Football has turned into a battle between possession and high-pressing; who can keep the ball the longest and who can win it back the quickest?
With that development, the pitch has now become very compressed, with every single player becoming vital in possession.
This has led to the emergence of some truly world-class ball-playing centre-backs who completely rip up the old English perception of the position and glide across the pitch with the grace of a winger and the poise of a playmaker.
With that in mind, Squawka has ranked what we believe to be the 10 best ball-playing centre-backs in Europe’s top five leagues right now.
10. Manuel Akanji
(Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images)
Club: Borussia Dortmund
You’d be forgiven for not having a clue who Manuel Akanji is before the start of this season, given that the Swiss defender had only played 79 league games in his homeland before joining Borussia Dortmund.
If you don’t know who he is now, though, you’d better find out quick because the 23-year-old is tearing it up in the Bundesliga. Akanji is an extremely solid defender and has blocked the joint-most shots (nine) of any player at his club in the league this season while averaging 1.4 interceptions per 90 minutes; Dan-Axel Zagadou is the only Dortmund defender with more.
Moreover, Akanji is an incredible ball-player and during Dortmund’s Champions League game with Club Brugge in November, the centre-back recorded more touches of the ball (176) in a single game than any other player from a German team in the competition’s history; Akanji also made more passes (465) than any other centre-back in the Champions League group stages, despite only playing in four out of the six games.. This ball magnet will be flying up this list in no time.
9. Leonardo Bonucci
(Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)
Club: Juventus
Often described as the best modern-day example of a ‘libero’, Leonardo Bonucci has made one hell of a career out of being a supreme ball-playing centre-back. The Italy international has spent most of his footballing life either pinging long, diagonal balls into the final third to launch quick attacks, or collecting the ball and storming out of defence with it to create an overload in midfield.
At 31 years old, Bonucci has had to rein in his forays forward, but his long passes haven’t gone anywhere, and his expert reading of the game has allowed him to make more interceptions (25) in Serie A than any other Juventus defender this season.
Key stat: Bonucci has the second-most accurate long passes of any Serie A centre-back since the start of last season (346).
8. John Stones
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Club: Manchester City
A couple of years ago, it would have been unthinkable to place John Stones above Leonardo Bonucci and others who haven’t even made this top 10.
It is impossible, however, to ignore the effect Pep Guardiola has had on the former Everton man. Stones has turned into the archetypal Guardiola defender, mixing composed ball-playing, intelligent reading of the game and robust defending in perfect measure. Stones also excelled for an extremely attractive England side at the World Cup this summer, completing 453 passes; Sergio Ramos (481) was the only defender with more.
Key stat: Stones has the highest passing accuracy (95.3%) in the Premier League since the start of last season (Minimum of 10 games played).
7. Sergio Ramos
(Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)
Club: Real Madrid
Sergio Ramos has been one of the ultimate centre-backs in world football over the past decade, leading Real Madrid to four Champions League wins and picking up multiple honour with Spain.
Ramos completed more passes (481) than any other defender at the World Cup in the summer, as well as making more passes into the opposition final third (81) than any defender at the tournament.
The 32-year-old can often be seen taking penalties for Real Madrid, while his habit of saving matches with last-ditch tackles and stoppage time goals has become legendary; the only thing pushing Ramos down this list is that he often relies on a fair amount of skulduggery when football fails.
Key stat: Akanji has played 70 accurate long balls in 13 league games this season, the most of any outfield player at Dortmund.
6. Kalidou Koulibaly
(Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)
Club: Napoli
Napoli’s two games against Liverpool in the Champions League group stage gave English fans a real taste of what Kalidou Koulibaly is all about, and they were not disappointed.
The Senegalese defender is hugely imposing, making more tackles (32) and winning more aerial duels (39) than any other Napoli defender in Serie A this season.
However, what is most impressive is just how good he is with the ball, especially given his 6ft 4″ frame. The 27-year-old played more passes (457) than any other Napoli player during the Champions League group stage, while his 81 accurate long passes in Serie A is only bettered at the Partenopei by centre-back partner Raul Albiol. Links to Manchester United persist and Koulibaly would be a wonderful addition to the Premier League.
Key stat: Koulibaly has made more accurate short passes (960) than any other player in any position in Serie A this season.
5. Gerard Pique
(Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Club: Barcelona
Let’s face it; Gerard Pique has been doing the ball-playing dance for years. When Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side were destroying Europe between 2008 and 2011, Pique was there, spraying the ball, carrying it out and defending like an absolute beast.
Not much has changed really, with Pique posting a 92% pass accuracy in his 16 La Liga matches this season, racking up 1180 passes along the way. The 31-year-old has also completed seven successful dribbles in La Liga, while only Ivan Rakitic (1,254) has made more passes in the league for Barcelona this season than Pique (1,180).
Long may it continue.
Key stat: Gerard Pique has made more passes (1,180) in La Liga than any Barcelona defender, and is only second to Ivan Rakitic (1,254) in all positions.
4. Toby Alderweireld
(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Key stat: Tottenham Hotspur
Hamstring injuries restricted Toby Alderweireld to just 22 appearances in all competitions for Spurs last season. The 29-year-old has already equalled that this season, however, and has been excellent.
Prior to the current campaign, Alderweireld enjoyed a stellar World Cup with Belgium, completing the third-most passes (403) of any defender at the tournament behind only John Stones and Sergio Ramos. The former Ajax man has carried that form into the Premier League this season, completing more passes (897) and playing more balls into the final third (124) than any other Spurs player.
Alderweireld is another defender that has consistently been linked with Manchester United in recent years and it is easy to see why is he is arguably one of the best all-round defenders in English football at present.
Key stat: Alderweireld has played the most accurate long balls per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season (8.3).
3. David Luiz
Club: Chelsea
Much maligned and massively misunderstood, David Luiz is far, far better than people give him credit for.
The Brazilian has won the second-most aerial duels (38) and made the joint-second most interceptions (18) in the Premier League of any Chelsea player this season.
Where the former PSG man really excels, though, as we all know, is with the ball at his feet. Luiz’s style of play may terrify some Chelsea fans and leave them on the edge of their seats, but Maurizio Sarri loves it and the 31-year-old is perfectly suited to his ‘Sarrismo’ style of play.
Luiz is the master of long passing, with his sweeping, diagonal balls are a hallmark of his game and this season he has played the third-most accurate long passes (103) of any defender in the Premier League.
Key stat: Only Jorginho (171) has played more passes into the final third than David Luiz (139) for Chelsea in the Premier League this season.
2. Aymeric Laporte
(Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Club: Manchester City
Aymeric Laporte has recently cited ‘personal reasons’ as the cause for his omission from the French squad; why Didier Deschamps continues to overlook him is completely beyond us.
Laporte moved to Manchester City in January and slotted right into Guardiola’s system, forming great partnerships with John Stones and Vincent Kompany in defence, covering astutely at full-back and showing the Premier League just how good he is with the ball at his feet.
No Manchester City player has completed more passes than Aymeric Laporte (2,098) since he joined the club in January and the 24-year-old just grows in stature with every game he plays.
Key stat: Laporte has averaged 84 successful passes per 90 minutes in the league this season, the most of any Premier League player in all positions except Jorginho (minimum of 10 games played).
1. Virgil van Dijk
(Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)
Club: Liverpool
He’s quick, intelligent, immensely strong and an absolute joy to watch on the ball; is there anything Virgil van Dijk cannot do?
Many scoffed when Liverpool paid £75m to bring Van Dijk to the club from Southampton in January, making him the world’s most expensive defender in the process.
Oh, how wrong they were. Since Van Dijk joined the Reds, only Granit Xhaka (2,262) has made more successful passes than the Dutchman in the Premier League (2,216), while Van Dijk has played more accurate long passes (94) than any outfield player for Liverpool this season.
The argument for Van Dijk being the best all-round centre-back in Europe is really gathering pace, with many struggling to pinpoint a weakness in his game; you’d find it hard to deny him the title of best ball-playing defender in Europe, however.
Key stat: Van Dijk has averaged 90% passing accuracy in 9 of the 17 Pl games played this season
Honourable mentions: Harry Maguire, Giorgio Chiellini, Marc Bartra, Aissa Mandi, Mats Hummels, Niklas Sule, Joe Gomez, Raul Albiol, Samuel Umtiti, Jan Vertonghen, Marquinhos, Antonio Rudiger, Raphael Varane.
The post Ranked: the 10 best ball-playing centre-backs in Europe right now appeared first on Squawka News.
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