Gourcuff coming back to AC Milan

Know in France by the name of ‘petit Zidane’ – yes, I now there are a lot of players seen as the next Zizou – and at age 22, Yoann Gourcuff is on his way to became one of France’s finest. Early spotted by the rossoneri scouts, he's a product of the well reputed Rennes academy and was bought by the Milanese side in 2006. After a couple of seasons in the main squad, with a low average games – less than 20 per season – but with a lot of potential show, especially on the champions league – that he won in 2007, where he’d performed good games and managed to score a couple of goals, Ancelotti has decided to loan him to French side Girondins Bordeaux and Gourcuff has seize the opportunity to became even a better and more influential player – witch lead him to became a ‘bleu’ regular and assured a return to San Siro.
He’s the playmaker in Bordeaux’s football, the ‘number 10’ – although he’s playing with the 8 – and has a major role in he’s side title bid (Marseille and Bordeaux are fighting to end Lyon’s run) and took part in 45 games (43 in the starting eleven), scoring 13 goals – at the moment. Technically gifted, he’s still very powerful in the physical aspects, with 1.85m/79kg uses his stature to win a lot of balls in the midfield and to become his team’s primary defense line. He’s not a runner and to stretch the game he prefers to use short or long passes and to appear alongside the strikes in the shooting range. Capable also scoring headers, he’s trademarks move’s include powerful kicks with his right foot and movements from the center to the right or directly to the net.

Tip: Coming back to the rossoneri is a big challenge, but Gourcuff seems apt to the extremely aged Ancelotti’s side. Altought he’s a number ten – witch in the 4-3-2-1 of Milan means to play in Kaka’s or Seedorf’s place, he’s physical and combative attributes will let him be competitive on one of the defensive midfield side’s. Knowing how Milan works, we’d expect him to be a regular used replacement in the next couple of season (besides Pirlo's unusual nr.6, he’s capable of stepping up into any man shoes in Ancelotti’s eleven), being forced to replace Kaka or Seedorf in a regular basis in 2011/12.

Have you asked for Sessegnon?

Stéphane Sessegnon is one of the biggest attractions of France’s top clubs, the 24 years old from Benin is making quite an impact in domestic and European football – PSG as endure until the UEFA Cup quarter-finals – and with the approach of the summer talks of transfer is in order. The blues from Stamford Bridge are – according to French media – in the pole position to bring the man from Parque des Princes to the Premier League. Brought in the late summer from Le Mans to PSG for about 8 millions pound, it is expected PSG’s board reluctance to let him go for less than 15 millions. Money at Chelsea is not a problem; the real question is to understand if the man formed in Benin’s Requins de l’Atlantique is worth the money.
Until today, I’ve seen less than ten games of Sessegnon but most say I’m very impressed with his ability to dribble the ball and to get always cool and innovative moves with the ball – if you haven´t seen him play do a quick search on Youtube. Born in 1984, his still young and has a perfect physical balance, 172cm for 72kg, he’s very quick and usually evolves like a typical right winger – going to the end line and cross or do a move to the middle and try to score, he can also play in the middle and on the other side, but his most impressive moves came from the sideline. Being a small forward his not apt to play with the head, but he’s still very combative and able to chase the ball in the team’s defensive moves – although sometimes he just stops in middle line.
Know in PSG has the new Jay-jay Okocha, he is a truly creative player that spear the opponent defenses with the sin of shame. With 30 games and five goals (until today, La Ligue is still running) in his first season, he’s a fans favorite and one of Africa most promising players. You will need a lot of money to buy this man that in five professional seasons has played for four clubs – Requins l’Atlantique (Benin) and in France for Créteil, Le Mans and PSG.

Tip: He’s one of the most effective dribblers on the European football, if you have the money and a well balanced structure to help him get more consistent in his top exhibitions then you should buy him. Chelsea, AC Milan but also Arsenal and Newcastle seem to be on the dispute.

Ancelotti’s riddle. Blue? No way

The year’s the one million dollar question is: “Who will coach Chelsea?”. A various amount of names have been thrown away, but the AC Milan’s boss is the most referred. But, although that’s true, it seems pretty unlikely that Carlo Ancelotti will leave the rossoneri for the blues. To support my theory I have to important aspects, Ancelotti’s character and the current market movements.
First, the Italian coach is one of the great thinkers of the game, he makes the teams play for and only for the score. His dream is to conquer the Serie A and the CL winning all the matches 1-0. He uses a monstrous 4-3-2-1 tactic, that needs a lot of defensive concentration, (yes the 3 means three defensive midfielders), and opt for a quick offensive game, with high pressure on the ball. In theory, this is a cool tactic, it has helped Milan to a lot of titles – and remember France and World Title win in a similar scheme? – but as a major down to a club like Chelsea and – most important – to the owner Roman Abramovich: he needs three or more season’s to put the players in the correct places on the pitch, and the Russian likes results fast and in a cool offensive fashion.
Second, the rossoneri are known for their stability, with the season coming to the end and teams trying to secure valuable players, it’s logical that Ancelotti – with the help of Galliani and Leonardo – has a major role in new acquisitions, therefore the names of Bruno Alves (Porto) and Stéphane Sessegnon (PSG) – this one also linked with Chelsea –that have been systematically appointed to being part of Milan’s squad next season are important to make us understand that Ancelloti will stay at San Siro. On the other hand he (just like Claudio Ranieri) is eager to defeat José Mourinho.

Tip: Make no mistakes, (his one of my favorites) Ancelotti’s tactical knowledge would help the blues to cause a big impact in the Premier (after Mourinho what have they won?), but he needs a long term commitment and, nowadays, you have to look somewhere else rather than Stamford Bridge for that.