In the early 2000s, the football world was agog with truly exceptional centre backs that could rival any attacker for the world’s best play...
The great likes of Maldini, Stam, Cannavaro, Nesta, Frank de Boer, Desailly, Thuram, Blanc etc. make up the list of the best defenders who have ever cleared the lines in front of the 18-yard box.
If you told a Carlos Tevez or Emmanuel Emenike who are probably the most physical of strikers in today’s game that they’ll be going up the likes of Tony Adams or Fernando Hierro, Roberto Ayala, Ivan Cordoba or our own Taribo West, you’ll definitely send shivers down their spines.
These guys were lynchpins in the craft of defending for their teams both at club and national level. It was obvious to spot the vacuum they created in their respective teams when they ultimately retired from the game.
The game has evolved so much to the point where fullbacks are now expected to support the attack more than ever and it has inevitably affected the defence as centre backs are exposed to provide cover independently.
Gone are the days when full backs stay backed and faced rummaging wingers head on with hopes to counter; basically every one of them is attack minded now.
The most solid defence line I’ve witnessed in a long time is still the AC Milan 2004/2005 squad which comprised of:
Maldini (LB)>>>>> Nesta (CB)>>>>> Stam (CB)>>>>> Cafu(RB)
Maldini and Cafu, both adept at making attacking runs against the opposition, were still solid defensively and reorganised themselves promptly to support Nesta and Stam when under threat.
They snuffed out the best of attacks during Carlo Ancelotti’ reign back then and Milan haven’t being the same since their gradual departure.
The evolvement of the game has also impacted on the centre-backs as they are no longer required to the dirty man’s job of slide-tackling and last-ditch defending as much as before.
They are now expected to contribute more to attacking play as well which means they press more upfront which keeps the opposing strikers at bay and ultimately helps them to regain possession of the ball quicker after it has been lost.
An excellent description of this style of play was the Borussia Dortmund side of 2 seasons ago which went all the way to the Champions league final against FC Bayern. Their defence line wasn‘t the most star studded but they pressed efficiently and effectively against better opponents conquering the best of attacks like Real Madrid en route the final.
Now, defending is based on positional intelligence and anticipation and most importantly collective brilliance rather than brawn. Interceptions and clearance are now more common than tackling and marking.
Looking back at last summer’s transfer window, it was interesting to note how PSG raided Chelsea and splurged 50 million pounds to snatch David Luiz from Stamford Bridge -a transfer record fee for a defender.
Even after a disastrous performance in the World Cup (especially Brazil's humiliating 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany where he was the culprit in most scenarios that led to Germany's goals), it shows that David Luiz skillset is more appeciated by the PSG backroom staff than others- His adventurous nature and drive up the pitch when his side is launching attacks make him an extra thorn in the flesh asides him being a dead ball specialist. Perhaps his style suits their game plan better.
PSG are renowned for playing majorly to outscore their opponents not really minding how much they concede.
At the end of the window, it became obvious that most clubs who needed to strengthen their defence line ups had to opt for second best as there are really no standard centre backs at the moment.
Inter Milan signed an almost depleted Nemanja Vidic from Manchester United, Arsenal signed a young but inexperienced Calum Chambers who also doubles as a rightback, Man Utd signed Marcos Rojo whom so far seems astute in attack and link up play but quite suspect in defence much like David Luiz (although he seems like a work in progress looking at his emergence on the world scene for Argentina at the World Cup).
Barcelona also seemed lost in their own manhunt for a centreback as they were eyeing 21 year old wonderkid Rodrigo Caio from Sao Paulo and eventually had to settle for Thomas Vermaelen( a David Luiz type) and Jeremy Mathieu who's quite solid but is 31 year and for the absurd price of 20 million euros. Currently, amongst the 'big teams' in Europe, only Chelsea has a standard centre back pairing of Tim Cahill and John Terry.
Even Terry who is a veteran of the position is now relying on willpower, professionalism and experience as his body is no longer as agile as it was years before.
Even on the national front, with a plethora of players both home and abroad, Nigeria has still failed to produce enough replacement for Joseph Yobo as he bids farewell to the the Super Eagles, leaving the bulk of the defending to Kenneth Omeruo and Godfrey Oboabona who are both relatively young but seem to be coping very well with the pressure.
It definitely would have been better if they had a direct senior in defence whom they could look up to for inspiration and direction, someone after Yobo's generation but unfortunately, Yobo never had a constant partner in defence.
Even Italy, renowned for producing world class defenders from time immemorial can only call on one to rely on today- Giorgio Chiellini.It's a pathetic situation right now in the game and with managers like Louis van Gaal advocating a 3-5-2 formation (where the defenders push extremely high up the pitch) for his team, we might soon lose the essence of proper defenders in the game in the nearest future.
The most revealing factor of how the standards in defence have dropped is the inclusion of the same culprit, David Luiz in the recently selected 2014 FIFPro World XI dream team.
Focus has to be rechanneled back to the academies, the breeding ground of these players, defensive coaches need to reorientate their teaching patterns to nurture the young players from start.Moreso, there needs to be a balance between the amount of defensive and offensive coaches especially where ex-footballers are concerned.
There are far more former attackers in management than defenders as most defenders go into obscurity after retirement and even those who become managers usually abandon defending.The backbone of the team is quickly losing it's value and needs rescusitation and fast.
Written By: Nnamdi
