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Franck Kessie

DanielCHillier

Well-Known Member
Feb 26, 2014
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Went to see AC Milan v Juve back in November. Don't remember being impressed by him at all, but the entire Milan team were pretty shambolic that game.
 

spursrayray

Member
Sep 8, 2018
112
151
That a cast iron fact or a lazy stereotype of African players that gets routinely trotted out without any sense of its borderline racist qualities?

How is that Racist? Issues surrounding the ages of African players have been common in football. There was controversy in the recent U17 Cup of African Nations where five Ivory Coast players were older than their birth certificates said.

Franck kessie (Ivorian) himself failed multiple medicals, tests have proved that the player is older than 20 year old
 

doctor stefan Freud

the tired tread of sad biology
Sep 2, 2013
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72,169
How is that Racist? Issues surrounding the ages of African players have been common in football. There was controversy in the recent U17 Cup of African Nations where five Ivory Coast players were older than their birth certificates said.

Franck kessie (Ivorian) himself failed multiple medicals, tests have proved that the player is older than 20 year old
Tests haven’t conclusively proved that at all. He failed his first medical at Milan for unknown reasons, causing some speculation about his age. This comes off the back of an earlier accusation by the Moroccan FA regarding his age- which was never substantiated- and likely was the root of the speculation after he failed his first medical. He’s also 22, not 20
 

LukaKranjcar

Well-Known Member
May 8, 2010
913
5,415
Hes on loan to AC Milan from Atalanta until the end of this season when the loan move becomes permanent. So if there is anything in this, and i doubt there is, nothing will be happening until the summer.
 

heelspurs

Le filet mignon est un bastion de rosbif
Jul 25, 2012
4,270
5,105
There will be nothing in this. He will stay at Milan.
GH, what's your opinion on him anyway? Two years ago he was being linked to the PL/ManU in Jan. so I gave him a look and left unimpressed. I watched Atalanta in Europa and he just seemed like he would struggle to get around the pitch in the PL. After seeing a couple Milan games he is better than I initial thought (thought he was garbage butmostly because I hyper critical in my initial look) but still have similar feeling of over hype.
 

Lilbaz

Just call me Baz
Apr 1, 2005
41,363
74,893
Tests haven’t conclusively proved that at all. He failed his first medical at Milan for unknown reasons, causing some speculation about his age. This comes off the back of an earlier accusation by the Moroccan FA regarding his age- which was never substantiated- and likely was the root of the speculation after he failed his first medical. He’s also 22, not 20

So there is rumour and he wasn't being racist? Might deserve an apology.
 

doctor stefan Freud

the tired tread of sad biology
Sep 2, 2013
15,170
72,169
So there is rumour and he wasn't being racist? Might deserve an apology.
When was a rumour ever a definite truth? There was a rumour going around my school in the 80s- albeit briefly- that I was well hung and that was bollocks

Disappointingly small sized bollocks actually
 
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Ghost Hardware

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
17,995
61,592
GH, what's your opinion on him anyway? Two years ago he was being linked to the PL/ManU in Jan. so I gave him a look and left unimpressed. I watched Atalanta in Europa and he just seemed like he would struggle to get around the pitch in the PL. After seeing a couple Milan games he is better than I initial thought (thought he was garbage butmostly because I hyper critical in my initial look) but still have similar feeling of over hype.
As an Inter follower I tend to be hyper critical of Milan, which is pretty easy these days, and their dealings in the market. I'm still really pissed off they nabbed Paqueta tho. But I must say Kessie has been a very good get for them. He was missing for a few games prior to Christmas (from a red card) and his absences was clear. He brings a lot of bite to their midfield, but does get carded a little too often. He spent most of his early career as a defender before being moved to CM so defending is his strong point. He is a hard worker and incredibly direct. For me, I would prefer my box 2 box player to be a better dribbler as FK tends to run very fast in straight lines. I would also say he's not the best passer, mostly short and unimaginative. But his worker rate Poch would love obviously. For me his age makes him a decent hyperthetical option (22), but I would prefer a Barella for the B2B roll. But as mentioned, he will stay at Milan, it's quite a complicated deal for them. They paid 16 mil for the loan with an option to buy, but If they finish top 4 (which they won't) they have to take that option. Ether way, considering how much they already spent on him and how important he has been im sure they will purchase.
 
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mill

Well-Known Member
May 21, 2007
10,385
37,100
As an Inter follower I tend to be hyper critical of Milan, which is pretty easy these days, and their dealings in the market. I'm still really pissed off they nabbed Paqueta tho. But I must say Kessie has been a very good get for them. He was missing for a few games prior to Christmas (from a red card) and his absences was clear. He brings a lot of bite to their midfield, but does get carded a little too often. He spent most of his career as a defender but being moved to CM so defending is his strong point. He is a hard worker and incredibly direct. For me, I would prefer my box 2 box player to be a better dribbler as FK tends to run very fast in straight lines. I would also say he's not the best passer, mostly short and unimaginative. But he is a very hard worker which Poch would love obviously. For me his age makes him a decent hyperthetical option, but I would prefer a Barella for the B2B roll. But as mentioned, he will stay at Milan, it's quite a complicated deal for them. They paid 16 mil for the loan with an option to buy, but If they finish top 4 (which they won't) they have to take that option. Ether way, considering how much they already spent on him and how important he has been im sure they will purchase.

Barella’s being linked to Chelsea today
 

wakefieldyid

SC Supporter
Jun 13, 2006
1,560
1,591
That a cast iron fact or a lazy stereotype of African players that gets routinely trotted out without any sense of its borderline racist qualities?
If it's a lazy stereotype, it's one that the BBC seemed to find credible...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/26174252

"The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was introduced by Fifa in 2009 for the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria to help work out whether players were over age or not.
Football's world governing body had been researching its use from 2003 and results from Under-17 World Cups in 2003, 2005 and 2007 revealed up to 35% of players were over age.
 

neilp

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2007
3,350
14,710
If it's a lazy stereotype, it's one that the BBC seemed to find credible...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/26174252

"The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was introduced by Fifa in 2009 for the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria to help work out whether players were over age or not.
Football's world governing body had been researching its use from 2003 and results from Under-17 World Cups in 2003, 2005 and 2007 revealed up to 35% of players were over age.
That’s an interesting article, albeit from five years ago, the Lazio 17 year old must be 46 now, is he still playing?
 

garyhopkins

Well-Known Member
Jun 22, 2008
1,528
903
That’s an interesting article, albeit from five years ago, the Lazio 17 year old must be 46 now, is he still playing?
Yes, he seems to be playing in Serie B.

The Tim Vickers article about Carlos Alberto at the 2003 World Youth Cup is all quite revealing regarding the reasons why players from Brazil lied about their age. There is no doubt that it was once a problem.
 

doctor stefan Freud

the tired tread of sad biology
Sep 2, 2013
15,170
72,169
If it's a lazy stereotype, it's one that the BBC seemed to find credible...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/26174252

"The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was introduced by Fifa in 2009 for the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria to help work out whether players were over age or not.
Football's world governing body had been researching its use from 2003 and results from Under-17 World Cups in 2003, 2005 and 2007 revealed up to 35% of players were over age.
It’s an issue across South America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East; while it seems more prevalent in Africa because of greater scrutiny and socio-economic factors, its not exclusive to that continent, which the lazy stereotype almost always suggests. It’s a much more complex issue that’s been monitored across the globe with more accuracy since 2003. With advances in MRI technology over the last 20 years, the problem is being better tackled at international level across the continents mentioned above. The data in the BBC article is between 16-12 years old, so comparatively speaking it’s almost as old as the process of monitoring and recording genuine age data. Since then, because of the efforts of FIFA- and the required technology- to eradicate this from many continents (and not just Africa), there are declining numbers of incidents globally.

Furthermore, age related issues tend to impact more at under 17 level, with players literally burning themselves out before they reach their apparent twenties because historically they’ve been much older than 17. Kessié is 22, and showing no signs of waning- if anything his athleticism has been his major asset over the last 12 months.

Age cheating at youth level happens in almost every country; it happened when I played as a kid and it still happens now in local football where monitoring is much harder.

In summary:

The data used in the article is old (2003-2007) and reflects the issue at the time when FIFA began to tackle the issue more objectively: better monitoring since then is working towards detering age cheating so it becomes less common across the globe

The findings from the BBC article suggests it happens in multiple continents- it is not exclusively an African issue, challenging the stereotype that it is

It is less likely that African players in their twenties (especially in the current climate of age detection) playing in European leagues are lying about their age because the data suggests most have either retired or stepped down a level because of burn out

I challenged the orginal post about Kessié because there is no intrinsic, objective proof he is older than he claims. Whilst age cheating does happen, it isn’t exclusive to Africa so why make the assumption based on a failed medical, that’s he’s since passed??
 
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