I can remember Nesta even well into his 30s and not fully fit doing a splendid job of keeping out Messi better in fact than defenders that were younger than he was an absolute fantastic defender and among the best in his prime without a doubt
Yes I remember that too that day I knew he was the best he was so calm and composed Nesta is my favourite defender. But I understand that after 2000 the price goes to Ramos knowing that ramos had more mistake in his games but he was a leader and won alot so I understand why he is at 1. If Nesta was Playing at Madrid then he could go up a few spots.
I was initially thinking "Woah Alfie, Thiago Silver is NOT better than Rio Ferdinand was", but your reasoning is actually fair. Rio was definitely the better player at his peak, but Thiago does reasonably pinch a place higher purely because of longevity.
@@Sarchis Maldini was and is still my favorite ever player. I originally wanted to be a CB and had to play LB forever due to being the only left footer on most of my club teams and really looked at his play style for inspiration.
Admittedly this is due to my personal bias, I was hoping to see Walter Samuel mentioned, but after seeing the quality of not even the 7, but just the second string honourable mentions, I don't envy you Alfie on how difficult it is rank all these wonderful players. Thank you for the content and the in-depth explanations for everything
I was about to come into the comments and lavish praise on Walter Samuel, nice to see I'm not the only one. Best left footed centre back of all time, for me at least.
still hoping to see him though him and lucio in 2009-10 were literally the best pairing i've ever seen. Nothing got past samuel and as a 1v1 defender he's probably better than a few on the list
Sergio Ramos boss is like a monster in defence despite having a nasty attitude in himself which would be needed for his passion in defending each and every balls which he would be encountered as well as winning numerous number of trophies in his careers,good friends!!!Shoutout to the rest of the other respective players whom good friend Alfie included,good friends!!!:-D
Pepe, despite the injuries starting to come in more often lately, has still been world class for Porto the past few years. Despite some competition in Portugal by, for example, Otamendi and Coates, it's hard to argue that he wasn't the best CB in the portuguese league in the last couple of seasons. As a 33 year old he was (imo) the best portuguese player in the 2016 Euros and fundamental to that win. His game against Juventus in 2021 is one the best defensive displays I remember seeing and he was 38 then. Nowadays he recently turned 40 and everyone here in Portugal expects him to go into another season as a starter for both Porto and the portuguese national team. Pure class and determination.
I remember when I would watch that Barcelona team Marquez was the one who impressed me more with his pass distribution although puyol did obviously have the better career
Nesta is the best I've seen. Ridiculous levels of composure both on and off the ball, incredible situational awareness, athletic quick and solid. He could smell the danger before it happened. The master of the slide tackle (without fouling his opponent). 98 to 07 were his prime years. I don't think putting Thiago Silva in at 4th is controversial. I agree with you. He has been top class since around 09 and the fact that he's still a very effective player at 38 speaks volumes about his talent and ability.
Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 523) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.
0:49 This is absolutely not an F1 channel but you still managed to include Daniel Ricciardo in this video in a week where he is very much back in the news.
I've been seeing a lot of discourse on how the Saudi league is growing, and especially comparing it to the MLS following Ronaldo's comments today. I was wondering what the top few leagues outside the Big 5 are - this would make an interesting 7 IMO
@@walker63163 Yeah Portugal and Netherlands are for sure the next two, idk if Saudi would be there though. I wonder if the Championship would crack the 7 as well
@@walker63163hardly a given. We'll see if the Saudis are still spunking money in five, ten and twenty years time, or will they go back to falconry, horseracing and collecting cars.
Godin deserved to be in the top 7. Before atletico in villarreal he helped them achieve a second place in la liga. He wad always overachieving in smaller teams. Reaching the semi finals of the world cup in a country of 3.5 million people. Winning la liga and reaching champion league finals and scoring headers on important games. This comes from a Chilean who always feared him scoring a goal from a set piece against us.
@@papipapazov1584 yes but that was decades ago. Just 5 years earlier uruguay failed to qualify for the 2006 world cup against australia. To go from failing to qualify to 4th place is a overachieving.
Godin was one of the most underrated centre backs of the past twenty years imo. He was never quick but that didn't hold him back. He was a natural born defender. For many years Atletico were a difficult team to score against whenever he played.
I'm more surprised how highly rated rio ferdinand is considering how many mistakes he actually made in games... I would not put him above cheillini, not in a million years or even vidic...
@@gerrardsteven6083 yeah I remember alot of games for utd and especially for England where his positioning and sometimes his general concentration was poor
Tony Adams and Sol Campbell were leagues ahead of Ferdinand at club level and especially for England. When Tony retired from England and Ferdinand came into the team, Campbell carried Ferdinand defensively, and when Campbell retired and Ferdinand and Terry took over, England went downhill big time after that. When Rio came up against a world-class striker or forward he was found out many times. I can't remember a single situation where he successfully got the better of a world-class striker or forward, Ronaldo ripped him to shreds and made him look ordinary and 5feet Messi got in front of him to score 2 headers etc etc.
@@err4071 completely agree mate and I'm a pompey fan so I've got alot of appreciation for sol, even in his mid 30s was a beast and agree with Tony Adams as well being better, I'm not saying rio wasn't quality but certainly not in the conversation with the elite
Jerome Boateng snubbed: 1x World Cup Winner, 1x Under 21 Euros Winner, 2x UCL Winner, 9x Bundesliga Winner, 5x DFB-Pokal Winner, 1x FA Cup Winner, 1x Germany's Player of the Year, 1x UEFA Team of the Year
what's baffling is that he was ever allowed to play the beautiful game with a mug like that... (that's obviously a joke, but honestly he should have been in jail, he was a damn thug)
Cant argue on 1st spot, but seeing all the candidates and honorable mentons... im glad im not seting up the list cause its so many you have to leave out that really deserves to be there
no it is not, considering the calibre of the honourable mentions list- let alone the actual list- pepe would do very well to make the honourable mentions list at all
It is your opinion, but I gotta disagree with Puyol being that high. Also I’m perhaps biased but im taking Pepe over some of those u had ranked here including Puyol. I think Pepe doesn’t get as much credit cuz ppl just have a hate for him for his actions earlier in his career but his longetivity (10 great yrs with Madrid, plus still great for Porto and even Portugal as he now 40yrs old), his athleticism and relentless defending are some of, if not the best I’ve seen in this era. And it may be hard to believe for some but he actually does not have many red cards in his career for a CB. It was also cuz of him that Portugal was holding on in that finals of euros 2016 (he was motm). With his bravery, defending, longevity, quickness, athleticism, and with all his accomplishments at every team he’s played on I think he deserves the recognition.
@@Kriscur20 he was wrong for what he did but dont act like he wasn’t one of the best CBs of his era. He’s proven it for so long. It’s not even surprising that he was still starting for Portugal at the World Cup at 39 years old and even scored for them
Based upon solely talent, I really do think Alessandro Nesta and Rio Ferdinand had all the raw materials to become top 5-7 defenders of all time. Still generational players tho.
@@morkujinirukandji4820 I don’t think Ferdinand is as good as Nesta but he was still one of the best of his era and he did not even reach his full potential. By the way beckenbauer, Bobby Moore and Gaetano Scirea rank above Nesta, however he is still my favourite defender ever
Time for everyone to comment who we all think should've been here! And for my mindless comment I go Pepe. Maybe not top five here, but EASILY one of the most overlooked centerbacks of this generation. A stalwart defender on those great Real Madrid teams, he anchored the most successful generation of Portuguese football, and is still playing at a high level today. Respect for the hair/bald/then hair/now bald again man.
@@loshi9440why does innocent until proven guilty does not apply to the women? Just because something god dismissed in Court due to lack of evidence does not mean the accuser was in the wrong. Especially due to the particularity of rape cases (mostly two people being alone) the evidence is often slim.
@@loshi9440 That's not how the law works, they did not falsely accuse him, there was just not enough evidence to prove he did it, as is the case of roughly 99% of rape cases in the UK. He was not proven innocent at all, just wasn't proven guilty either, so there is no way to prove that he was falsely accused (which is unlikely when at least 8 women came forward)
@@leifschannel they have nothing to lose whereas he might have lost his career at the top level. While you have a point I didn't see people claiming innocent until proven guilty for Mendy. Trust me the women these athletes surround themselves with are nasty and malicious. It's their fault though and they have to face the consequences of their lust
@@TheJGTurton let me tell you that both parties aren't innocent. The women know who they are messing with (rich possibly dumb athletes) and the athletes might think that this is just a one of and they believe they can go over the board. I don't know if Mendy is innocent but these permiscuous females aren't naive for sure ( that doesn't mean obviously that they have to be raped and any such case must be punished accordingly)
Varane and Boateng have to Feature in the 7 in my opinion. I don't know how you argue Terry Ferdinand and Thiago Silva over world cup winning defensiv leaders with multiple Champions Leagues under their name. I would honestly argue for Boateng on 3 or 2 because he is the one constant defensiv presence in the 2 Bayern trebles and germanys world cup Team and I would say that the Bayern Teams in those years have been top 4 club sides and Germany the best world cup winning team since 2000.
Boateng is so underrated. It’s what happens when you got no PR 😂 It’s what I’ve learned about the footy world, you’re forgotten if you have no PR. It’s everything.
In prime i don't accept that Vidic is not nr. 2 on this list and nr 4 overall because his presence and defending was over a period of two and a half year the best two years of defending this world has ever seen... Also placing Puyol as nr two is ridiculous. A great player and all but you have to take in the picture that he was in one of the constantly strongest ball holding team of all time throug out his career. Great player but not the second best central defender since the 2000. Terry and ferdinand should be above him mate
@@saintpepsi8602 I'd love to hear Alfie explaining why nonce #1 should be in the #1 position over nonce #2, or why certain nonces only get "honourable mentions". Then we've got Alfie reminiscing about the top nonce from his childhood...😳
have a feeling he put puyol at no 3 just cuz he didnt want backlash from barca fans who wudve argued if ramos and pepe were 1&2. You could pick any one of pepe, pique, lucio and ricardo carvalho and they would outclass puyol by a country mile.
Disgusting english bias to include both Terry and Ferdinand in front of Vidic. Vidic is the only defender to win premier league player of the season twice and was captain for united unlike Rio
Carles Puyol was nowhere near as good as to be worthy of a top like this, he was a terrific capitain and had great positional sense, but for the elite level he was perfectly mediocre in 1v1, that alone should exclud him
Terry's on-ball ability has always been strangely underrated, should be put forward as much as defending and leadership (whatever that actually means). As good with his weaker left than many centre backs on their stronger foot
Agreed. The “it would be a stretch to call Terry a ball playing centre back” comment was a bit of a weird one. That’s exactly what he was, his passing with both feet was top notch
I think that Ramos is perhaps the best footballer in the air I have ever seen (at both ends of the pitch) and is a great leader but his all round defensive skills left a lot to be desired for me. In his twenties, he was appalling for ball watching, charging the ball, diving in at the wrong moment and generally losing his positional/tactical discipline, leaving team mates with massive gaps to cover, which he largely compensated for later by getting better at sneaky tactical fouls as his career progressed (although he still ended up with several red card records). Undoubtedly, he had elite level strengths as a footballer but if he hadn't played for the perhaps the best club and international sides of the last 50 years and had instead played out the bulk of his career with Juve and the Italian national team like Chiellini (or insert English or German player and club side) then i doubt so many people would be arguing that he should top this list. A great player, but for me there have definitely been better pure defenders through the same period. If I were to choose a team to try to park the bus in a massive European game, for example, I'd definitely have Terry, Chiellini, Lucio, Godin, Nesta or Pepe in ahead of Ramos, or I'd maybe push a younger Ramos back out to RB to include him.
Sorry Alf, I cannot agree with you in regards to Puyol. The revisionism on him -due to Messi/Ronaldinho- is incredible. Before the 2 GOATs came along he was a pretty much good but not great player. Defo rode the wave of those 2 icons IMO
Alfie, you should do a video on the saga of Lecco (who got promoted to Serie B) having to go through an appeals process to actually play in Serie B because of late paperwork, while Perugia (who got relegated from Serie B) keeps appealing so they can keep their spot in Serie B. The season starts in a few weeks and its still unclear which of the two clubs will actually play in Serie B.
Can you do a 7 best footballers with insanely interesting backstories of how they got to where they are? Love your vidsand never put a suggestion forward but its been on my brain at work since an argument at work that not all footballers "don't deserve their wages"... as the Karen's say
1.) Nesta 2.) Vidić 3.) Ferdinand 4.) Terry 5.) Puyol are my picks. Ramos is great leader, great at heading, but nowhere near Nesta when it comes to defending ability
You keep overating players from your childhood.. I guess everyone does but to suggest Ramos is #1 is just hilarious. Having watched his whole career.. he was a dodgy right back for about 7 years, the name on the Madrid team sheet that made you think "we've got a chance" and error prone. He eventually put in together 30-34 and had a couple good seasons (is this the Ramos you watched?) but overall to us slightly older fans he's remembered as a liability who eventually pulled it together post 30 when his mental attributes shone through now he'd finally (after about 12 seasons) stopped being a calamity. Also, at 6' or 6'1 he was never a particularly dominant aerial defender.. He just had attitude and lots of tattoos by then so kids and later viewers thought he was a tough guy. Its a bit like John Stones.. Clearly talented but takes to 30 to man up and be a solid reliable defender.. If Stones is a dodgy squad player until 30, then has 3/4 good years does he make the list? Nope! If you find one person who was old enough to watch all these who picks Ramos over Stam I'd be amazed. Ramos became a big star.. But he was all over the place for ten seasons before learning his trade around 30.... Top players arrive at 18 and you can see it immediately, they perform at the top level for 10+ years and they rarely have reputations for being a calamity which anyone who watched Ramos 18-30 saw most weeks. Honestly I'm just glad it CBs so you kids can't include Carrick 😂😂
Day (lost count): 7 Worst Presidents of Bangladesh Football Federation since 2008 *Spoiler Alert* . . . . 7. Kazi Salahuddin 6. Kazi Salahuddin 5. Kazi Salahuddin 4. Kazi Salahuddin 3. Kazi Salahuddin 2. Kazi Salahuddin 0. Honourable Mentions: Kazi Salahuddin 1. Kazi Salahuddin
@@dcfootball1 He had his dirty moments, yes, but being banned from football is probably the exaggeration of the year. I'm glad he was never banned, as he went on to be one of the best center backs of all time in my opinion.
Terry should be ahead of Ferdinand. We all saw what happened to Ferdinand when his pace went. Terry played on for longer due to his superior positioning
Ferdinand lost his pace well before he dropped off and was still the best in the country, his back done him in his last few seasons. Terry was in and out the Chelsea team his last few years, Cahill outshined him. Terry was only there for his leadership…
Really enjoyed the video and still enjoying the series. But, to say Rio is a better defender is some call imo. Please bear in mind that I'm not a RM fan or a Sergio Ramos fan if anything I never liked how disrespectful and unsportsmanlike he could be at times and the fact he could and often was a bit inconsiderate about other footballer's safety with some of his tackling. But I think he overall was one of the best(maybe top 5, 7 or 10 best depending on preference) CBs to ever play the game, his effectiveness and consistency need to be taken in account. Great vid as always, all the best mate😊
Pepe, with 25 titles so far and still playing should actually be on this list. At 41 years old, he has just put on a show against an Arsenal team that scored 21 goals in 5 Premier League matches. Against Porto, they did not have a single shot on target in the whole 90 minutes, all thanks to a genius tactical display by Sérgio Conceição, carried out on the field by Pepe and his team mates. He should be number ONE in this list, but I could forgive that if he had at list been on the list. But the fact that you are English kinda makes you extremely inclined towards players that played in the Premier League, which is not fair. At Real Madrid, Pepe was key in the defense way more often than Sérgio Ramos was. Sérgio Ramos was good because Pepe was there with him... just saying
How did Virgil van dijk not make it is 2018 19 season was by far the greatest season I've ever seen over Defender he was just a rock he didn't even have a legendary partner or anything
So most people regard Vidic as the best CB of the premier league era and he puts 2 English players in front of him. Probably because of the English tax. You people never change...
Vidic was much better defensively than Ferdinand probably on par with Terry to be honest, but in my opinion Desailly, Sol Campbell and Tony Adams are the best EPL defenders of all time.
Puyol is no where near these names, he wasn't a great defender, before the golden age of spain and barcelona he was average, he's like gattuso and his downfall was horrible that nobody noticed him retiring and being replaced by mascherano a cdm and ramos
Both Rio Ferdinand and John Terry were nowhere near as good as Cannavaro. Cannavaro was a beast and was just as good as Nesta at defending, relentless and better leader but not as at good tecnique (not bad tecnique at all tho). Its easy to see the bias towards the prem.
Virgil van dijk number 1 Best ever prime. In defender history Won Premier league Champions league Two Scottish Premier league s Only defender. To ever win uefa men's player of the year Pfa player of the year and premier league player of the season Three fifa pro world 11 No dribbled past him March 2018 to 2019 Came close to the ballon dor
@@gonarencibia7183 Seems like you havent watched him in his prime man. Dude was a beast. Everyone said he was the hardest to pass when he played for Ac Milan but I think you didnt even know that lol
He was only world class at Milan, at a time in which the Serie A was clearly inferior to La Liga. At PSG he was a flop, I watched him getting ran through every single year in the Champions League by Barcelona (couple of times), Madrid, Chelsea or whoever PSG faced, Thiago would always do his hardest to let his team down. Luckily for Chelsea, he got injured in the final against City and couldn't screw their chances of winning
I am SO FKN TIRED of hearing Ramos is the BEST CB conversation, being name the Best CB or one of the TOP DEFENDERS because he has scored crucial goals/headers/penalties and won alot of Champions Leagues with teammates like Modric, Kroos, Casemiro, Prime CR7, Benzema, Final hero Bale and International trophies with Spain with teammates like Villa, Xabi Alonso, Busquets, Torres, Iniesta, Casillas, Xavi, Silva, Xavi, Puyol, Fabregas, Pedro, Navas, etc. You never spoke at any moment his defensive play-style nor any defensive skills that made him top your list. His defending is decent, but has to bee excessively dirty and go in like a dumb Rhino to compensate his lack of TOP TIER defensive skills. He has like a zillion red and yellow cards, that doesn't not speak well of a defender that is in the BEST CB conversation bro.; I've seen games where his tackles, actions, and positioning were laughable for a player of his experience and supposed caliber. Throughout his career there were instances where he seem stupid, like stupid stupid. Yes he has some defensive moments as a defender, BUT WHO HASN'T HAD MOMENTS. Even the RU-vidr says: Is better than so and so at X, is he better than so and so than X, probably not....BUT the trophy cabinet......Like bro you invalidate you're own list and take away any credibility you have in evaluating defenders when they actually defend. Van Dyke 2017-2020 was 10X the defender Ramos was; Van Dyke's defensive skills were jaw-dropping. When you make another list of the 2010s best CBs, how about you make your best CB a defender that has actually displayed the absolute best defending skills. I know it's YOUR LIST, and you anticipated that in your video, but you never say anything about his defensive play qualities that made him your BEST CB. Just saying.
