just to clarify, Brown is not the best defender in the world, let alone Europe, England, or evn on his on team.
Nesta and Maldini are the best, with Cannavaro, Thuram, Chivu, Puyol, Ferdinand, Campbell, Hyypia, and Ayala also being world class defenders.
Hierro is the same as Lebouef, overated bigtime at the back but would have made a quality midfielder. He has played in midfield though. Ferdinand ain't there yet, had a good world cup, possibly best player in it but i think he'll be the best in the world in the future.
Rafael Marquez garbage? You're crazy. He'll be playing for one of these clubs next season: Barcelona Real Madrid Deportivo La Coruña Juventus Lazio He sure as hell won't stay at Monaco. He'll be playing for a big club.
Agree with you wholeheartedly. As a pure stopper, Nesta is better. But Nesta doesn't have the ball skills to start the offense or go forward. Thuram is both physically and technically gifted for a defender. The guy was the right back of the '98 WC at the wrong position! He needs to leave Juve and play back in the center of defense like he did so majestically at Parma. Chivu is one who could blossom into that type of player.
Centerback is probably the position on the field where the "world class" group is biggest. You could probably list 100 names who are worthy.
Raf Marquez is first off a good centerback, but world class!! are you serious....what are you basing this on...there are hundreds of centerbacks in the world who bring everything to the game that he does..... Now look at the ones that bring everything he does and more, since when was Marquez a threat to come up and bang in a couple crosses or get on the end of a couple like Hierro, or Stam, hell even Carlos Bocanegra does.... Also world class doesnt just mean skill, its the way you play and approach the game. After the display that he put on in the world cup in the game against the US I think he def proved that he is nothing more than a dirty punk. I am not saying he plays like that all the time, but it takes "world class" to not play in a manner like that....
Marquez is awesome. He definitely won't be at Monaco next year. I would love to see him at Juve next year, they really need to beef up their D and he would be a perfect fit.
central defender i would pick nesta and igor tudor(from Juventus, he's amazing but doesn't get enough recognition) left wing back i would pick roberto carlos and outside right i would pick thuram
maybe a bit (with mexico, not so much monaco), but hes also about as silky as a center back gets - without him, mexico dont get anywhere near the knockout at WC2002 - i suspect theres simply a lot of hatin' going on