Official: Ignazio Abate Thread

[Mr. Milanista]

You guys dont think he will become great but I think he will be one of the best RBs in the world one day.

 

[Quinni 17]

Abate doesn't deserve to mentioned in the same sentence as Cafu, who is probably the greatest right back the world has ever seen.

That being said Abate's progress has been amazing, especially defensively he is playing at a much more consistant level and is playing well in some really big games. (Madrid, Inter, Spurs)

Forza Abate!

 

[ACMILAN!]

Abate is definately one of the best right backs in the world if not the best. He is fast and gets forward and has played briliantly this season. And to think his father was keeper for Inter Merda. Milan need to build the defense of 2004/05/06 period with Cafu-Stam-Nesta-Maldini which was impossible to break down at times.

 

[anilak]

Abate is definately one of the best right backs in the world if not the best. He is fast and gets forward and has played briliantly this season. And to think his father was keeper for Inter Merda. Milan need to build the defense of 2004/05/06 period with Cafu-Stam-Nesta-Maldini which was impossible to break down at times.

Milan games are the only ones u watch ? He's impressive this season esp his improvement .. But best

 

[Desc]

ABATE

he's gonna be big one day

whats Cafu doing nowadays?

milan should call him and make him train Abate to improve his offensive power even more

he got Tassoti already for the defensive part

Abate's already massive defensively isn't he?

 

[ACMILAN!]

Milan games are the only ones u watch ? He's impressive this season esp his improvement .. But best

OK he is maybe not the best but one of the best in Serie A and maybe even Europe. He is still young and so has many years to develop and become better yet. Milan need a leftback like him with Jankulovski getting old and Antonini not consistent enough.
Milan's matches are the best, why watch anyone else? Barca and Real matches are played in the other teams halves for nearly 90 mins. Your right from last season he has improved a lot, he has speed which makes him really good.

 

[The Bear]

Abate's progress is incredible, he's been one of our most consistent players over the last two seasons and I get the impression that he seems to be improving every game, be it in terms of crossing or positional sense; gives 100% in every game and perhaps deserves a goal for his efforts. I can't remember many mistakes he made last season either (aside from the Genoa game and failing to catch the most in-form striker on the planet) but Tassotti's made him less error-prone and confident in defense and going forward - he kept Lennon and Pienaar on their back foot for the majority of the game on Wednesday.

People seem insistent on replacing him with players like Ramos (ridiculously overrated on this forum), someone with a lot of hype surrounding him in a foreign league they're completely oblivious to, or an 18-year-old South American with incredible stats on Football Manager. The fact is though, he's established himself as one of the league's best right-backs and performed very well in Europe this season. Abate's ridiculous pace (and strength) allows him to keep up with the likes of Bale, Ronaldo and the other pace merchants that the new generation of European footballers seems to be throwing up, allowing him to make up for any defensive mistakes quicker than the majority of full-backs on the continent. Offloading him is absolutely senseless.

 

[Sage]

I never thot he was bad this season, but I also thought we could do better in the market, but damn he's proving me wrong, the tutors at Milan(esp. tassotti) take the credit for how good he has become.

if he keeps this up, Im happy with him as our RB for years to come, Prandelli would be crazy to leave him out in his next squad, easily best italian RB atm.

 

[Dominate]

Abate's progress is incredible, he's been one of our most consistent players over the last two seasons and I get the impression that he seems to be improving every game, be it in terms of crossing or positional sense; gives 100% in every game and perhaps deserves a goal for his efforts. I can't remember many mistakes he made last season either (aside from the Genoa game and failing to catch the most in-form striker on the planet) but Tassotti's made him less error-prone and confident in defense and going forward - he kept Lennon and Pienaar on their back foot for the majority of the game on Wednesday.

People seem insistent on replacing him with players like Ramos (ridiculously overrated on this forum), someone with a lot of hype surrounding him in a foreign league they're completely oblivious to, or an 18-year-old South American with incredible stats on Football Manager. The fact is though, he's established himself as one of the league's best right-backs and performed very well in Europe this season. Abate's ridiculous pace (and strength) allows him to keep up with the likes of Bale, Ronaldo and the other pace merchants that the new generation of European footballers seems to be throwing up, allowing him to make up for any defensive mistakes quicker than the majority of full-backs on the continent. Offloading him is absolutely senseless.

Totally agree with you although I believe Ramos is not as over-rated as you think.

Abate should be our right back for 5-10 years.

Ramos should come as a CB

 

[Senatore_M84]

ramos is welcome here..... at cb next to captain abate and vc thiago. 3/4 of a potential awesome backline.

 

[anilak]

Players like Abate, Merkel and Strasser is finally making me realize we won't have to buy 1 player for every one that leaves.

Finally atleast a proper NT starting quality player since Albertini ? So glad we didn't throw him away for Di Silvestri/Motta/Rafinha as all of us wanted last year.

Most of the requirements might come from the primevera itself.

 

[MilanMB]

I never thot he was bad this season, but I also thought we could do better in the market, but damn he's proving me wrong, the tutors at Milan(esp. tassotti) take the credit for how good he has become.

if he keeps this up, Im happy with him as our RB for years to come, Prandelli would be crazy to leave him out in his next squad, easily best italian RB atm.

Exactly! Tassoti has done a lot for us, he's a real Milan legend and should get more praise IMO.

----

Now that Abate has worked on his defensive play with the help of Tassoti, he needs to become better going forward. I have no doubt he'll get better with time since he was a winger before, he'll learn fast.

 

[crazy4milan]

I like Tassotti's underatedness, I think it adds to how special he is. He's never given much credit, but there's a reason he's been there with our coaches for so long already.

As for Abate...when you see how much progress he has made, you just feel like . This is a guy that as a 17-19 year old was considered the next Donadoni, then he had to undergo that being loaned process that has doomed many Milan youngsters, but in the end, it showed who had the character to prevail, and after being a great RW for Torino, he's turning into a top RB.

Last year he was actually top in the first half of the season, inspite of the transition but after that mistake vs Inter he had some issues, specially cause I believe since then he was working in the defensive aspect (considering he was always played midfield upfront). Still think he's trying to perfect his defense, cause you can see the few times he goes forward he's dangerous. He has a huge advantage, he has lots of pace, yesterday he was faster than anyone out there, that will help him a lot.

Personality wise, you gotta love the guy, he's pure passion, willing to go out there and give his best every game.

 

[flyingduck#7]

he had improve a lot defensively and i like that. We know that he also fast dribbler. if only nesta is still in his prime today i believe we gonna see more attacking "cafu-like"abate. I think whoever LB, either janku or anto, get forward more often than abate because Silva is fast enough to cover if suddenly the opponent get the ball and do counter attack. Abate can't do that because it will be dangerous if nesta left alone to chase opponent on counter. So without a doubt ABATE is among the best RB in the world i say. Next milan Capitano.

 

[Master Smurf]

Circumstance, Galliani and Tassoti have allowed Abate to become what we see. Obviously you have to have the right attitude and work ethic to mature and improve this way.

There were times when I thought this was a hopeless experiment and Carlo was right for not wanting him but it is clear - he has arrived and claimed his starter status.

Loved how he wrapped up Crouch and had the handful of jersey hidden between them - such a veteran move

 

[BrasilianMilan]

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/ed...s-huge-milan-improvement-down-to-massimiliano

Although it's from crap goal.com, the article is really meaningful and I totally agree with what the writer has to say about Abate. Check it out!

 

[samir10]

great article by crap. now it looks like position rb is set for years, lb should be g's priority.

 

[Susan]

Abate has def. improved massively since last season. He already showed promising signs last season, but it was more something like running up and down, not much more. This season though he has improved significantly, has a much better positioning sense and is very solid defensively. Tassotti certainly should get credit for this, I'm sure he's the one who worked hard with Abate to ensure his growth. Abate himself should get credit too because he wanted to learn and work harder to get better.
He's very solid defensively and has performed very well in big matches and kept strong opponents at bay, not giving them anything and that is a success for him. I'm happy he's still improving and showing signs of growth throughout the whole season, he gets better with every game he plays. It's great to have a quality RB from our own youth, we don't need to spend much on a new RB if Abate keeps this level for many more years, I'm proud to have one of our youth players as regular starter for the first team. Ignazio can be our RB for so many more years, we just have to make sure that he improves further and keeps a high level then we don't have to worry about a new RB anytime soon.
I have to say though that Abate still needs to improve in the offense, he makes some great crosses sometimes, but he has to make it in every game and always be a threat offensively. There's still some work to do for him, but he's a fighter and puts in so much heart for Milan, so I'm sure he'll improve even more overall and maybe he'll be WC one day.

 

[KujaIX]

I really believe that Abate should be first choice RB for Italy. He's surely good enough for international football and is better than all other options.

I don't agree with saying that no player improved under Leonardo as i do believe Oddo, Antonini and Seedorf improved(funny as they're all scapegoats) But Abate was a shining light last year, but didn't do enough to make all fans like and trust him. Even i had reservations - Key word there being had

I now believe that Abate is great, he is extremely close to being WC and is already a top-tier RB. Maicon, Dani Alves, Lahm(?) and Sergio Ramos also fill this category, and although Abate is behind all of them, he has age on his side(Not for SR) and will surely improve. He's better defensively than all bar SR and equals each one in pace atleast.. Only problem is his final product, which can be great as shown previously in his career, and he seems to be improving with it.

So as Abate has improved and proved many doubters wrong, myself included, Antonini has regressed. He was great under Leo and pushing for an Italy spot but he disappeared and was much worse this year. I believe it is down to the differing play styles of Allegri and Leo. Leo gave more freedom to Antonini and we weren't punished by the flanks often.. A lot of problems were from central penetration due to the horrible positioning and working of the midfield. Antonini exploited this and looked good. Now, earlier this season he was terrible. Everyone and I feared him playing as he seemed to atleast guarantee a game ruining mistake every match, but now he's also come on greatly aswell.

I believe Allegri finally drilled the positioning and defensive play which was needed for this system and Anto finally seems to have grasped it - Not as quick as Abate but he's older - Antonini has improved greatly since his horror ridden days of earlier this year and that's a great thing. I would still like a new LB(Unless Urby and/or Didac proves me wrong) but Janku and Anto have certified that we'll be fine until the end of the year.


So props to Allegri for improving them. And props to both WBs for willing to learn and improve for the team... Abate will be great and Antonini will soon be at Juventus.

 

[BrasilianMilan]

I really believe that Abate should be first choice RB for Italy. He's surely good enough for international football and is better than all other options.

I don't agree with saying that no player improved under Leonardo as i do believe Oddo, Antonini and Seedorf improved(funny as they're all scapegoats) But Abate was a shining light last year, but didn't do enough to make all fans like and trust him. Even i had reservations - Key word there being had

I now believe that Abate is great, he is extremely close to being WC and is already a top-tier RB. Maicon, Dani Alves, Lahm(?) and Sergio Ramos also fill this category, and although Abate is behind all of them, he has age on his side(Not for SR) and will surely improve. He's better defensively than all bar SR and equals each one in pace atleast.. Only problem is his final product, which can be great as shown previously in his career, and he seems to be improving with it.

So as Abate has improved and proved many doubters wrong, myself included, Antonini has regressed. He was great under Leo and pushing for an Italy spot but he disappeared and was much worse this year. I believe it is down to the differing play styles of Allegri and Leo. Leo gave more freedom to Antonini and we weren't punished by the flanks often.. A lot of problems were from central penetration due to the horrible positioning and working of the midfield. Antonini exploited this and looked good. Now, earlier this season he was terrible. Everyone and I feared him playing as he seemed to atleast guarantee a game ruining mistake every match, but now he's also come on greatly aswell.

I believe Allegri finally drilled the positioning and defensive play which was needed for this system and Anto finally seems to have grasped it - Not as quick as Abate but he's older - Antonini has improved greatly since his horror ridden days of earlier this year and that's a great thing. I would still like a new LB(Unless Urby and/or Didac proves me wrong) but Janku and Anto have certified that we'll be fine until the end of the year.


So props to Allegri for improving them. And props to both WBs for willing to learn and improve for the team... Abate will be great and Antonini will soon be at Juventus.

I really do agree with what you say about Abate, Kuja. I too (last season) believed that Abate wasn't the greatest but I did like him as a player. I thought Anto was great last year as well, but as of late, he's been getting back to what he was. Abate has also done a great job defending and shutting down the likes of Eto'o, Ronaldo and Bale this season and he will continue to flourish.

 

[Metronomo Pirlo]

^^^
Great post kuja. Last season abate looked like a headless chicken and seemed to hot - headed and rash especially when making a challenge but this season he proved everyone wrong . This guy seriously has the potential to go far and furthermore he has the will to keep on learning and improve his overall game. All that's left now is for him to work on the attacking aspect of his game especially in crossing because the guy has some serious dribbling skills.

 

[Eccolo]

TBH I think he still lacks a little confidence when going forward. Everytime he sets his mind for going forward he does it well. So Abate we believe in you and you should try going forward more!

 

[Raghav]

I really believe that Abate should be first choice RB for Italy. He's surely good enough for international football and is better than all other options.

I don't agree with saying that no player improved under Leonardo as i do believe Oddo, Antonini and Seedorf improved(funny as they're all scapegoats) But Abate was a shining light last year, but didn't do enough to make all fans like and trust him. Even i had reservations - Key word there being had

I now believe that Abate is great, he is extremely close to being WC and is already a top-tier RB. Maicon, Dani Alves, Lahm(?) and Sergio Ramos also fill this category, and although Abate is behind all of them, he has age on his side(Not for SR) and will surely improve. He's better defensively than all bar SR and equals each one in pace atleast.. Only problem is his final product, which can be great as shown previously in his career, and he seems to be improving with it.

So as Abate has improved and proved many doubters wrong, myself included, Antonini has regressed. He was great under Leo and pushing for an Italy spot but he disappeared and was much worse this year. I believe it is down to the differing play styles of Allegri and Leo. Leo gave more freedom to Antonini and we weren't punished by the flanks often.. A lot of problems were from central penetration due to the horrible positioning and working of the midfield. Antonini exploited this and looked good. Now, earlier this season he was terrible. Everyone and I feared him playing as he seemed to atleast guarantee a game ruining mistake every match, but now he's also come on greatly aswell.

I believe Allegri finally drilled the positioning and defensive play which was needed for this system and Anto finally seems to have grasped it - Not as quick as Abate but he's older - Antonini has improved greatly since his horror ridden days of earlier this year and that's a great thing. I would still like a new LB(Unless Urby and/or Didac proves me wrong) but Janku and Anto have certified that we'll be fine until the end of the year.


So props to Allegri for improving them. And props to both WBs for willing to learn and improve for the team... Abate will be great and Antonini will soon be at Juventus.

See you actually write good posts when you get time off picking fights with other people

And Anto to Jube soon?? Nah man we should just keep him here till he retires.. low wages.. true milanista.. won't mind staying on bench and playing 5 -10 games a season. He knows he's living the dream and i feel its better to keep someone like him as backup rather than a whiny young foreigner who will want game time and bitch and moan

So Anto at milan for life

 

[Raghav]

^^^
Great post kuja. Last season abate looked like a headless chicken and seemed to hot - headed and rash especially when making a challenge but this season he proved everyone wrong . This guy seriously has the potential to go far and furthermore he has the will to keep on learning and improve his overall game. All that's left now is for him to work on the attacking aspect of his game especially in crossing because the guy has some serious dribbling skills.

His positioning and attacking runs are perfect, always finds space to go into and hardly ever makes a weak play and loses ball on the RW. Problem is our speed of play is quite slow and by the time he gets chance to cross ball the play has become quite static with all defenders in their positions. That makes crossing look weaker. If we were to attack faster then he could cross while attackers and defenders are both running towards their goal and those same crosses would look dangerous and there'd be lot more goals!

 

[Susan]

Great performance from Abate, maybe MOTM!
He worked very hard today and did very well offensively, he put in some great crosses. I would like him to make such good crosses in every match.

 

[Madridista]

He looks so awkward, but he's getting the basic job done, so I have no problem with him.

 

[Ikillforcookies]

He looks so awkward, but he's getting the basic job done, so I have no problem with him.

I think you're not appreciating his contribution enough, if you ask me he's been nothing short of a revelation this year.

 

[Dzidzius]

Agree on Abate playing NT already.
It is such a good feeling that we have someone at least filling in the gap after Ambro and Gattuso are gone.
If Merkel plays bit more next season he also has a real shot at being first eleven choice in 2 yrs. Maybe we should give some playing to others too.

 

[RossoneroTifoso]

Abate was excellent yesterday. He really improves each match, not only was he defending perfectly, he was providing crosses and making runs down the flank to support our attackers. Excellent, he definitely deserves a spot with the Azzuri.

 

[Kvothe]

the most improved player of the season for sure..i'v always liked abate..although there are many areas in his game which need improvement he's got that raw pace..now thats one aspect u cant develop..either you have it or you don't..if he improves his tackling, crossing, ball control etc he can really become a great player