Pre-season is always a tough time where clubs are trying to hold on to their best players as they look to secure fresh talent to have the best chance of winning. This problem is no different from Champions League clubs right through to grassroots football.
One thing that we’ve found particularly difficult is finding dedicated centre-backs. What happened to this dying breed of brave heroes? I’ll tell you what happened… Messi & Ronaldo.
Growing up through the 90s, in terms of my own footballing education, defenders were given much more credit. In the UK, Arsenal had the impenetrable Adams, Keown and Dixon and with the emergence of Italian football on Channel 4, we were treated to watching the brutal art of tackling thanks to Maldini, Baresi, Costacurta and Tassotti.
Kids coming into the game now have the likes of John Terry to look up to. Don’t get me wrong, he was an outstanding player and leader but made a string of questionable decisions off the pitch, which rules him out of the role model category.
Do young players in the playground aspire to be Chris Smalling, Gary Cahill or Jan Vertonghan? With more young players growing up playing on 3G pitches where no overhead height is the norm, powerful headers are also something we see less of.
David Luiz is now set to take over the role of Chelsea captain from John Terry, but his role as a defender is questionable. Most people know that Brazilian defenders are failed midfielders who slot in to get a game. This is something we are seeing more of in the UK with players coming to us as CDM’s, a position made popular by the Championship Manager/Football Manager series. Mascherano is another example of midfielder turned into a centre-back.
Where is the next centre back hero who can make defending sexy again?
We could sure use a couple at United London so if you want to show us what you can do, get in touch at [email protected].
