I really do not know. I am going with rightback. It does not have anyone great at the moment. Cafu and Zanetti are still among the world best, but they aint the same anymore.
Goalkeepers When teams like Arsenal and Man u can't find someone for that position you know there is a shortage of good players..at the moment on Given and Cech, possibley Reinia could be classed as worldclass in the premiership...Buffon, Dida, Casilas maybe a couple more in europe
A little slip there? Left-back is very deep. Right-back however would make sense. As to goalkeepers, too bad for Man Utd and Arsenal, but there are plenty of very good ones out there. From Brazil alone (besides DIda): Rogerio Ceni, Marcos, Gomes, Julio Cesar
I say RB...Great LBs right now...lemme see, Lixarazu, Lahm, Roberto Carlos, Ashley Cole, Heinze, Maldini, Kaladze, Cannavaro, Lee Pyong-Yo. thats it for me, any others? More great RBs IMO...lemme see, Cicinho, Paulo Ferreira, Michel Salgado? nah, not good enough, Cafu, Friedrich (almost). I'm certainly missing a lot of ppl.
Sorry I edited my last post...took me awhile to get even a few right backs lol... so check my last post
Yep...which is weird, I was so sure when I first read this thread that there were more quality RBs, but I guess I was wrong.
Wingers on both sides because they have been a dying breed. Likewise for the sweepers but this all due to the fact that modern sides don't really need these kind of players.
I now also realize the left wing position is weak. We have many good left midfielders and attack midfielders who can play on the left, but not many the true left wingers.
But few teams use real left-wingers, almost everyone uses RBs and LBs. The left-winger, right-winger best ever polls discuss this. Ze Roberto might be a left-winger if he played in an English club, there's no way he'd be called a left-winger in Brazil.
2 names that jump out: Duff and Robben. Hmms..other left wingerssss...is Giuly a LW? or RW? This threads made me change my mind twice, it seemed so obvious to me at first, but alas.
Right wing is a far more scarce position than left wing. Philips and Joaquin are the only young RWs I can think of. However, I'd still say RB is the shallowest position.
As somebody said, wingers are weak because of strategy. They just don't groom wingers at the youth level. Today you have mostly defenders taking the role of attacking on the flanks. In another era, a guy like Cicinho would be a right winger. And I'd say the best 'left winger' of this era, if we mean a player who creates danger from the left flank, is probably a right fullback, Roberto Carlos. How about a true defensive midfielder, a classic destroyer? Does anybody think that is a weak position today? I think there are few that are really world class, and yet it is a very important position in contemporary schemes.
I agree defensive midfielders are very important and what would teams like Arsenal or Chelsea or AC Milan be without the defensive midfield presence or Viera (whom recently depacted much to the dismay of many), Makalele or Gatusso. I would say it is a shallow position.
The defensive midfielder position has also evolved too. Yes, the game still needs a classic destroyer liked Gattuso, but many of the newer defensive midfielders play liked a cross between the playmaker and destroyer. In the older days, the defensive midfielder is not needed for the offensie as much, except a few cases liked Beckenbauer and Bozsik. In recent years, the positon has became more important. It is basically the center of the entire team. Most defensive midfielders need to hold the ball.... I guessed you can say Beckenbauer and Bozsik were early examples of modern defensive midfielders.
If that is the role we want for the defensive midfielder, then I'd say the position is even weaker than if we are looking for a classic destroyer. Without going too far in the past to look at the players you mentioned, (like Beckembauer or Bozsic), just tell me which players today fit that role as well as a Rijkaard, a Mattaus, or a Redondo did not too long ago? Maybe Keane up to a couple of years ago, but anybody today?