Ranking the 10 best center-backs in the world this season
Despite all their hard work to keep the opponents at bay, defenders, centre-backs in particular, often goes unnoticed in the game of football. They rarely get the credit they deserve and are unsung heroes to the success of a team.
The Premier League’s most successful manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, once claimed: "attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.” Though it may not be completely true in modern day football, it has a fair share of truth to it.
Some of the greatest centre-backs of all time include Franz Beckenbauer, Paolo Maldini, Bobby Moore, Franco Baresi, Fabio Cannavaro, Lothar Matthaeus, Ronald Koeman, and Carlos Puyol.
Honourable Mentions: Sergio Ramos, Federico Fazio, Milan Škriniar, Raphael Varane, Diego Godin, and Jan Vertonghen.
Without much ado, let’s take a look at the 10 best centre-backs in world football this season.
#10 Thiago Silva
The 34-year-old Brazilian international is one of the best centre-backs of the modern era. The PSG star has been in great form this season and the French side has only conceded only 16 goals in the top flight league.
A solid centre-back with no apparent flaws, he is a natural leader on the pitch. A defender with great positional awareness, speed, and calmness under pressure, Thiago Silva is good in the air and reads the game quickly.
#9 Willy Boly
An unknown quality to many but not if you are a fan of Premier League or Wolverhampton Wanderers. In his 28 Premier League starts this season, the 28-year-old averages 2.4 tackles and 2.1 interceptions per game. Wolves are only behind the so-called ‘Premier League top six’ in the league standings at the moment.
Only 4 teams in the league have conceded fewer goals than Wolves and Boly deserves a lot of credit. He has been solid at the back for Wolves and also chipped in with three goals.
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