are azzuri fans of the belief that the CB combinatin of nesta and cannavro is the best at international level and better than that of englands? furthermore do italy fans have confidence in nesta and cannavaro doing the job at the world cup, what makes them so good together?
I think the Italian duo have the edge over Terry & Ferdinand because they seem to make very few mistakes... especially compared to Rio
IMO the nesta and cannavaro combo is better, i see terry as a poor mans cannavaro and rio as a poor mans nesta
Yeah, Rio has been faltering for the English National Team lately, and he makes some brutal mistakes from time to time -- you rarely see that from Nesta and/or Cannavaro. I'm a fan of Terry's, though, but I'd take Nesta or Cannavaro over him. Edit: Oh, and another thing. I've been watching this sport for a long time and I've honestly never seen defenders as good as Nesta and Cannavaro at blocking shots. Their technique in that regard is spectacular. It's absolutely incredible to watch.
Something that will be fascinating in WC06 is the referee's have been instructed to get strict with shirt pulling, holding and play-acting which will make Italy & Spain games interesting to watch
Ferdinand is so much worse than Nesta that this debate of them even coming close to Italy's duo is absurd. Terry might be haldway decent but Canna's experience is unrivalled and I think Terry might just be exposed for what he really is in the upcoming WC, avery average center back who can look pretty good on his day against inept strikers.
So we have inept strikers in the Premier League? like Henry, Rooney, Ruud, Owen and Shearer?? although I agree Canna has great experience
Henry, Ruud, and Rooney yes, Owen has not played since god knows when and Shearer is no longer the same force he was in yesteryear (though he bagged a nice goal yesterday) Outside the top 5-6 the quality in strikers drops off dramatically. Also WRT Terry there is no denying that with such a dedicated player in Claude Makelele playing in front of him he has an excellent filter and is not exposed as often. I used to think very highly of John but watching him struggle so much against Yakubu in the Middlesborough game in Feb changed my opinion of him a bit.
ferdinand has been shakey of late but terry is a force in defense. one of the best defenders in the world, amazing in the air, and in terms of offensiive capabilities, irreplaceable. the problem with ferdinand is that he has his really good games, and then he has some bad ones which kill his confidence and then hes on a bad streak. terry on the other hand is confident and never(or rarely) makes mistakes. if u wanna see i defender in england who never ever makes mistakes it has to be jamie carragher. very calm and composed. now as for terry having makalele. Well, nesta has one of the best central defenders in the world, and definately one of the most physical and hard working players in the world in Gattuso. The man is a horse plain and simple. i think id pick nesta and canna over terry and ferdinand for now. but, terry is only 24, and rio is only 26, so they have rime to improve, wheer as canna and nesta are both over 30. one player to watch out for is definately anton ferdinand, already getting attention from barcelona(omg he better not go).
Nesta turned 30 less than a month ago, with his game I still think he has a solid 3-4 years left at the top of his game. he does not really rely on his speed, he puts more emphasis on positional play and his quick reading of the game. Something that can only be enhanced with age and experience.
nevertheless, terry and ferdinand are still far younger. and then we have the likes of woodgate, king, carra, wes brown and anton ferdinand in england too. not too mention budding centerbacks like dawson. this england defence is very strong at the middle. the only problem once nevilel retires will be that RB position.
I was merely pointing out your mistake. Woodgate give me a break that guy has not amassed a season'e worth of apperances in over two seasons. I really dont know why people keep harping on his skills and such if he can even get time on the pitch to show us that his serious injuries have not affected his game. I like King I can see him succeeding in the English backline along with jamie who I also think is one of the more severly underrated CBs in the world at the moment. As for Brown and Rio's brother maybe but they still have a lot to prove before people can put them in the same league as Rio and John let alone Nesta and Canna. Dawson you've got to be kidding me, he is good but I think the english hype him up for the sole reason that he is english. He is mediocre and there are better in the italian game. Italy also have a good few budding CBs in the game coming up through the ranks: Barzagli and Terlizzi of Palermo are possible future Azzurri players (well Barzagli already is) as well as Bonera. You also have Coda, Bovo and whatever else the gold mine that is the Roma youth system can provide us with. Inter also have their own man in Marco Andreolli however he is still very young but is highly rated throughout the primevera circuit as the best young italian defender out there.
The answer is so obvious, it's not funny. Cannavaro and Nesta are the best defenders in the world. It's common knowledge. Terry is a good defender but he has a very long way to go to be ranked near Cannavaro or Nesta and Rio is too prone to blunders. By the way, Woodgate is the new Escobar. He should be thankful he is still alive. Even if he was scoring in the right net and injury free, he shouldn't be compared with Nesta and Cannavaro.
I aint gonna start a Srie A vs Premier League debate.......... but are u saying that Serie A has quality players all the way through (and not just the big 4???)
There is a lot of hidden talent in Italy and the only teams that don't really have any players of true quality would be Treviso and Messina. Look at Di Michele, Tavano and Toni. They are quality players but it has only been within a year or that these guys are getting any real recognition. Toni is 28, Tavano is 26 and Di Michele is 30 years old.
its not woodgate's fault hes been blighted with injuries. you would have to go back to his newcastle days to see the quality player he was. incidentally, as soon as he left, newcastle's defence went straight to hell. even so, the coaches at madrid had already seen enough of him even thoguh injured to implement him directly into the starting lineup after injury, which must be some kind compliment to his skills by the coaches considering the talent on that team. as for dawson, i dont think hes overrated. in fact the media isnt making a big deal of him, i just waych him play, and he seems very good and concistant. keep in mind hes also only 21 years old and has a ways to go yet in his career. i guess you can call him the bovo of tottenham
Everytime I watch tottenham the english commentators are all over Dawson. WIth comments like "he just loves to defend", "he is the future of the english backline", "what an incredible player dawson is and to think he is only 21 years old and already at this level" Those disproportionate comments after some very average performances seemed unwarranted IMO. However describing him as the Bovo of Tottenham is a good way to put it.
In Italy defence is more tighter compared to the EPL, so the stikers have more opportunities at goal compared to Italy, which in turn makes them look better. However players like Henry, Owen and Ruud I would love to see in Italy, because they are great players and will defentely succeed in Serie A. And a player like Terry I would love to see in Serie A. Back to the topic. Nesta and Canna by far. Also as a defensive whole if in a unlikely situation where Nesta or Canna have a bad game, they will be covered by very good left and right backs. +Nesta and Canna have been playing together for italy for many years.
Good question. I do think Nesta and Cannavaro are the best CB pair at international level, but if one or the other gets hurt Italy will fall back upon the scarifying Marco Materazzi. Contrast that with England, who can replace Rio with the excellent Ledley King or Terry with Jamie Carragher. That's depth. Having said this, if Nesta and Cannavaro stay healthy throughout the World Cup and avoid suspensions, Italy will go far. They've been doing this since their U-21 days and have played about 100 games together, and as a combo. they work, Cannavaro being the physical stopper and Nesta organizing things and plugging up any holes. I rate Terry slightly ahead of Cannavaro, but Nesta is much better than Ferdinand, because Ferdinand, for all his talent reading the game, is not a great tackler and sometimes loses focus ......
Sorry to all those rio fans but i never could look at him the same after seeing him score an own goal by heading it into his own net with no one near him but the goalie.. it was so pathetic !!! and he even tried to blame the goalie after it had happened! oh and about Ledley King backing rio up.. that might be so but i doubt he will be 100% since he was just injured but will recover for world cup!