Giuseppe Pancaro

tell me about this man. i havent heard much about him before he came to milan and even during his transfer i didnt really expect him to figure as much in ancelotti's first team plans, other than as an experienced cover for kaladze. but ive been hearing good reports on his performances and it struck me even as i was watching the match between milan and sampdoria how terribly effective and efficient he is on that left side. he has composure and experience and whips in wonderful balls in from the flank with that sweet left foot of his. how do the milan fans rate him or even the other serie A supporters?

another thing i was thinking about was the fact that milan's backline, with the exception of nesta is not exactly youngish. it got me wondering about the deafening cry from liverpool suporters such as myself for the inclusion in our side of strong pacy centrebacks as a solution to our now leaky back four. does pace really matter or is a mixture of youth, skill and experience that is the secret to milan's defensive capabilities?

how much longer do milan fans think this backline have before replacements are due? and whom exactly do you think should be the rightful candidates?

I didnt like him at first because his left foot wasnt all that, but it's imrpoved signifigantly since then... I've realized this guy's crosses are amazing and that he always finds a way to get one in. he's proved to be much more consistent than the injury-prone Kaladze, and he might be a regular first teamer pretty soon if he keeps supplying those sublime crosses for Shevchenko and co.

and about the backline, yes, they are pretty old... Cafu and Maldini will most likely retire in 2 seasons or so, Nesta's got a good 4, maybe 5 left in him, and Kaladze fairly young (mid-20s, while Pancaro's pretty old and is only on loan anyways)

I dont know about the replacements since Chivu's at Roma, and he's been a Milan target for a while. I'm thinking one will pop out of the youth system and prove to be very useful

I've seen him play twice, once in the CL. He looks like someone living under the bridge imo, but he's a really good basic defender. Atleast way better than Laursen, who has also played in the milan back four at times. Laursen's officially poor.
nothing special, but a good basic defender on my observations.

Is he tranferred to Milan or is he just on loan from Lazio?

EDIT: On cm03/04 he's on loan so erm... questioned answer i guess.

apparently just on loan, but im not sure.

He's on loan for two season without the option to buy I think.. He was traded for Albertini That made me both sad and angry but I think Pancaro has proven to be a good player

Mainly he's playing because of the injury plagued season of Kaladze, otherwise he'd only be playing the less important matches.. But I have to admit since the first game for Milan he looked good.. In the game againts Porto for instance, making some good runs and crosses.. Sometimes it seems Milan play 2-5-1-2 with both Cafu and Pancaro playing so high up the field.. But with Maldini and Nesta, you can be assured the defence is safe.

Regarding the matter of oldish players in defence.. I think this summer Milan will get a class CB in Stam.. Bonera or Ferrari would most likely come next summer.. But all in all, Milan's old defence has been doing tremendously well simply for the fact that 1) They are Italian and 2) Milan lab. This is sort of a performance tracking thingy which tells the Milan fitness team when to rest a player and when a player will hit top form. Completely explaining why Sheva played so well againts Sparta after getting a rest againts Sampdoria. And also why Inzaghi has returned to scoring as soon as recovering from his injuries.

Pancaro has proven in his many years' experience in Serie A that he is quite good when attacking (his crossing improved very much since he's playing with Milan however) and not very good at defending. This has been a bad season for Kaladze, but I rate the Georgian international far higher than him.

Milan's defence is old? Well, Nesta has 28 years, Kaladze 26. Nesta has 8 years of career before retiring, same for Kakha - and they're world class players (yes, you may have doubts about Kakha, but there are not many left-backs that are at his level).

We have Coloccini on loan which is just 22. I've seen him play yesterday against Roma and he wasn't that bad, although he needs more experience before playing for Milan. Sincerely I think Milan will buy Stam in the summer with a two-year contract and will play with Stam-Nesta when Maldini retires in 2005, buying a young strong defender in 2005 to replace him. Thus, they would have Nesta-x (where x is this strong defender, who could be Chivu, Heitinga, or anybody who would prove strong enough, maybe even Coloccini) as a first option for the back-line, with Stam as first reserve or as a first option on the right.
I think that a strong right-back to replace Cafù will be bought in 2005, when the Brazilian's contract expires. I guess that it could be Diana from Sampdoria (27 yo in 2005) or Costa Rica international Gilberto Martinez from Brescia (24 yo in 2005).

Oh, by the way, Daniele "Blacksmith" Bonera and Matteo "Marmor Statue" Ferrari will very likely move to Juve in the summer.

I doubt BOTH Ferrari or Bonera will move to Juve.. Add Gilardino to that.. Parma aint gonna give Juve all three.. I hope

And I think the most suitable person to replace Cafu is Martinez.. He's just damn good and waiting for someone to buy him quick

Pancaro, from what I`ve seen over the years is a pretty reliable player. He started as a right back, but then played some games as a left back in Lazio, ever since then both of his foot are good for sending crosses. He is a few players in the world that can use both feet equally well.

I never thought much of him at first, but to say the truth, he's very reliable. Even if he's not the best out there, he's that consistent player that doesnt get much credit, but is helpful in almost everything.