World's best Defender?

[jamrock]

At his best its nesta, but he is pass his best now to be honest.

Vidic gets skinned by skillful strikers a bit too easy, so it can't be him and he is shit with the ball at his feet.

John terry is just shit and rio is pass his best

the likes of luiz,Verm,thiago,alex has to place being compared to the best yet.

pepe is a good defender but loses his head a bit too much.

when the going gets tough puyol gets going, but is getting up in age.

So its between, Lucio,Samuel,Pique,puyol and carvalho

Samuel is limited to defending excellently in a particular setup, put the line high and he gets exposed.

that brings it down to puyol,carvalho,lucio and pique

any of these could be called the best in the world, but for me its pique/lucio, can defend as good as any, doesn't matter if their team is playing a high line or setting deep and both are excellent ball playing defenders.

 

[yusuf]

well said jammo...carvalho is awesome but past his best but still playing at a high level.....i love puyol and he always is at a high level but he is just lacking in positioning/speed to be named the best, he is freaking awesome at tackling.

lucio is good but never liked his erratic play and pique is just awesome

 

[AnfieldEd]

ATM in time I don't believe there is a definitive best defender in the world right now.

What I do believe is that for big game match ups I don't think anyone is better in that psyche than Puyol.

But as an overall package he wouldn't be in my top 5 - if that is what we are doing. But comparing on the ball skills to another's aerial ability and saying one is better than the other that way will not work.

You have to divide it up into sections. Physicality and Skill. If one is top in a section and top 5 in the other section then its a safe bet he'd be overall No.1.

 

[Red Devil 2]

When fully fit and in the mode Rio Ferdinand for me.

There isn't much in it between Rio and Vidic for me.

Whoever voted Thomas Vermalen needs there head testing.

 

[woobie]

Alessandro Nesta. Yes, past his best (his best was at Lazio) but I still think he's the best CB playing.

Closely followed by Pique/Puyol.

 

[MoFroBo]

TS to me, you can't find any such big, physical guy like him and fast as fucking bullet. He also has probably the best partner to learn from. If not Thiago Silva, then I'd say it is Pique or Vidic.

 

[Ataraxia]

Vidic, currently. If you want to consider the past years and so, the best is clearly Nesta followed by Carvalho,Vidic,Terry, Samuel and Puyol.

Pique has no place as a defender, he is just very skilled all around compared to them but he definitely is not a top defender. The times he gets owned is ridiculous. I am sure if he plays for a team that has less than 75% possession he will get exposed even more. Having said that he still has time to improve.

 

[Sergio]

I strongly disagree. I think Pique is a magnificent defender, your last sentence is very important as you have to consider his age, because being a true great defender only comes with experience to gain that great judgement and anticipation. That will come. He has the rest already though, very strong, great head, an elegance in his technique that I saw in Maldini and most impressive to me is a never ending desire and hunger for the team - look at him in the final moments vs Inter last year. Forget Messi, he is the one I would want in my team first. With a bit more time I see him being one of the best ever, and I don't say that lightly as in Maldini, Nesta and Baresi I feel I already saw that. He has the makings of the most complete defender.

 

[Jordzibob]

I strongly disagree. I think Pique is a magnificent defender, your last sentence is very important as you have to consider his age, because being a true great defender only comes with experience to gain that great judgement and anticipation. That will come. He has the rest already though, very strong, great head, an elegance in his technique that I saw in Maldini and most impressive to me is a never ending desire and hunger for the team - look at him in the final moments vs Inter last year. Forget Messi, he is the one I would want in my team first. With a bit more time I see him being one of the best ever, and I don't say that lightly as in Maldini, Nesta and Baresi I feel I already saw that. He has the makings of the most complete defender.

Boom.

That's going in my sig


EDIT: Oh gay, it doesnt fit. 500 character limit, bleh.

 

[Ataraxia]

so what does potential matter ? He is not the best defender of the world.

He is being very overrated because of three factors:

1) Barcelona and Spain's success
2) Very young age
3) Exceptional all around skills for a defender

But most of the names in the poll are better defenders than him as of now. I mean voting for Pique over Vidic is just ... no words sorry. Pique filling in Vidic's place in Manchester would give me some laughs. Also I can't see him doing half of what Terry, Puyol or even Nesta at this age doing.

If he does live up to his potential I will call him best defender in the world easily because he is the most skilled amongst them as well but no way I will contribute with 50% of the forum saying he is the best defender of the world.

 

[Sergio]

I'm saying he is the best in the world, with the potential to be one of the best ever, because he really isn't that far from that - as I say it will come with experience, other than that he has everything.

And you make it sound like he has been in the right place at the right time, to a degree yes, but he has also been a key part in the success of those teams, far short of the passenger you portray him as.

 

[Jordzibob]

so what does potential matter ? He is not the best defender of the world.

He is being very overrated because of three factors:

1) Barcelona and Spain's success
2) Very young age
3) Exceptional all around skills for a defender

.

You dont consider that in any way he's a main part of Spain and Barcelona's success? Spain kept the tighest defensive record in the World Cup, he raped Ronaldo in both Clasico's last year and for his age is a figure of ridiculous consistency, when you look at people saying about Evans etc lol: btw) and they say yeh their young so their inconsistencies will iron themselves out, Pique plays well pretty much week in week out. It's not just "Barcelona bias", his defensive skills are absolutely brilliant and there isnt a defender in the world with his ability to read the game.

 

[Ataraxia]

You dont consider that in any way he's a main part of Spain and Barcelona's success? Spain kept the tighest defensive record in the World Cup, he raped Ronaldo in both Clasico's last year and for his age is a figure of ridiculous consistency, when you look at people saying about Evans etc lol: btw) and they say yeh their young so their inconsistencies will iron themselves out, Pique plays well pretty much week in week out. It's not just "Barcelona bias", his defensive skills are absolutely brilliant and there isnt a defender in the world with his ability to read the game.

he didn't rape no one yet. actually Puyol was the one who raped Ronaldo last year not Pique who could have caused a penalty or two in first classico and got beaten mercilessly. Also when you have a powerful back line like that and one of the best midfields in history when it comes to keeping possession and dictating play, there is very few to worry about. This season he has looked so shaky as well and got raped at a lot of occasions, but people will always overrate him because of the points I mentioned and because he is a classy type of defender. Sum of it all: absolutely ridiculous to even say Pique is anything close of what for instance Vidic is now. It's an insult to defenders like Vidic who do everything that can be done as defenders, and some guy like Pique gets all the acclaim.

 

[nebeer]

I think it comes down to Puyol, Lucio and Pique for me. A couple of months back it would have been easier for me to go for Pique, but he has been a little sloppy lately. His contribution in the midfield and up has been good, but we are talking about the best CB here. Puyol is a legend. And he is probably the best. On the other hand, there is Lucio. Lucio is the one that gets found out the least probably. My bias though makes me more inclined to Puyol, but Lucio is a tremendous CB to honest. I ain't voting yet.

 

[Metaphysical]

it's Vidic or Piqué.

Nesta and Rio are by far the finest when they're fully fit and firing, but that's not something one can rely on.

special mentions to T. Silly, Puyol, Lucio and Pepe (aka Lucio Jr.) who are just a notch below the above foursome.