Riccardo Montolivo

[Dax777]

Has he progressed much? When I had him in PES 09 as a young player he was brilliant and got stronger every year
Go get him Mancini!

Errr..I suppose the honest answer with this is "not much". In 2009, he was a player who potentially had the world at his feet, so in 2010 he had a bad season plagued with injury and lost a bit of momentum. His 2011 season was pretty decent and he's kicked on nicely. He doesn't seem to perform very well for Italy for some reason, but he is absolutely KEY for Fiorentina (and is their captain too).

I personally believe that we need somebody else who can play Barry's role, as we don't have anybody at all who can do his job in our current formation. Milner's not got the passing vision, De Jong is a different type of player as is Yaya. Vieira was who we used last season, but he's gone now.

I've read in this thread by someone that we "don't need another defensive/central midfielder". I disagree heavily. We play a system with two of these guys and in our squad, we have three and one of them (Milner) doesn't really fit the role. For a squad that's got 4 guys who can play right back and about 6 centre backs, this seems imbalanced to me.

I admit that I got annoyed with the complete slagging that Barry gets, and I imagine that it is mainly from people who don't know their football; the same people who used to slag off Makelele at Madrid. He has a specific job to perform, of which he is one of the best (if not THE BEST) in the country. However, he can't play every game and we look a less composed team without him. Due to this, we need to bring somebody in, and Mancini seems to have recognised this right from the very start, trying to first get Gago, then Mariga, then getting Milner (who I believe is a top player but was a poor purchase). It turns out that Milner didn't really have the necessary control or intelligence to play Barry's role but he gives us options in the squad so he's worth keeping around.

Anyway, with Barry now 30 and injuries becoming a bit more regular than maybe they were, we need someone who will take his place and rotate. His place, is to make himself available, control the ball, and distribute it. Montolivo does a similar job but is a little more enthusiastic in his forward looking play, which I think will suit the English game/mentality quite well.

Having watched Yaya for a few years at Barcelona, don't you reckon he can perform this job at a very high level? Cos I do. Yes, he is a different player from Barry and will do things slightly differently, but the output will be similar or of higher quality.

My contention is that we need 2 midfielders, either 2 attacking midfielders (which will be ideal in my opinion) or 1 attacking midfielder and one central midfielder.

The idea of 2 attacking midfielders appeal to me more, simply from an excitement standpoint, but either will be effective. As for players, while I like Montolivo I'd rather have a go at Arturo Vidal in that role. I think he is the best at it outside of Nuri Sahin, and his gruff in your face style is more suited for the Prem than Montolivo's laidback, sweet touch approach. Not to mention, if Busquet was not a Catalan, I bet he'd be deemed one of the most well suited players for this role, and Yaya used to do what he now does (albeit at a slightly lower clip) for Barca. So I really think he can do it for us.

But if push came to shove: Arturo Vidal, Javier Martinez, Ricarrdo Montolivo, those will be my choices and in that order.

 

[Sabster]

Has he progressed much? When I had him in PES 09 as a young player he was brilliant and got stronger every year
Go get him Mancini!

Errr..I suppose the honest answer with this is "not much". In 2009, he was a player who potentially had the world at his feet, so in 2010 he had a bad season plagued with injury and lost a bit of momentum. His 2011 season was pretty decent and he's kicked on nicely. He doesn't seem to perform very well for Italy for some reason, but he is absolutely KEY for Fiorentina (and is their captain too).

I personally believe that we need somebody else who can play Barry's role, as we don't have anybody at all who can do his job in our current formation. Milner's not got the passing vision, De Jong is a different type of player as is Yaya. Vieira was who we used last season, but he's gone now.

I've read in this thread by someone that we "don't need another defensive/central midfielder". I disagree heavily. We play a system with two of these guys and in our squad, we have three and one of them (Milner) doesn't really fit the role. For a squad that's got 4 guys who can play right back and about 6 centre backs, this seems imbalanced to me.

I admit that I got annoyed with the complete slagging that Barry gets, and I imagine that it is mainly from people who don't know their football; the same people who used to slag off Makelele at Madrid. He has a specific job to perform, of which he is one of the best (if not THE BEST) in the country. However, he can't play every game and we look a less composed team without him. Due to this, we need to bring somebody in, and Mancini seems to have recognised this right from the very start, trying to first get Gago, then Mariga, then getting Milner (who I believe is a top player but was a poor purchase). It turns out that Milner didn't really have the necessary control or intelligence to play Barry's role but he gives us options in the squad so he's worth keeping around.

Anyway, with Barry now 30 and injuries becoming a bit more regular than maybe they were, we need someone who will take his place and rotate. His place, is to make himself available, control the ball, and distribute it. Montolivo does a similar job but is a little more enthusiastic in his forward looking play, which I think will suit the English game/mentality quite well.

Having watched Yaya for a few years at Barcelona, don't you reckon he can perform this job at a very high level? Cos I do. Yes, he is a different player from Barry and will do things slightly differently, but the output will be similar or of higher quality.

My contention is that we need 2 midfielders, either 2 attacking midfielders (which will be ideal in my opinion) or 1 attacking midfielder and one central midfielder.

The idea of 2 attacking midfielders appeal to me more, simply from an excitement standpoint, but either will be effective. As for players, while I like Montolivo I'd rather have a go at Arturo Vidal in that role. I think he is the best at it outside of Nuri Sahin, and his gruff in your face style is more suited for the Prem than Montolivo's laidback, sweet touch approach. Not to mention, if Busquet was not a Catalan, I bet he'd be deemed one of the most well suited players for this role, and Yaya used to do what he now does (albeit at a slightly lower clip) for Barca. So I really think he can do it for us.

But if push came to shove: Arturo Vidal, Javier Martinez, Ricarrdo Montolivo, those will be my choices and in that order.

Yes we absolutely have to sign one of those three.

 

[Damocles]

Having watched Yaya for a few years at Barcelona, don't you reckon he can perform this job at a very high level? Cos I do. Yes, he is a different player from Barry and will do things slightly differently, but the output will be similar or of higher quality.

Not really, Yaya doesn't seem to have the close control that Barry has, which is pretty vital for this. Just an opinion really, but he comes across as very leggy. More to the point, his ability to make space by turning his shoulders doesn't seem to be there. I wouldn't say that he particularly played Barry's role at Barca, nor Busquets, I'd say the closest that they have in their system is Xavi (and that's a square peg round hole situation).

My contention is that we need 2 midfielders, either 2 attacking midfielders (which will be ideal in my opinion) or 1 attacking midfielder and one central midfielder.

The idea of 2 attacking midfielders appeal to me more, simply from an excitement standpoint, but either will be effective. As for players, while I like Montolivo I'd rather have a go at Arturo Vidal in that role. I think he is the best at it outside of Nuri Sahin, and his gruff in your face style is more suited for the Prem than Montolivo's laidback, sweet touch approach. Not to mention, if Busquet was not a Catalan, I bet he'd be deemed one of the most well suited players for this role, and Yaya used to do what he now does (albeit at a slightly lower clip) for Barca. So I really think he can do it for us.

But if push came to shove: Arturo Vidal, Javier Martinez, Ricarrdo Montolivo, those will be my choices and in that order.

I don't know much about Vidal to be honest, outside of his stats and reputation which is very good. Martinez would be another good choice, but I think that at this point of his career, he probably needs to stay at Bilbao rather than jump to a place where he'll be rotation.

In regards to your 2 attacking midfielder preference, I have a simple question. What happens if we sign Pastore (because I know you love him!) and Mata, then De Jong gets injured for 18 months on September 2nd?

 

[ElanJo]

Somewhat unusual for an Italian footballer, Montolivo has publicly stated he is an atheist.[1]

Good player and smart?

sign him up!

 

[Dax777]

Having watched Yaya for a few years at Barcelona, don't you reckon he can perform this job at a very high level? Cos I do. Yes, he is a different player from Barry and will do things slightly differently, but the output will be similar or of higher quality.

Not really, Yaya doesn't seem to have the close control that Barry has, which is pretty vital for this. Just an opinion really, but he comes across as very leggy. More to the point, his ability to make space by turning his shoulders doesn't seem to be there. I wouldn't say that he particularly played Barry's role at Barca, nor Busquets, I'd say the closest that they have in their system is Xavi (and that's a square peg round hole situation).

My contention is that we need 2 midfielders, either 2 attacking midfielders (which will be ideal in my opinion) or 1 attacking midfielder and one central midfielder.

The idea of 2 attacking midfielders appeal to me more, simply from an excitement standpoint, but either will be effective. As for players, while I like Montolivo I'd rather have a go at Arturo Vidal in that role. I think he is the best at it outside of Nuri Sahin, and his gruff in your face style is more suited for the Prem than Montolivo's laidback, sweet touch approach. Not to mention, if Busquet was not a Catalan, I bet he'd be deemed one of the most well suited players for this role, and Yaya used to do what he now does (albeit at a slightly lower clip) for Barca. So I really think he can do it for us.

But if push came to shove: Arturo Vidal, Javier Martinez, Ricarrdo Montolivo, those will be my choices and in that order.

I don't know much about Vidal to be honest, outside of his stats and reputation which is very good. Martinez would be another good choice, but I think that at this point of his career, he probably needs to stay at Bilbao rather than jump to a place where he'll be rotation.

In regards to your 2 attacking midfielder preference, I have a simple question. What happens if we sign Pastore (because I know you love him!) and Mata, then De Jong gets injured for 18 months on September 2nd?

Assuming all my wishes come true (not a chance in hell I know, but roll with me) and we signed Pastore, Mata, Vertonghen and a leftback (have no preference really, just a good body)- We'd have Yaya, Nigel, Barry, Milner and Vertonghen all able to play in Central midfield. So say De Jong gets injured, You play 2 of the other 4 at CM/DM.

As for Yaya/Busquets role at Barca, yes it is different from Barry's at City, but I believe the skill set required to accomplish the role at Barca is very similar to that required for Barry's role with us. Due to the high level of technical competence that is required of Barca players in all positions, a Barca DM (in a 3 man midfield) is more like a CM in most teams. And Yaya played the role well for them and should be able to adapt those qualities that made him succeed as a DM at Barca, to the role of a support CM at City. A regular DM in most clubs is more suited for a CD role at Barca. No surprise Mash is most comfortable at Barca when he plays at CD. Albeit after being a fantastic DM at 'Pool.

As for Martinez, I agree with you that he should probably stay at Bilbao, but I sense he'd be in England soon. Dude speaks English already (or so I think, based on hearing him grunt response back to a ref speaking in English :P), Also if he came, I doubt he'd be a rotation guy. I reckon he will supplant Barry quickly. His footballing acumen is unusually high, and he is scrappy. I think this might be a quality that is unique to Bilbao. Martinez, Torquero, Muniain, Borja, San Jose and even Llorente all exhibit that hustle mentality that is quite unusual to Spanish football, but a staple in the Prem.

 

[johnny crossan]

Somewhat unusual for an Italian footballer, Montolivo has publicly stated he is an atheist.[1]

Good player and smart?....sign him up!

Roberto Baggio was a buddhist but it didn't have much to do with his football ability - atheists who say they are smarter than people who aren't are as ignorant as believers who say they are smarter than people who aren't.

 

[Damocles]

Somewhat unusual for an Italian footballer, Montolivo has publicly stated he is an atheist.[1]

Good player and smart?....sign him up!

Roberto Baggio was a buddhist but it didn't have much to do with his football ability - atheists who say they are smarter than people who aren't are as ignorant as believers who say they are smarter than people who aren't.

Damnit JC, use a comma in there, took me a good minute or so to work that sentence out! :)

 

[Mr.Mancini]

A hatred for Rooney aswell,
Sign him up.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?nomobile=1&v=BTy_3DWWOfA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?nomobile=1&v=BTy_3DWWOfA</a>

 

[Mancio]

montolivo or fellaini ? not even a match , give me fellaini everyday of the week.

 

[robbieh]

Somewhat unusual for an Italian footballer, Montolivo has publicly stated he is an atheist.[1]

Good player and smart?....sign him up!

Roberto Baggio was a buddhist but it didn't have much to do with his football ability - atheists who say they are smarter than people who aren't are as ignorant as believers who say they are smarter than people who aren't.

Be fair to the lad. He didn't say he was smarter. Just said he was an atheist. Which is the smart thing to say actually based on all available evidence, logic and mathematical probability.