Paratici
Its still early days for Beppe’s replacement to be judged. I must also concede that he inherited a squad from his former boss, yet on the other hand he played his own role in forming that squad. So he can have some of the credit for the staggering success with very few failures of the recruitment policy at large before he got the top job as our Sporting Director, pushing out his mentor in the process. I wont go into my thoughts on that here and now, suffice to say that I found the Ronaldo move his play to usurp and move up the ladder, and he won, at the expense of course of Marrotta.
I am a long term detractor of the Ronaldo move. It seemed a marketing move above all sporting considerations, which paints a poor picture of Paratici, for it suggests he simply assumed ‘elite player will make us better’ without weighing seriously in his mind, or rather, absent of critical thinking to understand what the squad needed most and what impact the Ronaldo circus would have on the players and tactics.
As mentioned in my last piece, the financial implications were never as rosy as so many have since expressed, and remain now, I assume, a net loss of hideous repercussions. For an investment of €340m in one player alone has dramatic consequences in regards to how much we can spend elsewhere. Usually, with wages and agents and transfer figures, we need to spend around €40-60m on a player expected to make a difference in the first team. Ronaldo was signed at the expense of 5-6 players to incrementally improve the side.
Moving past Ronaldo, I see some successes, such as Demiral who looks a monster of a defender, and De Ligt who has come good after a shaky start and now looks ultra solid, though the Dutchman did cost €155 – 195m which is a staggering investment I doubt we will ever get back.
Kulesevski also looks a promising purchase, and I hope the scouts have done their homework on ensuring his main attributes to add creativity and support in the final third from midfield, everything we presently lack.
Other than which I see an attempt to emulate Beppe’s famous free signing expertise, and failure on both efforts so far. For yes, Paratici did try to address the obvious and long term midfield problems, by signing Rabiot and Ramsey. Both have done close to zero combined to help us, so often injured or unable to find even a basic connection with the team or tactics that we have basically been forced to rely upon everyone but them.
Removing Mandzukic was a wretched move, not just the manner this was delivered but the lack of any replacement for the front line.
The Spinazzola transfer seemed cunning, but letting Pellegrini go elsewhere was ridiculous as De Sciglio was even then, clearly not part of our plans.
I place Sarri as one of Paratici’s signings. And he must bear responsibility for the lack of foresight, the lack of understanding how Sarri works from a sporting perspective, and from what I can perceive, the lack of support shown in the media for his chosen successor to Allegri. Not a damn peep. I perceive that like Sarri, the suave Paratici works autonomously, never in meaningful synergy with the other elements of the coaching setup and squad, and has Nedved in his pocket, mainly to support his direction he is taking the club.
Where Andrea Allegri fits into this is curious to consider, for as a President, he delegates hugely to his closest directors, which are Nedved and Paratici, and yet he attends the games, he can see what is happening, and where does this leave him? Well… Continue reading