[VOTE] Team of the 21st Century - CB 1 - Round of 16

[RandoEFC+]

Half of our nominated centre backs appear in this poll. The 32 nominees have been split totally at random for fairness. From the 16 men above, it's time to start having your say on which one of these men will make up half of our central defensive partnership.

[Pyfish+]

Some really tough ones in there!

[RandoEFC+]

1. Cannavaro - De Vrij is definitely not a contender here.

2. Vidic - as is often the case, this may be bias towards the player I've seen the most of.

3. Samuel - to be honest this is a coin toss as I barely remember Adams and know Samuel more by reputation.

4. Chiellini - can't argue with his longevity at the top level for club and country.

5. Lucio - Brazil's top centre half for a lot of the time I was growing up.

6. Terry - Van Dijk might swing this if he continues as he is now until the end of his career.

7. Vertonghen - This was a toss up. I don't think either he or Varane will be around in the semi finals of this.

8. Ramos - one of the best central defenders of this generation, a contender for this position in my opinion.

[Carnivore Chris]

1. Cannavaro - No contest really

2. Thuram - Vidic was brilliant, but Thuram would get my vote over most. The problem with Thuram though, is that, just like Maldini, he was a class centre-back but also a class full-back, right back in his case.

3. Tony Adams - Probably the best English centre-back I can remember from my time, after John Terry.

4. Chiellini - Been around for years and is consistent. Everyone knows he's a class defender, although at the same time he is also often overlooked.

5. Ricardo Carvalho - Hard one to choose as both are 2 of those defenders who are often overlooked in discussions like these. Carvalho would edge it though for me.

6. Terry - Van Dijk is class, he was every bit deserving of being in the run in for the Ballon d'or last season, but Terry is among the best defenders I've seen and was consistent for a decade. He's underrated in many ways due to coming across as a cunt when he was playing, banging his team-mate's wife, and even being accused of racial abuse. But we can't deny his talent. Van Dijk still has a career ahead of him though and will leave his own mark on the game before he retires.

7. Varane - Probably Varane. Neither are anything over special in comparison to the rest on these lists though.

8. Ramos - One of the dirtiest, horrible cunts of a player you'll ever see, although you can't deny his importance. Always there when Real Madrid needed him in those big Champions League wins and their most important player when it came to the crunch. He obviously also played an important role in Spain's dominance as well.

[Cicero]

Ex-girlfriend 

[Stan]

Cannavaro
Thuram
Samuel
Lucio
Chiellini
Terry
Varane
Ramos

There's some absolute beasts in there.

Next round and onwards will be much tougher.

[RandoEFC+]

Poll closed, thanks to all voters, and thank goodness we don't have any ties in there. Quarter finals coming soon.