1. Attackers are getting so good that it’s hard to keep up with them
Attacking players nowadays are getting much stronger and faster than ever before thanks to better fitness and performance optimised lifestyles.
Football has always played into the hands of the attacking players – that’s just how the game works, and the game has evolved in such a way that favours forward players even more now.
It might not necessarily be that the centre-backs around at the moment aren’t up to scratch, but merely that these attackers are so good that they are simply making them look like average players.
What makes them so good?
The athleticism. Footballers of today are incredible athletes, and are getting better all the time. Attacking players in particular are getting much faster and stronger, making the job for defenders even harder.
Not only are defenders having to make split-second decisions such as when to go with their runner, or to step up to catch the opponent offside – but they are now getting less and less time to make these decisions making it much harder to contain an attacking threat, thanks to the insanely fast speed the game is being played at.
And it’s only getting faster.
There are many attackers in world football who rely on bursts of acceleration to get past their defender. Think players like Mbappe, Pulisic, Rashford, Sane, Davies and Ousmane Dembele.
This is what defenders today have to deal with. They cannot afford a single lapse of focus or the attacker has beaten them. And then there’s having to keep pace with these players as well.
The way football is played nowadays, there is usually no shortage of space for these players to exploit, and there are many instances where the centre backs are left completely exposed to them.
In short, it’s not that the centre backs are bad, it’s just the attackers make them look so. Doesn’t help when you are exposed by the rest of the team’s mistakes either.
2. Do kids dream of being defenders?
Many young kids look up to players like Messi and Ronaldo. The glamour and the glitz. How often do you think a kid says they want to be the next Carles Puyol or Nemanja Vidic?
Probably not that often. Everyone wants to be the next Messi – the flashy player that grabs all the headlines, wins all the awards and scores all the goals.
It’s not just kids that have an admiration for the skilful superstars, the general audience of football seems to prefer the glamour of the attacking players like Messi and Neymar.
They win more awards, are more well known and are more idolised by fans across the world.
There is more of a glitz around the ‘superstars’ of football, the attention and celebrity status is something that appeals to many people, especially young people, who tend to fall in love with football after watching someone like Messi or Ronaldo.
How many times do you see someone fall in love with football after watching Sergio Ramos?
People care more about who scored the goal as opposed to who made the last ditch tackle or the headed clearance off the line.
There is a subconscious stigma that defenders are not as valuable as the attackers, because the attackers are labelled the ‘danger men’ and ‘game changers’.
However the defenders are often part of the spine of the team, and we have seen the same problem with teams time after time.
And that problem is…
Trying to play an attacking, high pressing game without the necessary defensive spine and just leaking tons and tons of goals – proving just how important having at least one world class defender is.
3. Modern footballing philosophies hardly help them out
The modern ideas around how football should be played have definitely not helped defenders out at all, and we now see more defensive mistakes than ever before.
The new style of football inspired by managers like Pep Guardiola requires defenders to have other qualities other than just pure defensive ability.
Centre backs now need to have pace, composure and very good technical ability on top of their defensive prowess in order to play week in week out for a top team, who often seek to play the ball out from the back and play a very high line.
This has led to centre backs being left red-faced at times, as mistakes in their area of the pitch are far more damaging because it frequently presents the opposition with a clear-cut chance.
There’s also no one to cover their mistakes apart from maybe the goalkeeper and their centre back partner.
Ultimately, the standards for playing as a centre back in a top team are so so so high right now, so there are a limited number of players who fit the bill, which is why a lot of teams are looking for a centre back right now.
But not just a centre back. A centre back that can pass, has an incredible reading of the game, strong, fast, along with being a rock solid defender is something of a necessity for a top team and they don’t come around easily – or cheaply.
Two examples of these ‘perfect’ centre backs are Virgil Van Dijk and Ruben Dias for Liverpool and Manchester City respectively, who both cost their clubs over £75 million.
The role of a centre back within a team is now more important than ever – just look at what Van Dijk does for Liverpool and the impact his injury has had on them.
Instead of purely being the last line of defence, they are now an integral part in how a team plays.
Playing out from the back, bringing the ball out of defence, or finding cutting diagonal balls are all features of the modern centre back.
4. Who are the next generation of world class centre backs?
Despite the glaring shortage of world class centre backs at the moment, there are quite a few promising young centre-backs emerging in Europe.
One of the leading young centre backs at the moment is Dayot Upamecano, who has just secured a move to German giants Bayern Munich this summer.
Upamecano seems to have all the attributes that were mentioned above, and it’s really hard to pick out a weakness in his game even this early in his career.
He is incredibly fast and strong, is excellent as a ball-playing centre back, and reads the game extremely well (as Manchester United found out earlier this season).
As far as his talent goes, he has the potential to reach the very top of the game – there is absolutely no doubting that.
Bayern Munich looks to be the perfect move for his career at this stage, because he is already familiar with the German league and will get to experience playing as part of arguably the best team in the world.
Yes, in the future he will probably move to a different league in order to test and challenge himself to become a better player.
But he needs to be careful not to rush, as one wrong transfer can be a massive setback for a player.
There’s not just Upamecano, there are also several other young centre backs that have the potential to become a top player.
Players such as Ibrahima Konate, Fikayo Tomori, Eder Militao and Matthijs de Ligt all have potential to be incredible defenders, so the future of centre backs is not totally jeopardised.
If these players can get consistent game time at their respective clubs, then there is no reason why they can’t become the leading centre backs of their generation.
Thank you very much for reading!! 🙂
