Name: John Mensah
Nickname: "Rock of Gibraltar"
Country:
GhanaClub: Stade Rennais F.C. (2006-2008), Olympique Lyonnais (2008-2009), Sunderland A.F.C. (2009-2011)
Position: *CB, SB
Side: RF/BS
Age: 24-28 years (29/11/1982)
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 81 kg
Attack: 57
Defence: 83
Balance: 85
Stamina: 79
Top Speed: 79
Acceleration: 76
Response: 81
Agility: 74
Dribble Accuracy: 70
Dribble Speed: 72
Short Pass Accuracy: 71
Short Pass Speed: 75
Long Pass Accuracy: 72
Long Pass Speed: 73
Shot Accuracy: 56
Shot Power: 78
Shot Technique: 59
Free Kick Accuracy: 55
Curling: 58
Header: 78
Jump: 84
Technique: 73
Aggression: 63
Mentality: 77
Goalkeeper Skills: 50
Team Work: 70
Injury Tolerance: B
Condition: 5
Weak Foot Accuracy: 4
Weak Foot Frequency: 4
Consistency: 5
Growth type: Standard
CARDS:
S07 - Man Marking
SPECIAL ABILITIES: Marking
Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Defence Minded
INFO:
Mensah is a former centre-back who could also play as side-back. His career started in 1999 at Bologna. He played on loan for Bellinzona and Genoa between 2000 and 2002. He was then sold to ChievoVerona where he stayed until 2005, excluding a short loan to Modena in 2004. Following a season at Cremonese in 2005-06, he transferred to Stade Rennais where he had his best time, making 65 appearances and scoring 2 goals between 2006 and 2008. He then played for Olympique Lyonnais, Sunderland, Stade Rennais again, and FC Nitra. He stopped playing in 2014 as he signed for Swedish club Eskilstuna in 2016 but without making an appearance. He capped for Ghana 83 times between 2001 and 2012, scoring 3 goals.
Mensah was a physically strong defender who possessed notable sense of position, marking, anticipation, and tackling abilities, although his tackles were sometimes hard. He was also very good in the air, mostly thanks to a remarkable jump that made up for his not particularly tall frame. He wasn't notably fast and was a bit limited from a technical perspective. Therefore, he mostly stayed in the back, never pushing forward. Due to his defensive style that relied primarily on physical duels, he suffered again quick dribblers who could take advantage of his low agility to get past him with swift movements.
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