I don’t believe there is a genuinely world class defender – in the truest sense of the word – currently playing in world football.
Perhaps the term world class has a looser meaning now, for those paid to keep the ball out of the net. Take the likes of Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos. Their careers are laden with trophies at both club and international level. Top quality players both. But defensively, do they hold a candle to those of yesteryear, who are rightly considered as greats?
In spite of their obvious qualities, and the honours they have won, will Ramos and Pique honestly go down as defensive legends? For me, no. Of course, the game has moved on. Technically some of the modern centre backs are as skilful as the forwards in a day and age where possession, pressing and all-out attack is in vogue.
Nobody wants to see a 0-0. Managers aside, everyone would rather witness a 5-4. Strikers and attacking midfielders are rightly held up as the heroes and get paid the most money. You pay to watch Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and David Silva. You don’t pay to watch Diego Godin, Thiago Silva or Mats Hummels. But surely there is still the need for a genuine stopper. Someone with the astuteness and the bravery to outwit the game’s finest artists.
The lack of world class defenders – and I’m talking centre-backs or full-backs in the older sense of the word, rather than the new brigade of wing-backs-cum-wingers is something I’ve pondered for a short while.
A quick poll of my fellow football friends confirmed I’m not alone. I asked ‘who is the best defender in the world in your opinion?’ Out of 20 people, nobody polled more than three votes. Two people even questioned the validity of the argument, pointing out that the call is too tough to judge because of the lack of outstanding options.
Of those mentioned, Ramos polled highest along with Godin. Pique, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Hummels, Silva, Jerome Boateng and Aymeric Laporte were others mentioned. But the majority were unconvinced by their choices.
The above are all excellent players. They are in the top bracket – that’s just not world class anymore. None of them strike fear into the heart of an attacker. None of them would instantly take a club side to the next level.
Jose Santamaria in the 50s, Bobby Moore in the 60s, Franz Beckenbauer in the 70s, Claudio Gentile in the 80s, Matthias Sammer in the 90s. Players who defined their eras. Can any defender lay claim to doing that in the modern day?
You don’t even need to go that far back. Just a decade ago, a look through the Champions League squads in the 2006/07 season gives a list of outstanding defensive talent.
The awareness of Paolo Maldini, the athleticism of Rio Ferdinand, the bravery of John Terry. All, in their prime, could today lay claim to being the world’s best at their job.
We should rightly laud the stars who get our bums off the seats. But perhaps one day it’ll become much harder for them to excel and we can witness a true battle of wits once more.
