That may be true. But if you want to judge via trophies, all of these guys have won 'em, and when it comes to trophies they don't come better than Cafu or Zambrotta.
Nominally perhaps but that is it. Just because he happens to be used there does not make that his natural position and considering his various deficiencies he should not be in consideration.
teso, I don't know if it is defeciencies as much as tactics, unlike cicinho who at times i think has little to no tactical awareness. it seems that to me, alves attacks like a mad man and seems to be a right winger because that is what is needed of him, but unlike cicinho if and when tactics call for him to not be so attacking-minded and to pick his spots he can do so. not that alves will ever be confused for maldini defensively, and he isn't particularly physical or menacing in the tackle nor the air by any stretch, but i think he is not just a right winger in a fullbacks position, but is just an (very) offensive minded and talented fullback. granted, we will get to see him in the cl this year (assuming he doesn't agitate out of sevilla, as i have heard rumors of him clamoring to do just that very thing), so he will get to perform on the big stage in europe. I personally like alves a lot, but considering zambrotta will be on the right with abidal's arrival, and i expect him to show his juve form this season, i would take him over about anyone at right back for the time being. over miguel, alves, neville, oddo, cicinho, maicon, anyone. that is how i view them at least cheers
Putting Alves in your back four is automatically stripping your side of one player who can defend. Fullbacks are supposed to be attack minded but what many fail to realize is that they have to be able to defend and have at least some tactical awareness for defense. This is waht makes Finnan, Neville, Sagnol, Zambrotta, and Lahm for example much better fullbacks. Alves is a completely offensive minded winger who likes to hang back for some reason. Even Dunga realized he isn't a reliable fullback and has played him mostly in midfield.
well, that's the thing, is i think that he can be in position and give you a defensive presence if and when the time comes. just saying that i think he can work in either position. is he as good a defender as the guys you listed, no he's not, i agree. he is not though useless. he may very well be moved to right wing especially if maicon develops and gets better as he was one of the reasons why zanetti moved from right fullback as he took his opportunity and had a great season, and alves is too talented to leave on the bench, so play him farther forward, it makes sense. just saying that he can play there and be good, if and when needed.
I consider Alves useless defensively, but that's just me. For Sevilla over the past two seasons in Europe, he constantly left his team exposed during counter attacks and he's one of the prime reasons his side conceded so many goals from the flanks. He is a great attacking threat and sooner or later, at whatever team he is he will most likely be used in midfield.
Sevilla's key player is Poulsen because of the role he is asked to play in the side. The coach knows that Alves is weak defensively and therefore Poulsen is expected to slot into right-back when Alves goes roaming or to at least provide cover in the gap that Alves leaves. Take the last UEFA Cup Final as the perfect example of this in action and how Riera owned that flank because Alves was continually caught out. Granted Sevilla have got away with using Alves as a nominal right-back but his lack of sheer pace kills him. Cicinho is worse defensively but his pace allows him to get back and not get caught out. It's just sad that a superior right-back in Hinkel is left to rot in the stands.
true enough, i ain't claiming that he is a great defender, just not useless, but yes, poulsen provides the cover and organization to allow the freedom to attack with abandon. alves could play right wing and wouldn't be surprised if he does end up there when it is all said and done, as it looks like at sevilla, maresca doesn't play all that much on the right wing anyway last season (well at least not all the time), even after his motm performance 2 uefa cups ago
Zambrotta is far and away the best in my mind since Cafu, Thuram and Zanetti have gone down hill. I'd say Neville is second for his allround ability but doesn't really get close to Zanetti. Someone needs to make a best left back topic as well. :awesome:
I don't know how far down hill Zanetti has actually gone. In my mind, he's still not far off Zambrotta, who is probably #1 if he can regain his Juve form next season.
Haha. Zanetti is not down hill. G.Neville is utter shit. The man dribbles like a 6 year old girl, cant pass normally, lacks a lot of pace, crosses are mostly just bad, makes defence mistakes for a job. That's why he moved from CV to RB. Man Utd fans always say Gary Neville is ‘constantly class’ In what being invisible for most parts of the game? Having the worst scoring record for a RB? Ok then he is constantly class. Anyway the best RB in the world is by far Zanetti. Well when he plays there anyway. Awesome defensivly and great when attacking with a lot of pace down the flanks.
J. Zanetti is utter shit. The man dribbles like a 6 year old girl, cant pass normally, lacks a lot of pace, crosses are mostly just bad, makes defence mistakes for a job. That's why he moved from RB to CM. Fact is I rate both and you are clearly a biased and ignorant fool. Zanetti has started to go down hill and does not play at RB for Inter anyway because he does not have the pace he previously did. He's still a good player though, which is why he is currently playing in central midfield. Neville's only problem is age, which leads to an increase in injuries. Whenever he is fit enough to play he still has enough to get up and down the entire flank, tackling and crossing as per usual. He's still the starter for Man Utd and England and one of the best around.
Are you sure about that? As the RB for Argentina in Copa America he was running circles around players 10 years younger than him. His pace is still quite good.
Whooa. I thought you were kidding at first with the slight to Zanetti. He doesn't play in midfield because he is going down hill. He plays there because he has the technical ability to do so. He has occasionally played in midfield many times throughout his career. And since Inter's weakest area is midfield Mancini has decided to play him there. It also helps that they have Mancini to play right back right now. And if you saw him play at the Copa America you'd realize Zanetti still has what it takes to play right back. Speed was never his strength to begin with. He has superb ball control that can get him out of almost any situation. Zanetti is one of the best right backs of all-time let alone currently. Comparing him to Gary Neville is an insult.
You said he is not good enough to play right back anymore which is blatantly untrue. Even at 33 I still feel he is the best in the world. He proved that at the Copa America.
i think you meant it helps they have maicon at RB yeah. plus inter's defensive/center midfield got banged up pretty bad last year, so it made sense to switch him as vieira and cambiasso both had injuries simultaneously
Hold on there. He's still very good for his age but best in the world? He showed in the last two seasons why he is NOT. While Teso was a bit too harsh in his assessment, he made some good points that do hold ground. He has been playing in midfield because he is past playing a full time fullback. At Copa America he was impressive going up but was a weak link coming back. Then again, so was the entire Argnetine defense. And this has nothing to do with his speed. Comparing him to Gary Neville is absolutely reasonable. Both are two of the best rightb acks of their generation. Both have been around for what seems like forever and both have played for top clubs for that time. I don't understand what's wrong with that. Gary even happens to be one of the best attacking right backs in the game but that somehow goes unnoticed. Meanwhile, he also happens to be one of the best defensive minded fullbacks and subsequently most complete fullbacks in the game.
To think that I wondered what your yellow card was for. Quite sure. After all, even the Argentine fans are calling for him to be replaced because of his age and lack of pace when trying to get back. I rate him highly and he is the RB in the XI of my generation but that does not mean I will turn a blind eye when he is clearly winding down somewhat. I said nothing of the kind. If you are referring to the opening paragraph then it is clearly a direct copy of Bartio88's rambling, with Neville substituted for Zanetti and in no way my personal opinion which the rest of my post should have made clear. I do find it amusing that you found nothing wrong with anything Bartio88 has posted and yet felt the need to jump on my posts, despite my clear explanation. So yeah, I was 'kidding' but it makes the rest of my post no less true.