[X-Offender]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[han2503]

Damn! Here's the Gazzetta link, hopefully it works for you: http://video.gazzetta.it/coppa-grecia-auto...a2-d3345ece9207

That looked pretty deliberate if you ask me...

[X-Offender]

Amazing injury-time winner from own half!

[rip]

http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/chennai...ps?ICID=MP_MS_2

Dont think many of you know about this. This league in India brings in veteran players to play with them. Nesta and Delpiero was playing on either side. i watched the first half. Nestas team was leading. But it seems Delpieros team got two goals back and drew the match. Watching Nesta play really brought back memories. He still better than some of the players *cough* Bonera *cough* in our current squad (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Wish them both luck in the new league

[han2503]

http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/chennai...ps?ICID=MP_MS_2

Dont think many of you know about this. This league in India brings in veteran players to play with them. Nesta and Delpiero was playing on either side. i watched the first half. Nestas team was leading. But it seems Delpieros team got two goals back and drew the match. Watching Nesta play really brought back memories. He still better than some of the players *cough* Bonera *cough* in our current squad (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Wish them both luck in the new league

I still wish we'd convinced him to stay for a couple more years. He was still great when he left

[X-Offender]

I still wish we'd convinced him to stay for a couple more years. He was still great when he left

Agreed. The only player who didn't get worse with age from Carlo's team.

[Danny]

Don't totally agree there. He struggled in the last few years here, and didn't produce half as many great displays as he used to.

One fine tie he excelled in latterly was the Bayern CL (last 16?) match, forget which year. He was collosal.

[han2503]

Don't totally agree there. He struggled in the last few years here, and didn't produce half as many great displays as he used to.

One fine tie he excelled in latterly was the Bayern CL (last 16?) match, forget which year. He was collosal.

Last season here, Nou Camp; made Messi look like a kid on the playground.

Nesta mostly had injury issues, that's why he wasn't able to really play regularly (but that has been true for most of his career), but when he played, he was still as cool, calm and gifted as he ever was, and he's also the reason why Thiago Silva flourished so much imo

[X-Offender]

Last season here, Nou Camp; made Messi look like a kid on the playground.

Nesta mostly had injury issues, that's why he wasn't able to really play regularly (but that has been true for most of his career), but when he played, he was still as cool, calm and gifted as he ever was, and he's also the reason why Thiago Silva flourished so much imo

Agreed. He was a world class player until the very end. Can't say the same thing about Gattuso, Seedorf, Kaká, Shevchenko, Inzaghi and the rest of the Carlo gang.

[acid911]

Agreed. He was a world class player until the very end. Can't say the same thing about Gattuso, Seedorf, Kaká, Shevchenko, Inzaghi and the rest of the Carlo gang.

This I agree with. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) And well, you're not including Maldini in the Carlo gang, which he was not. But while I've always placed Nesta a notch below Paolo, he really is the second best defender of all time in my books. That's when he was not injured and all that. Because, boy, did he get injured like there was no tomorrow.

But despite that, the guy had it all. He may not have been at his peak in his final years, but he was still good.

[Fillipo Simone]

Agreed. The only player who didn't get worse with age from Carlo's team.

Didn't get worse...

It's completely natural that players deteriorate, with only few to none exemptions. The problem with Milan, and I always stressed this matter, is that we never managed to find a balance between senators and younglings and that we had a whole generation of players who started deteriorate approximately at the same moment. Nesta was no worse or better then Costacurta or Maldini in his last days, in terms of "getting worse" or deterioration.

But the problem with Nesta always were his injuries. This was decisive in many aspects of his career.

[X-Offender]

Nesta was no worse or better then Costacurta or Maldini in his last days, in terms of "getting worse" or deterioration.

Nope, Nesta ended it with a bang because he knew when to retire and didn't overstretch his stay, unlike Maldini and Costacurta.

[acid911]

Nope, Nesta ended it with a bang because he knew when to retire and didn't overstretch his stay, unlike Maldini and Costacurta.

Overstretch? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif) It was because of Maldini we won the 2007 CL, where he ended up as the defender of the tournament. Seedorf snapped up the midfield award, and Kaka the attacker. Nesta, sadly, got injured at just the wrong time, but luckily made it back in time for the business end. Played remarkably well in the final.

Costacurta, I can understand in some aspects, but Maldini was still at top when he hung up his boots. Could match it up with strikers half his age. Did he make the odd error? Sure, everyone did it, including Nest and Silva at their prime. A lot of them also had to do with our squad that was showing cracks.

Recall how Manchester United scored goals from his side at home in the first leg of the semifinal when Maldini was substituted? In 2007. Or in 2009 against Arsenal in London? He was universally praised in the match, which essentially was his second last in the Champions League. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/goodheart.gif) It was his natural athleticism that saw him through.

Could he have retired a year or two earlier? Maybe. You can probably say that for most players this side of Nesta, who I thought still had it in him to play one season, two even. Which he did technically. But he should have stayed here and ended his career at Milan. Don't fault him for leaving, though, but he had it in him till the end.

Unlike most other players that you mentioned. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sleep.gif) Only Ambrosini came up in the list of two that I was okay with staying. As a sub. Others like Seedorf, Gattuso and Inzaghi were down and out by their last couple of seasons. Then again, none of these were defenders, as the ones in the back have a longer shelf life.

[han2503]

Agreed. He was a world class player until the very end. Can't say the same thing about Gattuso, Seedorf, Kaká, Shevchenko, Inzaghi and the rest of the Carlo gang.

The key point there being that Nesta was a defender who mostly relied on positioning and awareness while the others were either hard working players or players who relied a lot on their speed/physicality.

Inzaghi for me can't be put into the same page, he was still just as capable of scoring in his last few years as he was during his heyday as he was never really an athlete.

Re: Maldini and Costacurta. I don't think Paolo overstretched. He was still a very good defender when he retired. Costacurta on the other hand had deteriorated a lot during his last few years

[X-Offender]

Sorry, but I thought Paolo was very poor in his last two years with us. Sure, he did have good performances, like Acid mentioned against Arsenal, but overall he was poor by Maldini standards. And that's because he was frigging 38-39 at that point. Unlike Zanetti and Totti, Paolo became very weak physically during the last quarter of his career. He was always getting injured, and his body couldn't take playing at high levels at such an old age. He should have retired in 2007, or at least in 2008 after winning the Club World Cup. He would have retired as a winner. The last year was completely unnecessary.