Okey, so in your world 28 and 30 is aging. In real world, years 28-32 are best years for a defender. They are physically at best shape and have enough experience to avoid stupid mistakes.
Injury prone? Mathieu has been injured exactly 1 week last season and before that his last injury was back in 2011. Vermaelen surely has been, thing is, his injuries only started becoming a thing once he joined Arsenal. That club is known to do something wrong in medical department as their players get injured by far more than average Premier League players.
Signing new players is always a gamble. Remember Dmytro Chygrynskiy? Who would say any CB would do great here? It is always a gamble, at least this time the risks are pretty much down to minimum.
In modern football world, most players lose their tenacity north of 30 and eventually head to retirement leagues at age 35. The exceptions are the elite talent, and those that are naturally endowed. I don't consider Verm or mathieu to be of the elite level. So sorry if I can't rejoice having acquired a soon to be 29y.o injury prone and 31y,o self-confessed smoker whose body had to recuperate only after a week training and a pre-season game.
And going by valencian opinion, despite his experience, Mathieu did make stupid mistakes. So I don't think the age advantages that you've listed applies to either of them. Hell, even T.Silva is beginning to show inconsistencies in his play, and he's soon to be 30. The days of Maldini's and Puyols are over, I'm afraid.
Yes bringing in youth is a gamble, but so is injury prone hitting 30, except in the former case there is a fin alleviation to be had, and a player available for selection is better than not.
I think the skepticism is warranted. That doesn't mean the lot of us want the concerned subjects to fail, nor are the comments meant to provoque or upset the PTC army. Though in the heat of discussion, a harsher tone is employed which is understandable and should be disregarded. But any exchange medium should promote fair, diverse and transparent discussions. I choose to voice my honest concerns than be dishonest over fears of a backlash or upsetting the opposing faction.
