05-17-2012, 03:46 PM
(05-17-2012, 01:19 PM)Revolver Wrote: Agree with everything that Kastriot said.
Mexes is very good. Sometimes prone to mistakes, and slow in one on ones, but let's be honest, we can't bring in better defender for under 15M.
Abate, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks he was much better in 2010/2011. Although, I don't think he's THAT bad crosser, it's more that we don't have a real poacher anymore to get on the end of his crosses, except of Pato, who's always injured. I'd agree that we should try more defensive minded side back at that position.
On the transfer market, Zamparini has said that we will not buy Silvestre because we are bringing just out of contract players. Very painful. Owners of mid-table clubs are making fun of our management.
Mexes is difficult to judge, he's a sound player if supported by the correct players and not expected to take on too much responsibility, but we cannot and should not ignore he is mistake prone, particularly with his positioning. His mental strength and ability to cope under pressure is impressive though.
I don't think he'll be sold this summer, as I just don't think the club would risk selling him when we already lost Nesta. However, I don't see him as more than a squad player and we still need a long term replacement for Nesta.
Regarding Abate, I'm not sure why there's so much debate over him. We've known for 3 years what he's like and if I'm honest, with the exceptions of derbies I think he's really solid at RB and the stats back this up. There appears to be some psychological issues in derbies though.
Going forward he's less than spectacular, but he's valuable as he's solid on the ball (doesn't lose possession easily) and is one of the few players in our side that has the pace to take on opponents to reach the end of the pitch. His dribbling isn't particularly great, but he's very direct and this works with how Allegri wants to play. He needs work in his end product, which is lacking. Statistically, I also remember reading he's one of the best fullback performers in Serie A this season.
We have bigger concerns than Abate.