Nowhere near his generation's best but a he was world class for a time and is still solid.
Ramos, despite the flak he gets, is easily the best of his class
Ramos, despite the flak he gets, is easily the best of his class
Is Thiago Silva this generation's best CB?
- Thread starter Don Alfredo
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Can't say he has any major weaknesses but from what I've seen, not nearly as much as some of the others mentioned, but there are other defenders there who are better at 'pure' defending, such as Godin, and others who are better at passing, such as Boateng/Bonnuci.
Again, all of those defenders aren't perfect, just as how many great defenders of the past weren't. But they were still at in incredibly high level, it would be a disservice to them to say one of them are 'by far' the greatest of their generation.
He led the best defence of the decade and was very good internationally as well.
In his last 6 seasons at Atletico, they conceded 29, 22, 27, 18, 29, 26 goals. From April 2014 to May 2017, they didn't concede a single goal at home in the Champions League. In that time they shut out Bayern Munich, Barcelona twice, Chelsea, Real Madrid.
For Uruguay, he has 137 caps in a generation where they have made the World Cup semi-final in 2010 and won the Copa America (although he didn't play a lot in the Copa success). En route to the World Cup quarters in 2018, they didn't concede a goal in the whole group stage, kept Ronaldo scoreless in the last 16 before losing to France, conceding 3 goals in 5 games.
One of the best of this generation for me, but I think Ramos will probably be remembered as the best just by pure trophies won. Thiago Silva would be around top 5. Van Dijk could be considered the best if he keeps up his form of last few years until 32/33 and Liverpool continue to win. No other CB was in contention for a Ballon d'Or and no other centre back has won player of the year in England or even been in contention really.
So then he's there for the money.
My main point was, he's at PSG for the money. That's why he's there for 8 years. Just like why he's moving to Chelsea. And there's nothing wrong with that.He warmed up to PSG but it is true he was against a move. Also kept wearing Milan shinpads in his first year or so in France. That did not sit well with PSG fans.
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He's perfect, great at literally everything. You literally can't find a weakness in his game yet you've written a whole post on how all these defenders have weaknesses but can't name one of his.
Erm it was said he signed for the money. Which is incorrect which is what I pointed out
Yeah. Him and Godin are the two post-Nesta standouts for me.
Exactly. Sometimes, like last night, his team falls a little short, but his own performances are almost invariably immaculate.
He always looks like he's about to burst into tears. Not sure if that's a weakness per se.
I have not seen a single domestic PSG game ever and only a handful of their European games but I think it''s fair to say he's the greatest ever.
For one, he was actually at fault for Bayern's goal. He was completely out of position and therefore Kehrer had to move in to mark Lewandowski, that left Coman open at the back post. If Thiago was in position then Lewandowski would have been marked and Kehrer could concentrate at protecting the back post.
He charged towards Muller to close him down, and thereby left his central position in the box. Thiago wasn't able to stop Muller, who still managed to pass the ball to Kimmich, Thiago pushing up meant Lewandowski and Coman were at the far post with only Kehrer in that area to defend. Kimmich saw that 2v1 situation and played the perfect cross.
Definitely the best defender for me of his generation. He was superb at Milan and I think his legacy will be hit by playing for a club not in a top league for so many years. He would have been an absolute star in the PL. As many have said already though, whenever you watch him, he is immaculate and looked great last night at nearly 36 years old against the best team in the world.
I think Ramos is a bigger personality and a better footballer, but judging on the art of defending and being a centreback, I think this guy is the best. He just edges out Godin on his athleticism.
I think Ramos is a bigger personality and a better footballer, but judging on the art of defending and being a centreback, I think this guy is the best. He just edges out Godin on his athleticism.
How can anyone proving his worth in a mediocre league in modern football be considered the best of his generation?
Ramos for me.
Ramos for me.
This is nonsensical. If Silva doesn't step to Muller he has an open shot thanks to Kimpembe's positioning:
Muller having to lay the ball off instead of shooting in the first place is clearly a win for PSG & Silva deserves praise for forcing Bayern into a retreat, albeit momentarily.
Silva has now just forced Muller back - the problem for PSG is that Kimpembe is still well behind the defensive line and isn't stepping up to cover his partner the way that Silva covered him:
Blaming Silva for this goal is just silly - clearly Kimpembe was the one at fault.
I don’t know why, but I assumed he was really tall, yet he’s the same height as Ander Herrera in a picture he posted on Twitter.
Strangely enough they only conceded 27 this season @KeanoMagicHat, that’s what happens when Simeone is your gaffer.
Funny that the defender at fault isn't the one your club is signing. Coincidence?
No comment!! Obviously the sun shines out of Thiago's arse and he's the best thing since sliced bread.Funny that the defender at fault isn't the one your club is signing. Coincidence?
(Regardless of who we're signing though I think it's absurd to argue Thiago is more at fault than Kimpembe on that goal. Frankly there was little either CB could have done anyway; was more a brilliant offensive move than any sort of major defensive failing.)
How was Kimpembe at fault? In the lead up he and Silva were holding the line marking Lewandowski. Kimpembe's position stopped Gnabry from trying to play the ball across the box to Lewandowski in the first place. It was Thiago who races out of position to close down Muller. There was no need for Silva to step up as a Herrera was already close enough to Muller to prevent a clear path. Muller was in no position to shoot the ball racing in from that angle as well.
Also, even if you say Thiago was justified in stepping up, he didn't move back into position to stop Lewandowski from being free. He should've tracked back and helped out Kehrer.
It's not a horrible error but going out to press Muller was not the right decision in retrospect. Muller in the end was still able to pass the ball out straight to Kimmich, who took advantage of the 2v1 at the far post. Although, Goretzka making a late run into the box also seemed to have caught Thiago attention as he moved slightly right at the end to try and cut him off.
Here's the position as the cutback from Gnabry comes in:
Thiago is correct to step to Muller because he is ahead of Herrera and otherwise has a very good shot opportunity. Of the two CBs, Kimpembe is clearly the one ball watching - once Thiago steps up to cover Muller it's obvious Kimpembe should cover behind on Lewandowski.
Regardless, it's a brilliant attacking move and especially from Muller - the presence of mind to lay that ball off is astonishing. I don't think either CB defended this atrociously as this is obviously more a display of quality from Bayern than anything, but of the two Thiago clearly did better in my opinion.
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Great song, greater momentCorrect. As soon as Silva moves to intercept the cut back, Kimpembe has to drop off to pick up Lewandowski.
All-around solid defender.
No, he's not the best.
No, he's not the best.
Nobody can force a player under contract to transfer to other Team, if the player didn't agree. I think.
I will say Ramos is the best and most consistent then Pique and Boateng
Watching that Bayern goal how about nobody is really at fault they block off muller well it was a cracking ball in. It seems that every goal that goes in the caf always has to say some defender was at fault.
Bonucci over Chiellini is heresy. Bonucci is not even that good by Italian standards.
He's a crier, so I can imagine that.
Be curious to see how he fares in the PL. He's a good defender, but coming too late imo.
He was consistently one of the top 3 CB’s in the world if not the best some years for about 6 years on the bounce. Thinking back I would definitely add Thiago Silva into the mix too as the third. I was maybe a bit harsh.
Pique has been a key member of arguably the greatest international side of the modern era and the best club side of all time though. Won everything there is in the game & played a role in all those huge matches.
Spain and Barcelona at their peak he was their best defender at actual defending so I wouldn’t say I’ve seen him get destroyed too often.
the years he was supposedly 'one of the top 3' were when the pickings were slim and even then i don't think he was better than Kompany, Rio, Koscielny, Chiellini, Godin, VVD, Varane, Silva, Nesta etc at different times during that period. Initially he coasted along with puyol and later like you mentioned the fact that he was a member of the Spain team meant he got rated on default. Being a cb for that barca team when hardly anyone ever created much against them wasn't that much of a challenge, they got away with playing a Mascherano out of position almost as much as he started. There's quite the compilation of him getting destroyed not unlike there is of Ramos, but unlike the latter he doesn't have the leadership and force of personality thing going for him.
I stopped to read your post when I saw Kompany :/ .... but I hate not to finish what I start so I was sufficiently brave to resume reading .... then stopped again when I saw the terms Koscielny and Varane..and I felt :x
Tonight, I will try to read what you wrote after Varane
Ramos,Godin ahead of him by a mile
Godin by a mile? Wouldn’t go that far.
Put Silva in that Atletico defence with the way Simeone lines up and there wouldn’t be much of a difference. Put someone like Luiz in and there would be.
Sadly he spent way too much of his career at PSG.
maybe you don't really have much of a memory of that time, these guys weren't really inferior to pique if not better or much better at their core skill. Koscielny was linked to barca for a while. You can check the team of the year at the turn of the decade to get an idea of what i'm talking about.I stopped to read your post when I saw Kompany :/ .... but I hate not to finish what I start so I was sufficiently brave to resume reading .... then stopped again when I saw the terms Koscielny and Varane..and I felt :x
Tonight, I will try to read what you wrote after Varane
Ramos is ahead by quite a fair bit.
I would've thought Herrera was close enough to prevent Muller from getting a clear shot/cross in from that position and therefore was not necessary to close Muller in. After Muller's pass, there was a couple of seconds where Thiago was essentially in no man's land not marking anyone, that was the moment he should've gone back to try and defend Lewandowski.
All in all, there was no communication amongst the Kehrer, Kimpembe and Silva. It wasn't a horrendous error from anyone but from Silva I think it wasn't great judgment to come out and try and block Muller because from there I don't think he would've been a huge danger with Herrera right next to him (it was the edge of the box with an angle towards goal). Credit to Muller for the pass though, it was a great touch.
Had Silva disrupted Muller enough to force a bad touch, it would've been great. Ultimately it caused Lewandowski to be open at the back stick. It reminds of me the mistake Luiz made against Germany for Germany's 5th goal v Brazil. Hummels was running into the final third unopposed, took a bit of a heavy touch and Luiz lunged towards him to try and win the ball, that meant he was out of position. Hummels though got to the ball first, that meant Khedira was wide open next to Brazil's box (vacated by Luiz) and Germany passed the ball into the net.
Luiz was crucified for that mistake, but again had he won the ball it would've been a great tackle. Small misjudgements.