TalkSoccer - Soccer / Football Forum - View Single Post - OFFICIAL: Milan sign Ronaldinho

skeeta · 17-07-2008, 06:00 PM

I think there is an open question as to whether his own best interests and those of Milan are congruent, especially in the long term.

There is a Wag the Dog element to this transfer.

I don't think he is an alcholic. I do think that he may have lost the edge that made him what he was, but none of us know (and neither do Barca or Milan).

Berlusconi has some history of creating media events of various sorts when he is under pressure politically. I think that the huge wave of mostly positive publicity he's gotten out of this (including things like exclusive interviews and the like) entered into his personal calculus. He's also always been Ronaldinho's biggest fan among the Milan management.

I am much more interested in seeing how this plays out on the field than in any conjecture about how much the guy drinks. There is also a pretty wide range of opinion among the serious Milanisti that I talk regularly as to their reactions to the transfer. The bandwagon fans are all very excited, but the diehards wonder whether he was the kind of player the club needed at this point in time.

17-07-2008, 06:00 PM	#222 (permalink)
skeeta TS V.I.P. Member skeeta is Offline Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,305 vCash: 1405 Rep: Rep Points: 1577	I think there is an open question as to whether his own best interests and those of Milan are congruent, especially in the long term. There is a Wag the Dog element to this transfer. I don't think he is an alcholic. I do think that he may have lost the edge that made him what he was, but none of us know (and neither do Barca or Milan). Berlusconi has some history of creating media events of various sorts when he is under pressure politically. I think that the huge wave of mostly positive publicity he's gotten out of this (including things like exclusive interviews and the like) entered into his personal calculus. He's also always been Ronaldinho's biggest fan among the Milan management. I am much more interested in seeing how this plays out on the field than in any conjecture about how much the guy drinks. There is also a pretty wide range of opinion among the serious Milanisti that I talk regularly as to their reactions to the transfer. The bandwagon fans are all very excited, but the diehards wonder whether he was the kind of player the club needed at this point in time.