I'm on the lookout for defenders. That's right. I am searching for people who actually understand the very idea of what it means to defend. You know, footballers who aren't happy to play like the wild wild west of the 1800's and don't want to cough up six, seven or even eight goals.
In truth, there are not that many defenders out. The game has changed. Some of the scorelines that I've seen are shocking. Never before has the game seen such a hight amount of goals scored by a team or an individual on a consistent basis. It's quite frankly, embarassing.
Some people will say it's the amazing footballers that we now have, which may be true. But also, we've got to look at how defenders are encouraged to play out with the ball rather than focus and get down to the knuckle and bones of plain defensive work.
So that is why my eyes have taken notice of Naldo. As I've began to pay more attention to the Bundesliga, the performances of Naldo have given me hope that there might be a resurgence in the art of defending. Having watched Wolfsburg and Naldo enough times, I can tell you he is one of the best central defenders in the world. Yet somehow, we don't hear enough about this player and that imbecile Dunga has the audacity to play Daid Luiz ahead of him.
Rarely does he make a mistake, as he reads the game well. If he does lose a step, he can make a last ditch tackle and put himself in the firing line for his team in order to prevent a goal.
And when he is on the ball, his distribution is good and he can also find a teammate when put under pressure with a clever chip from a pressing opponent.
What makes for an elite defender is someone who never looks as if they are under pressure. They are always in control, because they are two or three steps ahead of the play. That is what made Maldini, Nesta, Desailly and De Boer such legends.
Naldo is never caught in No Man's land, nor does he constantly lose his man. He is always aware of what is happening and can anticipate the play. This means he doesn't have to make himself or his other defenders panic if an attacker has been put through. He's travelled into the future in his time machine to prevent that from happening. And you have to remember, Naldo isn't playing in a defensive team where he has protection from deep lying midfielders.
Nope.
Wolfsburg are an attacking team. Hecking likes to play positively and wants to stretch teams. So wing backs and midifelders are encouraged to get forward, which means their opponents are given more space. That means Naldo has to do more defending and more is required of him in a match as opposed to a team that are less adventurous or a group like Barcelona who have so much of the ball. This adds weight to why Naldo has to be mentioned among the best defenders out there. Along with Chiellini, Coulibaly and Boateng; Naldo is in that very small club of the very best that the central part of the backline has to offer.
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