Separating Bonazzoli and Puscas?

[.h.]

repost from here

Inter fans everywhere might be wondering two questions regarding our youth – Puscas and Bonazzoli, what’s the difference between them, and which one is better?

puscas and bonazzoli

Puscas and Bonazzoli are two stellar young strikers we happen to have currently at Inter Primavera. Frederico Bonazzoli has played at Inter since he was 7 years old and is a real star of the youth team – I personally have followed him since around 2011 or so and managed to watch his very rapid rise through our youth teams. Currently the second youngest player to ever play for Inter, he is on course to make a real impact at Inter.

Swapping between our Puscas and Bonazzoli duo, let’s take a look at George Puscas, who has had a very different career path to date. Moving to Inter on loan in 2013, he quickly took over a starting spot from banner-signing Alessandro Capello who has tipped for great things. He was signed outright for several hundred thousand euros (reports vary from 300,000 to 600,000) in the summer, and has moved on to claim his Primavera starting berth very quickly.

George Puscas is a clinic striker, and has netted 10 goals in 4 Primavera appearance this season, including 5 against Virtus Lanciano on the opening matchday of the season. This form has been closely mirrored by Frederico Bonazzoli, who hit 4 recently against Perugia. It gets hard to separate between them at some point, but in terms of playing styles, there is definitely a huge difference.

Bonazzoli, on the other hand, reminds me much more of someone like Vieri. He’s a physically overpowering player who can snipe from long range like Vieri just as much as he can drift in to the box, use his strength to keep the ball, and hit a tidy finish into the corner of the goal. Puscas on the other hand is a brilliant finisher – a real poacher. None of his five goals against Lanciano were particularly impressive, but it was the sheer quantity and ability to create chances that really deserved notice. He’s on set to break Primavera goalscoring records, and is reaching high praise already in Italy.

Attributes aside, what about potential? That gets much harder to judge. I think Puscas has a long way to go, and impressive as he may be in the Primavera level, it’s going to be hard to have the same level of impact at the first team. At the same time, Bonazzoli’s physique does not offer the same benefits at the senior level compared to what it offers in the youth levels. Overall, however, I think Bonazzoli just gets ahead of the race here. Puscas deserves high praise for being more clinical than Bonazzoli, but it is easy for me to imagine him being taken out of the game in the first team, despite having some great runs and knowing how to attack, whereas I think Bonazzoli’s role as a more striker-cum-target man could offer the opportunity to bring him into the game more.

Contrasting the two is a real struggle, and personally, I’d much rather see them play together in the Coppa Italia, than instead of another.

 

[thatdude]

Hey Browha, Good article.

I'm not sure if that picture on the site is supposed to be of Puscas and Bonazzoli but that's not Bonazzoli in that picture. It's odd that so many website list Bona at 6'4 when he's obviously nowhere near that. Not sure how that started. From watching both players I would say I agree that Bona has the higher potential, we should remember he's younger. A year makes a huge difference at that age. I would like to see Federico start playing with professionals next year. Puscas perhaps should have started already this year. However, both have a ton of talent.

 

[.h.]

Good catch on the photo, hopefully fixed now.
Yeah, I agree. It's the audacity I respect more than anything. Just like, 35 yards out, oh fuck it lets shoot. Reminds me a little of Balotelli in that way. Puscas needs to refine a lot but he could also be a top player - he just has a certain edge that makes me think he has a really good shot of making it, where others before him haven't (i.e. Longo, Dell'Agnello)

I think reuscas starting is kind of interesting. In one sense he could have gone on loan to a Serie B side, and who knows how he would have done? In the other hand, he's blowing away at the Primavera level now and it's going to be really really hard to ignore him. I'll be amazed if he doesnt play in a few games this season, at least, and next season it will boost his chances of being picked up by a better team tbh. Whether he will make the cut there is a different question.

If he had an average/decent season in the Primavera, I'd agree 100%, should be out on loan. But when you're blowing people away like this... its less clear to me

 

[ScottishInterista]

Would prato be good enough for them to go together and work on their partnership as a front two?

 

[.h.]

I dunno. I dont think they're at the age yet where they should be focussed on developing a partnership, but rather, playing with new players, getting new ideas, etc.

Prato would probably be under both their levels imho.

 

[Bluenine]

Ideally, Mazzarri should give both of them a start in a Coppa game, or in the EL once we have secured qualification from the group. But it won't happen. Specially if we continue to struggle in the league, Mazzarri will focus his bets players on meaningless games in the coppa, and winning dead rubbers in the EL. Mazzarri would rather waste 5-10m on a Biabiany than give someone like Bonazzoli a shot.

 

[bandiera]

Prato would probably be under both their levels imho.

I wouldnt be too sure. serie c, for example, shouldve been bessa's first loan destination. The reason we ironed out an agreement with Prato was to ease the transition. for example, if bonazzoli is too unimposing physically, I can see him benched in serie b..

I think ive also made my stance on puscas clear as well. hes racking in a spectacular amount of goals, but only against shitty primavera sides. Theres nothing special about him aside from scoring, much like Longo. No build up play, hold up play, creativity, or technical ability - his game is only using his movement to evade future amateur footballers. And he's 18, which makes his accomplishments much less credible (a lot of primavera sides have average age of 17, close to 16).

because bonazzoli is also limited, the question is whether or not his limited attributes are good enough to translate into serie b or even serie a. and if his game is dependent on out-muscling opposition defenders at this level, then I'd be surprised if he could keep it up against professional footballers.

 

[.h.]

No, I think that's unfair on Bonazzoli. I mean, you notice his impressive physique, but it is more than anything his technique that really does it, in a roundabout way. The audacity and the technique.

Puscas, I'd say its a bit different. He's really clinical. Icardi might not offer all that much, but similarly, Puscas has a great eye for goal. What more do you need in a striker, tbh. If (hypothetically) he scores 30 a season, who cares what else he offers?

Longo was also much more mediocre. Puscas is streets ahead in terms of goals of any other striker we've had in our Primavera in the last 15+ years.

 

[bandiera]

No, I think that's unfair on Bonazzoli. I mean, you notice his impressive physique, but it is more than anything his technique that really does it, in a roundabout way. The audacity and the technique.

Puscas, I'd say its a bit different. He's really clinical. Icardi might not offer all that much, but similarly, Puscas has a great eye for goal. What more do you need in a striker, tbh. If (hypothetically) he scores 30 a season, who cares what else he offers?

Longo was also much more mediocre. Puscas is streets ahead in terms of goals of any other striker we've had in our Primavera in the last 15+ years.

Fair enough on bonazzoli. lets just see what happens. we've both made our positions clear so lets agree to disagree. a loan should be on the cards as soon as january if he continues his form though.

re puscas, if you look at clips of icardi at youth level, he looks as complete as suarez or cavani. Im not saying poachers are bad. rather, it is questionable he can evade professional defenders in the way he evades shitty future amateur footballers using his movement - and because he has nothing else to his game, he won't make it professionally. just like how it was questionable icardi could dribble past pro footballers like how he glided past them at youth level.

and puscas is 18, which is on average a year older than a lot of primavera sides. at this level, what the players do is meaningless compared to how they do it. eg. longo vs livaja

- - - Updated - - -

Icardi aged 15. go to 0:57..

 

[.h.]

Fair enough on bonazzoli. lets just see what happens. we've both made our positions clear so lets agree to disagree. a loan should be on the cards as soon as january if he continues his form though.

re puscas, if you look at clips of icardi at youth level, he looks as complete as suarez or cavani. Im not saying poachers are bad. rather, it is questionable he can evade professional defenders in the way he evades shitty future amateur footballers using his movement - and because he has nothing else to his game, he won't make it professionally. just like how it was questionable icardi could dribble past pro footballers like how he glided past them at youth level.

and puscas is 18, which is on average a year older than a lot of primavera sides. at this level, what the players do is meaningless compared to how they do it. eg. longo vs livaja

- - - Updated - - -

Icardi aged 15. go to 0:57..

well, you're right, lets see what happens

I think both of them have a real chance to make it. Clearly they have a lot to develop still, though.

 

[Caecuban]

Great thread browha, really nice to have insight on our promising kids who (hopefully) will get some playing time this season.

 

[thatdude]

Fair enough on bonazzoli. lets just see what happens. we've both made our positions clear so lets agree to disagree. a loan should be on the cards as soon as january if he continues his form though.

re puscas, if you look at clips of icardi at youth level, he looks as complete as suarez or cavani. Im not saying poachers are bad. rather, it is questionable he can evade professional defenders in the way he evades shitty future amateur footballers using his movement - and because he has nothing else to his game, he won't make it professionally. just like how it was questionable icardi could dribble past pro footballers like how he glided past them at youth level.

and puscas is 18, which is on average a year older than a lot of primavera sides. at this level, what the players do is meaningless compared to how they do it. eg. longo vs livaja

- - - Updated - - -

Icardi aged 15. go to 0:57..

Bandiera, let's be fair here and compare apples to apples. That video is of Icardi before he even went to Barcelona, god knows what competition that was against. Future amateur footballers for sure.

Look at this video that is more recent and actually against primavera level competition. Not nearly as dominate as one would think.

 

[bandiera]

Oh... that's a good point.

Still, upon watching those videos, you can detect his trademark movement plus some creativity, a lot of hold up play, technique, and spatial awareness. You look at Destro, and you see those same qualities plus speed and fantastic first touch.

The only thing you see when you look at puscas are a fuckload of goals. And bonazzoli is also pretty limited. The main question is whether or not those limited attributes can translate over to the highest level, and whether or not bonazzoli (in particular) can grow and become more complete.

At the end of the day, its stupid for me to say one player will make it and another will fail, because a lot of it comes down to intangibles like mentality. What is certain is that they should both consider loans in january. I've made my points clear many times before, as have you and browha, so lets just agree to disagree.

 

[Kraits]

We should cut down the senior squad to 20-21, let 4-5 primera players train in 1st team.. and these players will be selected to play in primera even though not training with them.. same goes for all youth setup...

Example : 4-5 under 18 train with under 21 but play with under 18... 4-5 under 16 train with under 18 but play for under 16...

 

[Hugo Boss]

Good Good Article Browha, as usual.
But under WM I'm sure both of Puscas and Bona won't feature in any kind of match... Maybe a match if Inter are through earlier in EL.
Or couple of minutes after winning 7 goal up against Sassuolo...