“Goals win games, but Defences win tournaments” is a saying every football fan knows, and every great football manager adheres to. All of the greatest sides in the contemporary game have been built on rock-solid defences. And those defences, had in their heart, a general who would lead, command, organise, and tackle.
Good defenders need a number of traits to be successful. Pace, power, tactical intelligence, technical capability, strength on set pieces, leadership at the back, and organisational skills are just some of the skills that a defender needs to be deemed ‘great’.
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Be it Bobby Moore, Franco Baresi, or Franz Beckenbauer, certain players have given their teams a strong base and made them fortresses which were extremely hard to breach.
Here, we look at the top 5 centre backs in the game today.
#5 Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal)
Arsenal’s first choice centre-back Laurent Koscielny is one of the classiest in Europe, and he is more or less the complete defender.
He has oodles of pace to match the quickest strikers in the game, he is a leader at the back, and he is as strong as they get. The Frenchman’s tackling is aggressive and he also has the knack of nicking a goal.
His statistics don’t do full justice to his ability as a player as Koscielny plays in a team which employs an attacking style and a high line, with great space in behind which opposition strikers look to exploit.
He comes out on top against most opponents in individual duels, and it must not be forgotten that he plays in the most difficult league in the world for defenders, where the tempo of play is high, and referees let forwards get away with physical play in the box.
Koscielny has also chipped in 34 goals in his career and is extremely useful in the opponents’ box during set-pieces.
He was a solid figure at the back for France in their journey to the final of EURO 2016, without a stable partner in central defence, which in itself is a feat.
Koscielny has won the FA Cup twice and the Community Shield twice. At 31 years of age, he still has a couple of good years in him yet.
#4 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
Who do you call upon when you are trailing by a goal to your cross-town rivals in the biggest game in your club’s recent history, with just a couple more minutes to save the game?
Sergio Ramos, that’s who. The Real Madrid captain stepped up in the Champions League final of 2014 and thundered in a header from a corner in the dying seconds to send the game into extra time, where Real Madrid scored 3 more goals to grab the win against Atletico Madrid.
The Spain and Real Madrid captain is a Los Blancos legend, and rightly so. His performances have been immense for the best part of a decade and he is as complete a defender as can be.
Although he can be a bit rash at times, his speed, tenacity, and strength enables him to recover balls others cannot, and his versatility allows him to play at centre back or right back positions.
The former Sevilla player’s supreme passing ability has also allowed him to step into midfield when called upon. He wears his heart on his sleeve, making him a darling of the Madridistas.
He has played 537 club games, scoring 67 goals, with many of them being crucial for his side. The captain also has an amazing 137 international caps, and with him being only 30 years old, he may end up becoming Spain’s most capped player ever.
In his trophy cabinet, he proudly shows off the 2010 FIFA World Cup, 2 European Championships, 4 La Liga titles, 2 Copa Del Rey trophies, 2 Champions Leagues, 1 UEFA Super Cup, and 1 Club World cup.
#3 Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus)
Leonardo Bonucci, the 6ft 3in centre back is probably one of the most underrated central defenders in the world. He quietly goes about his business with minimal fuss and is an integral part of Juventus’ famed defence.
Bonucci began his career as a midfielder but switched to defence because of his great tactical nous. He is a ball-playing centre back and is famed for launching attacks from the back with accurate long balls to the strikers or out to the wing. The Italian is composed, tactically aware, strong in the air, quick across the grass, and brilliant in the tackle.
He has proved his mettle against strikers in Europe and in international games and has ably defended against all of them. He has earned high praise from Pep Guardiola, who tried to sign the defender for Manchester City in the summer, with the coach calling him “one of my favorite players ever”.
La Republica newspaper once dubbed him “Beckenbonucci” in reference to the great German sweeper Franz Beckenbauer.
Bonucci has helped Juventus to 5 Serie A titles, 2 Coppa Italia trophies, and 3 Supercoppa Italiana triumphs, as well as performing ably in his team’s Champions League campaign, where they reached the final.
He has also earned 63 Italy caps, with whom he was the runner-up in the European Championships of 2012.
#2 Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid)
It is ubiquitously opined that Atletico Madrid are the best defensive team in the world right now and their best defender is none other than the boy from Rosario, Uruguay, Diego Godin.
The Uruguayan is a type of player who not get on the highlights reel as much, but without him, the team crumbles. He stitches the defence together, tightens and organises the backline and refuses to let anybody pass through. He is a colossus at the heart of defence and is the type of man who would run through walls for his team.
Godin is a defender whose concentration powers are on a different level altogether. He sniffs out and shuts out danger as soon as there is a small sign of it, and is a no-nonsense player.
He can be described as the defender of all of defenders and he is someone who hardly makes mistakes during games. His threat from set pieces is very real, and he is a battler on the pitch, scrapping for lost causes as well.
The Atletico Madrid player retains the ball and keeps it well when under pressure from opposition forwards.
Godin has won a number of trophies with Atletico Madrid which include the Copa Del Rey, the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Super Cup. He has also won a La Liga title and has 101 caps for Uruguay.
#1 Jerome Boateng (Germany)
Jerome Boateng was called the best defender in the world by Matthias Sammer, a compliment from one of the greats of German football and a deserved one at that.
Boateng is a stable player who is extremely consistent with his main strengths being his pace and ball playing ability. When Pep Guardiola was the Bayern Munich manager, Boateng’s pace and positional awareness was of huge importance as the Catalan played a high line almost approaching the halfway mark on the pitch.
His athleticism is unmatched by any defender and so are his ball playing capabilities. The German is also capable of launching attacks from defence with his long balls which are capable of bypassing midfield and for the forwards can chase.
He is a defender who is also capable of adapting to different styles of play, and he has been the first choice defender for Bayern under coaches Jupp Heynckes and Carlo Ancelotti, who prefer a balanced style of play, as well as under the ultra attacking Pep Guardiola.
Boateng has a list of honors to his name, and they include 4 Bundesliga's, 1 UEFA Champions League, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 Club World Cup, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup with Germany.
