Really really good lists....almost 100% agreement. Only one I cannot agree with is Ramos as a CB on the 2010's team. Chiellini, Pique, even Boateng get the nod over Ramos in my book. Also think Keane and Puyol deserve a spot in the 90s and 2000s teams respectively, but I can't really argue much with who you have in their places.
For 2010s, while I'd need to think a bit more about which CBs I'd put into that team, Thiago Silva has not demonstrated anything, be it in skill or achievements, that would place him ahead of a player like Pepe. Not even close, actually.
Concerning Ramos, he was ubiquitous in defense for arguably the best national team ever,throughout their WHOLE tenure, and was directly responsible for Real Madrid to winning the most important club trophies. Not even Maldini could match him for actual achievements. Ramos's consistency is an added factor. Playing for Spain in the Euro 2008 final win, and ever present for Real Madrid in their 2nd Champions League win in 3 years in 2016. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of his hand in the 2014 final. Boateng and Chiellini could only dream of their careers touching such achievements. Edit: this is also said in acknowledgement that Ramos did not play CB for Spain, in particular, and RM and did play RB for a considerable time. The post was more to point to his overall ability as a defender, further demonstrated by his versatility.
I'd swap Redondo with Keane or Davids as secondary option. Redondo wasn't as good or had the longevity that some think. He was also not a proper defensive midfielder imho. I'd swap Schweinsteiger with Vidal for the 2010 onward period.
That's very interesting. I have heard so many different opinions on Thiago Silva; some claim that he is hands down the best defender of this generation (the comparisons to Baresi probably help), others claim that he is not even top 5 (presumably rating Ramos, Pique, Boateng, Hummels, Godin, BBC, etc.. ahead). Picking two CBs for this decade was probably the hardest choice I had to make on any of these squads. There are so many options and not one clear standout choice (like a Baresi). Full backs however was easy. I honestly feel that both Lahm and Alves will go down as legends in their positions, especially Lahm.
Dani Alves at his prime fitness was imho easily the most dangerous and technically capable full back of the decade. The assists and crosses are there to see. His defending wasn't too bad either. But what stands out is the pressure he could generate on opposing players.
I'd swap r10(2002-2006) for cr7 (2007-2009) nedved(no significant peak early 2000s perhaps 03/04) for Messi (2007-2009) Xavi has no place in a 2000s first team sheet did you forget about Zidane 2000-2003 and wc 06 Deco,rui Costa,Paul Scholes(02/03 and 06/07) Steven Gerrard(2005 and 2009 when Zidane even called him the best player in the world)etc Pirlo has more of a case depending on how highly you value his Milan career and of course he had a strong wc 06(was a top 5 player imo) I'd swap Keane for viera even though there isn't too much in it(could viera do what Keane did vs juventus in 99?) Zidane being in a 1990s first team is doubtful(what justifies his position?) He had one season 97/98 where he was very good but below 2 players in his own league(r9 and del Piero) and berkamp was also arguably better albeit in a lesser league(the premiership as it was known at the time simply wasn't in the same category as late 90s serie a.there was so many superstars spread out on different teams it was just beautiful time for football fans) Hagi for me is definitely above Zidane in the 90s even if he wasnt spectacular in spain his exploits in turkey were legendary And of course Early 90s Michael Laudrup can also replace Zidane 96-99
I tried to limit each player to one decade. Both Ronaldo and Messi have played their best football in the 2010's. Even if they were better players in their early-20's than Ronaldinho and Nedved ever were at any point. Xavi was voted best Spanish player in 2005, best player of Euro 2008, MOTM in the 2009 CL final, and finished third in the 2009 ballon d'or. You are seriously selling Xavi short here. I definitely rate him ahead of either Gerrard or Scholes. Zidane and Rui Costa played their best football in the 90's for Juventus and Fiorentina respectively, IMO. I have to admit, the 90's midfield trio was almost as tricky as the 2010's CB pairing. I will definitely consider a Laudrup/Zidane swap and perhaps also replace Redondo with Keane. And then there's Hagi, who I almost completely forgot about.
Shilton was better in the 70s than 80s, I personally would put Dassayev instead for 80s. Not to be on a Shilton bashing note but does anyone think he was terrible with Brehme's deflected free kick in WC90 semi, he did not adjust his feet and just fell back, he was a huge error that commentators and press over here to not pick up on, he was also terrible in the shootout, Shilton's peak in my view was definitely 76-80.
1970s Shilton C. Alberto - Figeuroa - Beckenbauer - Fachetti Neeskens - Tardelli Jairzinho-Pele-Rivelino Cruyff
By the same logic you have used to place xavi in the 2000s first team(individual awards)Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are much more deserving(they completely dominated the late 2000s) Let's take a look for xavi you have said A.)best spanish player( 2005) B.)best player euro 2008 C.)cl final motm 2009 D.)3rd place ballon dor 2009 Cristiano Ronaldo(2000s) 12th place ballon dor( 2004) 14th place ballon dor(2006) 2nd place ballon dor( 2007) Ballon dor winner (2008) 2nd place ballon dor 2009 Fifa world player of the year (2008) cl final man of the match (2008) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_UEFA_Champions_League_Final euro 2004 team of the tournament(2004) puskas goal of the year (2009) Portuguese player of the year(2007,2008,2009) Lionel Messi Golden boy award 2005 (given to best young footballer in the calendar year) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Boy_(award) Argentine player of the year( 2005,2007,2008,2009) Ballon dor 20th place(2006) Ballon dor 3rd place(2007) Ballon d'or 2nd place(2008) Ballon d'or winner(2009) Best young player copa America(2007) So we see that Messi(by 22 years old) and CR7(24 years old) won way more (individually)than xavi in the 2000s(and in fact his whole career) in addition to this both lio and Cristiano in the 2000s won more individual awards than any other player(Zidane,Ronaldinho,riquelme,Thierry Henry,kaka etc) I don't think it really matters what part of the decade they were dominant(beginning or end it makes no difference at all)what counts is when they were on top no other player in the 2000s dominated to the same extent and this alone qualifies them for a position in the 2000s first team IMO.
Again, I tried to limit it to one decade for each player. Ronaldo's prime was 2011/12 while Xavi's prime was 2008/09. Therefore Ronaldo goes in the 2010's team while Xavi goes in the 2000's team.
You really need to switch Vieira and Pirlo positions here. You are playing Vieira out of position. Vieira was never a static 'sit in front and protect the back four' type of player. He can't even really be accurately called a defensive midfielder as that actually wasn't his role for most of his Arsenal career. Petit was more the destroyer in 98 and sat in front of the back four more than Vieira. In 2004, Gilberto Silva was more the defensive member of the pivot and Vieira was more box to box or in Jonathan Wilson's more recent terminology Vieira would be a 'surger' not a 'destroyer'. Godin > Ramos Move Lahm to the right. Alaba on the left replaces Alves.
Based on what. They're the same age and play the same position, with Ramos's CV, both team and individual achievements, resoundingly better by comparison.
And those people are not worth listening to as I fail to see how a player could be the "best defender of their generation" without having won the highest honor at either club or national level. Him and Kompany are the most overrated CBs of this generation.
on watching them play. And listening to long time La Liga fans opinions who games every week so its not just my own opinion. To all but the most biased Barca/RM fans Godin has comfortably been the best CB in La Liga last 3-4 years. Wikipedia cannot tell you who the best player is. Team trophies can only go so far to determining an individual's quality. By your posts it sounds like you automatically dismiss anyone from a Best Starting XI of the year that isn't from RM,Barca or Bayern which is silly. Too much of popularity contest heavily weighted towards popular teams like RM and Barca rather than being an honest assessment of skill. Godin was comfortably the better CB last year than Ramos yet Ramos got in fifpro XI. La Liga fans and journalists thought that was a joke as nobody that watched both teams last year would say Ramos was better. Also much more relevant than trying to compare defenders by who has more CL trophies maybe compare defenses. For instance in 2015 Atl had 23 GA while RM had 43 GA. That stat is more relevant to rating defenders than CL trophies.
Regarding the bold, I'd say your perception is correct, to a degree. Why did you name those 3 specific teams? Because they have been considered the unrivaled three best teams for nearly a decade now. Do you know how that happens? By having the best players. Griezmann is a temendous player, yet even he would not be guaranteed a starting spot in those three teams. There's a reason Godin never went to those teams, because they never seemed him of a sufficient enough quality to replace what they currently had. With that mindset, Real Madrid won two Champions League in that 4 year span you mention. It seems from your post that you may have forgotten that Ramos scored deciding goals in each of those finals thus I can only assume you don't consider "clutchness" in a player evaluation, as there's few players in all of history that could rival such direct contributions to major achievements. That, compared to a single La Liga win by Godin, of which he was arguably not even the most influential player. Furthermore, this is without discounting that Sergio Ramos was a consistent player in arguably the best national team of all time, present in Spain's 08, 10, 12 victorious campagins/finals. Let me know how many players in history can attest to such a feat. There is literally no logical argument for Godin bein a better player than Ramos. It is simply a choice that will always be subject to hipster bias as is usually what happens when lower-level elite teams are compared with higher-level elite teams aka Real Barca and Bayern.
First, if you just pre-select your best XI of the upcoming season from Bayern, Barca and RM you are not being objective. Its also not even logical when you do that because you fail to recognize where do those 3 clubs even get players? Only a couple are ever homegrown from the club's youth. Its just rubbish to discount the best players on teams like Atletico , Juventus, etc just because their entire starting XI is not as expensive. For "clutchness" as you put it, Ramos has literally nothing on Godin. Godin scored the goal that clinched their league win (compare price of Atletico squad to price of Barca and RM and see how impressive that was, much more impressive that RM winning it). He also scored a goal in that CL final against RM so yeah Ramos has nothing on "clutchness". He just happens to be Spanish (massive advantage to winning European voting awards than being Uruguayan - a tiny nation in South America). You also keep referencing team trophies that Ramos was not remotely a key player in and wasnt even a center defender. Ask people the key players of Barca and Spain and at the least a half dozen names come up before him. He is not even the most important Spanish center defender of this period (Puyol and Pique are both far more important and influential). Contrast that to Godin's influence on both Atletico and Uruguay success. Godin has been the undisputed defensive leader of Uruguay's Copa America and Atletico's LaLiga wins. Unlike Ramos who is much further behind two other players in his position in Pique and Puyol. He didn't even play centre back in those finals you mention for Spain. He was right back! Now, also you have to recognize the style of play difference and compare strengths and weaknesses. Ramos is better ball playing with possession, whereas Godin is better at pure defense and reading the game as a counter attacking defender. They both fit their teams. Ramos' club and nation have been among the 2 best in the world in both cases and have possession most of the time. But Godin's style as a better defender fits in a much wider range of teams than Ramos' skillset. You are actually the first person I've ever seen in the last 5 years insist Ramos was better as a center defender than Godin. Very odd opinion that seems based on Wikipedia skimming/big club fanboyism rather than watching them play.
The achievement is a reflection of their teammates and themselves, unless they're riding bench. If Thiago Silva played for a crappy NT, this argument could indeed be made in that situation. But he plays for Brazil. My point, however, lies largely at the club level, where Silva has been free to move to clubs better than PSG, provided they want him. I believe any defender that is deemed "hands down" best of their generation would surely have the absolute top suitors in the game flocking for his signature, don't you? IIRC, the guy hasn't even played in a Champions League semi-final FFS and has been playing in a Mickey Mouse league with PSG for the past 4 years, and a declining Milan before that. Sorry, I don't see how any argument could be made.