AS Roma coach Claudio Ranieri on Saturday said that centre-back Philippe Mexes was "the best French central defender," despite not being a regular starter for the title-chasing capital side.
Mexes has been a first-team regular at Roma for the last four seasons but has been forced to spend time on the bench this term due to Ranieri's preference for Brazilian Juan and Argentina's Nicolas Burdisso. Brazil international Juan, however, will miss Sunday's league match with Atalanta due to injury, opening the door for former Auxerre man Mexes.
Mexes is a first-choice player in every way... He can still go to the World Cup. For me he's the best French central defender.
AS Roma coach Claudio Ranieri
"Mexes is a first-choice player in every way," Ranieri said. "Unfortunately, he's missed some matches due to injury and not because of my decisions. Since then, the team has been set up in a certain way (without Mexes) and he knows that. He can still go to the World Cup. For me he's the best French central defender. But, at the moment, Juan and Burdisso are just above him."
Mexes, 27, has 13 French caps, the last of which came in the 1-0 friendly win over Turkey in Lyon in June 2009. His chances of making France's World Cup squad appear slim, however, due to coach Raymond Domenech's reluctance to select him for any of France's recent matches.
No comments:
Post a Comment