Do you believe Dusan is mentally prepared to pull the weight of the whole attack unit this season?

26 comments

1. I think the biggest problem is that he has 0 competition for his role.

2. Well this is where he decides if he belongs here.

3. I personally think doing well at Fiorentina isn’t much of a benchmark to warrant his transfer fee and wages

   I also think paying ludicrous wages to a player makes him feel like the protagonist and this often means he is more focused on scoring himself rather than being a team player

   Only players of the calibre of CR7 can afford to be egoistic as they have a proven track record of being able to do it, guys like vlahovic especially in dry spells are better off perfecting their assisting

   Truth be told, if he wasn’t on big wages and didn’t cost a fortune to buy, he would be sold for petty cash to some mid table team

4. I have no doubt that Dusan believes he is mentally prepared to lead the line. Unfortunately, I’m not sure he’s technically gifted enough. With next summer being his “renew or leave” situation (where “leave” seems most likely due to his wages), we really need him to perform so we can sell him for good money. But Dusan has showed he is very inconsistent in front of goal- and it often seems due to too many touches or poor touches or lack of a right foot. Free kicks and penalties pad his poor conversion rate. Now, in a Motta scheme that is largely goal-by-committee, he should get more and better opportunities as our other players garner more attention and we have more touches in and around the goal. The Verona game showed his upside. The Como showed the downside. But I look at all of his games and don’t see his mentality as the problem.

   Edit:a word

5. His touch is awful so he is not helpful with holdup play. He can’t seem to finish easy chances and he’s shown his incompetence at connecting with other players during the counter. Hopefully more time under Motta allows him to find some rhythm…

6. Hard question. Dusan has great physical attributes and he seems mentally tough. However, he may be in his own head too much. Mottaball, where positions are more interchangeable in the moment, will require Dusan to think a bit differently about how he should be playing the 9. It may take a while before it’s clear whether he fits this style of play.

7. Yes he’s mentally prepared. He’s shown great attitude when missing goal scoring opportunities, inaccurate passes from teammates when making runs and the occasional “that should’ve been my goal” situations. In these situations he’s always applauding the positive aspects. He may get frustrated during the match but he shows great attitude and resilience.
   The fan base needs to be supportive of the team whether the players are performing well or not. Criticism will always come from the outside but the fan base should support the team and players during this time of change. That’s our duty as fans.

8. His biggest weakness is his first touch, and I just don’t know if that’s something that can improve significantly enough even if you work hard on it. I think it’s a type of natural talent or intelligence in knowing how to control the ball, some people have it and some people don’t.

   He’s a good player but he needs a truly strong season in our jersey to put any doubts to rest. I want to see him being clinical and taking his holdup game to another level, we’ll see if he can do that.

   But if he struggles, I can see the management wanting to move onto another alternative.

   We did the same with Dybala and Chiesa, even though they were big names. Don’t be surprised if we do it again with Vlahovic if he doesn’t perform.

   I really wish him the best, he seems like a good lad. But we need a striker who we can win the Scudetto and go far in the CL with, and he has to demonstrate that.

9. i wanna see him under new coach for a whole season, than i can judge

10. Not sure about the “whole attack” when we have enough attacking options, not another big striker but we have plenty of attacking players

11. No, he cannot do it all himself, would have been nice to have a 2nd threat

12. I think Motta will try to play Nico in that role and I think he would be much better than Vlahović

    Hopefully that pushes Dušan to improve himself, we don’t need another Sandro

13. He lacks that first touch,even when he lands the ball he takes too much time to position himself or the ball so he can shoot it with his left foot! His right foot is non existent even for passing the ball to his other foot! Also his surprise movements are not what you would expect from a number 9… Lukaku for example or even Morata can dance ballet inside the 16 m,turn left turn right jump up and down even with the ball in their body! Im not an expert and im not sure if those are things you can improve or are gifts you have since the beginning

14. I really think this is a make it or break it season for him with us, he’s settled in, has a good team behind him, has all the reasons to score a lot.

    If he doesn’t we will see him going next summer.

15. He’s being used as a target man for long balls and to hold them, but he’s more of a poacher and has to attack the ball. His first touch is not amongst the most elegant ones but je could at least try to move the ball agains the opponent while receiving it but all the time he want’s to stop it directly from the direction it came from no matter of there is any opponent or not. It takes him to long to turn with the ball too so I don’t understand why he’s beeing used for a hold up.
    But while faceing the goal and attacking it he can be deadly.

16. Nico playing that Zirkzee role is a very high possibility if Vlahovic continues playing like he’s fully drunk.

17. Vlahovic tries too hard and is way too inside his own head sometimes. If he can get over that then he will have a good season.

    If he isn’t proving his wages/price tag by February, management will probably try and push him out.

18. Technical issues aside, Dusan is simply not cold enough of a player to be a top striker. He gets agitated when he’s in the middle of a game and things don’t go his way, and starts making lots and lots of mistakes. He needs to go.

19. No. He is not ready and will not be.

20. We pay him 12 millions per year (meaning 24 millions gross), unless he contributes like a top player with 30 goal per season (between Serie, Champions League and Coppa Italia) he’ll be gone at the end of the season.

    Lautaro recently renewed his contract for Inter and even with this big money increase he “only” earn 9 millions per year and his contribution is much superior than Vlahovic.

    This year is the “prove it” season for Vlahovic, he knows it and that’s why he gets frustrated easily. But aside from the mental aspect, his technical skills aren’t top notch….he’s slow and he clearly showed problems in ball handling, passing and field vision. A player with a contract like his must be perfect

21. he’s young and still has the ability to improve. Let him get settled into a brand new system with a new manager before we judge him too harshly these two games. If we’re still here around January or February major questions have to be asked about keeping him.

22. i’m actually going to disagree with your first sentence. I don’t think Dusan has exceptional talent. I think he’s probably the most overrated player in serie A and as a fan base we just don’t want to admit that we made a huge mistake spending big on this guy.

23. For 12 million euros … he has to be ready

24. He had a brace just last week. I wouldn’t go into panic mode yet

25. No and he never will be.

26. Guy is a professional. Yes, he’s prepared and I know he’ll do well.

    I want us to be more unselfish and that includes Dusan