Sebastiano Esposito

[#NotForMe]

He was injured for 4 games make sense it will take some time to get back to the starting 11. He was subbed in around the 60 mins last game, didn't get to watch it yet

 

[Gaindé]

Back from injury, played a big part in beating Fiorentina.
We need more of these young guys and less of the Assholovic and Correa types.

 

[.h.]

honestly i still stand by that being fucking crazy

arnautovic scored more goals in CL+ Serie A than Esposito did in Serie B last year.

.

 

[Gaindé]

.

Esposito scored more goals in serie A than Arnautovic this season.
Esposito provided more assists in Serie A than Arnautovic.
Now that even the statistics aren't helping maybe people can watch him play and see that he is not even all about statistics?

Comparing Arnautovic's tap-ins to make it 4-0 at Inter where he has the likes of Dimarco to cross and Calhanoglu to assist to what Esposito produces for Empoli with Solbakken and Cacace is not the way...

 

[.h.]

Arnautovic has played 66min in the league t he is season.

On Esposito's strike rate (1 goal per 283 in the league), Arnautovic has 4x more games than he's already played before he scores to keep pace with Esposito

Esposito has had some bright spots in the season but the level he's still performing at isn't enough for us

 

[Besnik]

@.h., I don't know what you're trying to prove with these statistics and data?

Arnautovic's level of performing and goal/assist tally isn't good enough either. He was supposed to carry our attack when needed, but instead he was complete ass for major time.

Esposito though, may not be good enough or us yet, but he's got an incredible talent. Just needs to put in proper attitude and effort. There is no doubt regarding his footballing ability of his age. You can tell the boy knows football. Goals he scores or assists he makes are special.

You see many talents in La Liga getting shoutouts a lot, not because they are THAT good, but it's because of their environment and culture of producing young players. Too bad in Italian football these things aren't up to date.

 

[.h.]

My point with Esposito is that he's a guy who has had 5 years on loans and basically all of them have failed. He's closer to new longo than he is Inter. People underestimate the gap between being a mediocre Serie B striker and a player who can help at Inter.

His brother on the other hand now we are talking. Not ready yet but in a couple of years he's the sort of kid we should be fostering into a rotation spot on the squad

 

[Gaindé]

Arnautovic has played 66min in the league t he is season.

On Esposito's strike rate (1 goal per 283 in the league), Arnautovic has 4x more games than he's already played before he scores to keep pace with Esposito

Esposito has had some bright spots in the season but the level he's still performing at isn't enough for us

I'm sure you can find any statistics you want to make it seem like Arnautovic is a better option but honestly even the fact that in a league where we've had to play midweek games and the likes of Verona and Venezia, Arnautovic has only played 66 minutes is a negative statistic.

Is the level Arnautovic has been performing at enough for us? Honestly even Correa was able to produce several performances where he looked like the player we wanted when we signed him. Arnautovic is nearing his 50th game for us, when has he done that?

Other than coming on the pitch looking like he's about to cry, being thrown around by defenders half his size and making backheel passes what's his contribution? If it wasn't for Thuram's late goal people wouldn't close their eyes over his awful penalty miss in CL as well...
Take Arnautovic out of the roster and nobody will notice. Useless.

Esposito has been important for 90% of the teams he is been loaned to and now he is also having a good start with Empoli in Serie A, being once again very important for them despite being just 22. We need this more than we need a player without future that doesn't contribute in the present.

 

[.h.]

I'm sure you can find any statistics you want to make it seem like Arnautovic is a better option but honestly even the fact that in a league where we've had to play midweek games and the likes of Verona and Venezia, Arnautovic has only played 66 minutes is a negative statistic.

Is the level Arnautovic has been performing at enough for us? Honestly even Correa was able to produce several performances where he looked like the player we wanted when we signed him. Arnautovic is nearing his 50th game for us, when has he done that?

Other than coming on the pitch looking like he's about to cry, being thrown around by defenders half his size and making backheel passes what's his contribution? If it wasn't for Thuram's late goal people wouldn't close their eyes over his awful penalty miss in CL as well...
Take Arnautovic out of the roster and nobody will notice. Useless.

And in those appearances he has averaged one goal per 170 minutes. It's not great don't get me wrong but it's a 1-in-2 average. Way ahead of Esposito.

That's my point. We call Arnautovic ass but his strike rate during the twilight of his career when even I say I'm disappointed in the guy and did NOT want him back at Inter, is higher than anything Esposito has delivered

No one disputes the kid has talent, but after 5 years of failing to capitalise on it and consistently showing poor professionalism, etc, he's not an exciting prospect for Inter. Similiar with Satriano. There are other people we should focus on.


And look at the vitriol people give Arnautovic around here (correctly imho), imagine if he scored half his current rate. Inter fans are actually very forgiving to youth players, despite the fact that we always say we need to be.

 

[Besnik]

My point with Esposito is that he's a guy who has had 5 years on loans and basically all of them have failed. He's closer to new longo than he is Inter. People underestimate the gap between being a mediocre Serie B striker and a player who can help at Inter.

His brother on the other hand now we are talking. Not ready yet but in a couple of years he's the sort of kid we should be fostering into a rotation spot on the squad

I see you haven't even read my post properly, because I never wrote he's a player who can help Inter (for now). Whether he's going to develope into a great player, it remains to be seen, but the talent is there, and he's actually a VERY talented player. Some players won't become great player because of their character, not because they're lacking footballing skills.

Longo wasn't that special on his early days. Esposito is more slick and flashy, he's got a great technique aswell, and is quite confident for his age.

I mean, no point of going into such details as pointing out attributes, but major thing is that he's a special talent. There is a possibility that he never reaches Inter level, but that surely won't be because of his footballing issues.

 

[.h.]

I see you haven't even read my post properly, because I never wrote he's a player who can help Inter (for now). Whether he's going to develope into a great player, it remains to be seen, but the talent is there, and he's actually a VERY talented player. Some players won't become great player because of their character, not because they're lacking footballing skills.

Longo wasn't that special on his early days. Esposito is more slick and flashy, he's got a great technique aswell.

I mean, no point of going into such details as pointing out attributes, but major thing is that he's a special talent. There is a possibility that he never reaches Inter level, but that surely won't be because of his footballing issues.

That's broadly fair, he does have good technique, but he's struggling to consistent convert that into output on the ground..need to see how this season goes but he started well and hasn't kept at that level since

 

[Gaindé]

Again you're just talking statistics and numbers, while there are other elementd to take into accoudn Esposito is not a pure finisher and shares his minutes between striker and second striker for Empoli. Arnautovic usually comes in when the games are already done and dusted.
Most of his goals are statpadding tap-ins.

If you compare just statistics it's bound to leave some aspects of his game out.
Take Thuram's last season performance only statistic wise and it becomes a very normal season.

 

[CafeCordoba]

My point with Esposito is that he's a guy who has had 5 years on loans and basically all of them have failed. He's closer to new longo than he is Inter. People underestimate the gap between being a mediocre Serie B striker and a player who can help at Inter.

His brother on the other hand now we are talking. Not ready yet but in a couple of years he's the sort of kid we should be fostering into a rotation spot on the squad

To me his loans to Bari and Sampdoria didn't fail. He was an important player for both clubs.

Now he's doing a work in Serie A, at Empoli.

But I agree, it's a whole different thing to do this at Empoli and at Inter. Now in hindsight, Arnautovic this season has been a massive failure, but as said, it's hindsight. No one in their right mind would have put Esposito in Arnautovic's position at the start of this season. Espo needs his proper Serie A experience first. And like it's been mentioned in this discussion, they aren't even similar type of strikers so it's a bit of apples to oranges comparison here.

 

[.h.]

Like I said above let's see what he actually achieved this season. But as I've said in here before - when was the last time Inter had a striker who intentionally didn't score loads of goals and we were 100% fine with it? Probably pandev? Being a player at Inter means there's pressure to deliver goals but also a good rounded performance too. Not saying he needs to be 25 a season to be at Inter but he needs to be a lot better than any of his seasons to date.

 

[Hikonyán]

I dont get the obsession from some users here to desperately make it sound like this guy is something special.

If he wasnt an Inter academy player and lets say a Fiorentina academy player, not a single one of you would ever have paid a second worth of attention to him. Why? Because he is nothing special at all. The fact that only serie b teams and bottom table serie a teams show fringe interest in him at the age of 22 proves this.

Stop to glorify everything that comes out of Inters academy as some wasting chance to get the next messi. This guy will NEVER be top team material.

Then we get golden comments, comparing him and saying he might be able to offer the same as Arnautovic and Corea, well woopediwoo, how is that relevant? We need far better players than Arnautovic and Corea. This average talent esposito will never the solution.

 

[Gaindé]

I dont get the obsession from some users here to desperately make it sound like this guy is something special.

If he wasnt an Inter academy player and lets say a Fiorentina academy player, not a single one of you would ever have paid a second worth of attention to him. Why? Because he is nothing special at all. The fact that only serie b teams and bottom table serie a teams show fringe interest in him at the age of 22 proves this.

Stop to glorify everything that comes out of Inters academy as some wasting chance to get the next messi. This guy will NEVER be top team material.

Then we get golden comments, comparing him and saying he might be able to offer the same as Arnautovic and Corea, well woopediwoo, how is that relevant? We need far better players than Arnautovic and Corea. This average talent esposito will never the solution.

Got to love people that actually read the future and can tell you which player is going to be top team material and which is not. Especially for a 22 years old as if our team is not full of players who were nobodys at 22...

Also yes, the debate is about how they would do better than some of the expensive useless players we have. We need far better players than Anautovic and Correa, agreed, can we afford to ignore some players that show potential? No.

And if your point is that we only pay attention to them because we own them, it actually makes full sense because it's the way it's supposed to be.
Using our young players before getting garbage from elsewhere makes sense when you're counting pennies the way we are, I don't know what you think the academy is for.

 

[PHM1605]

I dont get the obsession from some users here to desperately make it sound like this guy is something special.

If he wasnt an Inter academy player and lets say a Fiorentina academy player, not a single one of you would ever have paid a second worth of attention to him. Why? Because he is nothing special at all. The fact that only serie b teams and bottom table serie a teams show fringe interest in him at the age of 22 proves this.

Stop to glorify everything that comes out of Inters academy as some wasting chance to get the next messi. This guy will NEVER be top team material.

Then we get golden comments, comparing him and saying he might be able to offer the same as Arnautovic and Corea, well woopediwoo, how is that relevant? We need far better players than Arnautovic and Corea. This average talent esposito will never the solution.

Nobody is asking for the next Messi. But a better Correa and Arnautovic. Stop pulling discussion to the extreme polar bro.

Even if he is as useless as them he already saves us a lot of resources. To invest in stars that worth it, like a new Acerbi replacement.

When we have the opportunity for a better like David? Fine, sell the kid, he is young and willing to prove elsewhere. Instead of eating tens of millions, waiting till contract expiration and blocking reinforcement like the two. Forget last summer? "But but Inter can't buy xyz unless Arnautovic and Correa leave..." - the "unless" that never happen.

 

[.h.]

Got to love people that actually read the future and can tell you which player is going to be top team material and which is not. Especially for a 22 years old as if our team is not full of players who were nobodys at 22...

Also yes, the debate is about how they would do better than some of the expensive useless players we have. We need far better players than Anautovic and Correa, agreed, can we afford to ignore some players that show potential? No.

And if your point is that we only pay attention to them because we own them, it actually makes full sense because it's the way it's supposed to be.
Using our young players before getting garbage from elsewhere makes sense when you're counting pennies the way we are, I don't know what you think the academy is for.

People love peddling this argument that our team was full of nobodies aged 22. Its just not true.

Ill post some stats later, but basically Dimarco and Acerbi are the exception. Everyone else is performing at a very high level by 22.


I'll do our starting 11 for now

Aged 22, turning 23, Sommer was the starting keeper for Basel in the Swiss Super League, and playing in the Champions League (first season).
22 turning 23, Dumfries had just signed for PSV, was their starting RB, and playing in the CL.
Acerbi is an exception, as he was playing at Reggina, but was their first team starter for the whole season - the next year, he was playing for Chievo in the Serie A
Pavard aged 22, turning 23, had just signed for Bayern in the Bundesliga and played 47 matches for them that year.
Dimarco was playing at Verona in his first year on loan out from Inter to Verona
Bastoni aged 22 had been an Inter starter for 2/3 years already.
Hakan was in his third or fourth full season of Bundesliga depending on how you count it, starting every game basically and making massive impact
Mkhi had just signed for Shakthar and was scoring plenty of goals, playing in the Champions league (several years by then)
Barella had signed for Inter, was a well known player with Italy caps under his belt, and several years of being a star at Cagliari
Thuram would score 14 goals in the Bundesliga for Borussia Monchengladbach
Lautaro was already in his second season at Inter as a starter


I think I knew of every single one of those players aged 22 except Dumfries, Acerbi, and maybe Thuram.


This 'romantic' dream of football where raw talent alone means you get a good shot at being a top player, even aged 22/23/24, is long out the window. As the sport is 'more professional' in the last two decades, its more about experience and game time. I've never found the article again, but I remember reading like, EARLY 2010s, City's data analysis department did some work and found that 75% of players in the CL latter stages were ALREADY playing CL aged 18.

I remember watching a chess video with Hikaru, and someone asked the question about someone coming out of nowhere to thunder a 2400 rating or something like that. Hikaru was like, its simply impossible now, you need to get the experience against top level opponents to develop the tactics/skills to get to that sort of level.

Football is much the same way now, you NEED the consistent experience of playing at a high level and developing really fucking quickly to deliver on the top stage.


There was some stat comparing Bellingham to Beckham I think? At where Bellingham is now in his career, Beckham had had 52 professional matches. Bellingham is on like 200.

Talent opens the door, but experience gets you through it. And to be blunt, thats the problem with Seba Esposito and where I like his brother more. His brother had an OK season at Spezia last year, but started most games. He's now developed into an important/star player for them. The guy is 18 and a half, and he already has nearly 3k minutes in Serie B under his belt. There's no getting benched. Theres no attitude problems. The guy is just developing and learning.

Who knows if he'll 'make it' or not yet, time will tell, but thats why I get excited about kids like Pio, and not kids like Satriano who turn 20 without even playing a minute of pro football.

 

[Gaindé]

People love peddling this argument that our team was full of nobodies aged 22. Its just not true.

Ill post some stats later, but basically Dimarco and Acerbi are the exception. Everyone else is performing at a very high level by 22.


I'll do our starting 11 for now

Aged 22, turning 23, Sommer was the starting keeper for Basel in the Swiss Super League, and playing in the Champions League (first season).
22 turning 23, Dumfries had just signed for PSV, was their starting RB, and playing in the CL.
Acerbi is an exception, as he was playing at Reggina, but was their first team starter for the whole season - the next year, he was playing for Chievo in the Serie A
Pavard aged 22, turning 23, had just signed for Bayern in the Bundesliga and played 47 matches for them that year.
Dimarco was playing at Verona in his first year on loan out from Inter to Verona
Bastoni aged 22 had been an Inter starter for 2/3 years already.
Hakan was in his third or fourth full season of Bundesliga depending on how you count it, starting every game basically and making massive impact
Mkhi had just signed for Shakthar and was scoring plenty of goals, playing in the Champions league (several years by then)
Barella had signed for Inter, was a well known player with Italy caps under his belt, and several years of being a star at Cagliari
Thuram would score 14 goals in the Bundesliga for Borussia Monchengladbach
Lautaro was already in his second season at Inter as a starter


I think I knew of every single one of those players aged 22 except Dumfries, Acerbi, and maybe Thuram.


This 'romantic' dream of football where raw talent alone means you get a good shot at being a top player, even aged 22/23/24, is long out the window. As the sport is 'more professional' in the last two decades, its more about experience and game time. I've never found the article again, but I remember reading like, EARLY 2010s, City's data analysis department did some work and found that 75% of players in the CL latter stages were ALREADY playing CL aged 18.

I remember watching a chess video with Hikaru, and someone asked the question about someone coming out of nowhere to thunder a 2400 rating or something like that. Hikaru was like, its simply impossible now, you need to get the experience against top level opponents to develop the tactics/skills to get to that sort of level.

Football is much the same way now, you NEED the consistent experience of playing at a high level and developing really fucking quickly to deliver on the top stage.


There was some stat comparing Bellingham to Beckham I think? At where Bellingham is now in his career, Beckham had had 52 professional matches. Bellingham is on like 200.

Talent opens the door, but experience gets you through it.

You did the starting 11 while nobody said Esposito was anywhere near their level. A team is far more than the starting 11 and the argument Hikonyan used is that he is a nobody at 22 which he says is why basically he'll never make it to a top team and I'm adamant that's not a proof of anything.
Players are different and can perform differently depending on the context.
Before the contractual issues in 2019/2020, Esposito was actually on track to be very special at 17, playing in CL and in Serie A. It wasn't disciplinary issues or lack of talent that made us send him away.
And the talent is still there if you watch him play. 22 and starting in Serie A, and performing. My opinion is that I'd give him a chance over the many Arnautovic and Caicedo we've been signing.

 

[Glass box]

I dont get the obsession from some users here to desperately make it sound like this guy is something special.

If he wasnt an Inter academy player and lets say a Fiorentina academy player, not a single one of you would ever have paid a second worth of attention to him. Why? Because he is nothing special at all. The fact that only serie b teams and bottom table serie a teams show fringe interest in him at the age of 22 proves this.

Stop to glorify everything that comes out of Inters academy as some wasting chance to get the next messi. This guy will NEVER be top team material.

Then we get golden comments, comparing him and saying he might be able to offer the same as Arnautovic and Corea, well woopediwoo, how is that relevant? We need far better players than Arnautovic and Corea. This average talent esposito will never the solution.

Arnautovic and Correa cost 45 million euros in transfer fees only while the likes of Esposito don't cost nothing since they're Inter's already.