Top 5 central defenders of the decade
As the year and the decade comes to a close, we as football fans have been treated to some of the greatest teams, managers, players and matches to have ever been played. Since the start of the 2010s, we have seen Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo put up unprecedented goal scoring statistics year after year, the joint highest-scoring World Cup final, some of the most entertaining Champions League matches and more than a handful of mindboggling goals.
It is usually the strikers or goal scorers rather that are celebrated, as it's goals that are remembered, but as Sir Alex Ferguson famously said, "Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles", so here are 5 of the best defenders of this decade.
5. Mats Hummels
For a player being loved at his club is common, but being loved by fans from rival clubs is rare and that's what Hummels managed to do. During the course of the decade, Hummels switched from Bayern Munich to Borussia Dortmund and went back to bavarian club, before sensationally sealing a return to Signal Iduna Park this summer. If there was one thing that was constant during these ten years were trophies.
A classy defender who is just as good with the ball at his feet as he was in the air, Hummels has been as consistent as they come when it comes to centre halves. He has been just as good at spraying a 40-yard cross-field pass as he is at putting in a crunching last man challenge.
His confidence and elegance have seen him compared to German legend Franz Beckenbauer. After winning 5 League titles and a World Cup, Hummels managed to amass 15 major accolades, due to which he comfortably makes the list.