Alessandro Nesta ha parlato ai microfoni di Sky prima di Milan-Juve, ecco le sue parole:

"Il calcio mi manca molto, manco dal palcoscenico da un anno pero' sto iniziando a vedere la luce, ho ripreso ad allenarmi con la squadra e forse potrei tornare in campo già in questa stagione, se poi non sarà così rientrerò la prossima.

Chi ha scritto le cattiverie sul mio ritiro si prenderà le sue responsabilità la mia risposta la darò in campo.
Ancelotti? Penso che Carlo resterà con noi

Blog: Time to say goodbye
With Alessandro Nesta struggling to recover from his latest injury setback, Dave Taylor thinks it might be time for the stopper to retire

With reports that Milan have asked about Barcelona defender Carlos Puyol, it appears they are planning for a future without Alessandro Nesta – and maybe they should.

The 33-year-old defender sadly appears too injury prone to be relied upon and it seems the Via Turati powerbrokers feel, like myself, that the highly regarded Spanish international is probably the nearest thing to Nesta on the world stage.

When you factor in the retirement of Paolo Maldini it makes sense to bring in a top class, experienced European stopper. There is certainly no way Milan can continue to rely on midfielders moving back into defence or the likes of Kahka Kaladze, Giuseppe Favalli or Philippe Senderos if they want to make a splash next season, even with the arrival of Thiago Silva.

Like most Italian football fans I will be disappointed to see a player of the stature of Alessandro quit, if that is indeed what happens. His singular lack of games this term means he has lost almost a year of top class football and that, at his age, is a massive handicap.

It’s a real shame that we will no longer have the pleasure of watching him and Maldini share the field of play. The pair were absolute pillars in the five years leading up to 2007 European Cup Final. In that game Nesta’s brilliant last minute tackle on Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard was typical of the security he brought to Milan’s back line, something I doubt we will witness again.

Yet Maldini, who appears to have more faith in Nesta than the club, is insisting that his teammate will be back stronger than ever. I fear that on this occasion he is mistaken. Nesta might feel that he could carry on, but he should quit now and retire at the top.

Nesta ha lavorato con i compagni.

We had the chance to experience the Nesta / Maldini partnership for one last time today...

After Pato's goal ... The footage didn't show the substitution, not did the commentary even know of it .. Until, the camera focused and zoomed on him. I nearly chocked on my snack and I just couldn't believe it was Nesta & Maldini !!!


Well, for that, never say Carlo didn't surprise you

When I saw the call ups for the game, my Scottish friend Caroline couldn't understand why I started squealing and jumping up and down excitedly. I was just opposite the Milan bench on Sunday and couldn't quite stop the smile when I saw him trot out with the subs. However, Fishdoll didn't disown me. I managed, just, not to squeal when he started warming up. It was only 15 minutes and he was understandably a bit rusty but there were a couple of moments of brilliance. It really was great to see him back.

Yes, yes I do. Just ask dst.

Hah. I'm happy to send postcards to folks! Just let me know where/when. And I do send a lot of postcards so one more is in no way a problem!

Do the entire Brigade have postcards now, Locke?

As for Nesta, I'm going to ascribe the lapses to match fitness for now. He WAS out all of last season (save 13 minutes on the last matchday). Thing is, we're very used to Nesta making no mistakes so to an extent it does remain to be seen.

^^ Hi Danny,

As this is player specific, I'm going to merge it with Nesta's thread in the Players section (it'll probably get more attention there too).

But his legs aren't.

That's 3 or 4 times in the opening 2 matches of the season he's let his man get inside him without any difficulty at all, and he's not had the pace to track back fast enough. Sometimes it's cost a goal, sometimes it hasn't.

I am the world's biggest Nesta fan, and I hope this is just a lack of match sharpness and fitness, but the opening 2 matches of the season don't bode well for him personally.

And I know there's a thread on Nesta in the player forum but I wanted to discuss this as its own issue if that's ok. If not, feel free to merge.

^^

Can you mail me a copy of those books. I wanna write those tests too. I think I'll get into football management too. I suddenly want to try thhis 3-5-2 formation somewhere.

I think I'll first learn the ropes at some mediocre club like Villa, before moving onto bigger clubs like Newcastle.

How can you have a practical test?

Do you have a set of students sitting in a classroom playing Football Manager against each other?

Or do they just give you two teams, and ask you to play against each other.

Do you have a set of students sitting in a classroom playing Football Manager against each other?

Let me guess. You scored a 70..and now want to show us you're above average?! Bah..Mourinho would score a 95+.

You'll never manage Milan..at this rate you won't even manage Villa.

EDIT: Would the other coach know what tactics you're supposed to play? Will you be rated according to how you stop the other guy's tactics as well. I mean it seem pretty one-dimensional if you know he's going to use wings and not the centre..while if you knew he's going to use longballs and nothing else. You just double team the target man.

Hmm...this course seems more and more fascinating by the minute. Good luck. And I really mean it this time!

So, Alessandro Nesta got a rating of 8 for the Atalanta game -- something of a miracle compared to how badly the rest of the team played. An Italian acquaintance who watched the game said that he effectively covered the defense and the midfield and played partially as a trequartista, including when he provided the assist to Ronaldinho for the goal.

My acquaintance also commented that he's been the only one of the senators who's given 100% each game, who's spoken well when interviewed, even after crappy games like the Atalanta one, and that he, really, is the de facto captain of the squad -- he's the only one really leading both on and off the pitch. The acquaintance also commented that despite his past with Lazio (where he was also captain), Nesta is the one really deserving of the armband right now.

Nesta is the one really deserving of the armband right now.

There are folks out there who continue to insist that Pato is our best player.