The beauty of the Centre half

‘Sup footie nuts? We are just over the half way mark of Euro 2012 and life is looking REALLY good….unless you a Dutch fan.

So today I thought I’d focus on one of my most favourite positions in the whole wide world next to doggy style. Centre Backs!

This is a very difficult position to judge. Midfielders get judged on assists and goals scored, strikers get judged on goals scored and penalties they get awarded. Centre backs? Shots stopped? Headers made? Clearances?  I’m not so sure.

If a team is doing poorly results wise, yet the strikers keep scoring, they STILL get the recognition for putting the ball in the back of the net.  Midfielders get their recognition for their accuracy of their passes etc. etc. What about the defenders? They get the bulk of the blame.  

Now one thing we can all agree on is that in the last 15-20 years, a lot of aspects of the centre half’s style of play has changed. If you think back to the days of Steve Bruce, Neil Ruddock, Gary Pallister, Boy George etc you would notice the fundamentals to their game was “Tackle, head and clear”. Like the age old Cape District shout was “Line is good!” (Clear to the line) Centre backs didn’t need to be nimble, agile or able to make a pass. All they were needed to do was, be big, strong and try and score from a corner.

These days however, in the modern football world that we live, love and breathe Football; Centre Halves are asked to do a hell of a lot more.  They need to be able to have great ball control, have a good pass, they have to be able to be agile and more recently, they have to be able to move the ball from defence to attack the same as a midfielder.  Simply punting the ball up field is no longer acceptable. No sir! Fluidity, movement and being able to turn quickly and effortlessly are very important.  

We all know that there are players out there today who fulfill that role perfectly… the likes of Chiellini of Juve, Mamadou Sakho of PSG,  Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng, Liverpool’s Daniel Agger. The last to be mentioned and the man who probably started it all Lucio.


Now before you have a go at me and say "There were CB's before Lucio". Name them in the comments and I will prove my point. 

So is the old role of the Centre back become null and void? Is there no place left for the “old school centre half”? I don’t think so. I’m probably going to be slated for this, as I am mentioning a Liverpool player and NOT a Manchester United player first. Up until last season, Jamie Carragher was still an “old School” defender. He didn’t care where he kicked it, as long as it was away from the danger area. Another player who reminds of the “old school” is FCB’s Carlos Puyol. No nonsense, get it off you and get rid of it. No fancy turns, or trying to play a Hollywood pass. That’s all there is to it. Also worth a mention is Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand. Not the fastest, not the most agile however his ability to read a game and his positioning is second to none in the English Premier League.  He doesn’t try and do anything fancy on the ball when he has it too. He gets it, he passes it. Simple pimple. 


One thing that is clear, a ball playing Centre Half is clearly NEEDED in any time looking to be successful in their respective leagues. 

The transformation has been rapid, from old school to new school. No? 

Which would you prefer? I'm undecided. 

Potz