into the Final against Spain. Italy went on to lose by a big scoreline of 4-0 to Spain in the Final, but Italians were extremely happy with not only the team's performance, but also with what Mario Balotelli showed he can do. Unfortunately, even with his great performances with the national team, Mario saw little time with City the following season. This led to wide speculation as if Mario might be sold and after his incident with Mancini at the training ground, it was clear: Mario had to go. On January 29, 2013, Adriano Galliani pulled the trigger and brought Mario to AC Milan for 25 million euros.

Prince to Schalke

In shocking news this morning, at least for me, Kevin Prince Boateng was sold in just a matter of a couple hours to Bundesliga club, Schalke 04. Prince was expected to be sold at some point in the summer and rumours were flying around of what might happen to him. Eventually, the rumors died down and talks of his sale disappeared and he went on to smash in 2 goals against PSV in the Champions League preliminaries to put Milan into the group stage. Two days later, he's not even on the team anymore. Kevin was always a good player for Milan, but he was world class two seasons ago when he had Ibrahimovic leading the attack. When he's used the right way, in the right formation, Boateng can be an absolute deadly threat to any defense. It was a great move for him to make, as Germany is his home and he's always expressed his desire to go back to what he calls "the best league in the world." This move now leaves Milan with some decisions to make. Kaka has said he wants out of Madrid immediately and would love to come back to Milan, while Honda has been set to join Milan for what seems like years now. For me, I would want Milan to get Kaka now and then get Honda for free in January. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like it'll work out that way. Kaka has extremely high wages, which Milan just simply can't afford and for the level of Kaka's play, he doesn't really deserve. Kaka is also not willing to lower his wages very much, not because of greed, but so he can still fund his charity in Brazil. It seems like a return is more likely not to happen, as Galliani has now started to really push to sign Honda right away. There's only a couple days left in the transfer window so it should all be clear very soon. In the end, it was nice Big Bang Boateng could leave on a good note.

Stephan Needs Mario

The first half of the 2012-13 season couldn't have gone any better for Stephan. He scored 15 goals before the break and was Milan's savior in multiple matches. He gained the nickname "il Faraone", the Pharaoh. It was looking like the break out year that everyone was expecting. However, the second half of the season was the exact opposite. With the purchase of Mario Balotelli in January, everyone thought the goal scoring would continue. It did, but only for one person, Mario Balotelli. Stephan went match after match of not scoring a goal. Many people believed it was Balotelli who was causing this massive fall from grace for Stephan. They couldn't have been more wrong. Despite not scoring, he played very well with Mario which many people did not realize. He created many scoring opportunities for Mario and other teammates. He was fantastic in both legs against Barcelona(without Mario), but still did not score. It was simply a coincidence that Stephan stopped scoring right when Balotelli joined the team.

It is reasonable to conclude though, that Stephan still had a drop in form. This continued into the national team at the Confederations Cup. Prandelli wouldn't start him and when Stephan did start, he was near nonexistent. Then came Prandelli's shocking comments about Stephan. He said Stephan "needs to show more character". This is the last thing someone would expect to come out of someone's mouth about El Shaarawy. He presents himself as pure class and everything Milan represents. It was becoming an extremely strange situation. Then it got even weirder, the rumours of an El Shaarawy sale were coming up. Teams like Manchester City, Real Madrid and PSG all apparently sent Milan formal transfer offers. After the Confederations Cup, Galliani spoke with Stephan to determine the future of the young star. El Shaarawy said that he wants to stay at Milan at all costs and could not see himself playing anywhere else. This was very comforting news for Milanisti. It was decided that Stephan would not be sold.

Recently, in the preason with Milan, Stephan played extremely well and you can tell he was mentally ready. Before, he was mentally exhausted and his confidence was completely diminished. Now, he's playing with a lot more energy and confidence and even scoring goals to prove it. Milan has yet to see him and Balotelli play together while both are in form. Mario Balotelli is the perfect striker partner for Stephan. Mario was bought to not only score goals, but also take pressure of off Stephan. Before, Stephan was in the spot light and had all the attention on him. Playing for Milan, with all that media attention at such a young age is extremely difficult. Balotelli loves the spotlight. He wants everybody to be watching him and he's used to it. This is exactly what Stephan needs. Balotelli almost never has a bad game and is as reliable of a forward as they come. This allows El Shaarawy to completely focus on his game and be productive. Mario is somebody Stephan can look to not only on the field, but off of it as well.

Mario may appear as arrogant or cocky on the field, but everyone says he's a very genuine and kind person and you can tell it in his interviews. He plays loud, but he's soft spoken and cares about his teammates and also extremely confident. He enjoys the media always looking to him and Stephan can feed off of that. He can take some of Mario's confidence and friendship and use it to his advantage on the field. Mario also has more experience than Stephan and can teach him how to handle things in certain situations. Since they are so close in age, they can also be extremely close friends and that can translate to their chemistry on the pitch.

We have yet to see both Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy play together while both of them are in form. If both of them are scoring goals at their usual rate, it could be not only one of most potent offenses in Serie A, but also in Europe.

Predicted Serie A Table

At this point in the transfer window, I don't think any teams will be making any signings that would make a huge impact on where they finish in the table. That being said, this is only a rough prediction on where I think each Italian club will finish.

1. Juventus
2. Milan
3. Fiorentina
4. Napoli
5. Roma
6. Inter
7. Udinese
8. Lazio
9. Parma
10. Catania
11. Sampdoria
12. Chievo Verona
13. Atalanta
14. Bologna
15. Cagliari
16. Genoa
17. Torino
18. Hellas Verona
19. Livorno
20. Sassuolo

It's very difficult to predict the bottom end of the table, but I'm fairly confident in the upper half. Let's see how correct I am.

Marco Verratti Will Join Milan

There's no evidence to back this up, but I believe that Marco Verratti will leave Paris to join AC Milan. Adriano Galliani always has a surprise in store every summer and August is usually the month when that happens. Earlier today at Milanello fans were chanting at Galliani:"Give us a gift!" to which he replied: "The gift will arrive." It doesn't sound like much, but this is a typical Milan hint of what will happen in the future. When Verratti was leaving Pescara last summer, Juventus were the leading Italian team to land him, but Milan had some slight interest too. When Verratti was 16 years old, he was just a signature away from joining Milan, but he decided to stay with Pescara as he felt that was his home.

Some people may say that Verratti is too expensive for Milan, but Milan do have the money. Galliani would never reveal how much money he has because then other clubs will try to get more out of him. Verratti's probable cost is around 30m euros as he has become an essential part to PSG's midfield.

Within the first week of August, expect to start hearing rumours swirl around of Galliani negotiating with PSG over Verratti. Milan's midfield will exponentially improve with him added alongside Montolivo, Poli, De Jong and Honda.

Scudetto Contenders in 2013/14

It is still very early in the transfer market, but with what we know so far, here are the contenders for the Scudetto this upcoming season.

Juventus: This is obvious. Juve have been the champions of Italy for the past two seasons and they are the clear favorites. Not only were they a great squad last year, they are going to be even better this year now that they fixed their striker problem by bringing in Tevez and Llorente. Couple that with THE best defense in the world with Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini along with one of the best midfields in the world including players like Pirlo, Pogba, Vidal and Asamoah, this team can go places. The only thing hindering their chances is their desire to win the Champions League this year which could tire them out in Serie A matches.

Napoli: Even though they lost Cavani, Napoli have done a wonderful job in the transfer market by bringing in Mertens and Callejon. Also worth noting is Raul Albiol, who, even though he was overrated at Real Madrid, he could have a good year being in a different league with new surroundings. Napoli are also bringing in Brazilian, Damiao as a replacement upfront for Cavani. In goal they have also acquired Julio Cesar, who, even with his age is still a top keeper in the world. This will be very strong squad for years to come.

Milan: Having a full season of Mario Balotelli will immensely help Milan as he can easily be a 25 goal scorer next season. Also, if Stephan El Shaarawy gets out of his slump, the pairing of him and Mario can be electric and will surely bring lots of goals. Milan also signed Andrea Poli to upgrade the midfield. He's a great box to box player and has leadership and even some fierceness to him. Nobody knows when it's happening, but the addition of Keisuke Honda will also be great for Milan as they are going to need a true trequartista with the formation they are going to use. Even without Honda, youngster Riccardo Saponara is likely to impress quite a few people.

Fiorentina: This team is looking just plain scary. The signing of Mario Gomez is the best signing any team in Italy has made this summer. He's sure to be a competitor for the Capoconnieri next season. La Viola also have a fantastic midfield including Joaquin, Borja Valero, Aquilani and Ambrosini. They played absolutely beautiful football last season and I expect them to continue that. Even with Jovetic leaving, their attack with Gomez will still be deep as they will keep Ljajic and they are also going to bring in Illicic. This squad is very worthy of a Champions League spot and will fight to the end to get one. They could be the death of Milan or Napoli next season.

Roma: This is a longshot, but this is team is going to be the dark horse of Serie A next season. If they keep Daniele De Rossi, they could have a great midfield that will include him, Bradley and newly signed Kevin Strootman. The leadership of Francesco Totti and the potential of Lamela upfront could be wonderful for Roma. Even with Marquinhos most likely leaving, Maicon has come in, along with Benatia and the defensive efforts from De Rossi and Bradley, Roma's defense should be solid. If not a Scudetto contender, definitely will be looking to qualify for the Champions League.

The Bidone Concept

The concept of the term "bidone" is a mystery to all non-Italians and non-Italian football watchers. It is very complex, but also very organized and precise. It is a name tag no footballer would ever want to be stuck with, unfortunately, there's no way to avoid it if you fit the criteria. The word "bidone" is a slang Italian word that cannot be found in a dictionary or put into a translator. There's not really a definition attached to it, but more like a description. A player who is a bidone is someone with the right kind of name, a certain look that just makes you think "This guy must really suck" and most importantly, he must actually suck at football.

Getting the idea of how to tag someone as a bidone can be quite tricky for beginners. Everything about them must spell out "Sucks at football". Their name must be one that no great legend has ever had like Torres, Baggio or Cannavaro. A very typical, generic bidone name would be Daniele Bonera(First AND last name must work). Another recently discovered name and now future inductee into the "Bidone Hall of Fame" is Mix Diskerud. That name just sounds awful. It's so bad, you might think he was a Croatian rapper or something.

Now that you got the name part down, it's time for the look. A bidone must have a kind of look to them that also makes you know right away that they just really suck. A perfect example is again, who else, Daniele Bonera. He's not ugly or anything, but he's just got that face of "Don't sign me, I suck". Also, the lovely Mix Diskerud has this face. Some other bidone faces, but not total bidoni would be Luca Modric or Fernando Torres. By no means are they bidoni, but they sure got the look.

The most important part: sucking at football. This is the easiest to figure out(for most people). Once again, Daniele Bonera fits perfect, which is why he is the global standard of a perfectly average bidone. There's not too much to say in this category. Just don't accidently underrate players and tag them as a bidone.

Overall, make sure a player has a very pedestrian, average name that just makes you know he's bad. He must also have the look of a sucky player. Again, very average looking or just ordinary usually works as bidone. Lastly, they got to suck. That's easy. Now, I'm going to give a list of the top 10 bidone in Italian football so you can become a bidoni spotter in no time.

Top 10 Bidoni in Serie A

1. Daniele Bonera

2. Francesco Acerbi

3. Djamel Mesbah

4. Christian Zaccardo

5. Bakaye Traore

6. Maxi Lopez

7. Paul Papp

8. Davide Biondini

9. Fredy Guarin

10. Simone Pepe

Remember, a bidone MUST fit into all catagories, otherwise he's not a bidone.

Could Pato Return?

Since a lot of people I know have been talking about Pato, I thought I'd blog about him too. I've loved Pato since the day he joined Milan as a scrawny, little 17 year old from Brazil. I knew for a fact, right from the start, he'd be something. With in a few years time, he'd be the next Shevchenko for Milan. Even before he stepped on the pitch, Milan fans adored him. Not just us regular fans, even Silvio's daughter adored him, she even took it to another level. By the age of 22, Pato had scored 50 goals in just 100 games for Milan. Unfortnately, this is overshadowed by his injuries. It seemed like every other day Pato got hurt some how. I almost wanted MilanLab to just put him in a plastic bubble until match day and watch him role around like a hamster so he won't get hurt. For the first time ever(it seemed like that), going into the 2012/13 season, Pato was healthy. Expectantly, he got injured in November and that was the last we saw of him. He was sold in January to Corinthians and it looked like we just missed out on one of the best talents ever to come through  the club. Since the day he left, I have always had a feeling he'd come back. I still do think he will come back, although I don't know how he would fit into the squad with Balotelli and El Shaarawy playing up top. Since joining Corinthians, Pato has been injury free most of the time and has also been a goalscoring machine. I think Pato should return to Milan regardless of the situation with our forwards. It's not like he can be a minus, right? Plus, Stephan has been as useless and I would've been out there and a Pato-Balotelli pairing just sounds like 4-0 wins(or 4-2 considering Mexes-Zapata). Pato is and always will be part of the family no matter what. He has something to finish here. He has to finally prove himself on Milan even though we all know he's great anyway. What a fairytale story would it be for Pato to return to Milan, be our leading goalscorer and win the Champions League? That fact is, that's very possible if he comes back. Milan's "rebuilding" has gone extremely well and Pato technically fits into the youth philosophy Milan is going by. Forget about Saponara and Honda, just put El Shaarawy in as the CAM and pair up Balotelli and Pato. I can't imagine Pato staying at Corinthians for his entire career and WHEN he leaves, can you really see him at any club other than Milan? He's only about a year or 2 away from his prime, if Milan buy him next summer or even in January, they'd be investing in something big(and healthy). Pato could just explode into a 30 goalscorer and along with the guaranteed 25 minimum from Balotelli, we'd be set for the next 10 years. Not to mention, El Shaarawy scoring 16 or so in just half a season. It was a mistake to sell him, a 1 or 2 year loan would've been perfect. It's time for Pato to come back to where he belongs. The Return.

Serie A This Transfer Window

This has been one of the most successful transfer windows in recent time for Serie A. Teams have been making good, solid signings for their clubs without over paying. Juventus brought in Tevez and Llorente for a bargain price and Fiorentina brought in Mario Gomez for what was their biggest signing in their history, yet still for a reasonable amount for a player of his caliber. In 2006, Serie A was easily the best league in the world. Countless, world class players came out of Italy. It was the golden age for Serie A and it led to gli Azzurri taking home the World Cup for a fourth time. However, nowadays, most everyone says the Premier League is the best or La Liga. The problem with the Premier League is that all of the best players are not even British. Besides the fact the English national team is overrated, there's really not any world class British talent in the EPL unless you count Wayne Rooney who isn't exactly showing his worth the past couple of seasons. La Liga is 2 horse race every year, however, I think it is the best league in the world right now. Yes, Barcelona and Real Madrid dominate, but there are other very quality teams further down when you look at Atletico Madrid, Malaga, Valencia and others. Unlike the EPL, in Serie A and La Liga, all the best players are Italian and Spanish. With the way Italian teams have been working this summer, I see Serie A coming back to what it used to be. Even with financial restraints, they are not only finding a way to lure high quality players to their clubs, but also players that actually fit into their system. Juventus addressed their striker issue and Fiorentina brought in a fantastic "replacement" for Jovetic and the pending departure of Ljajic. Milan have bought Andrea Poli to enhance the midfield and are looking to bring in Keisuke Honda from CSKA Moskva in January. Even with Edinson Cavani most likely leaving Napoli, the southern Italian club is finding cheap, but quality replacements in Callejon and Lorenzo Insigne finally getting some playing time. Italy is starting to make a comeback at the club level. I was able to see this for the past few months or year when the national team was coming back. Cesare Prandelli is revealing the kind of talent Italy has in not just Serie A but also B. Juventus is already a Champions League contender and Milan, Napoli and even Fiorentina are also very close to causing some damage in Europe. It won't be too long until we see an Italian team(or 2) in the Champions League Final.

Edinson Cavani

It's been going on for quite a while now, what will happen with Cavani? He's said that he'd like to go to a "truly big club" and there's been rumours going around of Chelsea, Real Madrid and P$G showing interest in him. Mostly Chelsea and P$G have had the biggest interest in him with Chelsea making formal offers of around 60 million euros. Napoli have stated that they will take no less than 63 million as that is the amount for Cavani's buyout clause. Most recently, it was reported that P$G were willing to offer 40 million + Ibrahimovic. Personally, I'd take that in a freakin' heartbeat. That kind of money could buy you world class talent, and then Ibra? Talk about Champions League title hopes. However, it was all apparently a rumour and P$G have actually offered 63 million for Cavani and it is supposedly very closing to becoming a done deal. I still don't think it will happen as going from Napoli to P$G is not really an upgrade of any sort for the Uruguayan. I truly hope Cavani stays with Napoli. The fans absolutely adore him there, I wouldn't be suprised if they built a statue of him. He could really become a legend if he stays and Napoli have a great project going on with Benitez taking over. Napoli are not far at all from becoming CL contenders and with Cavani those chances are drastically increased.

Cassano to Parma

Yesterday, it was made official that Antonio Cassano was leaving Inter to join Parma. He's played for quite a lot of teams. From his hometown Bari to Roma to Real Madrid to Sampdoria, where he and Pazzini were unbelievable, to Milan to Inter and now to Parma. I think it's a great signing for Parma, but I hope the people there understand that just because he's a forward, doesn't mean he's a goal scorer. Cassano isn't known for goals, he's known for assists. His creativity is off-the-charts, just behind his Nutella addiction. I think he'll do great for Parma as he tends to be much more productive for smaller clubs like when he was at Sampdoria. I really do hope he does well there because that'll mean he'll probably get called up to the national team again for the World Cup. I think he 100% deserves to be on gli Azzurri with the way he played in the Euros last summer where, at least for me, was the best I've ever seen him play. Apparently, he has a bonus clause in his contract if he gets a call-up so maybe that'll push him even harder to get a phone call from Prandelli. It's a good move for both parties involved in the end.

Mario Gomez to Fiorentina

It was just reported today that Bayern Munich striker, Mario Gomez, was transferred to Fiorentina. The transfer was worth 18 million euros + bonuses and 5 million in wages + bonuses for his contract as reported by @SerieATransfers on Twitter. In my opinion, this isn't just a great signing for Fiorentina, but a fantastic one for Serie A as a whole. It'll really bring a lot more of the deserved attention to Italy and hopefully it'll get more respect as it should. Many people find Gomez to be extremely overrated, but this is only because he's not in the media very often. He is truly a great player for both club and country. This past season he scored 19 goals in 32 games, even when he didn't get much playing time because he was the back up to Mandzukic who I find to be the overrated one. In the 2011-12 season, Gomez scored an astonishing 41 goals in the Bundesliga in just 52 matches and the season before that he scored 39 in just 45 games. He really is the real deal. As a Milan fan I should be disappointed as it's only a disadvantage for them, but I love when big name players come into the league and I still think Milan is the better team anyway. On a side note, I really hope Cavani stays at Napoli, but I have a feeling that won't happen. Anyway, I think Gomez will do great at Fiorentina and I think the next few years we'll be seeing him and the other Mario over in Milan competing for the capocannoniere(top scorer).

Italy in the Confederations Cup

Italy's overall performance in the Confederations Cup was on the good side. They dominated Mexico in their opening game. Then, had a wild, mishap with Japan, but won 4-3 and then lastly, lost to Brazil 4-2 in a match they were generally outplayed. In the semi-final, they outplayed for about 105 of the 120 minutes and deserved to go onto the final, but lost in PKs only because a CB missed his penalty kick(it's ok Bonucci, you did your job). Inconsistent, yes, but remember Italy was battling injuries throughout the tournament. They were with out Mario Balotelli and Ignazio Abate for the match against Spain. With the way Italy played against Spain, if they had Balotelli, it was almost a guarantee they would've been up atleast 2-0 by halftime and would have gone onto the final. Before I move on, I just want to say that Prandelli did a good job, but he did make bad substitutions throughout the tournament and that really hurt the team. He also made questionable call-ups like Gilardino and Aquilani. Besides all that, Azzurri fans, you have A LOT to look forward to. With a few tweeks and some injuries to go away, this team is an easy candidate for becoming World Cup champions. With young players coming up like Lorenzo Insigne, Marco Verratti and Mattia Perin, the future is very, very bright, not to mention countless other players coming through the ranks. My only concern is Stephan El Shaarawy. He finally started a game and was utterly useless throughout the entire match against Uruguay today. His only bright spot was that he made his penalty. Hopefully, he goes back to Milanello and sits down and talks with Galliani and he can get his career back on track. I still have tons of belief in him as he and Balotelli can become one of the best striker pairings in the world. All the criticism that Prandelli took was completely undeserved. The man has completely revitalized Italy from 2010 and changed the way the national team is looked at in terms of style of play. He his my favorite manager in the world right now and I would love to see him come to Milan after the World Cup. Besides Spain(who are by far and beyond the best team in the world), I think Italy is at the top of the football world right now with still a lot to improve on and things that won't be too hard to improve on to begin with.

Italy v Spain

Spain and Italy faced off in a rematch of the final of the Euro last year.  The two best teams in the world made a meaningless tournament semi-final into a wonderful spectacle.  They have almost so much respect for each other it's almost creepy.  As @ACMilanEspana put it(highly suggest you follow him) "The way things are going, wouldn't be surprised if Italia & España halt in the middle of the game & joyfully sing Kumbaya with each other."  The best team on the planet were massive favorites over Italy and I honestly was expecting them to destroy gli Azzurri.  That absolutely did not happen.  A depleted Italian team completely overhelmed and outplayed La Roja for most of the 120 minutes plus penalties.  Italy was without Mario Balotelli and was forced to go with the ever so deadly and fierce Alberto Gilardino!  Gila was hopeless and it was a wonder why Prandelli didn't start Stephen El Shaarawy who put Gerard Pique on a leash and dragged him around in the first leg against Barcelona for Milan.  Although, Prandelli knew exactly what he was doing.  Antonio Candreva and Maggio were wonderful on the right side.  Jordi Alba probably will put a poster up of Candreva in his bedroom when he gets home.  Also worthy of a mention is Emanuele Giaccherini.  Once again he showed great pace and work rate and was litterly 2cm from lifting Italia over Spagna early in extra time when his rifle of a shot banged off the post.  The only man missing of Spain's usual 11 was Xabi Alonso and you can tell just how much they missed him in the midfield.  Unsuprisingly, Fernando Torres started up top for Spain and unsuprisingly choked against an actual opponent unlike teams like Tahiti or in the Europa league and every time he scores the media has an orgasm.  He was a fish lost in the Pacific against Italy as he was completely shut down as was the rest of the Spanish team except for Casillas.  Iker was the saviour for Spain as without him, it easily could've been 2 or 3-0 Italy by half time.  Besides Casillas, Jesus Navas deserves a lot of praise.  He was fantastic down the right wing with his immense speed and every time he had the ball I had to hold my breath.  Unfortunately for Azzurrini, Italy was not rewarded for their wonderful play and domination and lost in penalties to la Roja.  Leonardo Bonucci skied his penalty over the cross bar and Navas stepped up and scored to give Spain the 7-6 win in penalties.  A lot of people are and will be bashing Bonucci for missing his penalty, but they shouldn't.  He's a center back and shouldn't be there in the first place and also it's an extremely high pressure situation.  People make mistakes, even in the biggest of moments.  His job is to defend and he did that wonderfully today.  Spain go on to face Brazil in the final and Italy will play Uruguay in the 3rd place game.  I fully expect both Spain and Italy to win their respective matches and I also expect these two teams to meet in the final of the World Cup.  With a few tweaks and everybody staying healthy, Italy is easily #2 in the world.  Worth noting, they are not even close Spain, that's showing just how far above Spain are over everyone else. 

If El Shaarawy Leaves Milan...

If Stephen El Shaarawy leaves Milan...

..., Milan will have gone against everything they have said about instilling youth.

...the decade long attack of him, Balotelli and Niang won't happen.

...some guy no one wants will come in, like Tevez or some guy no one heard of.

...he'll go to Man City, never get any playing time and just become another lost potential superstar and we'll never hear about him again.

...a classy, "Milan-type" guy will have left.

...we won't get to see the transformations of the best mohawk I've ever seen in my life.

...he'll never become the player we all know he can become; absolutely world class.

...I'll cry.

...Galliani will be an idiot, don't forget Berlusconi too.

...maybe Pato will comeback, but probably not.

...we won't win the Scudetto next year.

...Balotelli will REALLY have to carry Milan then.

...he'll never play for the national team again.

...Serie A will have lost another great player.

..., Milan will have just become a team who sells all their great young talent and never be great again, like Udinese.

...I'll cry, some more.

Italy in the Confederations Cup

La Nazionale have been inconsistent in this year's Confederations Cup in Brazil.  After a dominating performance in a 2-1 win over Mexico, Italy's defense has fallen apart and nearly lost to Japan before somehow squeezing out a 4-3 win.  Then against Brazil, Italy played absolutely spiritless in the first half and in the second half completely controlled the play, although they lost 4-2 which was a little harsh of a scoreline for a match that I thought was deserving of a draw.  Despite this inconsistency, gli Azzurri have made it to the semifinals against Spain, in a rematch of last summer's EURO 2012 Final in which Spain won 4-0.  I would say this is going to be a fantastic match and Italy has a great chance of winning it, but I'm not.  Mario Balotelli has officially been ruled out for the game with a thigh injury he picked up agaisnt Brazil.  This is a massive loss for Italy as there is really no other strikers we can depend on.  I mean, do you really trust Alberto Gilardino to be our hero alongside Stephen El Shaarawy who hasn't scored since January and who's confidence is practically zero?  I love Cesare Prandelli, but I do question some of his call-ups.  Instead of Gilardino, why not Di Natale or Cassano?  Also, why not start Giovinco over Gilardino?  On the other hand, Italy still have Pirlo and De Rossi who have been fantastic in this tournament and who I think can save Italy's chances in the tournament.  The defense will have to really tighten up against the best team ever walk this earth and El Shaarawy will have to step up.  This is his time to shine and to finally end his long, long run of bad form.  It's a perfect opportunity for him to help people remember who he really is just like back in the first half of the season with Milan.  In the end, I think Spain will come out with a 2-0 win sadly, and going on to win another tournament with relative ease.  Italy just needs to make a few changes to their call-ups and tactical play and they'll be, in my opinion, the second best team in the world again.  No matter what happens Thursday, I'd say it was a fairly successful tournament for gli Azzurri.

Italy v Czech Republic

Italy played their last World Cup qualifier before they head off to Brazil for the Confederations Cup.  Italy really doesn't have too much to worry about since they have a comfortable lead in their group and will qualify with ease as usual.  Although, the Czechs had a must win game as they are 3rd in the group a few points behind Bulgaria.  It was a very blah game and neither side had many chances.  Italy dominated possession throughout and overall controlled the game, but didn't play very well.  They never really a single good scoring chance, while the Czechs did have a couple good chances, but Buffon was at the top of his game as usual and made some great saves.  What was boring, slow 0-0 draw will actually have a huge headline:Balotelli Sent Off.  Sadly, the guy just can't get out of the media and he's not doing anything wrong.  He did make one stupid challenge(like everybody does) and it cost him a yellow.  But just a few minutes later he barely even touched the Czech player in the opposition's box and he fell down and Balo got a second yellow and was sent off.  After this, Taylor Twellman who was commentating the game, said they Balotelli is extremely frustrating, but also extremely talented.  I hope he and everybody else realizes, this was Balotelli's FIRST EVER time being red carded while playing for Italy.  Yes, Balotelli does some stupid things, but he's not harming himself or anyone else.  Luis Suarez bites people, Carlos Tevez just left his team in the middle of the season, Sergio Aguero stomped on David Luiz's nuts, Diego Maradona did crack, yet Mario gets far more criticism than any of them.  Mario Balotelli is a fantastic player, nice person, and just a regular human being like everyone else.  He's going to make mistakes, leave the guy alone.  I do agree he can get tempered during a match, but not everyone's perfect.  Everyone has their flaws.  Balotelli has come along way in controlling his anger, but the media and haters just seem to ignore that.  Balotelli is a superb player for Italy and Milan and a great champion.  Let's all just come to respect him.

This will be my last blog for a little while, as I am going to Italy for about 2 weeks!  So don't worry if you don't see blogs being posted or tweets popping out.
As always, Forza Italia e Milan! popopoopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopo

EURO U21

Starting today, actually already started, is the UEFA EURO U21 tournament.  I find this much more exciting than the pointless Confederations Cup.  In my opinion, Italy looks to have the strongest squad out of the following: England, Germany, Spain, Israel, Norway, Netherlands and Russia.  Germany is a close second when it comes to producing quality youth lately.  I think this young Italy squad will have a terrific tournament and are probably the favorites to win it or at least make the Final.  Italy's U21 team is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Francesco Bardi, Simone Colombi, Nicola Leali

Defenders: Giulio Donati, Cristiano Biraghi, Marco Capuano*, Luca Caldirola, Matteo Bianchetti, Vasco Regini

Midfielders: Marco Verratti*, Alessandro Florenzi*, Luca Marrone, Andrea Bertolacci, Fausto Rossi, Marco Crimi

Forwards: Ciro Immobile*, Lorenzo Insigne*, Manolo Gabbiadini, Mattia Destro*, Nicola Sansone*, Alberto Paloschi, Riccardo Saponara*, Fabio Borini

I put an asterisk next to all the players you should look out for.  Marco Verratti is becoming a more and more proven superstar midfielder in world football.  He started almost every game for P$G this season and when Pirlo retires, I'm not going to have any worries.  This kid is a phenomenal playmaker and also a pretty decent goalscorer.  The man everyone's talking about is Lorenzo Insigne.  He was teammates with Verratti last season with Pescara, as was Immobile, and together, the three of them were unstoppable in Serie B.  Insigne plays for Napoli and it was practically criminal he wasn't a starter alongside Cavani.  He is a very elusive and speedy forward who can create chances for himself out of nothing.  I'm not saying he's going to be as good as or anywhere near that, but his playing style is similar to Messi in my opinion.  Also worth mentioning are Mattia Destro and Nicola Sansone.  Destro proved to be a reliable goalscorer this past season with Roma, although he hasn't progressed as quickly as most people thought he would.  Nevertheless, he's still a great talent with tons of potential.  Nicola Sansone isn't as quite hyped about as some of the other players, but he's still worth keeping an eye on.  The Parma winger has been linked to Milan and has all the tools to be Italy's first true winger, maybe ever.  Add some talented players around him, and he could really blossom into a great player.  Lastly, Riccardo Saponara has been very well looked at the past few months.  He was just recently signed by Milan from Empoli.  His natural position is in the central attack, but he can also play on the wing if he needed to.  Watch for him to get a lot of playing time with Milan as he could really start to shine next season. 

Allegri Stays For Another Year

After a long, excruciating wait to find out the fate of Max Allegri, finally, yesterday Milanisti found out.  Allegri will stay at Milan for at least one more year.  I know most Milanisti don't like him(including I), but this is actually a good thing.  When you think about it, who else would you have rather had? Seedorf? Gattuso? Inzaghi? I wouldn't.  First of all, they have NO experience whatsoever and also, great players almost never are good coaches.  Some people might say Donadoni would've been a good choice.  Yes, maybe, but he's never really had that much success with a big club.  Second, Allegri knows the players, the system and anyways, no matter what happens next season(unless we win UCL), he's gone.  Also, if Milan did get a new coach and he failed, what would you complain about then?  What I'm hoping is going to happen is Cesare Prandelli leaves the national team and comes to Milan after the World Cup.  Prandelli is probably my absolute favorite coach in the entire world in any sport.  I think he's just that good, plus, he knows how to handle Balotelli.  What he's done with Gli Azzurri is remarkable and I think he'll be perfect for the Milan job after the World Cup.  Allegri will probably go on and coach some provincial side like Siena or Sassuolo and we'll never hear about him ever again.  Count Max staying is a blessing in disguise.  I truly think Milan will have a really good year next season with Poli coming in and El Shaarawy and Balotelli gaining more chemistry together with the national team.  It's reported that Allegri wants Lavezzi from P$G.  I really wouldn't mind that transfer as long as Robinho leaves.  If Robinho doesn't leave, then there's just no point in getting a winger as upgrading in midfield should be our top priority.  Massimiliano Allegri will most likely do a poor job tactically next season, but he'll be saved by more talented players who actually know what they're doing.  Don't worry Milanisti, just one more season of him and then it's Prandelli!

Italy v San Marino

It was David vs. Goliath today and Goliath won, comfortably and easily.  It was to be expected from one of the best teams in the world against some accountants, bankers, electricians and school teachers.  Italy beat San Marino 4-0 which is actually surprising, considering how Italy usually plays against lowly opposition in friendlies or friendlies in general.  It was Italy's last match before a World Cup qualifier next week and then onto the pointless and meaningless Confederations Cup in Brazil.  Gli Azzurri played a lot of people that don't get much playing time besides Pirlo and Buffon.  Players like Aquilani and Gilardino got to pad their national team stats, while Balotelli just megged the crap out of some lawyers, but couldn't score as he hit the post about 4 times.  Alberto Aquilani went up for a bicycle kick that would've been a spectacular goal, but instead kicked a plumber right in the chest.  Doesn't he realize the man has to go to work on Monday?  Italy had the ball in San Marino's half just for about 89 minutes besides one surprising shot that San Marino had that was batted down by Gigi Buffon like he was playing with some 7 year olds.  No disrespect to San Marino, I give those guys credit for going out against world class talent and getting their asses kicked every time and not complaining about it.  Not that we would know anyway, it's not like they get media attention.  Although, you won't see in Italian newspapers talking trash about the San Marino team like you saw England do a couple months ago when they beat San Marino 8-0.  The English thought they were so good beating a bunch of people who play football for fun with their players who get paid millions and don't stand a chance against teams like Italy or Spain.  Anyway, it was kind of a boring match.  It was just fun seeing Italy completely dominate a team like that and get a comfortable win. 

Should Milan Change Their Identity?

This season, Milan used a 4-3-3 formation just about every single match and played a very attacking style of football.  El Shaarawy, Pazzini(later Balotelli) and either Niang or Robinho were our attack and it actually worked quite well, especially in late game situations.  Despite the quality upfront that Milan have, I think they're missing out on a lot of talent that's out there.  Niang is a great player, but he didn't score a single goal at all this season which is worrying for me.  I mean, wouldn't it just accidentally go in at least once?  I think Niang would be a great player off the bench, just like Pazzini and Robinho definitely shouldn't be a starter.  In fact, he should be sold to Santos immediately.  Back to missing out on quality, I feel like Milan is just so limited with this formation and style of play.  With all of the extremely quality midfields Italy has, not to mention foreigners as well, we're only using 3 and one of them is either Muntari, Nocerino or Flamini every game.  If you want to be an elite club in this world, that's just not going to cut it, not even close.  Also, with a 3 man attack, we're only limited to wingers because Balotelli is our man in the middle(as he should be) and SES is our left wing(which he shouldn't be, should be in the middle).  There's so many great central forwards out there we can't have because of our formation.  We could have a 5 man midfield with immense talent, but instead, we have Montolivo who's great, but then it's down hill from there.  Boateng can be great, but needs talent around him to make him great, but he doesn't.  Muntari, Nocerino and Flamini are trash.  I'm sorry, but all three of those guys should not even be mentioned with Milan, let alone starting for them.  Here's a list of players Milan is missing out on that have a realistic chance of joining the squad:
1. Verratti
2. Poli
3. Diamanti
4. Bonaventura
5. Schellotto
6. Lodi
7. Sau
8. Insigne
9. Destro
10. Hernanes

That's just a few and all of them could easily join Milan, but can't because they just simply can't fit into the system.  That's the problem, not many players can't fit into a 4-3-3 system.  Italy is a country with tons of midfield talent, so Milan should take advantage of that and utilize it.  Keep Balotelli up front, slide SES back into the midfield, maybe behind Mario and just load up the midfield.  Our defence is junk as it is so we can play with 3 of them with 5 in the middle and leave Mario to attack.  3-5-1.  Prandelli proved it's brilliance with La Nazionale.  I know he had a fantastic defence with Chiellini, Barzagli and Bonucci, but it could work for Milan.  Montolivo, Boateng, Verratti, Poli, El Shaarawy, all in the midfield working together to create chances for Balotelli.  It'd be fantastic, but sadly I don't think it'll happen.  A 4-3-3 could work great, but it's going to take at least 1 big, big talent in the midfield to make it work. 

Pato Return to Milan This Summer?

There's rumours going around that Pato maybe be returning to Milan this summer.  I heard these rumours from @TheMilanGuy on Twitter(I highly suggest you follow him), who never reports from unreliable sources.  I love Alexandre Pato, but I'm not sure if he's going to come back or if it'd be a good idea.  He had a great season with Corinthians and managed to stay relatively healthy as well.  I don't see why the Corinthians would let him go, considering he was one of their top goal scorers and he just recently moved there in January.  Also, would he even fit into Milan's current squad?  For me personally, I'd only want Pato back if he, Balotelli and El Shaarawy would all start and work well together and I'm just not sure if that's possible.  Balotelli should definitely play in the middle of a 3 forward attack and SES should definitely play on the left wing, but Pato isn't much of a winger.  Although, there is a formation that could work.  As many people probably don't know,  Stephen El Shaarawy is naturally a central forward and could be very effective as a trequartista.  By putting him in the #10 spot and pairing Balotelli and Pato together up top, that could work extremely well.  Adding onto that, Boateng, Montolivo and whoever else Milan signs for the midfield, instantly Milan have an extremely strong squad.  That scenario is only going to happen with the right coach, and Allegri would definitely not do that as he has no tacticle IQ at all to figure that out.  As I'm typing this blog right now, the more and more I want Pato to come back and want the formation to happen.  Ideally, a 4-4-2 (diamond) would probably fit Milan best if Pato came back.  Any midfield formation that would put El Shaarawy behind the two strikers would work.  I think it would be a great signing not only for Milan, but also for Pato.  His first stint at Milan was just bombarded by injuries every time he took a step outside his home and now that he was able to go back to Brazil to put his career back on track, I think he can come back to Milan and be absolutely excellent.  Berlusconi also really has a liking for Pato.  I know Pato would love to come back to Milan, but I don't think the Corinthians are going to make it an easy transfer.  We'll just have to wait and see, also, it really depends on who Milan's manager will be for next season.

What Milan SHOULD Do

Here's a list of things that, in my opinion, Milan should do in order to be successful next season.  And not successful by just making the Champions League, but by competing for the Scudetto and European glory.

1. Fire Allegri
Count Max Allegri must go, but that doesn't mean Seedorf should come in either.  Tactically, Allegri doesn't know what he's doing and Seedorf is just too inexperienced to be managing a club like Milan.  Also, great players almost never turn out to be good coaches.  Honestly, I don't know who I'd want to be Milan's coach, maybe Donadoni or Spalletti.

2. Sign Marco Verratti
Milan need big improvement in the midfield.  Montolivo and Boateng work fine, but Muntari, Nocerino and Flamini got to go.  A 3-man midfield of Verratti, Montolivo and Boateng could be extremely effective.

3. Sign Ogbonna
I know the Zapata-Mexes combo in a the back wasn't terrible, but it's not going to get us any trophies any time soon.  They were absolutely awful when it came to cover aerial attacks considering how many headed goals were scored on Milan this season.

4. Sign Mattia Perin
I love Abbiati, but his time is done.  He had a great career, but it's time to install more youth and Perin is an extremely intriguing keeper who I think can be a wonderful replacement for Buffon on the national team.

5. Sell Robinho and sign another winger
Getting rid of Robinho would leave room for Niang to improve, but just incase he doesn't become what we all think he can be, Milan should sign another winger.  This shouldn't be some guy we never heard of either, it should be a big name and someone who could work well with Balotelli.

6. Sell Abate
He is the worst crosser in the world.  Other than his incredible speed, he's pretty much useless. Not very good at defending or marking.  Milan need to sign a new full back, but I'm not sure who's out there that would be an upgrade from Abate.  Possibly Criscito?

7. Sign Balotelli and El Shaarawy to 25,000 year contracts
I absolutely love Balotelli and Stephen and I never, ever want to see them leave Milan for the rest of their careers.  Milan must do whatever it takes to keep them happy and make them want to stay here.

Those are my thoughts.  Tweet me your thoughts and opinions @mattlipuma

Serie A Finale 2012-2013

MILAN ARE INTO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!

Today was absolutely nuts in Italy with Milan's unbelievable comeback over Siena and Fiorentina's thrashing of Pescara for the 3rd and final spot to go to the Champions Leauge.  Milan vs Siena was a ridiculous match.  For the first 15-20 minutes Milan started off great and it looked like it would be an easy win for them with not a lot of drama on the final day.  But then things started to turn around when Fiorentina scored their first of many against Pescara and in the 27th minute Siena scored and Milan were in a deep, deep hole.  From that point it looked like it wasn't going to be Milan's day as they couldn't get anything going and Fiorentina were having an absolute field day in Pescara.  Not surprisingly, Allegri put out a questionable starting line-up with El Shaarawy and Pazzini starting on the bench.  A very sub-par performance from Niang and a poor 60 minutes from Robinho, it was clear changes needed to be made.  Niang was subbed off at halftime for Pazzini, pushing Balotelli out to the right wing and then in the 59th minute, El Shaarawy came on for Nocerino.  The Pharaoh played wonderful for the next half hour.  He was creating chances and was very effective defensively.  But even with these changes not much changed in Milan's play as they looked uninspired and flat.  Then came what I think was brought to us by the Soccer Gods.  Kevin Constant was going to come in for Mexes, but then Abate was signaling that he was having trouble with his leg and Constant subbed him off instead, leaving Mexes in.  This would end up being the best thing that could ever happen to Milan all season.  In the 68th minute, Ambrosini got his second yellow and was sent off in what could have been his last match in the famous rossonero shirt.  Luckily, if that was possible for Milan in this game, two minutes later, Christian Terlizzi gets a red as well and he is sent off so it is 10v10 with 20 minutes left to play.  The game continued as it had all match long and Milan still looked flat and terrible in every way.  Unbelievably, in the 84th minute the (terrible) referee called a penalty for Milan and who else other than Mr. Perfect, Balotelli steps up and just like that Milan has life.  Just 3 minutes later, the Soccer Gods plan worked.  Milan gets a free kick about 15 yards outside the box on the left side.  All the players are lined up on the right side waiting for the cross, but Montolivo gives a short pass over to the lone man on the left wing, El Shaarawy, and he passes it back to Montolivo.  Riccardo then takes a touch and crosses it over the far post to a wide open Philippe Mexes in the 6 and he takes a shot, but it is saved by Pegolo, but Mexes manages to just get his foot on the rebound and scored the biggest goal of the year to send Milan into the Champions League.  La Viola won their match against Pescara 5-1, but it was not enough and they will qualify for the Europa League next season.  Before I say anything else, I want to say that Fiorentina were fully deserving of making the Champions League and Milan played terrible in the biggest match of the season.  As a Milan fan, I am very optimistic for next season.  If Galliani makes the right decisions, which he usually does, Allegri should be gone and some new pieces will be added to the squad as well as some players leaving that should.  In my opinion, Milan's most important fixes are in the defense where a center back would be extremely helpful.  Getting rid of Zapata and maybe adding Ogbonna to play alongside Mexes would make for some solid defense.  In the midfield, I'm hoping that Marco Verratti of P$G comes.  A midfield with Montolivo, Verratti and Boateng is very intriguing and very creative.  Up top, there's not too much to worry about with Balotelli and El Shaarawy.  I just hope Niang becomes the player most people think he can be, otherwise Milan might need to look at a new winger.  The goalkeeper situation is a little iffy.  Abbiati looks like he's leaving and surely Amelia is leaving as well, but Mattia Perin may not be leaving Genoa to come to Milan next season.  That could be the most difficult position to fix for Milan, especially in a shorter off season since Milan must go through qualifying for the Champions League in August.  All in all, I think you can expect a lot of Milan next season and make a real run not only for the Scudetto, but for European glory as well.
FORZA MILAN!

Juventus Win Scudetto

Juve have won their 29th, not 31st, Scudetto.  They're the absolute best team in Italy and if these rumours about who they might sign come true, they will be one of the best in the world.  Juventus have one the best midfields in the world, behind only Barcelona in my opinion.  The best goalkeeper in the world and add to that possibly Mario Gomez alongside Llorente, this team is Champions League contenders.  The only Italian team I see competing with them is Milan, who need some changes in order for that to happen.  Also, if Serie A is cut down to 18 teams, it will be more competitive and Juventus will struggle to go 3 in a row.  Right now, they're dominating Italian football.

Milan vs Catania

If you have a pacemaker, this wasn't the game for you. Milan won what was so far the most important match of year until next week against Torino which will be the new most important match of the year.  When Legrottaglie scored in the 31st minute it looked like it would be another one of those games where we'd be happy with a draw.  Luckily, the worst midfielder in the world, Mathieu Flamini, scored just before halftime to give Milanisti some hope.  The second half continued the same way as it did in the first half.  Milan's defense was absolutely diabolical all game long and nearly cost the game if it wasn't for Milan's outstanding offense.  Eventually, the two worst defenders in the world, Ignazio "Can't Cross for Sh*t" Abate and Bonehead Bonera, showed how damn awful they are at marking and positioning and Bergessio easily chipped the worst goalkeeper in the world, Marco Amelia, and Sicilian club took a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute.  Then, the worst manager in the world, Massimiliano Allegri, actually made a good decision by replacing the second worse midfielder in the world, Antonio Nocerino, and subbing in Giampaolo "V" Pazzini.  From this point on everything changed.  In the 74th minute, Mario Balotelli took an absolute beautiful shot which was saved by Frison but Pazzo was right there to smash in the rebound to make it 2-2.  Just 3 minutes later Pazzo smashed in another rebound and Milan had a 3-2 lead and retook 3rd place on the table to be in Champions League position once again.  After Balotelli couldn't get any calls going his way throughout the match, he took an obvious flop in the box to be rewarded a penalty.  Inevitably, he converted it and gave Milan a 4-2 lead and the match was over.  It was a humongous 3 points for the Rossoneri and hopefully they can take another against Torino next weekend.

Scudetto Contenders in Coming Years

After a short decline, Serie A is coming back to what it once was.  With many teams really getting stronger, here's who I think will be competing for that top spot in Serie A in a few years.

1. Juventus
Juve has established themselves are an elite club in Europe.  Making it all the way to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and getting knocked out by Bayern Munich has no shame.  Llorente is coming in after this season, so Juventus will finally have a solved their striker problem.  In midfield, they are simply one of the best.  The best playmaker in the world in Pirlo runs the show and this past season may have been his best of his career.  At 33 years old, what he is doing is unbelievable and for people to say Modric or Xavi is better is just insane.  At the back, Juve are comfortable with Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini and with Buffon in goal, they don't have much to worry about defensively.  This is a European contender for years to come.

2. Milan
After Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva were sold to P$G and countless legends left, Milan was basically depleted and to me, looked like a middle of the table team.  Starting the season as low as 15th place and battling back to nearly overtake Napoli for 2nd is incredible.  The signing of Mario Balotelli was absolutely huge for Milan and with Stephen El Shaarawy and Niang on the wings, Milan's attack looks like it'll be one of the most lethal for the next decade.  Milan is weak in midfield with Montolivo the only bright spot, but this summer expect Milan to sign at least one notable midfielder, most likely Marco Verratti from P$G.  Milan will definitely sign a young center back too this summer, with a good chance it'll be Angelo Ogbonna.  As if Milan couldn't get any younger, they'll probably sign 20yr old sensation GK, Mattia Perin.  With all this young talent coming in, Milan will be very good, very soon, for a very very long time.

3. Roma
Roma's new American ownership looks like it'll be really pouring in the money into the club to make Roma a team it should be, absolutely elite.  The biggest fan base in Italy, and one of the biggest in the world, they have all the tools they need to win a Scudetto in a couple of years.  Plans for a new stadium to be built will definitely help the club and make people really pay attention.  Francesco Totti has signed a 2 year contract extension and Michael Bradley being in the midfield, definitely helps a lot.  Stekelenburg looks he'll be leaving after this season, so Roma will need someone between the pipes and if Mattia Perin doesn't end up in Milan, watch for him to go to Rome.  With a young team and fun to watch with money coming in, Roma will a team to reckon with in no time.

4. Fiorentina
La Viola are turning into a top team in Italy and they've shown no sign of slowing down.  With an almost entirely new starting line up this season, Fiorentina went from being a mid-table team, to threatening to take away Milan's Champions League dreams.  Today, it was reported that Giuseppe Rossi has finally been cleared to start training after being out for over 2 years with two ACL tears.  A striker pairing of Rossi and Jovetic(if he stays) could really make teams not want to make a weekend stop in Firenze.  Fiorentina look like a revived team and should start making a Scudetto a realistic goal soon.

Italy Will Be the Best Team in Brazil

I know I might sound insane, but just how far-fetched am I really? After EURO 2012, Italy proved to be one of the top 2 or 3 best teams in the world. They may have been "smashed" 4-0 to Spain(who are in my opinion the greatest team ever assembled), but they put up a gallant fight. The scoreline may not have shown that, but Italy actually played very well in that game and it was only a matter of finishing off chances which they struggled to do all tournament. Otherwise, they could've won all of their games by at least 3 goals. Besides Colombia, Italy probably has the best youth development in the world. It seems like every week we hear about a 16 or 17 year old playing in Serie B or C1 who is being scouted by big clubs. You could make a dictionary of all the players that are 22 or younger who are expected to have a big future in front of them.
Here's a list of some of the most notable ones:
1. Marco Verratti
2. Stephen El Shaarawy
3. Mattia De Sciglio
4. Mattia Perin
5. Mattia Destro
6. Fabio Borini
7. Lorenzo Insigne
8. Andrea Poli
9. Ciro Immobile
10. Angelo Ogbonna
11. Riccardo Saponara
12. Nicola Sansone
13. Davide Santon
14. Mario Balotelli(still "young" in my opinion)

That is 14 names that I believe can already compete, not to mention some of the great veterans Italy has to offer such as Buffon, Pirlo and Totti(who may get called up to the WC). Spain is slowly, but surely finally starting to fall back down to earth. Germany continues to disappoint time and time again in the biggest of matches and the Italians have always had the Germans number. Other than those two teams, there's no one who is as good as Italy, though there are plenty of teams who can take them out. Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, England and even Russia, who I find very underrated, are very capable of knocking Italy out of the World Cup. By 2014, all those players I mentioned will have developed even more and played in more big matches at the club level that they will come into Brazil bursting with confidence and ready to redeem Italy from that atrocious time in South Africa. Before, Italy was known as being a very defensive team, but now with Prandelli as coach and these new kids coming in, Italy looks to be an extremely offensive threat. Alongside Balotelli and SES, we could also have Totti, Cassano and maybe Di Natale(if he didn't retire from international play already). We still have more than a year left to go, but it will be very interesting to see how this squad develops.
Forza Azzurri!

Why Milan Will Finish 3rd

Milan not in the Champions League is like not having Ferrari in Formula 1 or no Yankees in MLB. They're one of those teams that just has to be in the Champions League every year no matter what. This has been one of the craziest, most heartbreaking/uplifting seasons for the Rossoneri in a while. From starting the season at near relegation, to being just behind Napoli for second in April is just ridiculous. After Inzaghi, Zambrotta, Gattuso, Van Bommel and other legends alike left and Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic gone as well, this season looked hopeless. The only true player Milan brought in was Montolivo. As the season went on and I truly thought at one point we could be relegated, but with the emergence of El Shaarawy and the wonderful play from Montolivo, Milan stayed alive. I even have to give credit to Allegri who lost practically his whole team over the summer and managed to keep Milan afloat until January and then burst into form after the arrival of Balotelli. And Balotelli is the reason why I think Milan will stay in 3rd place. Since his arrival, Milan has not lost a game(except for Juve and Barca, in which he didn't even play) and he has been a goal scoring machine. It's gotten to the point where you just expect him to score every single game. Either in open play, a free kick or a penalty, Super Mario just finds a way to score no matter how or what. WHEN, Il Faraone gets back to form and Allegri stops lying to himself and finally plays Niang, Milan will be cruising once again. If lucky, maybe Napoli hits a bump and drops some points and Milan can close the gap again and take 2nd to avoid the playoff for qualification. Mario Balotelli is a world class talent and I think people are finally starting to realize that. In my opinion, he's better than any of the other strikers on Manchester City in which he barely played at all because of his "immaturity" according to the British media. When you're rich, 22 years old, professional footballer and swole, I'm sure you wouldn't be the most mature person on the planet. Anyway, Balotelli will save Milan's season and with this upcoming summer signings, I really do think Milan can make a run for that glorious trophy.

Most Possible Signings for Milan this Summer

1. Mattia Perin
With Christian Abbiati aging and most likely leaving after this season, the young, superhuman goalkeeper from Genoa will probably go to Milan. Galliani has a weird but good relationship with the club which makes Perin a very possible signing.

2. Angelo Ogbonna
Milan's defense this year is terrible. Mexes can't go a game without a card and Zapata... nevermind. It's time for Ogbonna to leave Torino and come to a big club and Milan is just the place for him. Ogbonna and De Sciglio already sound like a solid defense, just depends on who fills in the other 2 spots.

3. Marco Verratti
The future Pirlo, as he's dubbed, was snatched away from Italy by the money-hungry, gold-digging club that P$G is. He's solidified his starting position with the French club and proved to be what everyone thought he could be, the next Pirlo. Besides Montolivo, Milan has absolutely nothing else to depend on when it comes to the most important position in the sport. Boateng is a joke, Muntari isn't even worth mentioning and even Allegri knows Nocerino is awful.

4. Lots and lots of super young talents we never heard of
Milan is rebuilding the right way, youth. We've seen it this season and we'll continue to see it as Galliani and Berlusconi are looking to the Primavera side and other teenagers around the world to revive the broken down AC Milan. The only way for Milan to become what they once were not too long ago is to sign young, talented players and let them develop. El Shaarawy, Niang, De Sciglio are just to name a few and look at just how good they are.

3 Things to Take from Milan - Juventus

Three Things to Take from Milan - Juventus

 

 

1. Stephen El Shaarawy is in a slump

The young starlet of Milan's season has been nonexistant lately and his confidence is dwindling. With no Balotelli in the line up, I was expecting SES to step and once again SOS as he did in the first half of the season. For 90mins all I saw was a player with the number 92 on his back run around in circles. He must get back in form is Milan are to keep the 3rd spot on the Serie A table.

 

2. Allegri is clueless

The Milan manager can make some pretty stupid decisions and today he did. Taking Keven InConstant over Mattia De Sciglio would be a crime in a country of my ruling. Also, not subbing in Niang and instead the most useless player on the planet, Bojan, I almost fainted. I'm not blaming the whole game on Allegri, Milan did not play terrible, but he must leave after this season.

 

3. Milan need Balotelli

Without Mario Balotelli today, Milan really didn't have a target man. Pazzini was absolutely awful in every way possible and did nothing positive all game. Some say Mario makes SES disappear, but after today we can see it's not Balo, it's SES who makes himself disappear. Maybe when Balotelli comes back and SES picks up his game and Niang gets a start will we see the Milan attack we were starting to become accustomed to.

 

Forza Milan!



Summer 2013 for Milan

The summer of 2013 won't be their biggest spending summer of their history, but it will be a very important one.  If Milan are to remain a top club in not only Italy, but also in Europe, they are going to need to bring in some great players through their you system and sign some young established players.  Milan's weakness this year was their defense.  Zapata may not be back next season and Mexes is just a red card waiting to happen every game.  Angelo Ogbonna is the most likely signing to command the center of the back line.  Mattia De Sciglio has proven he can become one of the best backs in the world.  Abate is a huge question mark.  Besides his incredible speed, he's pretty much useless.  As for who else Milan will try to sign for the D, is unclear but Bartosz Salamon has shown some light in his recent performance with the Primavera.  On attack, Milan has nothing to worry about for the next 10-15 years.  Mario Balotelli, Stephen El Shaarawy and M'baye Niang can become one the best tridents the world has ever seen in a few years time.  Midfield is also a problem for Milan.  Montolivo is set in stone that he can really play and he will for sure be in charge of the middle of the field next year.  Marco Verratti is a possible signing as Milan may swap him for Boateng.  But we will have to wait and see for that, let's just hope Milan can make it to the Champions League next season.