Genuinely curious to see what people think - I reckon you get to about 5 names, then the lists go their separate ways.
Who are the 10 best centrebacks in football?
- Thread starter Fortitude
- Start date
Yeah after Jones, Rojo, Bailly, Lindelof and Smalling I'm pretty stumped. McTominay?
Bonnuci
Chiellini
Koulibally (spelling?)
Ramos
Varane
Van Dijk (spelling?)
Umtiti
Thiago Silva
Alderweireld
Hummels (how has his form been?)
Struggled to come up with names after Van Dijk.
Chiellini
Koulibally (spelling?)
Ramos
Varane
Van Dijk (spelling?)
Umtiti
Thiago Silva
Alderweireld
Hummels (how has his form been?)
Struggled to come up with names after Van Dijk.
1. Van Dijk
2. Bonnucci
3. Chiellini
4. Koulibally
5. Pique
6. Thiago
7. Laporte
8. Ramos
9. Godin
10. Alderwerield
2. Bonnucci
3. Chiellini
4. Koulibally
5. Pique
6. Thiago
7. Laporte
8. Ramos
9. Godin
10. Alderwerield
Godin
Van Dijk
Umtiti
Ramos
Varane
Koulibaly
Chiellini
Thiago Silva
Gimenez
Vertonghen/Alderweireld
Van Dijk
Umtiti
Ramos
Varane
Koulibaly
Chiellini
Thiago Silva
Gimenez
Vertonghen/Alderweireld
1. Varane
2. Umtiti
3. Thiago Silva
....
....
....
....
4. Ramos
5. Godin
6. Koulibaly
7. Van Dijk
8. Chiellini
9. Marquinhos
10. Laporte
No bundesliga defenders because I don't watch this league but I heard that theirs best defenders are some frenchs youngsters like Diallo and Zagadou ( Dortmund ) and Upamecano and Konaté ( Leipzig ) ...
Damn, we already have the 2 best CB in the world with Varane and Umtiti, Laporte/Hernandez/Kimpembe/Lenglet aren't bad too...scary
2. Umtiti
3. Thiago Silva
....
....
....
....
4. Ramos
5. Godin
6. Koulibaly
7. Van Dijk
8. Chiellini
9. Marquinhos
10. Laporte
No bundesliga defenders because I don't watch this league but I heard that theirs best defenders are some frenchs youngsters like Diallo and Zagadou ( Dortmund ) and Upamecano and Konaté ( Leipzig ) ...
Damn, we already have the 2 best CB in the world with Varane and Umtiti, Laporte/Hernandez/Kimpembe/Lenglet aren't bad too...scary
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Chiellini
Varane
Bonuci
Van Dijk
Koulibaly
Godin
Ramos
Toby
Skrinar
Silva
Wasn't sure about the order, so in no particular order
Varane
Bonuci
Van Dijk
Koulibaly
Godin
Ramos
Toby
Skrinar
Silva
Wasn't sure about the order, so in no particular order
Varane
Skriniar
Koulibaly
Chiellini
Ramos
De Ligt
Van Dijk
Umtiti
Godin
Marquinhos
Skriniar
Koulibaly
Chiellini
Ramos
De Ligt
Van Dijk
Umtiti
Godin
Marquinhos
Varane
KoulibKou
Chiellini
VVD
Umititi
Godin
Ramos
Bonucchi
Skinriar
De Light
KoulibKou
Chiellini
VVD
Umititi
Godin
Ramos
Bonucchi
Skinriar
De Light
Selection of defenders full back & central is so much worse these days.
Pains to say but VVD is probably performing the best the past year or so. Embarrassing watching united fans try convince themselves otherwise. Although Liverpool fans used to do the same with Rio & Vidic during their prime.
Pains to say but VVD is probably performing the best the past year or so. Embarrassing watching united fans try convince themselves otherwise. Although Liverpool fans used to do the same with Rio & Vidic during their prime.
I always rated vertonghen higher than Toby, surprising to not see him on a top 10 list.
Our guys hopefully now under a better management .
.Four french players have been mentioned. Nice.
Van Dijk
De Ligt
De Vrij
...
...
...
...
Some other lesser dudes.
Am I doing this right? Ok, fine, a serious list then:
Van Dijk
Chiellini
Umtiti
De Ligt
Godin
Bonucchi
Godin
Alderweireld
David Luiz come at me brah
Koulibaly
De Ligt
De Vrij
...
...
...
...
Some other lesser dudes.
Am I doing this right? Ok, fine, a serious list then:
Van Dijk
Chiellini
Umtiti
De Ligt
Godin
Bonucchi
Godin
Alderweireld
David Luiz come at me brah
Koulibaly
The topic is vague. What is it about? all time or current?
Godin
Chiellini
Varane
Bonucci
Koulibaly
Van Dijk
Umtiti
De Ligt
Skiniar
Laporte
Chiellini
Varane
Bonucci
Koulibaly
Van Dijk
Umtiti
De Ligt
Skiniar
Laporte
Only a single CB from the PL (VVD)? Insane to think a few years ago, it would've been 7+ positions from 10.
Reckon Ruidger might sneak into top 10 if he can sustain his form till the end of the season. He has been a force for Chelsea. Locks down their defence and can play the ball out. Very underrated.
Ramos
Varane
Umtiti
Pique
Van Dijk
Alderweireld
Vertonghen
Chiellini
Bonucci
Koulibaly
Varane
Umtiti
Pique
Van Dijk
Alderweireld
Vertonghen
Chiellini
Bonucci
Koulibaly
Anyone putting Bonucci up there hasn't seen him play in a few years, he's been bad this season and was awful for Milan last season. Pretty telling that most people putting him there don't know how to spell his name.
Top 10:
Koulibaly
Ramos
Van Dijk
Chiellini
Umtiti
Pepe
Godin
Varane
Thiago Silva
Gimenez
Top 10:
Koulibaly
Ramos
Van Dijk
Chiellini
Umtiti
Pepe
Godin
Varane
Thiago Silva
Gimenez
Agree with this 11. Another 12-18 months or so and the older generation will start to get phased out by the next one (De Light, Skriniar, Marquinhos, Giminez, Laporte).
Not by any particular order:
- Van Dijk
- Umtiti
- Marquinhos
- Laporte
- Koulibaly
- Manolas
- Bonucci
- Chiellini
- Ramos
- Süle
- Van Dijk
- Umtiti
- Marquinhos
- Laporte
- Koulibaly
- Manolas
- Bonucci
- Chiellini
- Ramos
- Süle
He's still a master at making those through ball passes, though. I think his Milan stint changed your opinion about him.
Rudiger anyone? He's class.
VVD
Rudiger
Vertonghen
Ramos
Godin
Pique
Umtiti
Koulibaly
Chiellini
Laporte
In no order though, but all of these are very very good.
VVD
Rudiger
Vertonghen
Ramos
Godin
Pique
Umtiti
Koulibaly
Chiellini
Laporte
In no order though, but all of these are very very good.
How exactly is Bonucci 2nd and Ramos 8th
You can't possibly rate his ability on the ball that high, and you can't possibly rate his ability as a defender since he's bang average at itAnyways:
Koulibaly, Sergio, Van Dijk, Chiellini... Bonucci, Skriniar, Varane, Umtiti, Pique, Godin?
Koulibaly, Van Dijk and Chiellini the top 3 right now, but i can't bring myself not to put Sergio on their level quite yet, there's no other CB that offers his attacking threat. The others...meh, just random. I'm going with the guys i watch on a regular basis
He's one of the best CBs in the world with the ball at his feet but his defending is pretty bad which was accentuated at Milan. A big percentage of the goals Juve conceded this season have come from a Bonucci mistake.
It's a complementary partnership, Bonucci is faster, one of the best CBs in the world with the ball at his feet but pretty average defensively while Chiellini is very slow, not very good at playing out from the back but he's probably the best defender in the world at positioning himself and at actual defending.
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I doubt anyone has watched that many games to actually judge from a full perspective.
So from Premier League, which is the only league I've really seen this year:
- Van Dijk
- Laporte
- Gomez
- Alderweireld
- Rudiger
- Vertonghen
- Lascelles
- Diop
- Keane
- David Luiz
I guess Ake, Boly and Zanka could deserve a shout too.
From that list not a lot of available ones who can also play the ball out, which would probably be required at our level.
So from Premier League, which is the only league I've really seen this year:
- Van Dijk
- Laporte
- Gomez
- Alderweireld
- Rudiger
- Vertonghen
- Lascelles
- Diop
- Keane
- David Luiz
I guess Ake, Boly and Zanka could deserve a shout too.
From that list not a lot of available ones who can also play the ball out, which would probably be required at our level.
Verts is a better all round defender than Toby, I can say that with great confidence.
Van Dijk
Varane
Sergio Ramos - not having a great season, but will probably score in the UCL final again
Chiellini
Thiago Silva
Smalling
Vertonghen
Koulibaly
Godin
Umtiti
Varane
Sergio Ramos - not having a great season, but will probably score in the UCL final again
Chiellini
Thiago Silva
Smalling
Vertonghen
Koulibaly
Godin
Umtiti
no particular order
-VVD
-Varane
-Süle
-Godin
-Pique
-Ramos
-Umtiti
-Bonucci
-DeLigt
-Akanji
-VVD
-Varane
-Süle
-Godin
-Pique
-Ramos
-Umtiti
-Bonucci
-DeLigt
-Akanji
Ramos
Koulibaly
Varane
Chiellini
Umtiti
Godin
Van Dijk
Vertonghen
These are the top 8. There are some who were very good but declining now like Bonucci, Hummels, Boateng, Pique, Alderweireld, Thiago Silva etc. There are others who are just starting to get really good like Skriniar, Giminez, De Ligt, Sule, Laporte, etc.
Koulibaly
Varane
Chiellini
Umtiti
Godin
Van Dijk
Vertonghen
These are the top 8. There are some who were very good but declining now like Bonucci, Hummels, Boateng, Pique, Alderweireld, Thiago Silva etc. There are others who are just starting to get really good like Skriniar, Giminez, De Ligt, Sule, Laporte, etc.
In no particular order:
- Van Dijk
- Varane
- Chiellini
- Laporte
- Ramos
- Godin
- Koulibaly
- Skriniar
- Alderweireld
- Vertonghen
- Van Dijk
- Varane
- Chiellini
- Laporte
- Ramos
- Godin
- Koulibaly
- Skriniar
- Alderweireld
- Vertonghen
Godin
Bonucci
Chiellini
VVD
Umtitti
Varane
Koulibally
Ramos
Alderweireld
Gimenez
Bonucci
Chiellini
VVD
Umtitti
Varane
Koulibally
Ramos
Alderweireld
Gimenez
Koulibaly
Virgil
Chiellini
Varane
Godin
Thiago Silva
Umtiti
Ramos
Laporte
Marquinhos
Virgil
Chiellini
Varane
Godin
Thiago Silva
Umtiti
Ramos
Laporte
Marquinhos
THE YEAR 2006 OF OUR LORD
Nesta
Ferdinand
Cannavaro
Terry
Carvalho
Vidic
Ayala
Matterazzi
Hyypia
Thuram
Carragher
Juan Pablo Sorin
Nesta
Ferdinand
Cannavaro
Terry
Carvalho
Vidic
Ayala
Matterazzi
Hyypia
Thuram
Carragher
Juan Pablo Sorin
The standard of cb is soo bad at the moment we have a thread like this every 3 months
Some great defenders on there who'd tower over the current lot. But Sorin was a left-back. And I'd have Lucio, Pepe and Puyol on that list too. All three better than Carragher, Materazzi and Hyypia for me.
Rephrasing it into '10 least shit CBs in football' would've been closer to the truth almost. Obviously I'm exaggerating but it feels like that. This list contained 10 absolute world-class beasts a decade ago and before. Football goes in circles so we may well come back to it in a few years' time.
Re the overall standard. It might look underwhelming, but we are in a transition between the old generation and the next one. Once the likes of Varane, Umtiti, Van Dijk, Koulibaly and De Ligt have had a few years at the top, that'll be a generation that holds its own in a few of the longer term comparisons.