Antonio Cassano

[rockball]

Of our 3 strikers, I'd rather get rid of Milito this summer (or next summer), and Palacio sooner than Cassano, but we do desperately need some rejuvenation up front. Icardi and hopefully Markovic will do that.

I agree with getting rid of Milito considering his wages. But I'll definitely keep Palacio longer than Cassano. Palacio still has 2-3 years left in him, has more hunger than the other 2; and is more versatile considering he can play on either wing or in center.

With Cassano, we are forced to play a lop sided 433, but with Palacio we can have a pure 433/4231.

But the big question is whether we can get any money for Cassano, or we will just let him go to Samp. Maybe, he can be used as a bargain for Obiang.

 

[.h.]

but cassano does more than palacio. cassano has a pretty decent impact on every game he plays, palacio is nothing but invisible lately.

 

[Jimmy Page]

How about his weight?

 

[.h.]

well he could do with losing some pounds, but even now he has more overall impact than palacio does tbh

 

[rockball]

Agree that Cassano does more, you can't hide his talent and he has a lot of it. But also, Cassano is more visible since the rest of the team is absolute zero on creativity. Once we have a more balanced lineup with players like Kovacic, and other creative outlets like Laxalt or someone, we may miss Cassano a bit lesser. To add to it, Palacio isn't the best when played as striker. He has played very few matches in his true position and in those as well he did a lot of marking on Pirlo etc.

If we can play a trio of Palacio-Icardi-Laxalt next season supported by Kovacic, Palacio would shine more and there would be more creativity than what Cassano alone brings.

I'd ideally keep Cassano for 1 more season, but if we can get a good deal from him then it won't be bad to let go.

 

[.h.]

I think Palacio can be a very good poacher/Inzaghi style player/counter-attacker all wrapped into one, and as top goalscorer of the season he's been imperssive, but at the same time, creativity isnt a bad thing. Cassano is capable of scoring, we know this - and if you have someone more "clinical" like Icardi up front I would rather server up 100 chances a game on a plate to him

 

[javier_zanetti <3]

Cassano have to stay here. he's our best attacking player this season and i'm sure next season maybe won't be better, be also won't be much worst and he can help us a lot.

 

[rockball]

I never said creativity is bad, but its better if its spread more equally on the pitch than in just 1 area, which is the case now.

 

[.h.]

thats a very... communist view of looking at it...

"Wealth isnt bad, but Bill Gates is skewing our poverty distribution, clearly the only thing to do is get rid of him!"

Its no flaw of our left hand side that it has all the creativity. It's a flaw of the right hand side.

 

[Pajo]

I'd keep both Cassano and Palacio, Milito maybe if he wants to lower his wage.

 

[Suneet]

Depends on who we sign. Him staying here could mean he could go free at the end of next season. He signed a 2 year contract didnt he?

Also, I'm counting on Bessa to kinda bring the same to Inter.. But he's not around to learn from this guy.

 

[.h.]

sadly Bessa isnt doing it rightn ow at Vicenza. Not even making the match day squads. why? I have no idea, I HOPE its injury related (just recovering) - rather than inability. By the end of the season we will know better

 

[rockball]

thats a very... communist view of looking at it...

"Wealth isnt bad, but Bill Gates is skewing our poverty distribution, clearly the only thing to do is get rid of him!"

Its no flaw of our left hand side that it has all the creativity. It's a flaw of the right hand side.

That's not the point. Yes, the RHS should get more creative.

Look at it this way, if we're playing 433/4231 with Cassano on left flank, it puts more defensive pressure on LB/LM. In so many games this season, Real Madrid have suffered on the left flank since Ronaldo doesn't help out in defending. But they will persist with it since Ronaldo's offensive contribution is immense.

I'm not against Cassano but while adding creativity, he also restricts the side in other ways which has to be appreciated.

 

[.h.]

That's not the point. Yes, the RHS should get more creative.

Look at it this way, if we're playing 433/4231 with Cassano on left flank, it puts more defensive pressure on LB/LM. In so many games this season, Real Madrid have suffered on the left flank since Ronaldo doesn't help out in defending. But they will persist with it since Ronaldo's offensive contribution is immense.

I'm not against Cassano but while adding creativity, he also restricts the side in other ways which has to be appreciated.

You can afford that with a 4-2-3-1, though. The point is we can sit back and soak up the pressure - and you can afford 2 offensive players forward at all times as well as an AMC - that's exactly what we did under Mourinho. The player on the flank opposite to the flank being attacked was always high up looking for the counter attack, as well as Milito, and Sneijder a bit deeper.


Also, remember, having an attack that is ready to launch a full counter also changes how the opponents attack. They cant pile as many men forward as they would like to - because if they only have 1 defender and we have 3 strikers ready near their half, they'll get raped.

Having the players look ready to launch into a full attack means that the opponents will have to play with less pressure on us, too. Off the ball attacking, and all that

 

[thatdude]

Good debate here. I'm certainly not one for losing creativity but for me if a striker goes in the summer it should be Cassano, even before Milito. We just can't afford to build around a guy that has to be subbed after 70 minutes 9 out of 10 games. It's just tactically not where we want to go if we're going to be a top team again.

- - - Updated - - -

Good debate here. I'm certainly not one for losing creativity but for me if a striker goes in the summer it should be Cassano, even before Milito. We just can't afford to build around a guy that has to be subbed after 70 minutes 9 out of 10 games. It's just tactically not where we want to go if we're going to be a top team again.

 

[Wallace]

A better alternative is to alternate between 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1, making Cassano as a supporting striker. We don't really want to people to exploit our left flank continuously.

Even in Mourinho's era, both Eto'o and Pandev were willing to track back to a certain distance to defend our flank. Of course they didn't do it all the time, but we definitely cannot expect Cassano to do the same as those guys.

And because of the way Cassano plays, he can still play a couple more seasons even just as a substitute, like ADP in Juve in his latter years. That's probably more useful than say someone like Palacio in 1-2 years time, as he offers much more than just finishing.

 

[Y&h]

Antonio has been losing a lot of the ball in the opposition third lately, I'm not sure if this is because of fatigue or something else.

 

[.h.]

lack of confidence imho.

 

[chipschups]

lack of stamina tbh,,

 

[NeonBlade]

lack of confidence imho.

Too much confidence actually. He loves to show off, when the ball could just do with a good whack.