The Best Defences in Football

[Dr. Gonzo]

This is inspired by @Spike's VVD thread in the prem section because he got me thinking about the best defenders I've seen. And really, he, @Cicero and I ended up turning that thread into a Maldini was a fucking legend discussion 

So I'm going to ask 2 questions:

1.) What's the best back 3/4/5... whatever fucking number... what's the best back line you've seen in football?

I remember the early 90s seeing this side playing in Italy. I think Fabio Capello was the manager. They were incredible. And there were 4 Italians at the back that were almost impossible to score against. So I'll go with them.

At left back, we've got Paolo Maldini. By the way, if you've not seen @Spike's thread on VVD go take a look at that. Consensus is that he's a fucking legend. Between him and the right back were these two lads that were fucking phenomenal centrebacks. Franco Baresi, who to this day remains the best CB I've ever seen play, and Costacurta - who doesn't get enough credit for his part in that back line - but he was great. And he finished his career in 2007, similar longevity to Paolo Maldini. I feel like he's often overlooked despite being a ridiculously good defender, as Baresi played next to him and Maldini would go on to have a similar yet more glamorously long career. And last, but not least... unless you mean least impressive of this back four, in which case... fine but he was still fucking excellent, we've got Mauro Tassotti. I don't really have as much to say about him as the others. Just trust me he was good.

To prove how good this back line was, I invite you to take a look at how good AC Milan were in the early 90s. I'm fairly certain these 4 lads I'm talking about helped AC Milan to 3 back to back titles in this time period.

I'm fairly certain about that because I was incredibly fucking young when I watched that Milan team, so I had to use the internet to double check what these players accomplished together. I think it says something about how good they were that I could remember all of their names and remember how good they were even as a very young kid. But I've got very fond memories of watching Serie A football as a very young kid with my family and I remember week-in-week-out wanting to see this ridiculous Milan side that sometimes just seemed impossible to score against.

And I remember being very sad when Maldini retired, because he'd been excellent at football for the entirety of my life. So this is a bit of a nostalgic choice, but I also think stats back them up as one of the best defenses in history.

2.) What's the best back line you've seen at your club?

This one's easier. It might be harder if we can keep this current Liverpool side together and this current Liverpool keeps being... good. But until/unless that happens, I'll have to go with:

Steve Finnan - Mr. Consistent. Never the best right back, never the worst right back. Always a solid 7.5/10 player.

Sami Hyypia - This big Finn is a fucking legend. Before Virgil, Sami was the best CB I'd ever seen play for Liverpool. Tbh he still probably is, if you value consistency, because Hyypia gave us 10 great years of service. If Virgil gives us even half that playing at or around this level, though, I think I'll have a different opinion. But this man was a leader and always a cool head, never a dirty player - he hardly ever got booked, as well as a fucking legend in the air. I loved big Sami and I still love big Sami.

Jamie Carragher - Some of you might have seen me say Hyypia was the best CB I've seen play for Liverpool and might think "well what about Jamie"... and yeah Carra was a great CB for us. I just think Hyypia at his best was better. But I did say that I think Baresi is the best CB I've ever seen, and I think Carra agreed with me and based his game around Franco Baresi. The way they played was with fire and with passion, never afraid to throw their body on the line to keep the ball out of the goal.

Fabio Aurelio - this was the hardest one to pick. I had to pick a left back that played with those 3 to shore up this back 4. Djimi Traore is a cult hero for us because of Istanbul... but it's definitely not him. John Arne Riise is also a cult hero for us because of Istanbul, however he was not a player I'd call consistent. Nor was he particularly great at defending, which is an important part of being a defender. Howitzer of a left foot though. But I'm fairly certain Fabio Aurelio, LFC's first ever Brazilian (not sure if that's true tbh, but I think it is) played with those other three. And if not for his terrible injury problems, he'd probably have been a more obvious pick. He was a phenomenal passer of the ball, could whip in sexy crosses, take sexy free kicks, and still do a great job defensively. I feel like when he played, we were always much more confident passing out of the back under Rafa. So I'll go with him.

[Guest]

Don't know about the first question, but as someone who's had to suffer garbage defence on the Peruvian national team, best I've seen is Luis Advincula, Alberto Rodriguez, Christian Ramos and Miguel Trauco. It's funny because Christian Ramos has always been trash, but he's had a spell of 3 years where he was decent enough to form a part of a good defence. He was also decent at club level, joined Veracruz and was essential in helping to save them from the drop.

The rest I've talked about too much. All very good players in their primes.

[Spike]

For a brief period of time the abilities, strengths [and weaknesses]. of Eric Abidal, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, and Dani Alves; were in perfect harmony. That is the best defensive unit ever, as not only did have admirable defensive qualities but it's balance of technical ability is what brings it ot the next level. On the right you had Alves, attacking like a madlad, Abidal his opposite; offering stability. the interior to Alves' exterior, and the ying-yang style of Puyol and Pique. People talk a lot about that midfield trio, but the defence is just as impressive.

[Inverted]

In terms of historic backlines, I think when it comes to pure defending it's hard to argue against Maldini-Baresi-Costacurta-Tassotti. You could also argue for one of Ancelotti's Milan defences like Maldini-Stam-Nesta-Cafu. 

Creatively, you could also say that De Boer-Blind-Rijkaard-Reiziger is maybe the most perfect example of a fluid, possession-focused defence. Or Barcelona's 2008 defence as mentioned above. 

As for Celtic, it's hard to really think of any amazing defences we've had in the last 10-15 years. I don't really remember the back 3 with Valgaeren, Balde and Mjällby from Seville.

In recent times we've had two world class defenders - Van Dijk and Tierney - who didn't get a a chance to really play together. There was a period where we had Izaguirre-Mulgrew-Van Dijk-Lustig, which was pretty good. Izaguirre at his peak was a good attacking fullback, and Lustig was a really well rounded player who was more robust physically. Mulgrew was an experienced, left-footed defender who was comfortable in possession. And Van Dijk was Van Dijk. 

[Cicero]

Best Ever: 

1. Juventus (1974-1986) 

                Dino Zoff

Brio----Gentile---Scirea-----Cabrini

2. Milan (1988-1994) 

                           G.Galli

Tassotti---Baresi---Costacurta----Maldini

 

 

Best at Chelsea (2004-2006) 

                               Cech

Ferreira----Carvalho----Terry----Gallas 

[CaaC (John)+]

14 hours ago, Inverted said:

Ancelotti's Milan defences like Maldini-Stam-Nesta-Cafu. 

Yep  and yet Liverpool ended up Champions against the Fab 4. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

40 minutes ago, CaaC (John) said:

Yep  and yet Liverpool ended up Champions against the Fab 4. 

With Djimi Traore, of all people, putting in great last ditch tackles and with crucial goal line clearances

[CaaC (John)+]

5 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

With Djimi Traore, of all people, putting in great last ditch tackles and with crucial goal line clearances

The forgotten one is Traoré, 

"Djimi Traoré (born 1 March 1980) is a former professional footballer and current assistant coach for Seattle Sounders FC. He played as a left back or centre back. Born in France, Traoré was a member of the Malian national team and at club level, he played for Laval, Liverpool – with whom he won multiple honours including the 2004–05 Champions League – Lens, Charlton Athletic, Portsmouth, Rennes, Birmingham City, Monaco, Marseille, and Seattle."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djimi_Traoré

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 hours ago, CaaC (John) said:

The forgotten one is Traoré, 

"Djimi Traoré (born 1 March 1980) is a former professional footballer and current assistant coach for Seattle Sounders FC. He played as a left back or centre back. Born in France, Traoré was a member of the Malian national team and at club level, he played for Laval, Liverpool – with whom he won multiple honours including the 2004–05 Champions League – Lens, Charlton Athletic, Portsmouth, Rennes, Birmingham City, Monaco, Marseille, and Seattle."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djimi_Traoré

Nah, I'll never forget Djimi. Or anyone who played for us in Istanbul.

I did forget that he played for all of those other clubs after he left us though 

[Spike]

4 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Nah, I'll never forget Djimi. Or anyone who played for us in Istanbul.

I did forget that he played for all of those other clubs after he left us though 

Erect a statie of Kewell. If he weren't injured you would've lost. The sacrifice.

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 minutes ago, Spike said:

Erect a statie of Kewell. If he weren't injured you would've lost. The sacrifice.

What I don't understand is why Rafa trusted that Kewell wasn't injured.

Kewell was always injured.

[Panna King]

20 hours ago, Inverted said:

In terms of historic backlines, I think when it comes to pure defending it's hard to argue against Maldini-Baresi-Costacurta-Tassotti. You could also argue for one of Ancelotti's Milan defences like Maldini-Stam-Nesta-Cafu. 

Creatively, you could also say that De Boer-Blind-Rijkaard-Reiziger is maybe the most perfect example of a fluid, possession-focused defence. Or Barcelona's 2008 defence as mentioned above. 

As for Celtic, it's hard to really think of any amazing defences we've had in the last 10-15 years. I don't really remember the back 3 with Valgaeren, Balde and Mjällby from Seville.

In recent times we've had two world class defenders - Van Dijk and Tierney - who didn't get a a chance to really play together. There was a period where we had Izaguirre-Mulgrew-Van Dijk-Lustig, which was pretty good. Izaguirre at his peak was a good attacking fullback, and Lustig was a really well rounded player who was more robust physically. Mulgrew was an experienced, left-footed defender who was comfortable in possession. And Van Dijk was Van Dijk. 

Danny Blind was one of the most underrated defenders in Football, he won everything there is to win in club football as a captain of Ajax.

[Cicero]

Facchetti--------------------------------------------Gentile

Maldini----Scirea----Baresi

Zoff

Just a boner every time I think of this back line.  

[Spike]

8 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Facchetti--------------------------------------------Gentile

Maldini----Scirea----Baresi

Zoff

Just a boner every time I think of this back line.  

I didn’t think you were so old

[Cicero]

Just now, Spike said:

I didn’t think you were so old

I'm not. I remember Baresi, but I am very familiar with the others. Golden age of Italian defence. 

[Spike]

1 minute ago, Cicero said:

I'm not. I remember Baresi, but I am very familiar with the others. Golden age of Italian defence. 

You remember Baresi but also forget Baresi, that is why you didn’t specify!

[Dr. Gonzo]

What do you lads prefer, a back 4 or a back 5?

[CaaC (John)+]

It will always be a 4-4-2 for me, a good counter-attacking formation. 

[Spike]

47 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

What do you lads prefer, a back 4 or a back 5?

My 4 in your backdoor.

[Dr. Gonzo]

7 minutes ago, Spike said:

My 4 in your backdoor.

Sounds painful tbh

[Dan+]

Our best ever defence is 2015/16, unsurprisingly. They were just such a good unit. They were all limited, very much about their defending rather than anything they offered going forward, but they along with Kante were such a pain to break down - a Leicester side keeping 11 clean sheets in 15 games in the top flight is pretty much unheard of (although nearly anything we did that year seemed to be).

[Lucas]

I'm another for Team Milan here. Whether it be Capello or Sacchi's side, without doubt the most tactically astute side I've known. They were such a cohesive unit that they absolutely mastered the offside rule to a tee.

Have to say though, if it wasn't for AC, I'd be all over Arsenal here. George Graham made them notoriously hard to beat, hense the chants of 'boring, boring Arsenal and '1-0 to the Arsenal'.

Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Bould and Winterburn. Hell of a unit. All knew their jobs and what one another had to do, and stuck to them. And they did this for nigh on a decade from late 80's to late 90's. Even better, they were all English.

Wenger was fortunate to inherit such a great defence and even with subtle changes like Keown coming in, they still were solid as a rock.

As for Leeds, hand on heart I've never really witnessed us have a great defence. We've had some brilliant individuals but as a unit, I wouldn't say we've had an outstanding backline that sticks out.

[Mel81x+]

On 05/06/2019 at 04:00, Dr. Gonzo said:

What do you lads prefer, a back 4 or a back 5?

4 and primarily because it affords better coverage and failsafe should the outside get beat as well. 5 seems more like a tactical decision to shut down the opponent when you're only 1 up and there is like 15 minutes left to go.

[Carnivore Chris]

On 04/06/2019 at 23:30, Dr. Gonzo said:

What do you lads prefer, a back 4 or a back 5?

A back 4 any day. 

4-3-3 has and will always be my preferred formation, but then it also depends on the type of players at your disposal. 

I reckon Simeone's Atlético deserve a shout here in terms of more recent years. Less so right now but in general they have been a unit under Simeone. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

6 hours ago, The Rebel CRS said:

A back 4 any day. 

4-3-3 has and will always be my preferred formation, but then it also depends on the type of players at your disposal. 

I reckon Simeone's Atlético deserve a shout here in terms of more recent years. Less so right now but in general they have been a unit under Simeone. 

I’ve always hated watching Simeone’s Atletico, that’s a back 10 when they’re up against anyone good