Are defenders in decline - and if yes: why?

everyone is in decline for whatever reason imo. you hear statements on the madrid board like madrid can't sign a striker because there aren't many great ones available who are attainable. there seems to be a decline in attacking midfielders, most are masquerading as CMFs but play little to no defense, and now this thread about defenders. it makes you wonder is it a talent thing, or the copy cat nature of the game?

@tito to be fair this thread is 5 years old, but still relevant now.

As to the copy cat nature of the game: this is definitely a main factor. This, IMO, is down to the fact that there are maybe 7-8 elite level coaches; everyone else just copies what they do but don't have the same aptitude or understanding of nuance to execute it correctly. In short, there are only a handful of people innovating and executing at a high level. Those that copy are just riding on others coat tails without even really having a full understanding of what they are doing. Players are then expected to execute and it does not always work.

Thought she posted again sigh.

I think there is a decline in defenders because of how Football is evolving. Full backs are now integral to win trophies, offer the width even if you have wingers and when we talk about Center Backs, they have now become the first point of attack. One CB will be signed to be a "Ball playing" Center Back if the other one is actually a better defender. This has already evolved to GKs, Look at Ederson or Allison.

For example, the best passer in the Liverpool team is Virgil Van Dijk by a mile while the best crosser of the ball is Alexander Trent Arnold by a mile again. Two defenders. I'd expect Mane or Salah to be the best crossers while someone like Henderson or Wijnaldum to own the passing position but the game is moving in this direction, we can't do anything about it.

Nowadays teams defend in block much more, so no, i don't think the art of defending is in decline.

However, pure defenders like Chiellini are nearly extinct.

Warrior wrote:Nowadays teams defend in block much more, so no, i don't think the art of defending is in decline.

However, pure defenders like Chiellini are nearly extinct.

But isn't this to counter winning strategies by richer teams? Soon enough this game will have enough money around. The art of defending in numbers is purely to counter the fact the the opponent team has 8 attackers in their team?

I think money has a direct link but its not very tangible.

I don't think money is to blame here (for once), i think Pep's Barca had an influence

Nowadays i see a lot of teams who attack together and defend together. The "roles" and "positions" still exist but the mould is less rigid than before, players are asked not to be a specialist of just one thing.

Players are expected to contribute to all phases of play now at the top level so clubs are always on the lookout for defenders who can do everything. Hence Liverpool paying big money for Van Dijk and Barca eventually paying big money for De Ligt. I think clubs value that all-roundness so much that they'd rather sign a worse defender if it means they contribute to multiple phases.

On the other hand, the standardisation of pressing has made defenders look worse than they probably are, because we see so many more mistakes in the build-up phases. The difference is that getting a team to press seems a lot easier than putting together a backline capable of playing their way around it. So many teams want to play out, hence this move for good ball-playing defenders instead of pure defenders.

Unpopular opinion : Serie A  is still the best League about defenders ... Chiellini Bonucci Koulibaly Skriniar De Vrij Romagnoli Manolas would find a place on  top EPL top 6 teams .
And I don't rate Serie A as top league, while Premier League is the best league in the world for me. That's a paradox -  that I feel it's true. I mean, I've seen Arsenal-Chelsea some time ago...
The fact that Serie A is not rated (with good reasons, as I wrote above) let you think that there are not good defenders anymore, but indeed there are

@robes I agree. But by contrast, the attacking talent in Serie A leaves a lot to be desired.

Is that a because the defenders are playing at a higher level, making attackers look bad, or do defenders only look good bc attackers are sub par league wide? Tough to say.

I disagree, it's about league attitude, the Eredevise or the Bundesliga both have great defenders that could play at an international level, but having teams with mediocre midfields play very aggressive, high-line-pressing tactics geared mostly towards chance creation will make most CBs look sluggish and error prone.