Rio the best Defender in EPL

[nicephoras]

That's probably fair. I do love to watch Rio though he'll intercept a perfectly good ball without breaking his stride, glide past two players make the extra man in midfield and lay-off a quality counter attacking pass. As Arry used to say he's a Rolls-Royce of a player.

Oh sure, I agree with that. Only problem is, you never know when Rio will forget to turn up. Why sometimes he forgets for 8 months at a time.

[nicephoras]

Maybe call up Titus Bramble for cover?

Bramble and Knight at CBs, Chris Powell at LB, Phil Neville at RB and then David James at GK.
I'd say that squad should definitely finish second at the Special Olympics.

[yasik19]

i'm not surprised that Teso uses the same argument for Terry as he does for Lampard. It's always the players around, rather than the players themselves with Teso. :rolleyes:

[Teso Dos Bichos]

Football is a team game and tactics are important. That's simple common sense yasik.

[yasik19]

Football is a team game and tactics are important. That's simple common sense yasik.

thanks, i didn't realize there is more than one player on the pitch at the same time.

While Chelsea has an excellent squad, you are making an assumption about Terry. You DON'T know how Terry would do anywhere else, yet you think he would not be as good. You have no evidence to back that up. SO for now, we will have to judge by what we see today and today, Terry is the best CB in England.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

So we can't do a comparison between Gallas/Terry, Carvalho/Terry, w/without Makelele and Terry for England?

[yasik19]

So we can't do a comparison between Gallas/Terry, Carvalho/Terry, w/without Makelele and Terry for England?

i thought we were comparing Terry and Rio?

[billyireland]

thanks, i didn't realize there is more than one player on the pitch at the same time. I see you've been reading Cristiano Ronaldo's guide to football, then.

As for the Brown argument, I do not htink he should be starting for England, but he has been doing very well for the past 18 months, and he has been fantastic in the recent past, which has not against just crap clubs by any means... unless you consider Arsenal and Liverpool crap.

[yasik19]

I see you've been reading Cristiano Ronaldo's guide to football, then.

As for the Brown argument, I do not htink he should be starting for England, but he has been doing very well for the past 18 months, and he has been fantastic in the recent past, which has not against just crap clubs by any means... unless you consider Arsenal and Liverpool crap.

lol:D I really do wonder sometimes whether Jose could turn Ronaldo into a potentially great winger if he was to play for Jose.

[musicl]

1.Rio
2.Terry
3.King
4.Carra
5.Dawson

If Rio is at his best i'd put him above Terry.

Have to say i've been impressed by Anton Ferdinand - he is going to be as good as Rio.

[Crest_of_the_stars]

i thought we were comparing Terry and Rio?

No we werent. We're having a c**k waving thread where outraged nicephoras posts 7-paragraph essays on why no one but Terry is allowed to be called the best defender in the country.

Personally I think Rio at his best is better than Terry at his best. Terry is slow. Terry looked poor in Euro 2004. His positioning in that tournament quite arguably sent England out of it.
On the other hand Terry is a different type of defender, and in the league he does a good job week-in week-out, every week.

Doesnt really matter though does it. They are both pretty good. So is Campbell although he's starting to get past it.

[yasik19]

No we werent. We're having a c**k waving thread where outraged nicephoras posts 7-paragraph essays on why no one but Terry is allowed to be called the best defender in the country.

Personally I think Rio at his best is better than Terry at his best. Terry is slow. Terry looked poor in Euro 2004. His positioning in that tournament quite arguably sent England out of it.
On the other hand Terry is a different type of defender, and in the league he does a good job week-in week-out, every week.

Doesnt really matter though does it. They are both pretty good. So is Campbell although he's starting to get past it.

ok. I thought England's lack of ability to take PKs sent them out of Euro 04. I can't remember exactly who was responsible for Portugal's first goal, but the overtime goal by Rui Costa surely wasn't Terry's fault.
Again, on pure, raw talent, Rio is better, but that makes no difference if he can't sustain that level of play constantly. Based on that, Terry is better.

[BridgeMonkee]

In terms of talent Ferdinand has always been the best. After a poor spell he is finally beginning to prove that again.
Poor spell?

He really lost his form after his enforced sabbatical after failing (to take) his drug test. Rio’s lack of discipline and consistency will always stand against him. Terry has greater discipline and consistency and far greater leadership skills.

[billyireland]

lol:D I really do wonder sometimes whether Jose could turn Ronaldo into a potentially great winger if he was to play for Jose.
I reckon he will come of age eventually and be a brilliant player, he is only 21 right now. It's just so frustrating to see somebody with so much talent manage to contribute so little (infact, negative amounts at times), and just when you think he has turned a corner (like when he scores two goals in, and dominates a game), he follows up with a string of stomach-turning performances.

[billyireland]

Poor spell?

He really lost his form after his enforced sabbatical after failing (to take) his drug test. Rio’s lack of discipline and consistency will always stand against him. Terry has greater discipline and consistency and far greater leadership skills.
Erm, no. He was quality last season, and we were delighted to have him back. Check Man United's defensive record from August-December 2003, then January-Sepember 2004, and then fron August 2004-May 2005. We didn't go from having the best defense in the league when Rio was playing, to (iirc) something like the 14th when he was banned, to the second best only behind a record-shattering Chelsea when he returned by sheer coincidence.

Rio's poor form did not last as long as many seem to think (or like to say). He was poor from August 2005 until about November 2005, just around the time of the Chelsea match. Since then, his form has been steadily getting better and better, and he has been playing well for the last 2-3 weeks. It is only when he made a goal-line clearance and scored the last-minute winner on the weekend that people seem to have finally noticed (or succumbed to) Rio being back to his best..

[nicephoras]

I see you've been reading Cristiano Ronaldo's guide to football, then.

As for the Brown argument, I do not htink he should be starting for England, but he has been doing very well for the past 18 months, and he has been fantastic in the recent past, which has not against just crap clubs by any means... unless you consider Arsenal and Liverpool crap.

Come now billy. You were outplayed by Liverpool and Arsenal are......yeah, not so great right now. Brown's a decent player for this level. If he was good enough to start for England, why has the ManUtd forum been pushing for another CB and why did Ferguson buy Vidic?

I actually think that Rio/Terry is the best England combination and have never said anything bad about Rio other than........not as good as Terry. Wow, some outrage.

[BridgeMonkee]

second best only behind a record-shattering Chelsea when he returned

Exactly, second best only to Chelsea with the lion hearted John Terry at the centre of the defence.

[nicephoras]

No we werent. We're having a c**k waving thread where outraged nicephoras posts 7-paragraph essays on why no one but Terry is allowed to be called the best defender in the country.

Personally I think Rio at his best is better than Terry at his best. Terry is slow. Terry looked poor in Euro 2004. His positioning in that tournament quite arguably sent England out of it.
On the other hand Terry is a different type of defender, and in the league he does a good job week-in week-out, every week.

You may actually want to READ my posts. I agree that Rio is more talented. He has far more lapses in concentration. Judging Terry by his Euro2004 form is foolish - he was injured.

[The Potter]

Exactly, second best only to Chelsea with the lion hearted John Terry at the centre of the defence.



http://www.solar-i.com/oz/lion.jpg

[billyireland]

Come now billy. You were outplayed by LiverpoolBecause they controlled the midfield, and tus possession. Were Brown or Rio playing in midfield? The fact that Liverpool got so few good chances in with so much possession tells how good Rio & Wes played.

and Arsenal are......yeah, not so great right now.Not at their best, that's for sure, but they are still a very good side. If you consider Arsnela crap, what is your criteria for decent?

Brown's a decent player for this level. If he was good enough to start for England, why has the ManUtd forum been pushing for another CB and why did Ferguson buy Vidic? Well, I specifically said Brown shouldn't be starting for England, and I am guessing a reason vidic was signed was to compete with Wes for the CB spot (while Silvestre is gone... at last!), as well as to offer more depth, given Brown's injury history.

I actually think that Rio/Terry is the best England combination and have never said anything bad about Rio other than........not as good as Terry. Wow, some outrage.I agree that they should be the starting England duo (as I said in an earlier post), but tbh Rio at his best vs. Terry at his best is pretty much a deadlock imo, made all the harder to call since they are as contrasting as two CBs of their quality can possibly be. And while you might not think Rio is at his b'best' enough, prior to his dip in form at the start of this season most people would firmly disagree with that statement for pretty much any time in Rio's career.