Fullback - Is it a position that lacks great quality?

[aguero93:20]

It's fucking shocking and yer can include centre half in that too.

I said this ages ago on here and also mentioned the general quality of players all over the pitch - only for a poster to tell me "it's never been better"

I think the standard at the moment is quite poor over-all.

The athletic standard has never been better, not sure about the technical and tactical standard.

 

[Bluebee2]

Full backs are so important to a team nowadays, it's not 100% but pretty close the team with the best two full backs usually wins the league !

 

[Wretched Vengeance]

The athletic standard has never been better, not sure about the technical and tactical standard.

That just about sums it up. There is a tremendous amount of incredible athletes about that can play a bit.

The physique of some of these very average players is quite remarkable.

I saw I side-on pic of Walcott today on the beach and until I read the caption of who it was, I thought it was just a very muscular, in shape bloke. He had the physique of a cruiser weight boxer - no withstanding height of course :)

 

[davymcfc]

I think there are barely any top class defenders in world football. That I've seen anyhow.

Agreed. Grew up with some unbelievable defenders but how many genuinely world class central defenders can you name now? We have one of them by the way.

 

[foggy1974]

I believe the role of fullback has changed so much from when I was a kid. It seems more important for a fullback to be able attack and cross a ball than defend, Zab was great in his pomp as he was one of the few who could defend and also attack as well.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Agreed. Grew up with some unbelievable defenders but how many genuinely world class central defenders can you name now? We have one of them by the way.

And Kompany was sometimes a bit of a dozy fuck who got bullied, like Stones, in his earlier years, so there is still room for improvement that we could end up with two, but right now we have just one who is anywhere near it & no real indication that will change.

Some years ago, I saw Rafa Verane as a young kid & thought it impossible that he could be anything other than a great player, yet he still falls asleep & drops bollocks all over the place. Boateng & Piquet are considered worldbeaters but imo are flat track bullys who are nowhere when things go wrong. Immaculate when on top.

I really don't see an obvious world class defender in any position but imo just some good ones would be a considerable improvement.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I believe the role of fullback has changed so much from when I was a kid. It seems more important for a fullback to be able attack and cross a ball than defend, Zab was great in his pomp as he was one of the few who could defend and also attack as well.

It's actually going a step further than from Zabba's day, & defending is becoming a happy extra for a fullback.

 

[Lancet Fluke]

It's fucking shocking and yer can include centre half in that too.

I said this ages ago on here and also mentioned the general quality of players all over the pitch - only for a poster to tell me "it's never been better"

I think the standard at the moment is quite poor over-all.

I think there are plenty of decent attacking players about but I agree in terms of defenders. I find it weird that the price of decent attacking players is still so much higher than that of decent defenders.

 

[pee dubya]

I think it's hard to isolate defenders and say they aren't as good as they used to be, the game is quite different, played at a higher tempo and it's just more mentally and physically challenging i reckon. I can't remember the specific figures, but the stats for the amount of distance players run on average now, compared to 20 years ago, are quite enlightening. It's a much more non-stop, frenetic game, where defenders have to be constantly aware and switched on.

On top of that you have other factors, like the attackers being much more protected by the referee, no challenges from behind, the ball is lighter and moves faster, the pitches are better for dribbling and passing on.

Also, every single game is televised pretty much, mistakes are highlighted and analysed much more and everything players do is just much more exposed to scrutiny.

It's maybe fair enough to say there's a lack of decent full-backs too, but these days they're being asked to do everything, run for 90 minutes, attack, defend, pass the ball etc etc, then you think the players who fit those attributes best probably end up as central midfielders anyway. So you're getting the second rate players being asked to do every aspect of the game well.

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

just really no great defenders, 10/15 years ago you had Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Thuram, Maldini, Nesta, Lizarazu, Sagnol, Desailly, Stam, Cannavaro, Hierro, Salgado, Puyol, Lucio, Couto, Samuel, Ayala, Zanetti etc. etc. Playing out from the back has been at the expense of defenders who can defend. Just think football was better back then. Maybe less stylish but just more interesting. Pep's Barca revolutionised the game but also ruined it imo, because everyone else went the polar opposite direction and now you can't win anything unless you play turgid, boring shite.

Think officially in world football nobody plays properly good football on a consistent basis, from keeper to striker, nobody does it.