I didn't like the days when Igli Tare "knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy, who had a used Honda Civic"-- "Hey bro, pick up the phone, boy do I have the deal for you! He's Albanian, you'll love him!" Having an actual scouting room, with an actual methodology, analytically picking apart players and how they'd fit our aspirational team culture and style of play is much more up my alley.

The trouble is that every approach has its trade-offs. Taken to its logical end, we've wound up with a team full of young players who could all flop: the obvious candidates for "who will fill the top-line technical qualities gulf" is not present.

Best case scenario: one or more of these young players has a light bulb go on, and we've got a Kvaratskhelia or Rafael Leão on our hands. Then we'll be fine-- as in, Europa League qualification, top-six fine. There are lots of possible names from which to choose: Rovella; Dele-Bashiru; Guendouzi; Noslin; Tchaouna. Maybe Castrovilli goes back to his very best football? Maybe Castellanos or Dia-- or both in tandem, ala Rocchi and Pandev-- start pounding in goals? Maybe Isaksen winds up being a genius and takes over? Maybe Tavares becomes a monster and takes over the entire left flank?

Worst case scenario: we look like how we did against Udinese. Teams physically press us, we turn the ball over stupidly, the team isn't ticking over, it gets demoralized, and we wind up in a relegation scrap ala the Ballardini 2009 year. It could happen too: we bought players from relegation-bound teams, then hired a relegation-zone manager to coach them. What will you wind up with from that approach?

Really though, the biggest problem the club faces is that Lotito can't be a senator and run the team at the same time. He really just needs to sell, or hand it off to his son. For example, what's the point of buying young players for future capital gains, then giving away fourteen-million Euro rated Casale for seven million, when in today's inflated world he's realistically a twenty million-plus player? How about not being able to place people like Akpa Akpro, Hysaj, and Basic?

Apparently Baroni thinks Milan is a "wounded animal" and is going to field an all-out-attack formation today. Sounds like something which could backfire horribly, but maybe I'll be surprised.