How highly do you rate Mexes ?

Do you believe Allegri would do well to stick with him next season or we should just buy a new CB? Or even promote Ely to try him out ?

My opinion is , we should stick with Thiagoat - Mexes next season . Last season Nesta was still here and Mexes missed the whole transfer preparation due to injury , in his 1st season.Not much to expect from him , but he did ok . Now with the legend gone , he's about to enter the most important period of his career , 'close' to his peak at 30 years old . Therefore , i think Thiaxes will happen next season , despite Milan buying a new CB or not .

I always thought Mexes has been under rated just because of his suspect pace , but his very good anticipation skills and fearless mentality against any kind of forward have been going unnoticed or even underestimated by Milanisti ..

I can already see him becoming a rock as Thiago's partner in the heart of our defence next season , mark my words .

I might elaborate further later, however I'll keep this brief initially. Mexes is a very fine defender to have in the squad, experienced and willing to work hard for his time. Moving forward I don't believe that Mexes should be a member of our first choice defence, however he represents one of the finest back-ups in Europe.

It might seem harsh that I don't trust Mexes to stay in our starting line-up, however despite a well deserved reputation as an excellent centre-back in the league he has always been a disappointment at the highest European level, both at Roma and even this year if you will recall his performance against Barcelona in the quarter final at the Camp Nou. Slow, clumsy, hesitant and frequently out of position, it's not a state he is used to finding himself in as he is a very strong player, however he's not at an elite level as Nesta and Silva and he will not reach such heights. It manifests itself in the league at times, however given the level if play it's generally not going to be a concern until we hit the latter stages of the CL, but then it will simply kill us.

We should purchase a new defender to partner Silva, with Mexes remaining as the first choice back-up capable of stepping into the team for league matches and being a rock. We need someone who can be nurtured by Silva as he was by Nesta, with potential to grow and with Mexes and even Bonera and Yepes ensuring internal competition it's a great environment if we choose the right player to bring in. I like Ely and Silva has spoken highly of him however he's not yet ready, though I'd have liked him to be fifth choice over Yepes personally.

Brilliant back-up, but not starting quality. If he becomes a rock, we will have Thiago to thank for it.

Should we promote Ely? Sure, give him a shot in the 1st team at least. I can't think of a good reason why not to give him a chance.

A new CB purchase of some pedigree is definitely needed unless Ely goes beast-mode when he gets his chance. I don't think he will get that chance any time soon, so we need to buy now. And not some second-rate player either, TS deserves to have Vertonghen or Ogbonna playing beside him.

Forza Rossoneri wrote:Brilliant back-up, but not starting quality. If he becomes a rock, we will have Thiago to thank for it.

Should we promote Ely? Sure, give him a shot in the 1st team at least. I can't think of a good reason why not to give him a chance.

A new CB purchase of some pedigree is definitely needed unless Ely goes beast-mode when he gets his chance. I don't think he will get that chance any time soon, so we need to buy now. And not some second-rate player either, TS deserves to have Vertonghen or Ogbonna playing beside him.

We have to consider that Milan finding the best partner for Thiago isn't that simple as naming some good defenders. Let's take Vertonghen for example . He's strong-tall , even dealt cleverly with Ibrahimovic when we met Ajax last season , has experience and he has already been a leader for Ajax . Potential written all over.

Nice stuff , but Serie A is way harder for defenders than Eredevisie and not just that ; the language barrier might be a case for Vertonghen . The need of communication between the defensive line is quite often during matches and i can only imagine some akward moments if Vertonghen doesn't know a bit of Italian.

That's not a stumbling block obviously , but it would be enough for Vertonghen not to partner Thiagoat from the first season. I guess this goes for everyone who might lack in this aspect as well , though Ely is at Milan 2 years now , he will have learned i guess

We might have to purchase another CB in any case given ; but it will prove very difficult to partner Thiago right away . There are very few that suit the characteristics and even less when we consider the economical situation we are in at the moment.

dostoevsky wrote:I might elaborate further later, however I'll keep this brief initially. Mexes is a very fine defender to have in the squad, experienced and willing to work hard for his time. Moving forward I don't believe that Mexes should be a member of our first choice defence, however he represents one of the finest back-ups in Europe.

It might seem harsh that I don't trust Mexes to stay in our starting line-up, however despite a well deserved reputation as an excellent centre-back in the league he has always been a disappointment at the highest European level, both at Roma and even this year if you will recall his performance against Barcelona in the quarter final at the Camp Nou. Slow, clumsy, hesitant and frequently out of position, it's not a state he is used to finding himself in as he is a very strong player, however he's not at an elite level as Nesta and Silva and he will not reach such heights. It manifests itself in the league at times, however given the level if play it's generally not going to be a concern until we hit the latter stages of the CL, but then it will simply kill us.

We should purchase a new defender to partner Silva, with Mexes remaining as the first choice back-up capable of stepping into the team for league matches and being a rock. We need someone who can be nurtured by Silva as he was by Nesta, with potential to grow and with Mexes and even Bonera and Yepes ensuring internal competition it's a great environment if we choose the right player to bring in. I like Ely and Silva has spoken highly of him however he's not yet ready, though I'd have liked him to be fifth choice over Yepes personally.

I agree , Mexes hasn't been the same in Europe. And this has been going on when he was in Roma as well , mostly on the later stages of the CL.

However , he's a fine proffesional on & off the pitch and he never takes things lightly during match time and i can only admire his realistic confidence . This is a rare value in football .

I can't possibly tell what he would do next season , let's say in quarter finals at least , but nothing suggests to me he can be worst than Cahill or Bayern's Boateng , really .

I could be wrong of course , because it's not that easy to step up your game at 30 , but i think the experience from the euros and the assurance and stability of a starting place will imporve him as a player . A new CB must be bough there's no doubt , because if Mexes has problems , we can't replace him with either Bonera/Yepes.

* I would like Ely to be introduced as well , he can only learn much more within the 1st team .

Economics is the real problem. I think we have enough Dutch players that Vertonghen (who is actually a Belgian), would still fit in with the rest of the team.

Back to economics.

We need a player who is talented, wants Milan enough not to also want a huge wage and is at a club who will happily sell and sell at an affordable price. This is a set of very harsh criteria.

Vertonghen is probably out of the question, although I'm hopeful that we could snag him for little more than 12m (if we have that much $).

Ogbonna is not out of the picture yet, but his NT status has put him in the spotlight and could inflate his price. I think he is a Milan fan, but Torino will want their money's worth in exchange for him. If we wait until after Euros, our window of opportunity may have passed for good.

The next best option would be to promote Ely. As far as I'm concerned, there is no logical reason to buy another mediocre defender like Acerbi or Astori to put there if we can't make a quality purchase in the market.

Regardless of what happens, whoever takes Sandro's place is going to take time to adapt. Even TS took time. He used to be much clumsier, unsure of himself and he lacked confidence. However, Milan invested some time and expertise in him and we are reaping rewards far greater than the cost of that initial time and expertise.

You can take a poor player and make him alright, or you can take a great talent and turn them into a brilliant player. If we compare our youth to the likes of Astori or Acerbi... both options cost the same, but the benefits will be dramatically different depending on that choice. If we screw this up now, CB will become the new LB.

I think the Silva-Mexes partnership is the way to go next season. Although I we should get a couple younger CB's to get in the mix. Ely should be one of them.

Mexes is heavily underrated in my opinion. He's strong, hard-working, has a great understanding of the game, and he's a very good tackler. He's a little slow but physically he's a beast. Let's not forget that on his first season back from a serious injury with a new team, he perfromed admirably for most of the season. This, despite the many injuries and make-shift defensive lineups we were forced to play.

He may not a Top 3 CB but with Silva next to him we still have a very strong CB partnership. I mean, if Pepe and Ramos can be considered one of the strongest CB partnerships in the world, then what is ours? Mexes is on the same level as those guys. They're all strong CBs that are prone to lapses of concentration.

That being said, it'd be wise to invest in some younger centre backs. Ogbonna would be a great purchase. I'm also a strong supporter of nurturing primavera players into future talents and Ely could be a could player in the future.

Cookie Monster wrote:Mexes is heavily underrated in my opinion. He's strong, hard-working, has a great understanding of the game, and he's a very good tackler. He's a little slow but physically he's a beast. Let's not forget that on his first season back from a serious injury with a new team, he perfromed admirably for most of the season. This, despite the many injuries and make-shift defensive lineups we were forced to play.

He may not a Top 3 CB but with Silva next to him we still have a very strong CB partnership. I mean, if Pepe and Ramos can be considered one of the strongest CB partnerships in the world, then what is ours? Mexes is on the same level as those guys. They're all strong CBs that are prone to lapses of concentration.

That being said, it'd be wise to invest in some younger centre backs. Ogbonna would be a great purchase. I'm also a strong supporter of nurturing primavera players into future talents and Ely could be a could player in the future.

It is indeed wise to invest in younger CBs (youngsters from the primavera in general) .

Maldini should become the next primavera coach , i always wanted this to happen . Galli is doing fine and he's doing a pretty good job if we look at last season and this one , but having the Primavera players looking at Maldini week in week out ,
not only would inspire them to try and overcome themselves , but also , they would learn a hell of a lot from the god himself . In addition , Maldini can tell who might have the characteristics needed after such a career and make fine suggestions to Allegri to choose from .
In addition , Paolo who was promoted from the primavera , could give golden advices for young CBs .

As for Mexes , yeah , we totally agree on that. I won't say he's just a great back up and nothing more , untill he proves me that on the field next season , as a regular. Also , he will be great in Serie A , the big question will be in Europe.

Mexes is the French starting center back and captain!!! I think he should be a starter for sure

Milantildeath wrote:Mexes is the French starting center back and captain!!! I think he should be a starter for sure

I thought they made Lloris captain?

Forza Rossoneri wrote:

Milantildeath wrote:Mexes is the French starting center back and captain!!! I think he should be a starter for sure

I thought they made Lloris captain?

Forza Rossoneri wrote:

Milantildeath wrote:Mexes is the French starting center back and captain!!! I think he should be a starter for sure

I thought they made Lloris captain?

Lloris is their captain,Mexes was for a few friendlies.