Conventional wisdom and general popularity picks from a list that includes Romario, Baggio, Klinsmann, Batistuta, Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, etc. as the greatest player in the world of the past decade. These are all great players and deserve all of the alcolades. However, they are all forwards or offensive midfielders. While there is nothing wrong with that, defenders, defensive mids and even goalies deserve the same consideration. This thread is not intended as a championing of the values of non-offensive players. It is a championing of perhaps one of the greatest players of the past decade, Paolo Maldini. Can anyone think of another player that has maintained such a high level of excellence on such a consistent basis for such a long time and been such an immense value to his teams success? I doubt it, because the aforementioned players (and many others) have had many ups and downs, while Maldini as continued to be one of the best, if not the best, defenders in the world since the early 90's. And I'm not even a fan of Italian soccer (too much emphasis on defense and strict tactics for my tastes), nor am I a big fan of AC Milan. But every time I see Maldini play, he is both flawless and amazing. If I were to coach a youth team, I would have every player (forwards included) watch hours of tape of Maldini in action, in order to learn both defensive skills and overall soccer abilities. His skill, athleticism, technique, fundamentals, intensity, fitness, teamwork, professionalism, and most of all, effecitiveness, are all simply amazing and IMHO exceed many of the other world greats. Thus, Paolo Maldini should most definetely be considered one the world's best players over the past decade. Any thoughts?
If he didn't play left back, he would of won at least 3 World player of the year, easy, defenders get no love!
JeffS: Everything you've just said is true. There is another player that deserves our applause also. Fernando Hierro: The best defender spain has ever had.
I would like to honour a man who was on the same pitch that night Maldini picked up his fourth European Cup; Ciro Ferrara. He was with Napoli during all of Maradonas golden years and then with Juventus until today. Nearly twenty years of excellence. Champions League, Intercontinental cup, European Super Cup, UEFA Cup, 7 Serie A titles, 4 Coppa Italias, Ferrara has won it all. He would easily have won 100 caps had he been born anywhere else but Italy. Competing with Baresi, Bergomi, Costacurta, Maldini, Ferri, Nesta and Cannavaro over nearly two decades has cut his total to "only" 49. Ferrara is a true legend.
Yes. Lothar Matthaeus His club career spaned 1979-2000, and played well into his 30's at a high level. For the vast majority of his career he was always one of the 2-3 most important men on the pitch, and his honors are nothing to sniff at. The famous image of him on the bench watching the end of the 1999 CL final-well, if he were 35 and not 38 at the time, I doubt he would have been subbed and I don't think Bayern would have lost. The fact that at 38 he was still so influential is telling. Using your criteria, you can easily make the case for Matthaeus. But your other points about Maldini I would agree with-although perhaps you underestimate just how admired/repected he is. Reading coaches and player interviews, everyone speaks of him with very high praise.
Lothar Matthaeus got no respect at Bigsoccer due to his performance with Metrostars. People forgot about his CL Final performance. he was outperforming against the younger MU players. Unfortuniately, when he faded away, he faded away fast.
Lothar Matthaeus was a great player, but this post was asking about the past decade. I beleive Maldini was one of the greatest over the past decade most definitely. He has done it all, except win a World Cup. But came very close in 1990 and 1994. He is the all-time caps leader for Italy and for AC Milan and has been playing as a regular for AC Milan for 19 years now! At his age he is still great and can play another few years at this level. TO THIS DAY, he would still start on almost every National Team in the world. He was not cut from Italy, he stepped down and retired or else he would still be there and would captain them again and again! What a player, I tip my hat to him!
Re: Re: Paolo Maldini the best player of the past decade? Lothar Matthaeus maintained an astronomical level of excellence over 20 years, starting with Germany's Euro cup triumph in 1980 (when he came on as a sub as a 19 year old) and on through Bayern's Champions League runners up in 2000. However, over the past decade, I would say Matthaeus' prominence was beginning to fade (he had his best years in the late '80's and early '90's). Over the past decade, I would put Maldini ahead of Matthaeus.
Well...your points are fair, but I think you're slighting his work in the '90's. For one, he was German Player Of The Year in 1990 and then again in 1999-a nine year span where he was going on 38 years-a pretty remarkable span. His teams-which he certainly was an influential player-were club champions in 94, 97, 99; Uefa Cup winners in '91 and '96. He also played in all of decade's WC and ended with 150 caps. I wouldn't vote him player of the decade, and yes, Maldini's prime is richer during this decade. But in response to your question: "Can anyone think of another player that has maintained such a high level of excellence on such a consistent basis for such a long time and been such an immense value to his teams success?" I think Lothar fits that bill even during the 1990's.
He has my vote for player of the decade . And you can make a case that he is the second best defender now at the age of 35. Only Nesta is better imo.
The answer to your question: Paolo Maldini...haha! HE has been unbelievable for the past 17 years for AC Milan and since 1990 for Italy. What else do you want him to do? If he was not a defender he would have won a few player of the world's (in my opinion).
Nesta is definitely better than Maldini currently, but that is all to do with age! Baresi handed the torch down to Maldini, who has handed it off to Nesta. Nesta is still young and his career has many years to go but between Baresi and Maldini, it is tough to say who was better! Many will probably pick Baresi over Maldini but they are definitely TOP 5 of all time!
Baresi was hands down the best defender of all-time, imo. So I obviously can't say Paulo was better than Baresi. But he can lay claim to being the best ever left-back. Nobody comes close to him, at least in my lifetime. It makes Maldini's accomplishments this year even more remarkable because he makes it look like he has been playing in the center his whole career. What makes me sad though is thinking about when Maldini finally does retire. I have never known a Milan side without Maldini in it and there will be a huge void when he's gone.