Thiago Silva

[BrazilFan]

I agree his trophy cabinet is a little thin for all time great mention. Great defender, probably best of the current generation

 

[Leo_Messi]

Why do you think was Nesta a superior player? Or any of those you named. Obviously it's your opinion and they were indeed great players but TS remains underappreciated for me. In terms of pure defending he's easily the best of his generation, but then he is even impressive in physical aspects of his game (speed, strength, jumping). And the most important part is his extreme intelligence and how he is a major factor for his team's build up play. Always in the right positions, amazing anticipation and is actually good with the ball on his feet and can play football. The only really complete defender.

And who do you think is better than him atm? Silva has easily been the best and most consistent CB since ~2010. 5 years being the best isn't so easy. Whether he has won many trophies is largely irrelevant as well. It's a team game and more often depending on luck. He's not even an attacking player who could potentially lead a team to glory alone. Even the greatest player of all time (which is Messi) has never won a World Cup. Not even sure if he has won the Copa America.

I might be biased here but Nesta along with all of those other Italian central defenders were and are considered as some of the greatest central defenders in history. They combined immense talent and ability with trophies on both club and national level and longevity. They proved their abilities on the biggest stages. Constantly.

Thiago Silva on the other hand has not been close to that. He has never played in a CL-final. Or in a Cl-seminfinal. Or in a Copa América final or semifinal even. Nor in a World Cup final or semifinal. He has never played in the best leagues in this era (Spanish, English and German). His trophy cabinet is unimpressive too.

How you can rate him as the greatest ever I don't understand. You must really like him.

Don't misunderstand me here. I consider him a great player and as one of the best on his position for the past 4-5 seasons. But nothing more than that. He has a lot. As in A LOT to prove in my eyes.

This might be a controversial pick but I think that Pepe has performed better than Silva for the past 2 seasons. Especially last season he was outstanding. He is criminally underrated and most people still view him as the maniac that had his insane stunt against Getafe 6 years ago. I actually don't think that there is any outstanding central defender currently. In the sense that this player x is above everyone else on his position by a clear margin.

 

[DrPepper]

I might be biased here but Nesta along with all of those other Italian central defenders were and are considered as some of the greatest central defenders in history. They combined immense talent and ability with trophies on both club and national level and longevity. They proved their abilities on the biggest stages. Constantly.

Thiago Silva on the other hand has not been close to that. He has never played in a CL-final. Or in a Cl-seminfinal. Or in a Copa América final or semifinal even. Nor in a World Cup final or semifinal. He has never played in the best leagues in this era (Spanish, English and German). His trophy cabinet is unimpressive too.

How you can rate him as the greatest ever I don't understand. You must really like him.

Don't misunderstand me here. I consider him a great player and as one of the best on his position for the past 4-5 seasons. But nothing more than that. He has a lot. As in A LOT to prove in my eyes.

This might be a controversial pick but I think that Pepe has performed better than Silva for the past 2 seasons. Especially last season he was outstanding. He is criminally underrated and most people still view him as the maniac that had his insane stunt against Getafe 6 years ago. I actually don't think that there is any outstanding central defender currently. In the sense that this player x is above everyone else on his position by a clear margin.

So basically you're saying that ability-wise Silva can be compared to the greatest, only that his trophy count doesn't allow that? Trophies are dependant on where you play. As I said, Messi will probably never win a World Cup but there's no doubt he's the greatest of all time. TS had one of the weaker Brazil teams of recent times. And as one individual player you are somewhat dependant on other players. Teams win trophies, not players.

Now, this one for a probably very unpopular and controversial opinion: You probably should know that I'm of the opinion that the current generation is always better than the previous. Like when people compare Messi to Maradona and Pele. I simply think that if those played in this time, they wouldn't be close to Messi. Simply because football changes over time and becomes more and more complex. Back then, for example, the offside rule was different, and simple tactical concepts like pressing weren't as evolved as today.

Sacchi began introducing the concept of compressing space in the late 80s/early 90s and with Lobanovsky made pressing a more common thing. This meant that as the year's progressed, players on the ball don't have as much time on the ball as before. So, would players from the 70s thrive in a modern system when back then, they had every time in the world when having the ball? Those players also only needed to do one job; defenders would defend, strikers would score goals etc. Nowadays a striker is the first defender and so on.

Which means more qualities you need to have to be a top player. And Thiago Silva possesses everything a modern defender should have. Everyone else has some weaknesses. That makes him an easy pick. He's a complete defender who is good at everything. He could play for a team with a high defensive line but also for a team that parks the bus. Versatile and intelligent. But it could very well be that in 10 years there'll be someone else who's even better, ofc.

Pepe is a decent pick. I feared you coming with people like Ramos, Hummels or Boateng. One of the best for sure, but he's decent at best with the ball and a liability for his team when needing to build up play from behind. TS is a lot better there.

In the end, Silva is underappreciated because it's hard to judge defensive performances. It's mostly a matter of reputation (that's why people think that Ramos and Kompany are one of the best defenders for example) and how many trophies you win. So in conclusion, I'd say that ability wise he is the best but because he doesn't have the trophies to show for, he can't be realistically considered the greatest. Although a player doesn't win trophies himself, the team does. It's then just a matter of how much emphasis you put on those factors.

 

[Leo_Messi]

So basically you're saying that ability-wise Silva can be compared to the greatest, only that his trophy count doesn't allow that? Trophies are dependant on where you play. As I said, Messi will probably never win a World Cup but there's no doubt he's the greatest of all time. TS had one of the weaker Brazil teams of recent times. And as one individual player you are somewhat dependant on other players. Teams win trophies, not players.

Now, this one for a probably very unpopular and controversial opinion: You probably should know that I'm of the opinion that the current generation is always better than the previous. Like when people compare Messi to Maradona and Pele. I simply think that if those played in this time, they wouldn't be close to Messi. Simply because football changes over time and becomes more and more complex. Back then, for example, the offside rule was different, and simple tactical concepts like pressing weren't as evolved as today.

Sacchi began introducing the concept of compressing space in the late 80s/early 90s and with Lobanovsky made pressing a more common thing. This meant that as the year's progressed, players on the ball don't have as much time on the ball as before. So, would players from the 70s thrive in a modern system when back then, they had every time in the world when having the ball? Those players also only needed to do one job; defenders would defend, strikers would score goals etc. Nowadays a striker is the first defender and so on.

Which means more qualities you need to have to be a top player. And Thiago Silva possesses everything a modern defender should have. Everyone else has some weaknesses. That makes him an easy pick. He's a complete defender who is good at everything. He could play for a team with a high defensive line but also for a team that parks the bus. Versatile and intelligent. But it could very well be that in 10 years there'll be someone else who's even better, ofc.

Pepe is a decent pick. I feared you coming with people like Ramos, Hummels or Boateng. One of the best for sure, but he's decent at best with the ball and a liability for his team when needing to build up play from behind. TS is a lot better there.

In the end, Silva is underappreciated because it's hard to judge defensive performances. It's mostly a matter of reputation (that's why people think that Ramos and Kompany are one of the best defenders for example) and how many trophies you win. So in conclusion, I'd say that ability wise he is the best but because he doesn't have the trophies to show for, he can't be realistically considered the greatest. Although a player doesn't win trophies himself, the team does. It's then just a matter of how much emphasis you put on those factors.

Not really. I still rate those players that I mentioned as better defenders talent wise and ability wise. That does not mean that I regard Thiago Silva as a bad player or not as one of the very best central defenders in the past 5 years. There is just a very long way from saying that and then to proclaim him as the best ever (!). That's a huge claim.

Whether we like it or not then the greatest players are measured not only by their talent but also the trophies that they have contributed to. Messi has won everything that you can win on club level multiple times. He has also reached the Copa América final and World Cup final. He has shown his worth for his national team too unlike Silva.

Most of the players that I mentioned played during the modern age. Football in the 1980's and 1990's compared to today is not that different again. Also I am not necessarily sure that the current generation is always better than past ones but that would be a long discussion.

Pepe is not that bad on the ball IMO. He is underrated on this front too. He is very much like Silva a complete defender. I think that he would have been even better had he played for FCB and been able to control his temper in his younger years.

Ramos is as good as Silva on his day IMO. He is just not as consistent. I never rated Kompany highly. Boateng is a good defender and I expect him to get better as he is still young. Hummels? Good but too hyped.

 

[Ryu Hayabusa]

So basically you're saying that ability-wise Silva can be compared to the greatest, only that his trophy count doesn't allow that? Trophies are dependant on where you play. As I said, Messi will probably never win a World Cup but there's no doubt he's the greatest of all time. TS had one of the weaker Brazil teams of recent times. And as one individual player you are somewhat dependant on other players. Teams win trophies, not players.

Now, this one for a probably very unpopular and controversial opinion: You probably should know that I'm of the opinion that the current generation is always better than the previous. Like when people compare Messi to Maradona and Pele. I simply think that if those played in this time, they wouldn't be close to Messi. Simply because football changes over time and becomes more and more complex. Back then, for example, the offside rule was different, and simple tactical concepts like pressing weren't as evolved as today.

Sacchi began introducing the concept of compressing space in the late 80s/early 90s and with Lobanovsky made pressing a more common thing. This meant that as the year's progressed, players on the ball don't have as much time on the ball as before. So, would players from the 70s thrive in a modern system when back then, they had every time in the world when having the ball? Those players also only needed to do one job; defenders would defend, strikers would score goals etc. Nowadays a striker is the first defender and so on.

Which means more qualities you need to have to be a top player. And Thiago Silva possesses everything a modern defender should have. Everyone else has some weaknesses. That makes him an easy pick. He's a complete defender who is good at everything. He could play for a team with a high defensive line but also for a team that parks the bus. Versatile and intelligent. But it could very well be that in 10 years there'll be someone else who's even better, ofc.

Pepe is a decent pick. I feared you coming with people like Ramos, Hummels or Boateng. One of the best for sure, but he's decent at best with the ball and a liability for his team when needing to build up play from behind. TS is a lot better there.

In the end, Silva is underappreciated because it's hard to judge defensive performances. It's mostly a matter of reputation (that's why people think that Ramos and Kompany are one of the best defenders for example) and how many trophies you win. So in conclusion, I'd say that ability wise he is the best but because he doesn't have the trophies to show for, he can't be realistically considered the greatest. Although a player doesn't win trophies himself, the team does. It's then just a matter of how much emphasis you put on those factors.

As you find the idea of Boateng being considered better than TS atm ridiculous, please care to elaborate why that is.
Cause as I see it, while I agree that TS is a great defender all around, he is not as fast as Boateng and arguably, Boateng commits less silly mistakes than TS at this point.

 

[Butaan4barca]

Varane > TS. And even varane doesn't makes that list. lol @ TS being best ever.

 

[Ini8]

Varane > TS. And even varane doesn't makes that list. lol @ TS being best ever.

Seriously?

 

[linetty]

Seriously?

Don't bother

 

[khaled_a_d]

Seriously?

It is actually less absurd than T.Silva being the all time GOAT CB

 

[Hamzah]

As you find the idea of Boateng being considered better than TS atm ridiculous, please care to elaborate why that is.
Cause as I see it, while I agree that TS is a great defender all around, he is not as fast as Boateng and arguably, Boateng commits less silly mistakes than TS at this point.

Boateng is barely tested. He is a good cb but wait till the end of the season and the various big games till you judge him the worlds best cb.

 

[Blaugrana Bull]

Boateng really stepped his game up and is Top 3 for sure. In contrast to over hyped players like Kompany or Ramos he actually does his job all the time.

 

[Ryu Hayabusa]

Boateng really stepped his game up and is Top 3 for sure. In contrast to over hyped players like Kompany or Ramos he actually does his job all the time.

+1

I see him in the Top 3 as well, maybe even as the best, though that is nothing easily to determine for sure.
Fact is, he is the fastest elite CB atm, he stepped up big in big matches over the past two years, with the WC final being the highlight. Many named him Germany's best player in the final, and rightly so. He also plays in arguably the highest defensive line of all elite teams and is essentially its focal point. And we all know, playing in high lines is where defenders really get their metal tested.
I always used to ridicule Boateng as Blunderteng, but there is a reason I stopped doing so a while ago. Atm he is far from being error prone at all, while even raising his goal thread (which is still not great, but at least it can be considered "okay" now).
Also, his ball distribution and vision is second to none (okay, maybe second to an in-form Badstuber).
I admit, I don't see TS that often, but continuisly calling him the greatest CB of all time while ridiculing the idea of Boateng being among the very best today, is insane.

 

[TornAndFrayed]

So many people compare players from many teams, none of them being barcelona, and I can't help but wonder if all of you guys ( not pointing fingers ) do regularly watch those teams and players you talk about.

 

[frog-fcb]

Just bring back puyol and you have the perfect defender

 

[Ini8]

Maldini on TS (a bit old, I know):