Which Mancini we will see?

In the last remaining hours of the January transfer window, Milan have completed the signing of Amantino Mancini from Inter. It is a six month loan deal with the option to buy half the player’s rights at the end of the season.

This is a signing that neither has me overcome with excitement nor really disappointed. It depends on which Mancini we will get, will it be the Mancini that shone in the colours of the Giallorossi or will it be the disappointing Mancini who failed to impress at Inter?

I believe that Mancini will benefit from our more attacking philosophy and he should slot in nicely on the left or right side of our attacking trident, should he be needed. Our significant Brazilian contingent will also help him settle in well. For these reasons I am optimistic that we will get the Mancini who played for Roma. And if this does prove the case he may well become a valuable addition.

However, he should not expect to get many starting berths considering that Ronaldinho is a virtual guarantee these days to start whilst on the right we have Beckham in addition to Pato when he returns from injury. We also have Adiyiah, the young Ghanian starlet who can play on either side of the attacking trident. All this begs the question, do we really need him?

The answer is no. Ronaldinho will continue his role as our talisman up front whilst Pato and Beckham have the right covered. Let us also take note the Pato can also play on the left should injury or suspension to Ronaldinho render him unavailable. And as already mentioned, we have just recently signed Adiyiah who can play either roles also.

So we do not need Mancini. Though he still may prove useful if he settles in well (which he should considering our strong Brazilian contingent) and if he quickly adjusts to our new system of play (which I am optimistic he will).

What then do we need? Well, full back has become almost a non-issue for Milan. Abate has shown great improvement whilst Antonini has really impressed at right back. We also have Zambrotta who is currently injured and who will put in a strong claim for a starting berth upon his return to injury. To a lesser extent we can also turn to Oddo and Jankulovski should we need backup.

Up front we do not have any more room unless a player is sold and this has not happened.

It is in midfield that we need/ed reinforcement. As I claimed in my previous post, Gattuso is finished and should not be considered a starter any longer. Flamini is a hit and a miss of a player. Sometimes he puts in great performances like he did against Livorno on Sunday whilst other times he is capable of greatly under performing.

Ambrosini has been great all season, however, he is well into his thirties and as the derby showed, he legs do not have much left to go. Pirlo is really our only midfielder that we can consistently rely on and who is still at an age where any signs of physical decline are negligible. Recently Jankulovski has been deployed in midfield but it does not work. Jankulovski is a wide player with one foot and therefore he can only play out wide.

We really need a box to box midfielder. A player capable of playing a more defensive role or a more attacking role depending on what is needed. We needed this player to be of quality and young for we lack these two key characteristics in midfield. Hernanes would have been perfect or another player like him.

For now though we will have to content ourselves with the arrival of Mancini and hope that he does rediscover the form he displayed at Roma. I am optimistic of this too and so he may well just become a valuable asset as we continue our for the Scudetto.