Do we all agree this man is the greatest Right back of all time?

Most won't even consider him because of his personality.

Although he's a bit of a *bleep* so he's brought that on himself, i do think he's in the conversation though.

Cafu is still the best though IMO.

http://www.goallegacy.net/t37120-abate-is-the-best-footballer-atm?highlight=abate

No we dont. I dont think many people even consider him as part of the discussion.

I think he is at least top 3 or 4 with Carlos Alberto, Cafu and Thuram, you can argue one way or the other with Thuram probably. Cafu though is kind of undisputed and even though Dani Alves is more skilled (especially as a passer and dribbler in small spaces) Cafu is probably a little better at some other things. Carlos Santos is probably considered too far removed from the modern game to be called the best ever still, but everything I have seen indicates one hell of a player.

Other names people will throw around include Djalma Santos (seems forgotten about historically), Zanetti, Maicon and Zambrotta I guess.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Most won't even consider him because of his personality.

Although he's a bit of a *bleep* so he's brought that on himself, i do think he's in the conversation though.

Cafu is still the best though IMO.

His personality? Dani is the best person in football world, no contest here. For Barca fans, it's impossible not to love him, absolute legend.

Best right back EVER. I'll miss him so badly... thankfully he extended his contract because if he left now it'd be heartbreaking

Willy Sagnol

Sorry but I rate Lahm above him. Never mind Cafu and Djalma Santos.

cafu, sagnol will have something to say about that....considering their club as well as National team performances. obviously difficult to narrow these things down to 1 or 2 people, its subjective....younger fans will probably go for alves or philip lahm (i also prefer lahm, if we're talking about this era). if i were starting a team, cafu would be my first pick; consistent at club level for both milan and roma and very reliable for brazil

Sagnol?

What NT perfomances? He was riding the bench with Thuram playing rightback untill Desailly decided to retire, allowing Thuram into the middle. But that was like 03? 04? Very late in the day for him.

No question, he was really good for Bayern (though not for a second would I really put him on this kind of level we speaking about here) but his NT career wasnt especially great at all.

i find it weird how people never mention Zanetti in these discussions.

tbh if i had to pick between Lahm and Zanetti to be my team's RB i would chose Zanetti

Ganso wrote:i find it weird how people never mention Zanetti in these discussions.

tbh if i had to pick between Lahm and Zanetti to be my team's RB i would chose Zanetti

Eh? he always gets mentioned, he's just not better than Cafu IMO.

Gary Neville

Also Zanetti was a better LB than RB IMO.

Zanneti played RB majority of his career. He was as good at LB though. +1 at Dani for bringing up Zambrotta, now that is a guy that people do not usually mention. Maicon, I feel that prime Maicon was better overall than Alves but Alves has had far more better seasons than Maicon has had.

@the franchise, can't believe i totally forgot about thuram...add him to my list. sagnol was very good too in his hey day (not as good as thuram, but that's not enough to deny him), well disciplined.

Maicon was better

Thuram, Neville, Cafu, Zanetti, Lahm are slightly higher category.

I know there has been a lot of good/great players that have never lived up to expectations with their NT, but the difference between Barca Alves and Brazil Alves is day and night.

I like Lahm but he's not better than Alves at RB. If you want to argue anything is that they're pretty much at the same level. You could argue he's got a higher footballing IQ being able to seamlessly move into midfield but at RB, no.

I like Lahm as well but he's become incredibly overrated over the years, he never has been better than Alves.

Talk about achievements, big game performances, ability or whatever Alves has him beat. Even defensive ability when it matters he does too....

How often when the games are really on the line has Alves been exploited? very rarely but Lahm has many times.

The only reason no one picks up on it is because he's quiet, small guy who is extremely classy where Alves is an outgoing, arrogant POS.

But in all honesty, their performances on the pitch are not even close.

Maicon is extremely overrated as well and i have explained many times over why that is and won't bother again, that's not to say Alves is the best because he isn't i can think of at least 3 who are better but he's definitely the best of his generation.

Mainly because the competition either didn't last or are just not to the level of all time great RBs.

Behind Cafu and Thuram probably but he's right in the mix with him.

Also wouldn't say Lahm has a higher IQ because he can play in the midfield. Dani Alves has never necessarily played in the midfield like Lahm but he has the ability, and many times positionally he takes up positions that very much are midfield positions.

I disagree on Alves being defensively better than Lahm. I also disagree on their performances on the pitch not even being close. Lahm has been top class as RB on the pitch for years, I don't care about what he does odd the pitch. He was better than Alves defensively and was a much more balanced fullback. Of course Alves has him beat on achievements on club level, being a part of the Barca team does that. Of course, Alves is a factor for Barca winning so many trophies but while Lahm too has been blessed to be a part of a great team, Brca 09-15>>>>Bayern 09-15. And it's not like Lahm's trophy haul is not that impressive, he has a Champions League and the most important trophy of them all, a World Cup.

M99 wrote:Zanneti played RB majority of his career. He was as good at LB though. +1 at Dani for bringing up Zambrotta, now that is a guy that people do not usually mention. Maicon, I feel that prime Maicon was better overall than Alves but Alves has had far more better seasons than Maicon has had.

I rate Zambrotta very highly and it was a shame he came to Barcelona just a couple years too late and no longer in his prime.

Truly able to play both fullback positions, quick, strong, tough, defensively excellent, uses both feet, very intelligent and mastered the balance between defence and attack.

You dont really get fullbacks like him today actually. He was truly as good defensively as he was in attack.

Dani Alves very classy but sometimes reliable. He is not a good defender.

he kept a prime cr7 in his pocket multiple times
i'd say his defending is pretty world class compared to all the other right backs in the past 15 years.