Where do current defenders rank among the greatest?

How do these guys stack up to some of the all time greats like Thuram, Maldini, Cannavaro, Beckenbauer, etc.

Phillip Lahm?
Giorgio Chiellini?
Thiago Silva?
Andrea Barzagli?
Sergio Ramos?
Nemanja Vidic?
John Terry?
Maicon?
Dani Alves?

Thiago Silva is the only one you can put in that bracket, with his abilities.

His trophies, moments and general legacy dont stand up to those elites but he also isnt quite 30 yet so he still has more time. But I still dont think he will make it, for a couple reasons.

But no, none of them are on that level, not in terms in legacy and mostly ability.

I am not touching Maicon and Alves because you didnt name any fullbacks they should be compared with.

Maicon and Dani Alves wrote the story in their role but are fullbacks
Chiellini pls is an overrated player.

TBH, none are really going to be rated that highly but I can see Rio and JT being remembered due to the fact they were the CB's for England's 'golden' generation.

Only TS is good enough to be remembered as a great.

The Franchise wrote:
I am not touching Maicon and Alves because you didnt name any fullbacks they should be compared with.

Weren't Maldini and Thuram fullbacks first and CBs second though? imo Alves rewrote the book for fullbacks - i doubt too many teams in history have revolved around the attacking exploits of their fullback - and Maicon and Lahm are also good enough to be considered as greats.

Robespierre wrote:Chiellini pls is an overrated player.

I'm not going to suggest that Chiellini is an all-time great but if there's one guy who doesn't deserve to be on that list it's Sergio Ramos and not Chiellini. At least Chiellini has been amongst the top 3-5 CBs in the world for the past 5 years. Can't say Sergio Ramos will ever get there either as a CB or RB.

aant123 wrote:

Robespierre wrote:Chiellini pls is an overrated player.

I'm not going to suggest that Chiellini is an all-time great but if there's one guy who doesn't deserve to be on that list it's Sergio Ramos and not Chiellini. At least Chiellini has been amongst the top 3-5 CBs in the world for the past 5 years. Can't say Sergio Ramos will ever get there either as a CB or RB.

or both ?
Chiellini has obvious gaps in marking , he often compensates for physical and athletism.  Infact he plays  better with the defense 3 ... When he plays central defender in 4 he shows his lacks ( as Bonucci,
on the other hand) , lately I remember Italy-Croatia Euro 2012 and his painful marking on Mandzukic that provoked the draw

Andrea Barzagli is underrated instead .
He makes very few mistakes and he is one of irreplaceable for Juventus

aant123 wrote:

The Franchise wrote:
I am not touching Maicon and Alves because you didnt name any fullbacks they should be compared with.

Weren't Maldini and Thuram fullbacks first and CBs second though? imo Alves rewrote the book for fullbacks - i doubt too many teams in history have revolved around the attacking exploits of their fullback - and Maicon and Lahm are also good enough to be considered as greats.

Yeah sure they were, but completely different kinds of fullbacks. Comparing them dont make much sense to me.

Walter Samuel deserves a mention, one of the strongest central defenders the last 15 years
Barrilete Cosmico will agree

I am an Arsenal Fan but I cannot believe that Ferdinand is not on that list. To me he was far more intelligent than Terry (who by no means is a slouch either).

I would have also put Sole Campbell in that list. During his prime, he was undoubtedly top 3 CB of the time.

I hate to say it, I would have also put in Cashley in that list. Who trumps both Maicon and Alves (when speaking about full backs).

no mentions of a prime Puyol?

Ts

Prime Puyol? Gtfo of here.

Puyol > Vidic

The Franchise wrote:Puyol > Vidic

okay...

Puyol was never the best. In his prime he was a top3-5 defender, but never the great Barca fans are making him to be.

Robespierre wrote:

aant123 wrote:

Robespierre wrote:Chiellini pls is an overrated player.

I'm not going to suggest that Chiellini is an all-time great but if there's one guy who doesn't deserve to be on that list it's Sergio Ramos and not Chiellini. At least Chiellini has been amongst the top 3-5 CBs in the world for the past 5 years. Can't say Sergio Ramos will ever get there either as a CB or RB.

or both ?
Chiellini has obvious gaps in marking , he often compensates for physical and athletism.  Infact he plays  better with the defense 3 ... When he plays central defender in 4 he shows his lacks ( as Bonucci,
on the other hand) , lately I remember Italy-Croatia Euro 2012 and his painful marking on Mandzukic that provoked the draw

Andrea Barzagli is underrated instead .
He makes very few mistakes and he is one of irreplaceable for Juventus

He struggles only in a back 4 because he very rarely gets used as a CB in a back 4 by Conte. He is almost always deployed as a leftback. His best season was in fact 08-09, where he was in the center of a back 4.

And overall, marking is probably Chiellinis best aspect. Look at how he does against Ibrahimovic and Cavani. In fact, Ibrahimovic has never scored a goal against Juventus while Chiellini has played centrally.

juventus101 wrote:

Robespierre wrote:

aant123 wrote:

I'm not going to suggest that Chiellini is an all-time great but if there's one guy who doesn't deserve to be on that list it's Sergio Ramos and not Chiellini. At least Chiellini has been amongst the top 3-5 CBs in the world for the past 5 years. Can't say Sergio Ramos will ever get there either as a CB or RB.

or both ?
Chiellini has obvious gaps in marking , he often compensates for physical and athletism.  Infact he plays  better with the defense 3 ... When he plays central defender in 4 he shows his lacks ( as Bonucci,
on the other hand) , lately I remember Italy-Croatia Euro 2012 and his painful marking on Mandzukic that provoked the draw

Andrea Barzagli is underrated instead .
He makes very few mistakes and he is one of irreplaceable for Juventus

He struggles only in a back 4 because he very rarely gets used as a CB in a back 4 by Conte. He is almost always deployed as a leftback. His best season was in fact 08-09, where he was in the center of a back 4.

And overall, marking is probably Chiellinis best aspect. Look at how he does against Ibrahimovic and Cavani. In fact, Ibrahimovic has never scored a goal against Juventus while Chiellini has played centrally.

This because he has the gift of physical, and Ibrahimovic makes more effort against these opponents ( it being understood that Ibra has always suffered the games against his former team, expecially Juventus .. or big matches ... He plays best games against small teams )
And infact yes Conte gets used as leftback in defence 3 , where you can rely on the physicality   and you play with more coverage

Chiellini was very discontinuous after Conte.
I repeat he has never been a Top defender, he 's overrated in this, good defender okay ... I compare him to Marco Materazzi ( who won a World Cup as a starter , yes, but he is not worth of Walter Samuel or Lucio)

[quote="Robespierre"]

juventus101 wrote:

Robespierre wrote:or both ?
Chiellini has obvious gaps in marking , he often compensates for physical and athletism.  Infact he plays  better with the defense 3 ... When he plays central defender in 4 he shows his lacks ( as Bonucci,
on the other hand) , lately I remember Italy-Croatia Euro 2012 and his painful marking on Mandzukic that provoked the draw

Andrea Barzagli is underrated instead .
He makes very few mistakes and he is one of irreplaceable for Juventus

He struggles only in a back 4 because he very rarely gets used as a CB in a back 4 by Conte. He is almost always deployed as a leftback. His best season was in fact 08-09, where he was in the center of a back 4.

And overall, marking is probably Chiellinis best aspect. Look at how he does against Ibrahimovic and Cavani. In fact, Ibrahimovic has never scored a goal against Juventus while Chiellini has played centrally.

This because he has strong build, and Ibrahimovic tends to suffer against these opponents ( it being understood that Ibra has always suffered the games against his former team, expecially Juventus .. or big matches ... He plays best games against small teams )
And infact yes Conte gets used as leftback in defence 3 , where you can rely on the physicality   and you play with more coverage

Chiellini was very discontinuous before Conte.
I repeat he has never been a Top defender, he 's overrated in this, good defender yes okay ... I compare him to Marco Materazzi ( who won a World Cup as a starter , yes, but he is not worth of Walter Samuel or Lucio)

Chiellini not a top defender? Hahahahahahahaha. Okay. Im done debating this with you.

yes, what is strange? I am talking about Chiellini, not Cannavaro or Thuram
when Chiellini will do something important at the international level call me .

juventus101 wrote:Chiellini not a top defender? Hahahahahahahaha. Okay. Im done debating this with you.

Chiellini is a decent defender. You make him sound like the second coming of baresi ffs

jibers wrote:

juventus101 wrote:Chiellini not a top defender? Hahahahahahahaha. Okay. Im done debating this with you.

Chiellini is a decent defender. You make him sound like the second coming of baresi ffs

You do realise who you are attempting to debate Chiellini with , do you

A decent defender is all what Chiellini is , exactly like you said , nothing more nothing less. For him though ,
Chiellini is the Superhuman-SuperShayanLV.69-Elite-WorldClass-Wholier-Than-Thou-GOAT-Better-Than-Thiago-Fkn-Silva CB that has ever existed .

As for the OP.

One i will talk about is Lahm. Lahm will probably be regarded as a great once he retires imho , especially if Bayern is going to achieve big silverware under Guardiola . It's been sometime now since 2005 when he really upped his game and he has been growing ever since. Superb athlete , fantastic footballer and amazing player . And good captain . And obviously a great international all this time.

Others shouts go to Dani Alves who's a freak even under modern standards , a rare player . And also T.S , though he must win first in order to reach certain hights. He will pass down in history as a great player in any case , but if he wins big , he will be up there imo . He's the definition of the modern CB and more. T.Silva could have been anything he wanted behind the half line area . I've seen him play DM and beast the fk out of the position and not just as a ball winner. Magnificent player who's lacklusture compared to the rest in this list , but he can obviously compensate since he's relatively young still , not to mention he could be playing even a decade more .

jibers wrote:

juventus101 wrote:Chiellini not a top defender? Hahahahahahahaha. Okay. Im done debating this with you.

Chiellini is a decent defender. You make him sound like the second coming of baresi ffs

exactly

p.s. I agree with you about Vidic, one of my favourite defenders, Top,  I have always been his fan.

I dont say hes the second coming of Baresi. In my opinion hes the best in the world currently, but at worst hes top 3. Thats alot better than just "decent".

juventus101 wrote:I dont say hes the second coming of Baresi. In my opinion hes the best in the world currently, but at worst hes top 3. Thats alot better than just "decent".

rofl

juventus101 wrote:I dont say hes the second coming of Baresi. In my opinion hes the best in the world currently, but at worst hes top 3. Thats alot better than just "decent".

Has TS retired ?